replace choke cable?

[Curtis_Valk]

....they have a nasty habit of breaking at the speedo the little plastic ring that holds it to the....

Ohhhhhhhhh heheheh sorry Yeah Choke not Clutch LOL..

I never heard of a clutch cable breaking at the speedo either.    Allen are you off your meds again??? ROTF!!

Curtis

[SkyRide]

JPeleven2002,

It is good to find another magna in SA .  I'm on the NW side, Culebra at Grisson.  Mine is an 83 so the choke is different, but if you just want  another set of hands, come on over.  Besides the dealers here, we have ABEs down by the coliseum.  They are interesting people to deal with and evidently their history is more interesting, but they do have a large collection of used parts and bikes they can pull parts from.  If you can't find what you need on EBay, you could give them a try.

Rick Frankenberger

[Dlcarrales]

Are you sure it is broke?  Mine came loose once and I just had to tighten the nut behind the choke lever that keeps it snug on the bracket. If you can take a picture of the problem before spending money on parts it may help.  Good Luck and welcome to MOOT.

[jpeleven2002]

Hi Rick and David, thanks for your replys.  Rick, I'm NC, outside the loop at Blanco.  Thanks for the heads up about ABES.  If you have any mechanical skills, it might be useful to have to around, whether you pick up a wrench or not.  David, the knob broke at the threads, so I can't tighten it to the bracket.  I tried to add a pic, but couldn't figure out how to.  I might even try to superglue the knob (haha) until I have a chance to replace it.

[dgc67]

to post a pic first upload to an online photo hosting site.  I use http://tinypic.com and there is photobucket too.
Once you upload it there it will give you a link for a message board.  copy and paste in here.

[jpeleven2002]

ok, thanks  I was able to load a pic.  (see above) Not sure if it does anyone any good or if anyone really cares . . ., but this is what I'm dealing with.  And I think I won't try to super glue it . . . with my luck, it'll glue the whole thing down and I won't be able to choke it.  (right  now, I CAN choke it, I just have to use both hands to get it done)

[drkngas]

My choke cable broke in the same way.  Replacement was the only fix. 
I think it was around $25 at the dealer. It was a one man job, less than an hour.

[jpeleven2002]

ok, I don't want to beat a dead horse with this choke cable thing, but which way would be easier?  To take off the carbs, or the fuel tank?  I've seen both those answers in replies here.  Basically, I want to know the easiest way to do it.  Thank you all for responding

[lragan]

It is not at all clear to me what has to be removed to get to the business end of the "choke" cable, but to get the carbs out, you have to remove the tank first.

Removing the tank if quite simple.   First you have to remove the seat.  There is a 12 mm bolt at the back fender, and on a stock seat, two bolts, one on each side just behind the rider position.  Lift up and back to remove the seat and set it aside.  It is not necessary to remove the backrest.

1) Turn the fuel petcock to the "off" position (straight down on my 3rd gen.)  This is the most important step.
2) Using a pair of pliers if necessary, loosen the bent wire hose clamp and work it off the petcock further up the hose.
3) Remove the hose.
4) Using the proper allen wrench, remove the bolt at the back of the tank.
5) Gently lift the tank, reach under it and remove the breather tube from the bottom of the tank.
6) Pull up and back to disengage the tank from the front rubber grommets and lift it off.

I usually put a shop towel on the carport floor so I can set the tank on its "nose".  This is because my petcock doesn't turn off as cleanly as it should, and if just set the tank on the floor in its mounted position, it will leak gasoline.

Replacement is the reverse of this procedure.  Looks complex when I describe it, but the whole procedure takes about 2 or 3 minutes.

Good luck.

[Greg Cothern]

I would pull the tank first to see if I could get to the cable while carbs still on bike, if not, yank the carbs and make sure you go after the slow speed jets and pilot jet adjustment while your there.

My son Devin is at UT, if you can get a hold of him, he knows the carbs well enough, as does Lawrence among others.

[Lurkin]

I had the exact same thing happen.  You can easily replace the choke cable after removing the tank.  You can get to the front choke connection pretty easily from the top then.  You DO NOT need to remove the carbs, unless you want to of course.

Rod...

[dgc67]

See, John, you get the BEST advice on THIS forum!!

[jpeleven2002]

Thanks guys!  With Iragan's step by step about the gas tank, and Rod's assurance, I think I just might try this myself!  I'll let you know how it goes  Thanks again

[drkngas]

I did not have to remove the carbs when I did my choke cable last year.  It was way easier than I thought it would be.  Removing the seat, then the tank is something every Magna owner should know.  Gotta get to that air filter sometime.

[jpeleven2002]

ok, guys, I finally got around to replacing the choke cable on the bike.  Took the gas tank off easily enough, but it was still a tight fit to get to it.  There's a little steel clamp that secures the cable, and this is what I had trouble with.  Getting the tank off didn't really give me easy access, but it gave me a little more room to work.  I ended up bending the clamp just a little to free the cable.  It has a star-type screw head on it, and the space was minimal, as far as getting a tool on it.  My buddy pulled the choke knob to get (the business end) closer to me from the right side of the bike and I was able to jimmy it free and put the new one on.  It was a simple job and I'm sure someone who's worked on bikes before would probably roll their eyes about me making a big deal of it, but . . . it was my first time attempting something like that and I feel pretty proud of it!  Thanks again for all your insight!