Article [13] ST1300 - Rostra Cruise Control Installation

Thank you both for your replies!

I do not have LED tail lights, the brake switch has a good ground and the cruise control module responds to using the brake lever.

I checked the main ground to make sure the resistance wasn't too high (as per the rostra installation manual).

I'll adjust the engine power settings from your recommendation but my main concern was that the VSS test appeared to be giving me an error code (but it sounds like according to kiltman this is normal behavior).
 
Has anyone managed to tie in the clutch switch to the Neutral Safety Switch (Light Green wire on the Cruise Control Module)? I've been trying to wrap my head around how the clutch sensor circuit works and it doesn't seem to make sense.

In THEORY, the solid green wire on the forward left hand side fuse box which is the centre pin of a double diode for the Clutch Diode SHOULD be exactly what I want but when the bike is in gear and clutch lever out, I get battery voltage (I can work with that), pull clutch in, no change (???) still battery voltage, shift into neutral reads 0v (makes more sense since the neutral position switch goes to ground when the transmission is in neutral).

What I am hoping for is either a wire that is ground when the clutch lever is out and non-ground (12v) when the clutch is pulled but this circuit seems to give kind of +5v and doesn't really seem to change regardless of the clutch lever position (switch is tested as good)
 
I wired up the Rostra Global cruise control with an internally lit panel mount switch with LED, brake relay, and Z063 pulse divider. I did not clip anything out if the divider's PCB.

The unit will not enter diagnostic mode, meaning the LED in side of the servo unit will not illuminate no matter what I do. I have power at the red, brown, and blue wires, tested at the servo connector plug, with the ignition in the ON position. The ground is good. I tried disconnecting the clutch disconnect switch with no change. Here are my questions:

  • The instructions say that the red wire should be connected to a constant power source and that it should be connected to the hot side of the brake switch. But the hot side of the brake switch is only hot when the ignition is ON. Is this the correct hook-up? Does it matter?
  • Should I have power at the blue wire? I connected this to the blue (upper) wire on the right side coil. Is this the correct connection point?
  • Is the indicator LED in the control switch supposed to be illuminated full time? The OFF button has no effect on it.
  • Can dip switch position cause the unit to not enter diagnostic mode?
  • Is there a way to test the diagnostic LED itself?
  • Any other ideas about what could be causing this problem?
 
gclarkv said:
  • Is the indicator LED in the control switch supposed to be illuminated full time? The OFF button has no effect on it.
  • Can dip switch position cause the unit to not enter diagnostic mode?
Click to expand...
I believe there are three LEDs on the switch. The centre one is the one that should turn on when you click the on/off button on the left side.
By pressing the on/off button on the control switch along with turning on the ignition is what gets the system to go into diagnostic mode. The issue might be with how the control switch is wired.
 
gclarkv said:
I did not clip anything out if the divider's PCB.
Click to expand...
Good, you no longer need to remove that diode, it was for an earlier version of that pulse divider.
gclarkv said:
The unit will not enter diagnostic mode, meaning the LED in side of the servo unit will not illuminate no matter what I do. I have power at the red, brown, and blue wires, tested at the servo connector plug, with the ignition in the ON position. The ground is good. I tried disconnecting the clutch disconnect switch with no change. Here are my questions:
Click to expand...
I would recommend NOT using the clutch wire, just clip it and leave it disconnected/taped. The CC (cruise control) will automatically disconnect when it senses the RPM climbing rapidly with no increase in wheel speed, I have tested this many times on my ST.
gclarkv said:
  • The instructions say that the red wire should be connected to a constant power source and that it should be connected to the hot side of the brake switch. But the hot side of the brake switch is only hot when the ignition is ON. Is this the correct hook-up? Does it matter?
Click to expand...
That is the most correct setup, the idea being if your brake light isn't working (eg a blown fuse) then activating the brakes won't disengage the CC. So this setup ensures that the brake light system is working before allowing the CC to be turned on at all.
gclarkv said:
  • Should I have power at the blue wire? I connected this to the blue (upper) wire on the right side coil. Is this the correct connection point?
Click to expand...
I don't have my wiring diagram in front of me, but IF the blue wire from the CC is your Engine speed/RPM wire, then yes that is the correct connection point (I used the left side hot (top) wire but it technically shouldn't matter). You should not really have power at this wire since it rapidly pulses with the engine speed and only while the engine is running.
gclarkv said:
  • Is the indicator LED in the control switch supposed to be illuminated full time? The OFF button has no effect on it.
Click to expand...
That depends on your switch but if "indicator LED" refers to a "CC On/engaged" light then its likely you have something miswired to your switch. My switch has a backlight (which was powered by a separate set of wires.
gclarkv said:
  • Can dip switch position cause the unit to not enter diagnostic mode?
Click to expand...
I highly doubt that, I never had issues with getting into diagnostic mode, this is VERY likely a wiring issue with your switch. When you do finally get into diagnostic mode you may find that when you test the VSS the CC's LED will just blink slowly, this is apparently normal for our setup. The only DIP switch that could cause a problem is the DIP switch for the type of control switch you have (normally open/closed), you can try flipping that one and seeing if it helps as it won't hurt anything to test.
gclarkv said:
  • Is there a way to test the diagnostic LED itself?
Click to expand...
Not really, it lights up when you turn the CC on, so if you can't turn the CC on for the diagnostic LED to be constantly on then you have a switch wiring problem. There are many different switches out there, I tried to map out my switch and it was... confusing.
gclarkv said:
  • Any other ideas about what could be causing this problem?
Click to expand...
I'm 90% sure the issues you are running into at this point is with your control switch.
 
