Make-do cruise control

[dlapierre]

I'm sure this has been done by others. Especially by frugal people, like me.

 

Not having found a cruise control I (a) was willing to pay the price for or, ( seemed worth the money, I made my own. Have a look: http://www3.telus.net/Habitat_Farm/Cruisecontrol.htm

 

Basically, an "0" ring and a piece of shoelace. All I have to do to activate it is roll my hand along the grip to put the ring in place while I'm riding. I can still accellerate/decelerate easily with it in place. And to release it, I only need to give the string a tug.

 

Whaddyathink?

[Guest ratchethack]

Whaddyathink?

Well, this kinda bodgery is generally held in high regard hereabouts.

 

There's no discounting the err....raw elegance of it. Yeah -- that's it! That's the ticket!

 

One might even say it's vaguely Rube Goldbergian. . .

 

I'd say it fits in right proper with my own Bodge Guard, Barnyard Hose Job Peg Covers, and Nasty Nail Catcher.

 

But isn't it somewhat dangerous?!

 

Generally speaking, shoelaces get a pretty bad rap anywhere around motorcycle controls. . .

[dlaing]

Ratchet, if you get a chance you should checkout Rosso Corsa Kurt's fine cruise control.

He made a thumb activated lever out of SS that activates a wire snare between grip and throttle housing.

Works great, but deactivating is tricky.

I thought I took a photo at the SoCal camp out, but I can't find it. <_ oh well.>

I still think it would not be difficult to modify the choke into a cruise control.

But this shoelace set up has the advantage of being able to twist the throttle closed

[Guest ratchethack]

Yeah, I heard about it. Big Dan claims he gave Kurt the idea. Knowing Dan, I'm sure it's legit. We had a discussion about patent attorneys and establishing "prior art". He said he's looking into it. . .

[dlaing]

Yeah, I heard about it. Big Dan claims he gave Kurt the idea. Knowing Dan, I'm sure it's legit. We had a discussion about patent attorneys and establishing "prior art". He said he's looking into it. . .

Yah, Dan probably whined that his wrist hurt, and that gave Kurt the idea

If I had a nickle for every idea that I did not patent that became a sucess, I'd have about $0.95

[dean rose]

I'm going for one of these.

 

http://store.bobsbmw.com/index.asp?PageAct...amp;ProdID=1981

[Guest ratchethack]

The chief complaint and motivation to add a throttle-lock style "cruise control" seems to be throttle-hand wrist fatigue on longish trips.

 

FWIW, I'd expereienced this before fabbing up a 1/3 twist progressive throttle cable cam replacement for the stock 1/4 twist non-progressive throttle cable cam. My motivation was to tame the tendency of the chassis to become unsettled on long high-speed sweepers in the mountains, when abrupt throttle inputs had a tendency to conspire with driveline snatch to set up too much unwanted "bucking" for my taste. I found myself using the clutch far too much in an attempt to control it. It's worked very well for about 2 years now in this regard.

 

It has a significant secondary benefit. By providing greater leverage against the throttle return springs, it takes away nearly all the sensation of having to hold tension against the throttle return springs at steady-state low throttle openings on longish rides. Since installing it, I've had no throttle-hand wrist fatigue.

 

NOTE: This DOES NOT mean there's added risk of sticking the throttle at WOT, since the progressive nature of the cam ensures that there's progressively MORE LEVERAGE provided by the throttle return springs against sticking at throttle openings approaching WOT -- exactly where you want it for safety purposes.

 

Link to thread and discussion, with photo of the final rev. of the throttle cable cam here:

 

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=64377

[Greg Field]

Generic nylon throttle lockers that work great are $20-25 retail. For that kind of dough, bodgery seems a bit of a "stunt" endeavor.

 

Also, IMO, the functions of throttle lock and barend weights are best left separate. You get better vibe attenuation with weights dedicated solely to that job, and better throttle locking with a device designed solely for the job. If you can't find them somplace more fashionable, I have the good ones at Moto Intl.

[Ryland3210]

Generic nylon throttle lockers that work great are $20-25 retail. For that kind of dough, bodgery seems a bit of a "stunt" endeavor.

 

Also, IMO, the functions of throttle lock and barend weights are best left separate. You get better vibe attenuation with weights dedicated solely to that job, and better throttle locking with a device designed solely for the job. If you can't find them somplace more fashionable, I have the good ones at Moto Intl.

 

Hi Greg,

My Norton had a friction adjusting screw built into the throttle grip housing. When adjusted to just allow the throttle return springs to close the throttle when released, it was amazing how much less fatigue there was with the friction to help offset the relatively powerful AMAL carb return springs. On long distance trips, I would adjust it a little stronger to just hold the throttle in place. Not having a kill switch lanyard, I was happy to have never fallen off the bike with a runaway engine.

 

Can you supply a link to the one you market? I'm interested.

Thanks,

John

[mdude]

Now this is what I call bodging. Done by member of Norwegian Guzzi Club someplace in Poland on an epic journey through seven countries on route to Mandello....

duct tape and twig. cost: nada.....

 

[dlapierre]

Now this is what I call bodging. Done by member of Norwegian Guzzi Club someplace in Poland on an epic journey through seven countries on route to Mandello....

duct tape and twig. cost: nada.....

 

 

That one is clearly scarier than mine. At least with the "o" ring on a string, all I need to do is pull the string with two fingers to dislodge the "o" ring to free the throttle return. And it takes little pull to do it.

[Guest ratchethack]

Ah, but the way the stick bodge works, all the rider needs do is move his hand inward, or as an alternative, let go.

[Ryland3210]

In case the previous solutions are considered too elegant, the way I created some friction to reduce throttle fatigue on a recent long journey was:

 

An elastic band!

 

The groove between the throttle grip and the bar end weight was occupied with an elastic band. It was fully adjustable. If I wanted more friction, 4 turns, less: 3 turns. Worked great. Cost: unknown, but certainly less than 1 cent. Removable any time. Replacement cost: essentially nil.

 

Reduced wrist fatigue on all day ride to nothing!

[Ganzo]

I'm sure this has been done by others. Especially by frugal people, like me.

 

Not having found a cruise control I (a) was willing to pay the price for or, ( seemed worth the money, I made my own. Have a look: http://www3.telus.net/Habitat_Farm/Cruisecontrol.htm

 

Basically, an "0" ring and a piece of shoelace. All I have to do to activate it is roll my hand along the grip to put the ring in place while I'm riding. I can still accellerate/decelerate easily with it in place. And to release it, I only need to give the string a tug.

 

Whaddyathink?

 

I made a home made throttle lock last spring and recently submitted a short artical concerning it on this site. You can search, "throttle lock, home made" to find it. I attached a picture for you. I know that this design won't work with your type of electronic controls, but maybe it can be adapted.

 

Kurt Vogt

[dlapierre]

I made a home made throttle lock last spring and recently submitted a short artical concerning it on this site. You can search, "throttle lock, home made" to find it. I attached a picture for you. I know that this design won't work with your type of electronic controls, but maybe it can be adapted.

 

Kurt Vogt

 

Nice! I like mechanical projects like that. Thx.