Choke Cable STUCK

[Earthling789]

I've done a lot to this bike (VT700C) since January, and she's actually been running well... until this past week or so...

I've noticed my MPG getting worse over the last few tanks, which I figured was some bad gas.... the local stations "add" crap when the blends change from winter to summer, prices go up/down, etc. Anyway, lower mpg and throttle response has been off to say the least. Cruising at highway speed, she seems to bog down at times, and uphill... well, lets just say it ain't pretty

Last night, I could actually smell the excess fuel when I pulled into the driveway, and my first thought was that my mixture screws had worked their way loose... I checked those, and they are right where I left them from my previous adjustment.

My next thought was that my choke was on... The lever seems to be working okay... at least it moves like should, so I pulled the enrichment valves from the carbs, and the measurements show the valves to be "partially open", regardless of lever position at the handlebar. I cracked open the switch housing and found the problem... the cable is frozen/stuck at about 75% "open". When I move the lever up to close the choke, the cable is just bunching up in the housing.

I tried pulling it with pliers to see if I could get it to move ANY direction, and it does not want to move... at all... The last time I remember using the choke to start the bike was about 2-weeks ago, when the weather was in the low 50's... and it "seemed" to actuate properly... guess not, huh...

Is there anyway to free this cable up, or am I looking at $50 for a replacement??

I'm going to pull the tank today, and see if I can find a "bind" in the cable, and possibly work some lube into the housing to try to free it up to the "closed" position... with a bit of muscle... worst case, could I just cut the main cable and let the enrichment valve's springs do their job of closing the valves, and leave it alone until I can repair/replace the frozen cable?

[Bladerunner]

"could I just cut the main cable and let the enrichment valve's springs do their job of closing the valves, and leave it alone until I can repair/replace the frozen cable?"
that is what I have done, is working good so far, I put some silicone where the cables used to go in, it was sucking vacuum in, and I didn't want dirt in there. I do worry about being able to start when the weather gets colder, but for now is starting fine, no throttle till id putts to live, then just enough to keep 'er going till warmed up, not as hands free as I would like, am thinking of machining choke knobs for myself, might end up selling them, this seems to be a common problem on the VT700, and possibly others of this vintage.

[Earthling789]

Originally Posted by Bladerunner

that is what I have done, is working good so far

Good to know... It has just stopped raining here, so I guess I'll go out and start pulling her apart in the next hour or so... hard to get motivated on a rainy Saturday morning,

I'm hoping the cable is just in a bind, or I can work it free from whatever is jamming it up, but nice to know I can just cut it loose and still have the valves "close" the enrichment circuit so it will remain functional... and maybe while I'm at it today... I can finally get around to syncing those carburetors (after I re-check the mixture, of course)!

[Bladerunner]

I tried to get my cables to work, but they had frayed and rusted and were binding internally, so I was unable to get mine to work. Also, there was no way to tell if the spring was actually strong enough to overcome the friction of cables and close off the choke plungers if the cable was "sort of" working, which is why I ditched it altogether. If I find one in the future, I may bring it back to stock, but for now, no choke is how mine runs.
also, rather than cutting the cables, I disconnected them at the carbs, loosen the plastic nut, and the plungers and springs pull out (cable disconnects at the plungers) took the plastic nut thing off the end of the cables, and used it to hold in the springs and plungers.

[Earthling789]

Okay, here's what I've done today... I pulled the tank and found the cable Y-split. The Y-connection comes apart, and right there is the problem... lower two sections were being held "up" by the upper cable being frozen, and I couldn't wrangle it loose. I clipped the upper cable's ball-head off, and the choke valves snapped closed immediately. Choke problem, now fixed

I can ride just fine this way for a while... but I will need to replace the upper portion of the cable before cooler weather rolls back around (Think Motion Pro has the upper assembly for <$20).

While I was under the tank anyway, I also re-adjusted the mixture screws and sync'd the carburetors... they were WAY off, lol. Using ATF as my fluid, I was able to keep a balance of 1-2" through 4000rpms... leaning a bit more to the left-side carb at idle, dead-even at 2500 rpms, and a little to the right-side carb at 4000 rpms... so I'm VERY happy with that.

Throttle response is much better now!

Time for a full tank of gas and a nice long test ride

[mattyo]

Good work finding the source of the problem! Carbs can be a bit mysterious at times. I'd agree that you will want a working enricher by the time the temps start dropping. My 83 starts getting cranky even if temps drop below 70F.

[Science.Dan]

+1 on the Motion Pro Cable It's worth the $20 bucks. I'd also buy some cable lube, it's good to keep that one and the throttle cables lubed to prevent rusting.

I have had to replace throttle cable once already because it got caught between the left fork and the frame. I thought I had routed the new cable better to prevent this from happening, but I just noticed the other day that the cable is smashed again. Despite being split wide open and beginning to rust, the cable surprisingly still moves freely and the valves are still within spec. I think I might have been missing some ties on the left handle bar. I have since ziptied everything much better and will be buying another motion pro cable soon.