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Favorite cable lube

If the new cables are nylon lined, like the Slinky Glide ones, I thought that lubrication was contraindicated, more likely to attract grit and dirt. Otherwise, I've just used 3 in 1 oil on older cables. Tried aerosol chain lube, found it too sticky. When I had a Rover car, with a sticking cable boot ( trunk ) release, I was recommended to use some specialist stuff, Tri flow or something like that.
 
I use cable lube from a spray can with great results. Buy it at a motorcycle shop. The little metal cable lube clamp on devices help with getting it where it needs to go.
 
I use white lithium grease on cables that can be removed from their sheaths/housings/insulators/conduits like speedo and tach cables.
I use oil (1 drop at a time) on cables that cannot be removed from their housings like push/pull throttle and choke cables.
 
Thanks everyone. These are plain unlined, spiral wire (not braided) Bangkok (in grey!) cable set.
I'll always stick with the Kablease for the spinning cables (speedo & tacho) but the brake/clutch/throttle take more stress, so I thought I'd ask if anything newer than good old oil was the go to. If they were nylon lined then Triflow or clear Drislide would probably be best.
I've never had one of those lube fittings, just drips and gravity while hung vertical.
I'm with Jim on no grease, even the light spray in type, so I'll stick with the motor oil.
 
You should only use grease on speedo and tach cables, it needs to stay put and not migrate like oil can.
Honda always said don't lube the nylon lined cables but at the shop we found they got real 'sticky' within a few months so always lubed them (about the only use I ever had for Castrol GTX)
Probably the 'best' cable lube is stuff designed for bicycles as they have had various low friction 'coated' inner wires for at least 30 years and need lubes that don't react with the plastic.
Tri-Flow works and is easy/cheap (ish) but there may be better ones out there in last 10 years or so?
Maybe a search on 'best' comparisons from bicycle magazine? (Project Farm?)
 
Or the old barnyard favorite " chicken fat" The downside is lots of racoons and foxes are your new best friends. :unsure:

Here's my favorite for the past 15+ years as a good quality option for getting it in there and lubing the systems.


P1090630.JPGP1090631.JPGP1090632.JPG
 
Flyin900 said:
Or the old barnyard favorite " chicken fat" The downside is lots of racoons and foxes are your new best friends. :unsure:

Here's my favorite for the past 15+ years as a good quality option for getting it in there and lubing the systems.
Click to expand...
Hmmm. Better mix some of that blood thinner poison into the chicken fat.....in case it attracts mice too. :sneaky:

There's always another tool to buy. (y)
 
If possible, I take the cables off the bike, and clean them by flushing over time to get the dirt out. I hang them vertically, and connect the top side to a funnel with a piece of rubber to keep the fluids in (O-ring or rubber grommet). I flush with white-spirit until the white spirit stay's clear. Then I dry the cable with pressed air. After drying, I use a mix of engine oil and molycote and let the miture penetrate in the same way as I did with the white-spirit.

When the cable is still on the bike, I use the same mixture, but then with the cable lube tools as seen in post 9. I use a standard oil can with hand pump to build-up the needed pressure.
 
If possible I add a cable lubricate hardware directly to the cable on a place where they are not visible, preferably under the fuel tank. I take off the fuel tank before adjusting the valves, and lubricate the cables the same time. Since these items are also available in grey, I'm a huge fan! Cutting away a small piece of the cable shielding does hurt, but in most cases the shielding is damaged on a few places anyway. In the beginning these were only available in black, and only for bicycles (smaller diameter), but since a few years also available in larger diameters and in grey. Standard mounted on my CB450 K0 rider underneath the fuel tank on the throttle cable and clutch cable. I got this idea from the older CB72 (mainly rear brake) cables (1961-1962), Honda mounted the lubrication points standard on these cables. These where also installed on the front brake cable. Lubricating these cables on my CB72'62 is very easy, and part of a regular routine. Honda did crimp them, but the one I show is clamped around the cable (you squeeze the metal part until it's fixated. I use a little silicon bases liquid gasket to seal them off. I have the black ones installed underneath the fuel-tank on my CB400F throttle cables, as well on the clutch cable. I even use them on my Kawasaki KR1-s on all the cables including the power-valve cables.


cable lubricater.jpg

I found an early CB72 cable on Ebay, item nr. 204280117118 and it's clearly to see how Honda did this:

s-l960.jpg

Jensen
 
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jensen said:
If possible, I take the cables off the bike, and clean them by flushing over time to get the dirt out. I hang them vertically, and connect the top side to a funnel with a piece of rubber to keep the fluids in (O-ring or rubber grommet). I flush with white-spirit until the white spirit stay's clear. Then I dry the cable with pressed air. After drying, I use a mix of engine oil and molycote and let the miture penetrate in the same way as I did with the white-spirit.

When the cable is still on the bike, I use the same mixture, but then with the cable lube tools as seen in post 9. I use a standard oil can with hand pump to build-up the needed pressure.
Click to expand...
I have 'saved' or renewed several cables using the same vertical flush technique. Sometimes even working better than new because they 'break in' and become very smooth. Flushing them removes abrasive particulates from wear. Adding molycote to the oil sounds like a really good idea, unless, they are nylon lined, as many throttle cables seem to be.

I have noticed differences in compressibility between quality original cables and less expensive replacements, probably due to the inferior quality of the outer housing coiled wire as well as assembly tolerances. A lot of the mushy feeling (brakes in particular) is due to this.
I'd rather have a broken in, good quality used cable than a new cheapy.
The outer vinyl casing, when damaged, can be renewed by putting a heat shrink covering over it. 12mm shrink tubing with a 2:1 shrink ratio works well. The additional layer would probably add to it's uncompressable stiffness.
 
jensen said:
If possible I add a cable lubricate hardware directly to the cable on a place where they are not visible, preferably under the fuel tank. I take off the fuel tank before adjusting the valves, and lubricate the cables the same time. Since these items are also available in grey, I'm a huge fan! Cutting away a small piece of the cable shielding does hurt, but in most cases the shielding is damaged on a few places anyway. In the beginning these were only available in black, and only for bicycles (smaller diameter), but since a few years also available in larger diameters and in grey. Standard mounted on my CB450 K0 rider underneath the fuel tank on the throttle cable and clutch cable. I got this idea from the older CB72 (mainly rear brake) cables (1961-1962), Honda mounted the lubrication points standard on these cables. These where also installed on the front brake cable. Lubricating these cables on my CB72'62 is very easy, and part of a regular routine. Honda did crimp them, but the one I show is clamped around the cable (you squeeze the metal part until it's fixated. I use a little silicon bases liquid gasket to seal them off. I have the black ones installed underneath the fuel-tank on my CB400F throttle cables, as well on the clutch cable. I even use them on my Kawasaki KR1-s on all the cables including the power-valve cables.




I found an early CB72 cable on Ebay, item nr. 204280117118 and it's clearly to see how Honda did this:



Jensen
Click to expand...
I had a clutch cable from CA95 with an oiler that failed due to binding caused by a split in the metal oiler that allowed the coil housing to displace and it bound up on the inner wire. I believe it was an old stock aftermarket cable and the oiler was poor quality and poorly installed.
As a bicycle mechanic, I took pride in all my cable work with all housings cut, then ground perfectly flat with close fitting ferrules and lengths precise for each location,. This all made for minimal compression or deflection and accurate transfer of applied force.

Additionally you can use a good quality black cable and make it grey with the heat shrink over sheathing.
 
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