How to keep your throttle snappy
“I use it like cruise control,” said the oddly proud owner of a Suzuki Bandit as he presented his bike, complete with badlysticking throttle, for MoT. “It’s really handy on the motorway.” He was genuinely upset when I told him that it needed to be sorted in order to pass, he just couldn’t see how much of a risk it posed. Real cruise control is clever stuff and relies on software, servos and fail safes, and is always overridden by a rider’s input on the brake or throttle in the case of an emergency. A sticky throttle won’t shut off if you need to do an emergency stop and while your brain’s concentrating on the hazard ahead you simply won’t have the spare capacity to remember to shut the throttle as well as brake. Aside from big panic situations, just having a slightly sticking throttle at low rpm can also put you at risk of dropping your bike while parking or filtering.