Getting ready to lube my new S/S cables before installing them. I have used dri-slide cable lube in the past. Good lube, however, it will darken/blacken the stainless steel cable around the fittings where you apply the dri-slide. Has anyone tried Tri-flow lube?? I heard it will not darken the cable like dri-slide. What lube do you use?????

 

Tri-flow sprays clear. used it for years. My friend has his own bike shop and thats what he uses.

 

I know this may seem like a dumb question, but I have never done it before, so I was wondering what the proceedure for lubing your cables is. Just spraying each end where they pivot or what???

I change all my own fluids and do that maitenance, but have only had cables checked and lubed when in the shop for service.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

The sprays & powders are a good - for a bit, but they dry out fairly quickly. This is most obvious on the clutch cable.

I made an aluminum block that bolts together and has a threaded hole to accept the end of a grease gun. Maybe twice a year, I'll take the clutch lever off and bolt my grease block "around" the lever end of the clutch cable and slowly "force" grease down into the clutch cable using a standard grease gun.

I have never felt an HD clutch smoother and/or easier to pull than one feels after lubing the cable this way - including the new "easy pulls" or hydraulic clutches. I think there are a few forum members that will attest to that, as several of us use this grease block.

 

I am getting ready to install Diamond Back cables on my RKC and read nothing about having to lube the cables before installation. I know you need to occasionally, but do they not come from the manufacture lubed?

 

Tri Flow is all I'll use on my bikes. Started wrenching in a Schwinn shop in 6th grade back in the 70's (LOL), used it then and still do to this day.

 

If you search around, you can actually find a thing, I think its called a power lube... It's a machined piece of aluminum with a set screw, and it will hold most cable heads and then you put the can of Tri-flow, with the little straw thing in the hole, and it works great. Have a 78 XS 650 that has gray cables, and Tri-Flow is what I use. Cleans up easily, and I have never had it discolor anything except my jeans when it gets full of funk. Have not done anything to the X yet, it is still in the shop for the warranty work or buyback decision...

 

You can buy a cable lube attachment from any aftermarket bike parts and accesories. Basically you loosen your cable to its full slack position and your clmp on wear you have all the excesive free play and you insert the straw and spray into it. I use triflow because it has good lubricant in it unlike WD40 its more of a penitrant to break loose rusted parts, and its also like a degreeser or it breaks down lubricant.