Shift lever - recipe for disaster...?

[Tomsinamerica]

So I thought I'd ask your collective advice... I just saw a thread on shift levers which reminded me of this problem...

Some time last year, I was towing someone with perfect pass set (luckily) Throttle was pushed pretty much half way forwards, (45 degrees from vertical)... I noticed a towel flapping around and took my hand from the throttle lever to grab it... At this point in time I also went over someone else's wake... The thing that worried me is that upon coming down from the wake, the momentum of the chrome shift knob pushed the throttle down so the boat accelerated. Fortunately this acceleration was limited due to PP but it still worried me.

I mentioned this to my dealer and he told me that's the way it is, no way to fix it. Do you guys know differently? I know I should always have my hand on the throttle but there are times when that's not always the case and i'd like to prevent this from happening again.

Thanks,
Tom

[JohnE]

I know that on the newer dbw boats you can adjust the tension on the throttle. My 05 throttle was a little light and a big bump would throw the throttle forward if you didn't have your hand on it. I spoke with the dealer and he told me how to tighten it.....I never got around to it and traded it in a few months later.

[ncsone]

I have had the exact same issue happen that you described.

Along the lines of what JohnE said, there used to be a friction adjust for the throttle lever on the older assemblies, if I remember correctly. Not sure if the newer boats have it, but I am guessing that they probably do.

BTW, you can always order the mahogany throttle knob from SkiDIM and replace the chrome one. It is much lighter weight and I think that it would eliminate/reduce this problem.

[JohnE]

Yeah, on my 05 there was a screw to adjust the tension on the bottom of the lever. But you had to take something apart to get to it. I don't remember exactly what needed to come apart.

[ccowell]

On the same note, I have a 79 S&S and the throttle is hard to push. How can I clean this up and refurb it to get it to operate like yours?

Do I need to pull the cable out and clean it and re-grease it.

[didierz]

I never thought of that, luckley my skull is just under 1 3/4" and dosen't weigh much at all.

[east tx skier]

Mine must have the friction adjust. The only time I have to worry about that is when my 3 year old is in my lap and reaches over and burries the thing. Good way to get the blood pumping for sure. He has been warned.

[Big Dogg]

Mind you I dont have an MC but I feel i have imput on this topic. I see the safety side of the issue that you are talking about. My boat is a stern drive that has the exact opposite problem and is designed to fail "safe". My throttle is adjusted to work its way back to the forward but no throttle position when the driver removes their hand from the control. This is a huge PITA. Driving becomes a full time two handed operation. I mean even to the degree that if you do remove your hand as to grab a cool drink the boat will immediately start losing speed to the degree of probably 5mph. When I added PP the situation was fixed and I rarely drive without my hand on the throtte (safety conscience), but as a fail safe mechanism, it lacks some comfort features.

I believe its all in preference, the dealer I assume said it cannot be adusted because its a throttle by wire (computerized) system. However, I bet if you were to call the maker of your control (Teleflex?, Morse?) I would assume there would be an interal adjustment on the tension of the control itself

[bturner2]

Here's the installation PDF from the shifter on my previous 03 X2. Show's the friction brake screw.....

[Tomsinamerica]

Thanks...

I think mine's an 08 so it has the fly by wire... I might take it apart to see what I can find in there... With that said, I'd rather it's like it is that the opposite!