Bad things happen at bad times.

[JonC03]

So i got home from work tonight and had to run to the store. So went back to the car to leave and it wouldnt start. Stupid car! Then a thought popped in my head, hey, jump on the bike.

Threw the helmet on and set of glasses and went to pull the choke and felt a snap. Yup choke cable broke about a foot down the line. So now i still need to go to the grocery store and i have a broke down car and a broke down bike.

Best yet is were leaving saturday for a two day motorcycle trip. So does anyone have a choke cable for a 1980 GS850GL???

[MassJosh]

on the side of the carb it can be pulled by hand. If your clutch has to be in to crank the engine over, you can lean your body on the clutch lever and use your hand to hold the rod on the carbs.

When I had my GS850 I broke my clutch cable at the lever, and rode with a pair of vise grips hanging off the bottom of the lever for a few days till the new one came in.

[JonC03]

Yeah you can pull out the clutch on the carbs. Did that tonight to make sure i wasnt going to have to cancel the trip. Bike is a 80 850gl. The clutch mounts above the gas tank and below the gauges. Its a pull out style not a lever on the handle bars.

[Redman]

..
...
... So does anyone have a choke cable for a 1980 GS850GL???

I have a clutch cable and a throttle cable (for 82 1100G) that I could run up to you, but dont have a choke cable. BUt If I did it would be for the lever-on-left-grip type.

Good that you dont have to cancel trip.

.

[Carter Turk]

If you have CV carbs, use a Bic pen cap to hold the choke open on the left side sitting on the bike. Push it under the choke bar and start as normal. Back it out as needed.

[tkent02]

You can disable the silly clutch switch and work the choke left handed like a normal bike.

[Flyboy]

Like everyone said, but surely it is not that cold there yet that you would need the choke to start the bike?
In 28 years of riding GS's I have very seldom ever had to use the choke to start them.

[tkent02]

In 28 years of riding GS's I have very seldom ever had to use the choke to start them.

In South Africa.....
You probably don't have to use snow tires much either.

[Flyboy]

That is true, but that is why I said, surely it is not that cold there yet, just at the end of summer, moving into autumn.

[Sandy]

I had my choke cable disconnect itself from the carbs due to too much play in the cable. I was in the middle of a trip and thought the cable had probably broken so I made myself a wooden wedge, activated the choke by hand at the carbs and stuck the wedge in. The taper allowed me to regulate the idle speed as it warmed up. This was on VM carbs.

[duaneage]

I used a screwdriver to hold the choke open on the carb when I broke mine until a replacement showed up.

[ronin1166]

If you have CV carbs, use a Bic pen cap to hold the choke open on the left side sitting on the bike. Push it under the choke bar and start as normal. Back it out as needed.

Ha Ha.

When I first opened this thread, I immediately thought of your pen-cap trick.

As a first-person witness, I'll verify this works...CT did this for YEARS!


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[JonC03]

Well i took it out for a test ride tonight before our trip of almost 400 miles tomorrow and sunday. Didnt use a bic pen cap though that is a good idea. Instead used a black and decker #2 philips double ended screwdriver bit. Only reason that over the pen cap was i couldnt find a pen and i found a screwdriver bit while i was looking. Needless to say it worked just fine for the time being until i get ahold of a new cable. Great suggestion on the pen cap. Thanks