Cruise (not Tom), or no Cruise control: which is it?

[p6x]

As I am looking for my next motorcycle, I have been peeling away at multiple reviews of cruisers or tourers or sport tourers... I don't always understand what is the difference between those genres...

I am back from an attempt to photograph the Milky Way, which lamentably fell flat on its face. Waking up in the wee hours of the morning, drive to the McDonald observatory in the hope to catch it, with nothing to show for my efforts.

Anyway, while stationed at Fort Davis Texas, I met two riders (same age group) from El Paso on brand-new GS 1250s having been had at a discount to make space for the GS 1300, said the owners.

As it was kind of chilly that morning, I told them about my bringing back a Quota from Arizona, and freezing myself in the process. Both those guys wore heating gear complimented by BMWs heated appointments; seat and grips. The conversation evolved on Cruise Control; both said they would never have a bike that does not have it. This is where I got lost...

I understand cruise control in a car, because it frees your foot from the gas pedal, and allows you to change position.

On a motorcycle, you most likely need to keep your right hand on the grip, so what is the big improvement there? I am not referring to those adaptive cruise controls, the crude one that just maintain speed.

So, what's making it a sine qua nons to have cruise or to not have cruise?

[GuzziMoto]

I get why someone would want cruise control on a bike, but I have no need or desire for it. I do use it in 4 wheeled vehicles, where I am just getting from point A to point B. But when I am on a bike I am there for the ride. But others, no doubt, are on their motorcycles to get from point A to point B, or maybe they just have a different idea of what "the ride" is.

[Tomchri]

I never think about any of the modern aids when riding my bikes, new and old. It realy pissed me of the first time experiencing TC, WHAT.  But with prosthesis AND, some times on the long stretches, CC gives my shoulders a break.

Cheers Tom.

[LowRyter]

On a long trip, particularly on straight roads like interstates, cruise comes in handy to rest your hand and wrist.  Usually just for a few minutes.  Many of us have throttle locks for the same purpose. 

[Lucky Phil]

3 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

I get why someone would want cruise control on a bike, but I have no need or desire for it. I do use it in 4 wheeled vehicles, where I am just getting from point A to point B. But when I am on a bike I am there for the ride. But others, no doubt, are on their motorcycles to get from point A to point B, or maybe they just have a different idea of what "the ride" is.

People miss the point of cruise control, it's an anti fatigue device not a motorcycle or car driving/control device. Let me explain. I've been dealing with aircraft autopilots all my working life and the reason they exist is to relieve the pilot of the mental fatigue caused by hours of stick and rudder flying. There's minimal skill required on a commercial jet to hand fly the plane but it does fatigue mentally over hours of doing it. So the concept is to relieve the pilot of that low level mental fatigue that accumulates so he has more resources to focus on the important things like navigation and the upcoming landing. Keep the pilot as mentally fresh as possible. In the commercial aviation world the restrictions of flying a jet with inop autopilots is very severe indeed to the point where we never did it. We just fixed the issue. Commercial pilots don't consider the autopilot system as some sort of slur on their flying abilities which a lot of car drivers do with active cruise control.

So car/bike cruise control is exactly the same concept. It's mentally draining over medium to long drives/rides keeping the vehicle on the speed limit or desired speed all the time and now with draconian speed limit tolerances and enforcement it's worse than ever. The cruise control is there to relieve the driver/rider of that mentally fatiguing process so he is free to focus on more important issues like the next corner or the road surface or surrounding riders/drivers. The best invention ever, well almost is Active cruise control. My auto cars have it. The car will hold a set speed up hill down dale apply the brakes if needed when it come up behind a slower car etc. All I need to do is worry about the surrounding drivers and dodging the road kill on the freeway and timing my lane changing. Brilliant. The difference in mental freshness on the regular 9 hour drives I do is dramatic. You get to your destination much less fatigued then before. It's not a system designed to insult the rider/drivers skill level which a lot of drivers seem to think it is but primarily an anti fatigue and therefore safety device.

Other electronic aids such as lane keeping assist which is used to help mitigate inattentive drivers behind the wheel I'm not so thrilled about and I turn them off because they are generally too intrusive and not there for fatigue relief but to assist lazy bad drivers not focused on the task of driving the vehicle. 

Anti lock brakes are another great aid. Lets face it how many people practice their threshold braking to become or even keep proficient at it.  

 

Phil

[PJPR01]

38 minutes ago, LowRyter said:

On a long trip, particularly on straight roads like interstates, cruise comes in handy to rest your hand and wrist.  Usually just for a few minutes.  Many of us have throttle locks for the same purpose. 

