Are you guys talking about aftermarket cables only? Seems to be some confusion as to lube the stock HD 09' cables or not.

 

Not sure about the throttle cables being constructed the same, but the Dri-Slide sure loosened them up and didn't harm them so far in last month. The clutch cable however INSTANTLY reacted to the lube and got really tight and 'ratchity-gritty feeling'.

For you others here with OEM cables, feel free to use Dri-Slide/WD40/or whatever as per HD maint schedule.

When I called Magnum Shielding to order the new cable they agreed the lube did the damage and cautioned me no to lube the new clutch cable except for pivots and pins.

 

Thanks for the post, you sure saved me some grief as that was one of the things I intended to do next weekend.

Rick

 

Your welcome.

For you guys who do lube your clutch cables, the easiest and most effective way I disovered to do it was to unclamp the control from the bar leaving lever attached and raise it straight up, then lube using hypo needle attachment by injecting lube at cable ferrel.

 

+1 on that, my new Magnum clutch cable is in the mail now and I probably would have lubed it up at some point...

 

This is Magnum Shielding's response to my inguiry about lubricating their cables:

 

I have a very similar issue to the original poster and I am trying to figure out what happened.

About a week ago I burned up my clutch and after replacing the clutch pack I noticed the clutch pull was not only harder (I used the SE spring) but kind of "sticky". Now before I knew not to lube the magnum cable I used some Inox machine oil that I have used for years on clutch and throttle cables with good success. The stickyness did not go away so I pulled the primary and put the stock spring back in. This did not help either. Last night I pull the transmission cover and put the stock cable back on to test. My clutch was nice and smooth.

I used WD-40 on the magnum cable and I had quite a bit of redline tranny oil that came out of the transmission end of the cable. So my question is since these are so sensitive to lubrication is it possible that it reacted badly to the redline? I have only had this cable on for about 2 months and have just started riding heavily in the last month.

 

DO NOT USE Dry-Slide ON 09 STOCK CLUTCH CABLES. I got the same results. The cable will stick terribly. Makes controlling the clutch really difficult especially at slow speeds. I think I saved the cable by flushing it out with a light-weight synthetic lube. Still a little sticky but getting better. Looks like it will take a few miles to work the dry-lube out completely.

 

I came upon this site while cruising the web researching oils and lo and behold found out that I am not the only one with a "ratchety, sticky, gritty" clutch. I bought my 2009 Heritage Softail used from a dealer. The clutch seemed "weird" when I test rode it. "Just the cable", I thought, "Needs to be lubed". My husband rode and said that it "feels weird because it's newer and we're used to the older bikes with harder clutches" (he rides an 03 Springer Softail, I rode a 2000 Wide Glide) Well, I had them re-check the clutch before I bought it. A little better (or maybe wishful thinking?). Riding it I find myself having trouble easing the clutch out just right... dang thing is sticky... and releases in steps. I felt like a newbie the first morning I rode it to work when I just about stalled out and dropped the beast taking off in an intersection (WTF!). I just couldn't find the "sweet spot" . I had a mechanic check it out again and he adjusted and lubed it (Dri-Slide?) and it seemed a little... worse, grittier, more ratchety feeling. Hubby still thought "you're just not used to the easy clutch" and lubed with Dri-Slide to pacify my imaginary problems. A clutch is something you get used to over time on each bike, and I am still riding it and having problems (there is NO sweet spot in a ratchety clutch), but now I think I found the answer here - I will be replacing the cable now and let ya know what happens...

 

Good Infor ... Thanks