TheCabinetMan said:
Good morning, folks!
When I had my Wee-Strom, I installed a Throttlemeister to give me a break now-n-again whenever I was fighting numb hands or a sore wrist (vestigial effects of a broken wrist many moons ago). I won't say it was the "Greatest Product Ever!" but it worked as advertised and I used it enough to justify the cost.
Soooooo, I'd like to get something equivalent for my Super Ten. I see there's a Kaoko kit and something called an
Excel Throttle Control. From what I can gather doing searches, the Kaoko seems to perform as expected and the price is decent.
But does anybody here have experience with the Excel unit?
Thanx!
TCM
I use an Excel Throttle Control. In fact, I was lucky enough for Tom to allow me to participate in the development of the Excel specifically for the Super Tenere. Over the years I have had both Throttlemeister and Kaoko cruise control units... On BMW's, my Yamaha FJR, Kawasaki's, etc., and they all worked well. In fact, I had a Kaoko on my Super Tenere the first 10,000 miles of its life when a friend hooked me up with Tom Dowell at Excel Cycle Werkes. However, the Excel is IMHO far superior to either of those. It is slightly (and I do mean only very slightly) more difficult to install and set up than either the T-meister or Kaoko, but that's actually to it's advantage...
You see, each time you crank on a T-meister or a Kaoko you are essentially setting it up all over again. Sometimes you can get it too tight where the throttle becomes hard to modulate if necessary, and other times you get it set where it's too loose and lets the throttle wind off and lose speed. In other words, you are constantly having to fiddle a bit with both while you're riding. And sometimes if you need to speed up it winds the throttle locks tighter and you run into the stiffness issue. Ditto if you have to slow down a bit, because both of the T-meister and Kaoko rely on a screw-type friction mechanism, and as such they are subject to you winding the throttle on and off in altering their tension.
But not so with the Excel...
Once you have its tension set, that's it. It stays set and maintains the same friction each time you engage it. And yet this tension is easily and instantly altered via the star-adjuster if necessary. I fiddled with this my first couple of rides with the finalized Excel, but since then I haven't had to touch it... In over 15,000 miles. You just use your little finger to flick the ball-ended lever on or off. That's it, and even when the Excel is engaged it's easy to modulate the throttle, and the tension never changes.
Honestly, short of an electronic cruise control I honestly think the Excel throttle control is the very best option out there. You can get 'em for Tom Dowell here:
http://www.excelthrottlecontrol.com/
Here's some pictures of the Excel both before, and after I mounted it. Note - the "before mounted" pics had some of the early prototype pieces, and some of those have changed on the "production" unit. Still, the final version is very close to what you see in the pics...
I couldn't be happier with the fit, finish, and quality of materials of my Excel Throttle Control. It's a true "work of art" just to look at, but the best part is it works even better than it looks, and has required no maintenance or upkeep since I got the finalized pieces. In addition to all that is Tom Dowell himself. His customer service is exemplary, and he is dedicated to making the very best product he can. I discovered that as we went through all the detail changes during development.
Excel Throttle Control = ::008:: ::008:: ::008:: ::008:: ::008::
Hope this helps!
Dallara
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