I did it myself, dad! I was all set to ride the 12ball a few days ago and as I pulled the choke in the cable snapped...! woops. old cable. now I know what a stretched out cable felt like... so I to the BlackMamba and made a stop at hondamilpitas and as luck would have it they had one left in stock that had fallen off the shelves and was waiting for me to come asking for it. just did the repair yesterday and it took less than two hours. here's some tips in case anyone ever needs to do it. the service manual doesn't offer much (though it does help identify the different parts involved).

needle nose pliers are our friend! that is a tight squeeze in there and they came in very handy while routing the new cable.

so here's random tips in the order they were discovered:

I removed the gas tank, seats (though they may not have been necessary), crankcase oil breather tank mounting screw (only so as to be able to move it out of the way for a better approach to the area underneath it.), and the right side black panel that covers the radiator cap among other things.

the choke cable attaches to a boot which screws in a jet that is held in place by a spring. DO NOT LOSE THIS SPRING! you can't hear it hit the ground. the boot is not held on mroe than handtight but it's really hard to get in there with even average width fingers. again, needle nose pliers are my friend.

I unscrewed the boot and jet assembly, removed it from the cable, and removed the boot as well (right angle pipe with rubber cover). the Y connection on the choke cable has its own snap anchor next to the radiator cap which helped in placement.

verify you have the correct length choke cable by pre-routing it over the frame of the bike before you swap the cables. (there was some last-minute doubt in the parts girl's confidence in the stock numbers) after that, pull out the carb ends of the cable and feed it through to the front of the bike, then remove it from the handlebar housing. it's easier to unscrew that way.

route and attach the carb ends of the new cable first as well. it'll give you the extra length you need to get the jet assemblies( I think they're called SE valve sensors) back onto the carbs with a lot less hassle. the hardest part was screwing the boots back into the carbs because of the lack of workspace. needlenose pliers are my friends...

don't be surprised if the new choke cable seems too short. it's not stretched out like the old one.

there were a few times where I would have started swearing or given up but I stuck with it and ended up finishing before my dad and bro got back from the computer store. haven't taken her for a ride yet but she warmed up perfectly in the driveway.

damien "barkeep" gonzalez
July 5, 2002

postscript...

so the eager stoodent crows about a job well done while the wizzened wrench reminds him the job's not finished till the fuel valve is turned back on...

...shoulda thought of that instead of thinking I flooded the engine when trying to warm her up.