OK, y'all. I'm sorry I haven't replied on here in a couple of days, I've been authoring an article on it. I haven't figured out how to post multiple pics, but here's an advance copy:
I recently installed a Audiovox CCS-100 Electronic cruise control on my '00 Roadie & wanted to share what I could if anyone else wanted to relieve the throbbing in their right wrist after hours in the saddle! This kit is intended for use in a car, but can be used on most any motorcycle with minor modifications. To start out, you'll need to purchase an Audiovox CCS-100 kit. I got mine from Amazon.com new for less than $100. The kit includes almost everything you'll need to complete the installation: wire loom, wiring connectors, zip ties, vacuum hose, brackets, etc. The hardest part is figuring out where to hide all of the equipment, especially the vacuum module. I mounted mine right on top of the upper belt guard.
It fits perfectly behind the TourMaster soft saddlebags & Yamaha saddlebag brackets I'm running.
The saddlebags hide about half of the module. You may have to be creative if you have hard bags that fit closely to the body or maybe mount the module inside a saddlebag with a small hold for the wires & cable to exit. First, remove the left saddlebag, left side cover, front seat, fuel tank & air filter assembly. Then, remove the existing bracket front the module & straignten it out, putting a 1/2" step in it to clear the seam in the module (you'll see what I mean). The bracket will be remounted parallel with the module, on the opposite side of the vacuum port (when installed on the upper belt guard, the vacuum port needs to face "up" ). There are 2 existing mounting holes on the side of the module, opposite the vacuum port. The bracket will be secured to these, using the existing hole in the end of the bracket to the rear-most hole in the module. You'll have to drill a small hole in the bracket to match the front-most hole in the module. Now that the module is mounted to the bracket, you see why the "step" bend in the bracket is necessary. Now you can attach the bracket/module assembly to the front upper belt guard bolt, using care to route the cruise cable behind the frame, following the left horizontal frame tube under the seat & up along the frame, following the same routing as the bike's
main wiring harness. We'll get back to the cable & run the vacuum hose later. On the rear of the cruise module, there is a small cover secured by 2 screws. Remove this cover. You'll see a small, black "jumper" to the left of the dip switches. This needs to be removed. Now to program the module. Set the dip switches as follows: #1:ON, #2:OFF, #3:OFF, #4:ON, #5:OFF, #6:OFF, #7:ON. Now you can attach the wire harness connector supplied in the kit to the pins below the dip switches. Reattach the plastic cover. The wires should be pointing toward the wheel. Route the along the same path as the cable, where they're hanging out where the side cover goes. Take the supplied wire loom & cut off enough to put on the wires between the module & where the wires disappear behind the frame. Now for the wiring: connect the BLUE wire to the "NEGATIVE" side of the right ignition coil (the negative side is the outer-most post). You can use the blue female T-tap included. The GREY & BLACK "pair" wires will not be used & can be cut & discarded. Connect the PURPLE wire from the cruise module to the YELLOW brake light wire near the left ignition coil. You'll see a small 2 wire connector with 2 black wires going in & a yellow & brown wire coming out. Connect on to the YELLOW wire using a blue tap provided in the kit. Connect the RED wire to the battery's positive terminal using an eyelet connector (NOT included in kit!). Connect the ORANGE wire to a 12V SWITCHED source (in other words, you want the cruise to only have power when the ignition is on). I connected mine to the BROWN & BLUE wire coming out of the right side of the fuse box behind the left side cover using a blue tap from the kit. There should only be 4 wires left that are in the same female wiring connector. Run those along the main bike wiring harness to the left of the center horizontal frame tube. They should end near the left ignition coil. We'll connect those later. Now, onto the control switch. Start out by fabricating a switch bracket. Get a sheet of thin, strong steel or aluminum (I cut a piece of steel out of of an old metal shelf from the scrap pile behind my workplace, but I imagine that you can find something at Lowe's to use). Cut it to a rectangular shape 2 3/4" x 2". Bend one of