Nightmare said:
Good, you no longer need to remove that diode, it was for an earlier version of that pulse divider.

I would recommend NOT using the clutch wire, just clip it and leave it disconnected/taped. The CC (cruise control) will automatically disconnect when it senses the RPM climbing rapidly with no increase in wheel speed, I have tested this many times on my ST.

That is the most correct setup, the idea being if your brake light isn't working (eg a blown fuse) then activating the brakes won't disengage the CC. So this setup ensures that the brake light system is working before allowing the CC to be turned on at all.

I don't have my wiring diagram in front of me, but IF the blue wire from the CC is your Engine speed/RPM wire, then yes that is the correct connection point (I used the left side hot (top) wire but it technically shouldn't matter). You should not really have power at this wire since it rapidly pulses with the engine speed and only while the engine is running.

That depends on your switch but if "indicator LED" refers to a "CC On/engaged" light then its likely you have something miswired to your switch. My switch has a backlight (which was powered by a separate set of wires.

I highly doubt that, I never had issues with getting into diagnostic mode, this is VERY likely a wiring issue with your switch. When you do finally get into diagnostic mode you may find that when you test the VSS the CC's LED will just blink slowly, this is apparently normal for our setup. The only DIP switch that could cause a problem is the DIP switch for the type of control switch you have (normally open/closed), you can try flipping that one and seeing if it helps as it won't hurt anything to test.

Not really, it lights up when you turn the CC on, so if you can't turn the CC on for the diagnostic LED to be constantly on then you have a switch wiring problem. There are many different switches out there, I tried to map out my switch and it was... confusing.

I'm 90% sure the issues you are running into at this point is with your control switch.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I will try to investigate the switch wiring when I get back to it on Friday. BTW, I discovered that the diagnostic LED blinks once when I turn the ignition switch on, but it continues to have no life after that.
 
At Nightmare's suggestion I looked into the wiring of the control switch. One of the issues I ran into when wiring it was that it does not have the pink wire mentioned in the instructions I found online. I did some more sniffing around and found a wiring diagram on a Kawasaki Concours forum that showed the same color wires as my switch has. It turns out I didn't buy a Rostra switch - I bought an Audiovox switch. I changed two connections to match the Concours diagram and, voila! it works! Now to fabricate the throttle linkage parts...
 
When you make the arm for the throttle body, make sure the hole you drill is an oval and not a circle, it should match the profile of the bolt that you install the arm onto perfectly. Its a bit tricky getting the shape just right, I ended up cutting an arm from a metal electrical box blank/cover. For the hole, I started by drilling a small hole using a drill bit, then a small metal file I shaped the hole into an oval. If you have a circle what will end up happening is the nut can't hold the arm with enough force and over time it will slip causing the angle you installed the arm at to change.
 
Thanks in large part to all the help and experience in this forum, I finished my installation and it works beautifully. It holds speed within +/- 1mph very smoothly. HOWEVER: It will not engage at speeds greater than 74mph. If I engage it at a lower speed and use the ACCEL button to get to higher speeds, when it reaches 74mph it will continue accelerating on its own until it reaches 80mph, where it will cut out completely.

