Cruise Control

[Nubian]

Lots of different brands out there. Which ones do you use or recommend?

[jwhughes3]

vista

its friction but its old and only holds for a bit - long enough to wave right hand or adjust something...

john

[crazy steve]

Had one, but I never used it much, mostly for just warming the bike up. They only work semi-well on flat roads; get any up-and-down going on, and they're pretty much useless IMO...

A better choice may be a 'throttle boss' or something similar; these do help reduce hand/wrist fatigue.

[yamahansolo]

I have the cheap 10.00 cruise. Works great on the freeway.

I also had the 10.00 throttle rocket knock off I bought at the dragon a couple of months back... in theory it would work but with my silicone grips it just ripped the grip glue loose and would slip like a biatch! I took it off and reglued my grip. Needs to be rougher inside or something. It seems to pinch the grip and pull it away from the throttle sleeve.

[Nubian]

I am talking about a true cruise control. Not a throttle lock.

[CatatonicBug]

I am talking about a true cruise control. Not a throttle lock.

Our bikes don't have the circuitry to handle a REAL cruise control. That requires computerized speed sensors and throttle adjustment servos. Unless you are an electronics guru, you're stuck with a throttle lock.

I have both the Vista and the throttle boss, and I really like the Vista. Once adjusted right, it holds nicely, yet still allows you to adjust the throttle manually while locked. I did have to sand down the "detent" surface to get it to hold the lock though.

[crazy steve]

I am talking about a true cruise control. Not a throttle lock.

Ah, that's a different deal. But C'bug is right, the XS just isn't set up for a full-blown cruise control. I've looked at them several times, and the degree of difficulty installing one far exceeded the value for me. There's three major problems 'adapting' one that I see; one, most of them are designed to use the factory 'electronic' speedo for input (not a mechanical unit like the XS), two, you'll need custom throttle cables, and three, where to mount the servo? There's work-arounds for all this, but none will be particularly cheap or easy.

Mounting the servo would be the biggy IMO; if you're running a fairing, you could probably hide it in there, but if not there's just no place to hide it on a XS.

[psycoreefer]

I don't believe this is true - I've got a early 70's car that has a cruise control on it, and trust me when I say it doesn't have any sort of computer or fancy electronics on it at all. Not sure how it works, but it does.

Our bikes don't have the circuitry to handle a REAL cruise control. That requires computerized speed sensors and throttle adjustment servos. Unless you are an electronics guru, you're stuck with a throttle lock.

I have both the Vista and the throttle boss, and I really like the Vista. Once adjusted right, it holds nicely, yet still allows you to adjust the throttle manually while locked. I did have to sand down the "detent" surface to get it to hold the lock though.

[CatatonicBug]

I don't believe this is true - I've got a early 70's car that has a cruise control on it, and trust me when I say it doesn't have any sort of computer or fancy electronics on it at all. Not sure how it works, but it does.

Well, like Steve said, it's not impossible, just not easy by any means.

[foreda]

Cruise Control

I thought about this once or twice, you could probably use a micro programable logic controller with PID (proportional,intergral & derivitive) control and drive a servo with an analog output but this would take electrical power to work.. That's one thing the XS lacks! I agree with the others in saying it would not be economically feasible to do not to mention the space needed. My $0.02
Dale

[crazy steve]

I don't believe this is true - I've got a early 70's car that has a cruise control on it, and trust me when I say it doesn't have any sort of computer or fancy electronics on it at all. Not sure how it works, but it does.

No, the older units didn't require much in the way of existing electronics on the vehicle to work. Your car probably has a speed sensor installed in the speedo cable if its OEM, unless it's one of the aftermarket units that counted engine rpm, but the latter type weren't very good at maintaining speed due to slippage in the torque convertor with an automatic and tended to be a bit 'jerky' with a manual trans. You still have a 'computer' in there someplace that counts input signals to determine servo movement. It may be possible to use the existing speedo-mounted reed switch for the turn signals for input to a cruise unit, maybe not.

I'm not saying it can't be done, just that the degree of difficulty is fairly high...

[psycoreefer]

I did a google search and found this place,
http://www.mccruise.com/Choose-Your-...le-Cruise.html

they've got a universal unit that comes with a speed sensor.

[fredintoon]

I'm agin' 'em.

Lots of different brands out there. Which ones do you use or recommend?

Hi Eddie,
even if you can find a true cruise control for your bike I wouldn't recommend having one.
Cruise control (and a windshield and air conditioning and surround sound) are great for driving the family Buick but bikes is different and don't need none of that stuff.

[cywelchjr]

Our bikes don't have the circuitry to handle a REAL cruise control. That requires computerized speed sensors and throttle adjustment servos. Unless you are an electronics guru, you're stuck with a throttle lock.

I have both the Vista and the throttle boss, and I really like the Vista. Once adjusted right, it holds nicely, yet still allows you to adjust the throttle manually while locked. I did have to sand down the "detent" surface to get it to hold the lock though.

Actually incorrect. We do have a speed sensor, just most don't realize it. The auto cancel circuit uses a speed sensor built into the speedometer (the reed switch) which can be tapped into. Although I don't believe it's been installed yet, it's been figured out how an actual cruise control unit can be installed on the 11's. It's talked about over here http://xs11.46.forumer.com/viewtopic...cruise+control where there are links to both a writeup where from Ivan on the install on him FJR and the the site for the manufacturer, and the discussion on how to use it.

[cywelchjr]

No, the older units didn't require much in the way of existing electronics on the vehicle to work. Your car probably has a speed sensor installed in the speedo cable if its OEM, unless it's one of the aftermarket units that counted engine rpm, but the latter type weren't very good at maintaining speed due to slippage in the torque convertor with an automatic and tended to be a bit 'jerky' with a manual trans. You still have a 'computer' in there someplace that counts input signals to determine servo movement. It may be possible to use the existing speedo-mounted reed switch for the turn signals for input to a cruise unit, maybe not.

I'm not saying it can't be done, just that the degree of difficulty is fairly high...

Can be done. There are kits that come with add on sensors, but the reed switch actually IS a VSS and can be used as one. It's been figured out but not quite done yet, it's on my "to do" list, when I have the funds. Pretty slick system really, uses engine RPM + speed to determine if the clutch has been pulled in.

IIRC from just having reviewed the thread over on .org, it's about $200 for the kit.