Kaoko Throttle Lock Review From Installation To Functionality

During this last year of being stuck at home and watching too much TV, I found myself watching Ewan Mcgregor & Charley Booreman "Long Way" documentaries. I have a DL650 adventure bike that has been gathering dust in my garage for the last couple of years. I've just been busy with work, kids, and family stuff. But I promised myself that I would tune it up and make it road worthy again and start riding again. So that's why I ended up buying some accessories to make life easier. One of the first things I started researching was throttle stabilizers.

My bike doesn't have cruise control. So the only option was getting some kind of throttle stabilizer so that on flat, long stretches I could set the stabilizer and stretch out my hand. Stuck in the same position with your hand on the throttle not only gets tiring on your hand and wrist, but also on your shoulder and sometimes your neck. It's nice to be able to change positions.

I've seen a bunch of different types of throttle locks. Some of them have a bar that goes over the brake lever. Some of them have little strap things. But the Kaoko caught my eye because it seemed rather simple.

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How the Kaoko works is it's a weight handle bar end with a washer and adjustable nut that's left hand threaded. So when you get the speed where you want, you can twist that nut back with your pinky or hand in the same direction you would be twisting for throttle. Once it's tightened it will hold the throttle. Fortunately with enough tension you can also make slight adjustments to the throttle. When you need to stop or take the throttle off all you need to do is twist the throttle forward.

It takes some getting used to, but after only a few tries I had it down. It works just as advertised, and I'm really happy with it. It costs $130 and you can find it just about anywhere online. I bought mine through Dennis Kirk. Make sure you look for your specific bike for a fit.

As far as installation it's pretty easy, unless you are me. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get the compression nut to stay in. Turns out I over tightened the screw and then spent the next hour trying to figure out why it kept coming loose. So don't try to screw in too hard or you'll screw it up. Otherwise it really only takes 10-15 minutes and you're done.

Overall it's a good product that works just like it should.