Exactly as John says above...a few minutes of relief every now and then to stretch the arms, hands, wrists w/o giving up the maintenance of speed is nice.  None of my Guzzi's have it, but the Goldwing does and I'm using it from time to time on some of the longer straights.  I also use a wide Crampbuster on all of my bikes, so there's virtually no tension in the wrist even on all day rides, but I must say that having the Cruise control option is nice, even if I use it not very frequently.  Perhaps for the long stretches of I-10 it would be nice to set it and leave it for a few hours as there is virtually no interference required for those wide open spaces.  An easy and intuitive cruise control...one button activate, one button set and one button toggle up or down on speed makes it very "user friendly".  

You can move your right hand around to other parts of the bike, rest it on the handlebar, brake fluid reservoir, on your knee, or stretch back a bit...all of that helps if you have cruise activated...or you can do all that and just slow down a bit and then resume...

[guzziart]

My Wing has cc, it really comes in handy on long stretches of interstate when going out for 2-3 weeks.  The MG v85tt has peaked my interest since I'm looking to downsize from the wing and also replace my wee Strom the was totalled last May, the v85 has cc.  The v85 is also a lot less $$$ than other bikes with cc (bmw gs, honda africa twin, suzi Vstrom1050, etc.).  And, my arthritic right wrist likes th ebenefits of cc too.

 

[mikev]

my v11 came with a mechanical cc left of the throttle, i thought it interfered with the throttle rotation so i got rid of it.  

[Scud]

I don't like the idea of electronic cruise control on a motorcycle, but I do carry a clip-on throttle lock and use it longer rides - for the above stated reasons regarding fatigue. It's also handy if you need to adjust a zipper or mirror while riding that would be awkward to reach with the left hand. For example, with throttle lock on, I can open or close the air vent on the left sleeve of my jacket without making a stop.

[audiomick]

10 minutes ago, Scud said:

I don't like the idea of electronic cruise control on a motorcycle,

I haven't tried it on a bike, but going by my experience with the car I have, I reckon I would prefer electronic to something mechanical. Good, I haven't tried any mechanical systems either...

The thing is, the electronic cruise control in the car gets more useful if you practise using it, and use it conciously. I dare say, the usefulness of a system on a bike would be similar.

What I see as positive in the electronic system is that you only have to tip lightly on the brakes, and it turns off. I can't visualise a mechanical system that is so easy to disengage.

Apart from that, I tend to use the "don't go faster than xxx" function much more than the "hold speed xxx" function. The latter actually almost never. I could see myself using the former on a bike, if I had it. The latter probably not.

[docc]

4 hours ago, mikev said:

my v11 came with a mechanical cc left of the throttle, i thought it interfered with the throttle rotation so i got rid of it.  

Hmm, properly adjusted the "High Idle Lever" should have no effect on throttle action.  Interference with throttle rotation could be a number of other factors.

Perhaps worth further investigation, @mikev . . . .

[Tomchri]

Woud have been convinient when the right side of the alu tank started to rattle on the head cover. Holding up the tank with your right hand and trottling with your left  .  Exiting trip home.

Cheers Tom.

[audiomick]

11 minutes ago, Tomchri said:

 Exciting trip home.

I bet it was.

 

Reminds me a bit of an occasion when I had a broken throttle cable.

It was on my first bike, a Suzuki GSX 250 E. I was a student at the time, so money for maintenance was thin on the ground, and the awareness of the necessity thereof also a bit thin on the ground. So the throttle cable had probably not seen any lubricant since I had bought the bike.

I was working as a motorcycle courier at the time. The cable broke in the middle of the day as I was on the way to a delivery with a load in the box. I made a loop in the broken end of the cable that I could get at with my forefinger, and rode the rest of the delivery and the way home through the middle of Melbourne with a "trigger throttle".

[Tomchri]

17 hours ago, audiomick said:

I bet it was.

 

Reminds me a bit of an occasion when I had a broken throttle cable.

It was on my first bike, a Suzuki GSX 250 E. I was a student at the time, so money for maintenance was thin on the ground, and the awareness of the necessity thereof also a bit thin on the ground. So the throttle cable had probably not seen any lubricant since I had bought the bike.

I was working as a motorcycle courier at the time. The cable broke in the middle of the day as I was on the way to a delivery with a load in the box. I made a loop in the broken end of the cable that I could get at with my forefinger, and rode the rest of the delivery and the way home through the middle of Melbourne with a "trigger throttle".

That works  .

Cheers Tom.

[mikev]

On 3/18/2024 at 8:08 PM, docc said:

properly adjusted the "High Idle Lever"

I don't think it was properly adjusted. Throttle seems fine now.  It worked before I removed the idle lever thing when I put new grips on last year.