Bought the wife a Honda Reflex to try to get her interested in trials. The throttle stays wherever you turn it and won't return to closed on its own. Any ideas?

Bad cable, dirty carb or bent needle.

It also could be the throttle tube is cracked or full of dirt.

Took the throttle apart at the bars and cleaned it up. Put some lube in the cable but it could probably use more. Carb looked clean but I didn't check for a bent needle.

I say the carb is clean. I had the bowl off to change the main jet.

You have to clean the whole carb. Did you have the complete carb off. The slide could be sticking from old fuel.

I didn't pull the carb off the bike. The sticky slide is a possibility.

Is the grip too far on the throttle tube?

I pulled the grip back and the throttle was still sticking.

Working from first principles, if the spring in the carb above the slide has the correct spring rate to overcome the collective friction, the slide will be forced to close. I would suggest checking individual components to find the culprit stiffness. Take the carb off, and remove the cable. Check that the slide strokes freely up & down in the carb and that the cable inner moves freely through the outer. The throttle should now be silky smooth when turned. If all good, careful reassembly, paying particular attention to routing the throttle cable to avoid, kinks, acute bends and being nipped should result in your slide snapping closed. It may just be that someone has fitted a weak spring above the slide. Easily resolved. You will sort it!

Thanks guys! I'll check all these things.

Could it possibly be the two mounting bolts on the carb manifold have been tightened too much?had similar problem with RTL honda

Not sure Johnyboy. That hadn't crossed my mind. The bolts at the carb on the intake side?

Okay removed the fuel tank and pulled the slide. The carb was clean. Lubed cable from the slide end and put it back together. Still sticking. Pulled the throttle apart at the bars again. Put it back together and left the bar clamp screws just tight enough to keep the throttle housing from twisting on the bars and, BINGO!! It's fixed. It's official, I'm an idiot.

Your not an idiot, everybody has been there!

Now think about a nice new throttle so the wife doesn't have an accident,

and then you will have a new knot on your head!

Regards, Larry