Cruise control. How does that work exactly?

[mattian]

I was on my way home from work on my nifty 250 the other afternoon and noticed some joker on a big black beast of a sports bike. At least 1000cc I would say. Can't really remember what make and model but, what I did notice is that he was doing his gloves up ! no hands on the handlebars at all. there was very little traffic on the road and, he was pootling along at a very sedate speed, nothing unsafe about it. I was just wondering how that works? having only ever ridden 250's and under, I am not familiar with this kind of function on a bike that locks the throttle in place? like a cruise control mechanism? Can anyone enlighten me?

[fireliv]

Have you never tried taking your hands off?? High gear, low revs, bike will cruize along for a while quite nicely

[mattian]

umm... nah, I have never tried that. Actually its never occured to me at all. This guy was on a slight incline too, going uphill.

[Blackshear]

Have you never tried taking your hands off?? High gear, low revs, bike will cruize along for a while quite nicely

You and I both know twofitties can't really do that

[Swoop]

I was on my way home from work on my nifty 250 the other afternoon and noticed some joker on a big black beast of a sports bike. At least 1000cc I would say. Can't really remember what make and model but, what I did notice is that he was doing his gloves up ! no hands on the handlebars at all. there was very little traffic on the road and, he was pootling along at a very sedate speed, nothing unsafe about it. I was just wondering how that works? Can anyone enlighten me?

Sounds quite a bit like me. I tend to fold my arms when bored though...
The cruise control is a friction system on the bar-end. It can be overridden by simply grabbing the throttle and closing it as per normal. Very simple system.

[CookMySock]

It works like this - you pop it back a few gears and press the "arm" button, and hold on tight and pop the clutch, and the cruise control nails the throttle and lifts the front wheel to the 12 o'clock position, and then throttles off and maintains perfact balance for you. Now if you want to go faster you twist the throttle and the cruise control lowers the front wheel a tad and then follows up with some power-on - now you are acellerating! Same applies in reverse, throttle off and the cruise puts the front wheel wayyyy back, and then backs off the gas and you are slowing down. Just remember to bring clean pants.

Now that would be a badass cruise control. I'd buy that.

Steve

[MVnut]

I always thought 'Cruise Control' was when you were directly behind (or in front of) a cop

[Forest]

On BMW tourers, the factory fitted cruise control is an electronic system that operates like a car.

You slide an interlock switch to activate the system, then use a toggle switch to set the road speed (the toggle allows you to raise or lower the speed without touching the throttle).

Once activated, the cruise control has a servo that operates the bike's throttle to maintain the desired speed. Touching the brake, pulling in the clutch, or sliding the interlock switch back will cancel the cruise control. If you can use the throttle to overtake, the cruise control takes over once the speed falls to the speed you set earlier.

It isn't really that useful unless you're doing cross continental travel on long straight roads (Australia, USA, Europe etc). I sometimes use it on motorways or major state highways when I need to control my speed, but otherwise I leave it off.

[Stromble]

.... Or could have had a Throttle lock installed..

like this..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MOTOR...3022010005r545