Why Won't Choke Return to Closed Position?

[villainous_gamgee]

You can watch a short clip of my issue at the linked to Imgure post.

When I open the choke all the way, it pulls the arm up just fine. But when I go to return the choke to the closed position, the cable end just slides through without pushing the arm back down. Am I missing a spring or something? Cable length is correct; this is a new cable and it measure the same as the old one. That is why I'm assuming I've missed a piece somewhere when installing this new cable.

[Nessism]

The arm on the choke shaft is binding. It should move down under spring load of the plungers. Something on the carb choke linkage hardware is binding.

[chuck hahn]

I agree with Ed, binding somewhere in the connector rod that runs the length of the rack. There is also a spring on the left end of the choke rod. That spring tension along with the springs on the choke assemblies themselves should be more tan adequate to close them. Habe you lubed the shaft where it passes through the base plate? Will they close with some gente finger assistance?

[rphillips]

Only with the new "improved" cable operated choke system. Thinking that would've never been a problem if choke had stayed on carb bank where it had worked perfectly forever. Dang shame they were working on the choke, that there was nothing wrong with, instead of the electrical or clutch problems they were known for back then.

[villainous_gamgee]

Nessism chuck hahn I went and checked and indeed, it is binding up at the choke rod somehow/where. I just went through the carbs recently so it makes sense. Hopefully I can fix it without having to pull the carbs back off.

Could it be caused by the screws that attach the choke rod to the plungers being too tight? Everything appears to be installed correctly so I'm not sure why it would be binding. It does close with some slight finger assistance. So perhaps all it needs is some lube as suggested.

[Big T]

Are all of the lifter arms installed correctly?

[chuck hahn]

Good point. If you look at the lifters from the side youll notice the lobes are different sizes. The larger lobe goes toward the carb

[Rob S.]

Last time my carbs were off, it was quite a bit of hammering and bending to straighten out the metal plates that the rod goes through.

Although I fondly remember the simplicity of lever on the carb of my '71 Honda and '73 Kaw, Suzuki has (on paper, at least) 'reasoning' behind the remote choke operation. In '81, the knob was located at the center of the handlebars on the 11E. Locating the ignition key there was all the rage in the '70's, even if it didn't come that way from the factory.

Moving the control to the left handlebar in '82 allowed fiddling with the choke while holding the clufch in, because "Suzukis required a lot of choke fiddling during start up." At least that was the way Cycle World reported it in 1982.

Mine requires a strong thumb to actuate it, but very easily returns with just a slight push on the lever. A great solution for a problem that never existed.