the 2" wide ends 45 degrees to form a 5/8" lip. Now comes the fun part: On the opposite end, use a rotary tool such as a Dremel to cut a 5/8" groove up the center & another 5/8" groove 11/16" to the left (if the lip you bent earlier is facing TOWARD you). You should end up with 3 tabs: a 5/16" tab on the left, a 11/16" tab in the center & a 1" tab on the right. Drill a 3/16" hole in the CENTER (11/16" ) tab & bend that tab 45 degrees AWAY from you (opposite of the 1st lip you bend). This is your mounting tab to mount to the left mirror mounting bolt. Bend the other 2 tabs 45 degrees the other way. These 2 tabs form the bottom lip that the bottom of the switch will rest on. Now, the package that the switch came in should have included an instruction sheet. On the back is a template. Use that as a guide to cut a groove in the bracket to allow the wires to pass through. If you used non-stainless steel or you want the bracket a different color, you can paint it after you test-fit it. After the paint dries, feed the switch wires through the groove in the bracket, peel the double-sided tape backing off & stick the switch to the bracket. MAKE VERY SURE THAT THE SWITCH IS FACING THE CORRECT WAY WITH THE TOP OF THE SWITCH AGAINST THE 1-PIECE LIP & THE MOUNTING TAB FACING AWAY FROM THE BACK OF THE SWITCH!!! 3M tape is almost impossible to unstick, do NOT ask how I know this! I tried my hardest to route the wires throught the factory grey sleeve running down the handlebar, but to no avail. You may be a better man than I, but I just wrapped them with grey duct tape & ran them alongside the factory harness. I know, duct tape is kind of "shade tree", but it perfectly matches the gray color of the factory wiring sleeve. Now to wire the switch: Plug the RED, BROWN, GREEN & YELLOW wires into the male plastic connector provided in the kit, making sure to use the color code as a guide. This male connector will plug into the female connector that we ran near the left ignition coil earlier. Wire an eyelet connector (NOT provided) onto the BLACK wire & attach to one of the 2 left fuel tank support bracket bolts. You'll see these above the left ignition coil. Attach the GREY wire to the ORANGE wire you ran earlier from the cruise control module to the ignition wire from the fuse box. The GREY wire is for the switch backlighting & the cruise will work without it, only the switch won't light up. The backlighting bulb blew on my switch after only a few miles. I don't know if that is because the bulb was defective or couldn't handle the pulses from the wonderful & very well designed Road Star charging system. The rest of the cruise system works great after a few hundred miles & it wasn't worth the trouble for me to go to the trouble of getting the switch replaced (the bulb is non-replaceable), so I'm leaving it alone. Now, finally, comes the hardest part, attaching the cruise cable to the carburetor. The cable should be run to the left of the center frame tube where you ran most of the wires. In front of the ignition coils, make a U & pass the cable under the frame tube to the right side. Make sure it's parallel to the bikes "pull" or outermost throttle cable. The rest of this may be easier if you remove the carburetor, but I was able to tackle it with it installed. First, undo the right-side (as you're sitting on the bike) throttle cable from the carburetor bellcrank. This is best achieved by having an assistant hold open the throttle using the handgrip (or use your almost extinct throttle lock!) while you undo the cable. The cruise kit came with 2 wireloop connectors. Use the shortest one. Now is the hard part: You'll have to use your Dremel (a indespensible tool,
IMHO) to cut a groove the thickness of the wireloop cable all the way around the lead barrel on the bike's throttle cable. The wireloop cable has to fit into this groove COMPLETELY or you'll never get the barrel to go back into the carburetor's bellcrank. Now, you'll have to have an assistant hold open the throttle at the carburetor (I had my buddy use an open-ended wrench to push against the accelerator pump's lever so his hand didn't cramp). By the way, don't let your wife be the assistant if she has sensative ears because you're about to spew more cuss words than Eric Cartman if he had Tourette's! You have to put the loop around the throttle cable barrel, in the groove you just cut & keep it there while you reinstall the whole assembly back into the carburetor bellcrank. When you're finished (if you're successful!) you'll have 2 cables coming from the right of the