Hi There As some of you may know I am working on a cosmetic refurbishment of a 1995 Ducati 600SS, which is now nearing completion. Having got most of the body etc back on I am having trouble with the choke. It was all working well before the winter but having just put the controls back onto new handlebars it (the cable) seems to be stuck. Having detached the cable and tried with pliers I cannot get the cable to budge. When attaching the cable I only just get the nipple of the cable into the recess in the choke control and from there it will not budge.....and I am afraid that if I try to hard it will snap the plastic choke control. So before I end up taking half the bike apart to get to the other end of the choke between the carbs, I thought I would post on here to see if there might be a) something I was missing or b) a simple fix. So any thoughts much appreciated.
I haven't fiddled with the handlebar end of the cable, but I'm thinking that the nipple is projecting from it's recess and catching on something........because it happened on my throttle cable in the twistgrip. My suggestion is take the choke lever off again and fit the cable and tape it in position when it is in place, before it goes back on the handlebar....
The handlebar end is fine and as the other end is clamped I am assuming that the choke mechanism must be stuck somehow. I'll have a fiddle tomorrow.
Well reading your original post again, I don't think anybody would criticise me for thinking the problem was at the handlebar end. Yes, the choke linkage on the carbs can stick (especially if it is incorrectly assembled) but a blast with WD40 should move it if you don't want to take it off, but if you do, be careful with the parts and remember which way round they are............It's a sliding flat bar which can get seriously corroded and grubby, held in by some plastic inserts.
as AL says if you study vacinity of choke 'link bar' to see where it protrudes on side of carburretors you should be able to manually operate it with a carefully placed index finger (even easier when cable not connected at handlebar end). If you can't (with cable disconnected at handlebar) then it's either (as AL has said) the actual linkage snagging somehow or the cable - it can be the cable is poorly routed or it's corroded within. As you have it disconnected at handlebars it's the perfect opportunity to dribble WD etc thin lubricant from handlebar end whilst holding cable vertical.
My bet is a corroded cable, it does not take much to make them go bad. When in my care I always lubricated the cables annually. A new cable would be a good investment IMHO.
