GS500F Throttle Question

[CrioGeniC]

As I was out cleaning my bike yesterday, I noticed that the throttle on my mechanism has a bit of play in it. From side to side, I would say it is about an 1/8th of an inch slide. Probably about the same when actually engaging the throttle, just meaning there is some slack in there before the cable actually engages during the twist. I have taken the bar end off and didnt see anything that could have looked broken.

I am no mechanic by any means, just wondering if this is something that is normal or can be tightened up by myself or should I have it checked out by the dealer.

Thanks for your time,

Crio

[oldschoolorange]

You can adjust it. there is probably an adjuster at the grip end and at the carb end. just unscrew the adjuster at the grip end until you have the slack taken up. After you adjust it start the bike up in neutral and turn the steering head side to side (lock to lock) to insure you are not stretching the cable when you turn because you have overtightened it. You are going to have to adjust your throttle and clutch cables pereodicly as they will stretch over time

[CrioGeniC]

Thanks for the info Oldschoolorange,

I was able to adjust the cables like you said to get the twist play out of it, but it seems if I tighten it to the point of getting the side to side play out of it, it causes the throttle return tension to be to tight and the throttle will not return to the off position.
Looks like I will just swing by the shop on Monday and see if one of the mechs can take a quick look at it.

Thanks again for the help,

Crio

[TechTMW]

Loosen it back up.

The throttle has built-in slack for safety reasons - it helps prevent or minimize accidental blipping of the throttle in some instances. It's set from the factory that way, and there's even a specification of how much play there should be in the shop manual. Now that you've overtightened it, you've created a bit of a safety hazard. Just loosen it up to where it was and let it be. (That's what a good mechanic will do anyway)

[CrioGeniC]

Thanks Tech,

That is what I did before I went riding today. I made sure that the throttle worked like it did before I started tinkering with the adjustments.

I did look in the owners manual and it gives the specs for the twist play. Both of the adjusters were all the way closed before i started. I wound up adjusting both of them about a quarter of the way out to get rid of the slack and to be as close as I can get it to the manual specs. It still has the side to side slack but it got rid of the twist slack.

I know there is a guy at work that has a 2006 GS500. I was going to look at his in the morning to see if he had any side to side play, or maybe if he has a spacer or something that I might be missing.

Thanks again,
Crio