bellcrank, one for the bike's throttle & one for the cruise control to pull on. Now you can have a beer! The cruise kit also includes a chain & 2 chain connectors. The chain connectors in my kit were pressed together so tightly that I couldn't install the chain. I found that the easiest way to open the connectors up is to use a pair of wire cutters (NOT pliers with wirecutters!). Put each end of the chain connectors in the jaws of the wire cutters with one blade of the cutters pressing into the connector seam & squeeze. You'll need to cut the chain down to 7 links (if memory serves) & connect it to the wireloop using one chain connector. Be sure to crimp the connector closed where you pried it open! Now, let that chain hang while you secure the cruise cable. Use the clamp provided in the kit to attach the cruise cable to the bikes throttle cable as high up as you can. Mine was maybe 1 1/2" behind the ignition coil, & right behind where the throttle cable protective sleeve ends. The clamp should be verticle with the cruise cable on top. As an added measure to keep the cruise cable from wearing against the sheath, I found a part in the kit that I think was marked "Ford connector". It's a white plastic part with a tube & plastic clip. Anyway, I enlarged the tube part slightly & screwed it onto the threaded part of the cruise cable sheath. I screwed it down to leave just enough room for the clamp that clamps the cruise cable to the throttle cable. I ended up with the "Ford connector" clip facing up. I figured the plastic would be better for the cruise cable to rub against than the metal threaded sheath end. Now use your 2nd chain connector to connect the cruise cable to the chain. There should be almost no slack in the cable/chain with the throttle closed (no more than 1/8" ). If there is excessive slack, cut off another chain bead until it is almost tight, but MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T HOLD THE THROTTLE OPEN! Remember to recrimp the upper chain connector after you get the length correct. I also wrapped a little tape around both of the chain connectors to keep the chain ends in place. MAKE D**N SURE THE CRUISE CABLE DOESN'T CATCH ON ANYTHING WHEN TWISTING THE THROTTLE HANDLE!!! I cannot stress this enough! This could cause an accident if the throttle hangs open (if not on the road, at least in your pants! You could end up with a new button in the center of your bike seat!). Now is the easiest part: run a length of the kit-supplied vacuum hose from the cruise module vacuum nipple (HEH, HEH! I said NIPPLE!) to under the fuse box behind the left side cover. You'll need some type of vacuum reservoir & check valve. You can buy an Audiovox genuine vacuum reservoir for around $20 from Amazon.com, but I used a $3.99 fuel filter from Autozone. The part # I got was "FF3411" & picked up a 1-way vacuum check valve from the HELP! section. Attach the vacuum hose you just ran to one end of the fuel filter, then add a short section of vacuum line to the other side of the fuel filter & into the check valve. VERY IMPORTANT: The check valve only flows one way. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE IT FLOWING TOWARD THE ENGINE! You can see whick way it flows by blowing through each end. Now, after MAKING SURE it's facing the right way, attach it to the short section of vacuum hose from the fuel filter/vacuum reservoir. I remember one end of the check valve had a smaller end & the vacuum hose didn't fit tightly, so I used a zip tie around it. Attach another length of vacuum hose to the other side of the check valve & run to the vacuum port on the intake manifold, where you disconnected your A.I.S. (if you're still a greenhorn & running A.I.S., I guess you can "T" into it, but you really need to get that system off!). IF YOU HAVE A
NEMESIS, BEN HERR OR OTHER AFTERMARKET ALUMINUM INTAKE WITH NO VACUUM PORT THEN YOUR WORK WAS ALL FOR NAUGHT! You probably could remove the intake manifold, drill a hole, tap & screw in a vacuum fitting, but you're on your own with that project! Be careful that the vacuum line isn't pinched or kinked anywhere. Now you can make sure that all of your wires are tied up & out of the way. Don't secure the cruise cable in a way that it will kink or bend too sharply. Put your bike back together & carefully check you throttle to make sure it doesn't bind at all. Now you can cruise through the rest of your life, with not a care in the world, content in the fact that you'll never, ever install another cruise control on a Road Star as long as you live!
Favoured: 0
