New OEM cables will work nice and smoothly right from the start.
Eventually, however, they will require some lubricant in order to keep them that way.
The more often you ride the bike, the sooner that time will come.
Typically, I'll lube new cables anyway and continue to lube them periodically.
This includes new motorcycles, too - I'll get the bike home and lubing the cables is one of my pre-first-ride tasks.
These days, my cable lube of choice is silicone lubricant in an aerosol can.
I use a clamp-on cable lube tool (clamps over the cable via tightening a thumb screw and has a small hole for the aerosol can's outlet straw) and shoot the silicone down the length of the cable.
On my street bikes, I'll lube the throttle cable(s) once a season and the clutch cable about 3 to 5 times a season.
It doesn't take long so I deem it a worthwhile task.
On my dirt bikes and dual-purpose bikes that see off-road use often and get the clutch cable pulled much more often, I'll lube the clutch cable before each ride.
Like anything else, ask 10 riders and you may get 9 different answers about a topic such as this.
Some riders will never lube a control cable and are content with that.
However, when I stroll up to one of these bikes and squeeze the clutch lever, the difference is readily apparent.
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