Servicing time can eat into riding time and so sometimes we’re choosy about just which tasks to perform. Personally, I’m right on top of washing the bike, cleaning air filters and changing oil.

But lubricating cables? I do it a bit, but know plenty of blokes who only do it if they have to, such as when the ’stupid bloody thing’ is seized and won’t work due to lack of lovin’.

It’s actually only a five minute job and can not only save you dollars, but make the bike nicer to ride.

Most of you know that I love to use the clutch to improve my riding, so a smooth and easy to use clutch lever is a must. A clutch cable and/or perch that is clogged with crud makes the lever harder to pull in, which can be a major cause of arm pump.

Throttle control is also vital, also being much easier with a smooth set of throttle cables.

So, let’s begin with a dirty specimen. No, not the one from Bindaree Falls, for those who made the Buller trip, but the dirty cable on my 450X.

Remove the lever and cable from the perch. Firstly, take out the bolt that holds the lever to the perch. You might need another spanner to hold the lock nut on the bottom end of the bolt.

Adjust the quick adjust cable adjuster on the perch so that you have as much free play as possible. Then remove the lever from the end of the cable.

Then line up the slot in the quick adjuster screw with the slot in the perch and take the cable out. You need to pull the cable through both the rubber cover and the rubber quick adjuster. Both should be cleaned out with a rag for the best job. Then you’re left just with a cable.

All this crud on all these components works to create more friction and wear, neither of which we want.

So, to clean the cable, firstly use a rag to wipe the crap off the bit you can see. Then we take our ten dollar cable - luber, available from all good Honda shops (Ed: rumour has it that Yamaha actually make a really good two - bolt model, but I can’t tell you that) and affix it to the cable.

Then, use something like Contact cleaner or Castrol DWF (De - Watering - Fluid) to blast the crap out of the cable.

Contact cleaner is probably the best, as it leaves no residue, however it’s fairly pricey. It is also ace for cleaning the crud off the lever and perch, but there are certainly cheaper options involving more labour and perhaps a rag. Good luck with that.

Most times, I use a rag to cover the cable luber, as dirty wet grime tends to spray all over the joint. Cable - lubers tend to leake a little where the cable comes out the top end.

How long do you spray for? Until all the crud is gone! Check the other end of the cable and when dirty discharge has been replaced by clean discharge, you should stop, as after this you’re just wasting fluid.

If you’re pedantic (Ed: I don’t like the word anal much), you might want to stick a rag under this end to catch the crud.

Then, I replace the Contact cleaner with a can of graphite spray, which I find works really well. You only need to spray a little, just enough for some to start weeping out the other end of the cable. You’ll know when it does, the ooze will return to graphite - black.

Now you can re - assemble all the bits. Feed the cable back thru the rubber adjuster and cover, then onto the perch via the slot. Attach the newly - cleaner lever. You can use a little light grease on the end of the cable where it connects to the lever, the lever where it rubs on the perch and the bolt that attaches the lever to the perch, but only a very little or it will attract crud.

Re adjust your lever free - play so that you’ve got a little free play, go and put your riding gear on and enjoy the thing.

I think that whilst hydraulic clutches certainly have some advantages, particularly in that they self adjust and are often nice and light at clutch pull time, they are not as reliable as the old cable and perhaps thus less suited to trail use.

We’ve had a couple get some water into the fluid on recent tours and either not work at all or take a fair bit of work to get going again. Note that they take mineral oil not brake fluid, as brake fluid eats into the rubbers.

Lubing your throttle cables is very similar to the above, excepting that you need a little more patience sometimes to get the throttle and cables back together. You also can’t see the other end of the cables, as they are hidden under a plastic cover on the right hand side of the FCR carby.

Suffice it to say that the crud spewing out the other end of the cable when you blast contact cleaner down it does not enter your carby, but will just ooze into the void under the plastic cover, causing no real issues.

When re - assembling the throttle, some graphite spray or 5 WT fork oil (Ed: or Auto Transmission Fluid, which is just like fork oil) works well to lubricate between the newly - cleaned throttle tube and the handlebar.

Beware, don’t put too much force into the 6mm bolts that hold the throttle cover together, they can strip out fairly easily.

After much procrastination (Ed: dicking about) I finally have the proposed 2009 tour schedule for you.

I say ‘proposed’ as I’m still planning and have some crazy - arsed ideas, such as an advanced rider only trip to the coast and back. Say, Lakes Entrance?

The girls bemoan the Groggin trip, as it’s an incredible amount of work for them, but I couldn’t let our best tour (Ed: arguably, Buller’s gotta be up there, the riding on Yack to Eskdale is sublime and Bono reckons he enjoyed Benambra the best this year) go to the dogs. So the ever popular three day Groggin adventures are back.

I’ve got a couple of plans to ease the girls workload, so we should be right to go again.

We’ve got a new tour, to Harrietville, that has awesome potential. The Snowline Hotel - Motel has upmarket (for us anyway) accommodation and gives access to some beaut real high country terrain.

I’m undecided yet if it will be ‘Yack to Harrietville’ or just ‘Harrietville’.

