1972 Airhead throttle cable issues

[bigvic54]

I have an issue with my 1972 Airhead R75/5 throttle cables.

I can't get the throttle cables to give me slack at the carb. The rpm's won't go down because the cables are too tight. I have screwed the adjusters all the way down, checked the handle bar side and every thing looks right. The cable were on the bike when I bought them

Any ideas?

 

[20774]

I wonder if the bars have been changed...or maybe the previous owner added an item called barbacks which pull the bars farther back. The fiche shows these types of bars:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=0260-EUR-01-1972-2476-BMW-R75_5&diagId=32_0749

There are two different lengths of cables because of this. Maybe you can do some measurements using a piece of string to see which ones you have. The difference between them is around 90mm or 3.5 inches:

RealOEM.com - Online BMW Parts Catalog

BMW parts R50/5-R90S 69-76 R75/5 Accelerator cable

www.realoem.com

Could also be the way they're routed.

 

[88bmwjeff]

If they were on the bike when you bought them, had the proper slack and you didn’t change the handle bars, then I woul concentrate on the routing of the cables (as Kurt suggested).

 

[beemerguru]

I have an issue with my 1972 Airhead R75/5 throttle cables.

I can't get the throttle cables to give me slack at the carb. The rpm's won't go down because the cables are too tight. I have screwed the adjusters all the way down, checked the handle bar side and every thing looks right. The cable were on the bike when I bought them

Any ideas?

Did you have the throttle top off to examine the cable connection to the gear cam?

 

[stevenrankin]

This could very well be a case of previous owner's disease.
Wrong cables installed, or as Kurt suggested right cables but stretched due to bar backs, Routing, or the throttle cam is off a tooth.

There might be a part number printed on the cables that you can check against the BMW microfiche at Max BMW's website. St.

 

[Lendog]

I have an issue with my 1972 Airhead R75/5 throttle cables.

I can't get the throttle cables to give me slack at the carb. The rpm's won't go down because the cables are too tight. I have screwed the adjusters all the way down, checked the handle bar side and every thing looks right. The cable were on the bike when I bought them

Any ideas?

the timing could be advanced too much or you may a vaccum issue

 

[PGlaves]

I agree that the twistgrip gear is probably off a tooth. This causes more cable up in the housing and less cable in the sheath, effectively shortening the cable. Check this before doing anything else.

 

[80092]

Cable length Low/Euro bars are1007 mm long, Standard US bars 1096 mm long. Source Max parts fische