Cheap cheap throttle lock

[oztourer]

Call me cheap, but I was not up for spending much in order to be able to give my right hand some respite from those heavy ST vibes, so I came up with a free solution. I cut the bristles off a small cleaning brush meant for an electric clipper, wrapped a metal strap around the upper throttle cable feed pipe and bolted it tight. I added the drilled out brush handle to the bolt followed by a rubber washer and another nut. Result: in my opinion, one neat looking throttle lock.

When pressed down the lock works by jamming the rubber of the right grip to the twist grip body, holding it in place. A flick of the thumb releases it. The lock is held quite tightly by the nut and rubber washer, but it's the friction of the grip that holds it in the locked position.

Hopefully the attached photos clarify.

Update Feb 2012: I had to cut off my left grip which a previous owner had superglued in place, to install a new left switchblock (for an electric screen conversion, another story...). As a result I had to replace my grips and I ended up with a nice soft Ducati pair. Unfortunately the throttle lock pictured here is a complete fail with soft grips, they just deform and do not grip the lock lever.

 

[dduelin]

Very creative but something is wrong with your bike if it has "heavy ST vibes".

 

[oztourer]

Very creative but something is wrong with your bike if it has "heavy ST vibes".

I wondered if anyone would bite

 

[jfheath]

Looks interesting. Can i ask - does it interfere with the steering if it flicks all the way over ?

 

[stgolfer]

Or another cheap, very easy solution I used on my Concours was a Rubber O-ring that resided on the bar end. Push it over and it creates friction between the grip and the bar end. You just have to get one big enough to fit on the bar end and thick enough that it won't get stuck between the grip and the bar end.

 

[DonMac]

I bought a generic throttle lock for $8.00 from the stealer. It works just fine.
Don McDonald

 

[oztourer]

Looks interesting. Can i ask - does it interfere with the steering if it flicks all the way over ?

I don't think that will ever happen. as it's held quite firmly. Good question though, I loosened the retaining nut to check and the brush handle rested on the brake lever and just cleared the instrument panel.

I am actually on the new, more expensive, mk II model now. I removed the rubber washer and added a locknut to the outside nut so that it cannot back off.

 

[oztourer]

Or another cheap, very easy solution I used on my Concours was a Rubber O-ring that resided on the bar end. Push it over and it creates friction between the grip and the bar end. You just have to get one big enough to fit on the bar end and thick enough that it won't get stuck between the grip and the bar end.

That's a solution I have never tried but I think it will suffer from the same issue I had with a bar-end lock on my GS - it's nowhere near my opposable thumb. I had to take my hand off the bars to operate that one, whereas this lock is right where it needs to be for thumb operation while riding.

 

[stgolfer]

You have opposable thumbs? Yours is easier to use, while mine is cheap with no thought involved. It DOES take getting used to, but since I only used it on the highway, I wasn't worried about moving my hands around. I have a throttlemeister now, which was on the bike when I bought it. It also does not need opposable thumbs to operate, but is expensive.

 

[oztourer]

I bought a generic throttle lock for $8.00 from the stealer. It works just fine.
Don McDonald

That's a great price. I've not seen anything at anywhere near that price here in Australia, or on eBay. Still, yours was cheap, mine was cheap cheap