The September tour listed as Eskdale will either be just that, or at Yackandandah again. Hopefully the near - naked bunnies come to the pub again to keep you blokes amused.

If anyone has a great idea for a tour to a new destination, let me know and we’ll see if it can be made to work.

Here’s the dates. I already have bookings for some tours, despite not having dates at the time, so if you feel you just must go on a particular tour, I wouldn’t stuff about, as our limit is 20.

You bloggers have an advantage on the world, as the dates have not been released elsewhere yet, however they will be very shortly.

28/29/30 March
3 day Tom Groggin Adventure

19th April
Trail Coaching Day - Yackandandah

2/3 May
Harrietville - New Tour

20/21 June
Yackandandah to Eskdale

4 July
Trail Coaching Day - Yackandandah

5 July
Single day ride - Yackandandah

1 August
Yackandandah Charity Bash

12/13 September
Eskdale

10/11/12 October
3 day Tom Groggin Adventure

7/8 November
Mt Buller

All two day tours will be $350, 3 day tours $450.
Coaching days and single day rides $100. Small rises to combat the large rises we’ve faced, especially food, but pretty well everything.

Regards,

Rod Lay
Online Off Road Tours
8 Railway Ave Yackandandah Vic 3749
0407271548
rod@onlineoffroadtours.com.au
www.onlineoffroadtours.com.au

Twin City Engineering is an Albury based engineering shop run by, and full of, dirt bike nuts. Andrew Houlihan, aka ‘Hooligan’ is the boss nut and he and I have been bashing bars for years.

The factory’s main focus is high - end, high - tech engineering, such as CNC machining.

Due to their bent towards dirt bikes however, they also turn out a range of bike stuff.

I’ve been testing one of their quick lift stands for a few years now. Previously, I’d made my own from mild steel and was happy with the result. However there’s no doubt the TCR stand is way better.

This is a brand new one I scabbed of Andrew to use at the Expo. It’s ultra high quality. Made of stainless, it’s designed to last forever and should look new it’s entire life.

It’s got enough lift to suit a range of motorcycles and allows you to get either or both wheels off the ground if needs be.

It’s got a hard plastic plate to stand your bike on, which is really tough and should last ages, if not the life of the stand. Probably longer than you.

It’s got a hard nylonish bush in the guts that’s makes the operation silky smooth and stops it tilting to either side when raised, so your bike is unlikely to fall off the leaning tower of Pisa (Ed: Yes Corbett, I’m referring to your dodgy example!)

It’s got good nuts too, with quality bolts, as you can see.

Pictured here is my several years old model, holding up the 450X. It’s on an angle, but that’s no drama.

Because the lift plate is sufficiently wide enough to provide insurance against lazy arses.

What do I do with it? Well, for starters, I leave my bikes on a stand whenever possible when not riding them. Less pressure on the springs equals reduced spring sag and better suspension performance.

Everyone wants better suspension performance, it’s more important that better engine performance.

I use them when changing tyres, obviously. I’ve changed more than a hundred tyres with it. If you put the stand towards the rear of the bike, the back wheel comes off the ground. Towards the front, the front’s up, in the middle, both hover.

This makes tyre changing much easier at home. The static stands that you have to lift the bike onto are okay, but in my mind nowhere near as good as a quicklift stand.

Also, I use the stand when performing any type of work on the bike whatsoever. It’s easier to work on the bike when it’s upright. The left hand side is always harder to get to when the bike’s leant over on the side stand.

The leverage ratio is a winner. It’s simple to use your foot to raise the bike, requiring minimal effort.

To lower it, just tuck your toes under the pedal and lift gently - down she goes. I’ve done it in bare feet. I don’t recommend it, but that shows how easy it is to use.

The TCR stand is definately on of the best bits of kit in my shed. Ballards advertise the ‘world’s best quicklift stand’. It’d want to be bloody good, as the TCR stand is a blinder.

Go to www.twincityengineering.com.au to score one, or call Andrew on 0412 041 381.

Bias factor: Medium. Andrew is a friend of mine whom I’ve known for more than ten years. However this is offset by the long term of the test (several years).

What is the retail cost? Dunno! About 150 bucks? I just reckon it’s the best stand I’ve ever used and everyone should have a good stand.

Also, my ‘08 CRF450R will be available soon, say after the first week in December. It’s done about 12 hours only and is in near new condition. New tyres, X - ring chain and sprockets.

The plastics are brand new, having never been on the bike.

Yeah, it ran in the Finke, but only at race pace for 2 hrs and 37 minutes, as I nursed it home at less than trail pace with a busted hand.

7.5 ono.

Rod

0407271548

Cheap. 2008 CRF450X. Done approx. 2800 kms. Well serviced. No damage. Ridden by Don and Monty, so probably never ever been above half throttle!

Good Pirelli tyres. Ultra Heavy Duty tubes. Force bashplate.

All new plastics (front and rear mudguards, side plates, shrouds, headlight) come with it in a box.

Registered, comes with indicators etc.

$7500

Bargain.

Call Rod 0407271548