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After the rally (2004), my choke cable had been getting stickier and stickier. I lubed it well upon my return home, but it continued to degrade. About a week ago, the bike would start, immediately rev'd to 4500 RPM and stay there. Simple diagnosis: stuck choke cable. Ordered the OEM replacement ($21 from the local dealership, Suzuki part number 58410-08F00 for the 98+ Kats [updated: I now sell these cables, cheaper]). Installed it tonight, which fixed the issue perfectly.
Being who I am (the perpetually curious type), I then started looking at why the old one failed in under 10k miles... here's what I found:
(A) The routing of the choke cable carries it across the cross bar above the valve covers. In driving, the cable vibrates against the bar, slammed into the bar by the underside of the tank (see picture; note wear marks in paint from the vibration -- the zip tie was just added to replace the looser stock one) -- there's a passage raised up in the center of the underside of the tank for the cables to route through without issues;
(B) When I pulled the old cable apart (brute force, one person on each end pulling), I found that it had frayed within the sheath at the point of vibration.
Now I have to ask whether this is the common reason for choke cables to fail on the Katanas? I found no signs of rust or any other possible reason for the wear except this vibration-related abrasion. I'm planning on cushioning the cable's crossing point across the bar tomorrow with some foam-tape to help eliminate the issue in the future. I'm thinking it may be a common design flaw.
Comments, insights?
Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet
Being who I am (the perpetually curious type), I then started looking at why the old one failed in under 10k miles... here's what I found:
(A) The routing of the choke cable carries it across the cross bar above the valve covers. In driving, the cable vibrates against the bar, slammed into the bar by the underside of the tank (see picture; note wear marks in paint from the vibration -- the zip tie was just added to replace the looser stock one) -- there's a passage raised up in the center of the underside of the tank for the cables to route through without issues;
(B) When I pulled the old cable apart (brute force, one person on each end pulling), I found that it had frayed within the sheath at the point of vibration.
Now I have to ask whether this is the common reason for choke cables to fail on the Katanas? I found no signs of rust or any other possible reason for the wear except this vibration-related abrasion. I'm planning on cushioning the cable's crossing point across the bar tomorrow with some foam-tape to help eliminate the issue in the future. I'm thinking it may be a common design flaw.
Comments, insights?
Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet
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