For my installation I fabricated a reduction arm with an approximate a 5:1 servo cable to throttle cable movement ratio. My pulse divider is set at 2 with high gain. My servo unit is set for an 8 cylinder engine with low response. I thought that maybe the servo cable was reaching its travel limit, causing the unit to cut out, but that doesn't seem to explain the auto-accelerating above 74mph. It works beautifully from 25mph (the lowest speed at which I've tested it) up to 70mph (the highest speed at which I've used it for sustained driving). I think (but am not certain) that I had it set at 74mph once, but it cut out when it added power going up a hill.

Has anyone else experienced this? Do I need a different pulse divider setting? Is my servo reaching its travel limit and I have a second issue? What other ideas does the group have? Thank you.
 
I don't think you are hitting the travel limit of the throttle arm since you can accelerate to a higher speed since the CC has to open the throttle more than its current setting to go faster. I haven't experienced this issue myself, but that being said I don't think I've used my CC past 74mph. If you can start at 74mph then accelerate to 85mph and the unit holds it there then this likely isn't a pulse or throttle issue.

You could always try setting your pulse divider to 4 and then adjusting the DIP switches to compensate (set it to half the current value) and see if that helps as I suppose its possible the engagement programming differs from the running programming.
 
Many cruise controls have a 3:1 ratio, meaning that the max engagement speed is 3x the minimum. So, if the lowest speed it will engage is 25, the highest speed will be 75.

Thus, if you can change the minimum speed to, say, 30, then the maximum speed will be 90. 35 will get you 105, etc. Try Nightmare’s suggestion and see if the result is better.
 
If you can start at 74mph then accelerate to 85mph and the unit holds it there then this likely isn't a pulse or throttle issue. ---- Un
Nightmare said:
I don't think you are hitting the travel limit of the throttle arm since you can accelerate to a higher speed since the CC has to open the throttle more than its current setting to go faster. I haven't experienced this issue myself, but that being said I don't think I've used my CC past 74mph. If you can start at 74mph then accelerate to 85mph and the unit holds it there then this likely isn't a pulse or throttle issue.

You could always try setting your pulse divider to 4 and then adjusting the DIP switches to compensate (set it to half the current value) and see if that helps as I suppose its possible the engagement programming differs from the running programming.
Click to expand...
74mph is the max speed it will hold - and it really will only "hold" that speed until the bike encounters an incline, because then it does its auto-accel thing and cuts out. Any attempt to increase from 74mph results in the unit accelerating on its own to 80mph, where it cuts out.

The 74mph speed to which I've been referring is the speedometer-indicated speed. GPS speed when speedo-indicating 74mph is about 68mph. The odometer has a similar error. I plan to install a Speedohealer to fix these, and I'm wondering if recalibrating the speedometer display will affect the input to the CC. I'd like to be able to run the CC at 85mph - for the 80mph Interstate highways in the West - but would settle - for now - for the 70
+mph that I'd get if the Speedohealer affected the CC. I'm not eager to remove all the plastics again to make pulse divider and dip switch changes, but I'm resigned to doing it if nothing else works.
 
Larry Fine said:
Many cruise controls have a 3:1 ratio, meaning that the max engagement speed is 3x the minimum. So, if the lowest speed it will engage is 25, the highest speed will be 75.

Thus, if you can change the minimum speed to, say, 30, then the maximum speed will be 90. 35 will get you 105, etc. Try Nightmare’s suggestion and see if the result is better.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how to increase the minimum engage speed. I'll reset the pulse divider if nothing else works, but will that affect the location of the 3:1 operating range?
 
Anything that changes the speed-sensor pulse rate per given MPH will affect the engagement range.

You need to tell the CC that the bike is going slower than it’s being told it’s going now at any given speed.
 
You could do what we do on the1100’s, instead of a pulse divider, use the magnet speed sensor kit on the rear wheel. Very easy to install. You will need to source 5 tiny magnets that will reside in the cavity of the disk mounting bolts. Set the dip switches accordingly
 
Larry Fine said:
Anything that changes the speed-sensor pulse rate per given MPH will affect the engagement range.

You need to tell the CC that the bike is going slower than it’s being told it’s going now at any given speed.
Click to expand...
Ah, so you're saying that this could possibly be fixed just by a dip switch pulse rate setting change? So I would want to select a higher pulse-per-mile dip switch setting?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom