Cables in motorcycle froze! Can I use lithium? Best method?

Question

I drained water after Thaw.

Answer 1

I'd flush them with ATF or Liquid Wrench.

Lithium Grease is fine,,,but it wont flush them.

To get stuff to "Pour" down the cable....

Try making a funnel from a plastic bag.

Cut a small snip off the corner so it makes a hole the cable will go thru & into the bag.

Twist the bag around the cable a bit,,,then wrap it tight with a rubber band,,a twist tie,,some soft small wire or whatever to seal it to the cable.

Pour whatever into the bag,,and it will funnel the stuff down the cable.

Seems like a lotta hassle,,I know.

But if they Froze,,,that typically permeates the twisted Inner Cable.
When thawed,,the water drizzles out.
But Capillary Action holds some moisture within the cable's core.

INNER cable begins rusting "inside out",,,and cable life is drastically shortened.

Common for Outer Sheath's coils to hold water too..which gravity alone wont fully drain out of the cable.

They wick-up water better than seems possible in many instances.

Flushing them Does make a Big Mess on the downstream end.
The stuff has gotta come out somewhere.

I would at least hose them good w/ WD40 and work the control several times.

Normally if you catch it within a few days,,Rust is not a problem down the road.

If you just wanna inject the lithium,,,Use the bag rig.
Give it a squirt of WD40 to help the lithium get down the cable easier.
The slice the tip off the lithiun nozzle at an angle ==/.....so it'll try to wedge into cable.

You'll have nozzle and Inner cable parallel,,,,
wrap a small piece of paper towel about 1~2" long around Inner cable and nozzle to "bind them together" and to form a packing.
TWIST the bag tight around the the whole deal,,,and wrap it with tape,,or more twist ties.

The entire junction oughta then be pressure sealed,,and not balloon out when you start spraying.
Only "Exit" hole is Down the cable,,,so spray away!

Sounds tacky,,,( it IS )but takes just a minute with common stuff laying around.
And doesnt need to be real fancy or done with much care.

Might save your cables,,,and will Surely at least extend their life.
They'll work better meanwhile also.

Good Luck with it!

***** If they start feeling Odd thru next few weeks,,,especially THROTTLE....
Change it,,,before it changes You.

Answer 2

you can check your local bike shop they make an inexspensive tool especialy 4 cables.It just slips around the cable housing usely pretty snug and it has a small insert 4 a lube tip I recommend using cable lube not lithium cause lithium is so thick. It will allow you to force lubrication down the cable.

Answer 3

If you drained water, then most likely the cable and inner sheath (it's made of metal) got rusted and are not going to work properly. Buy new ones.
Now you know why the cables should be lubed on a regular basis.
You can buy cable lubers and cable lube here -
http://www.powersportrider.com/CGI-BIN/ZCATJPG?catpub=ST0206C&catpage=1082.00

Answer 4

If you can pull the cable out of the housing and coat with lithium. That should work.

Answer 5

Use a thin oil to break loose.Lithium grease is good for later.

Answer 6

dang dude
where are you gettin lithium
i want sum