Badtux the Snarky Penguin

In a time of chimpanzees, I was a penguin.

Religious fundamentalists are motivated by the sneaking suspicion that someone, somewhere, is having fun -- and that this must be stopped.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Didn't work :-(

And I think I know why.

From a FAQ on installing this cruise control on another motorcycle:

Q: Will the Audiovox CCS-100 electronic cruise control work with LED brake lights?

A: YES. However, if you have ONLY LED’s for your brake lights, it will be necessary to add a SPDT relay to the circuit between the brake light switch and the cruise servo. The cruise is grounded through the brake light bulb. This ground is “broken” when the brake is applied (bulb lights) and this is what cancels the cruise. Since current will only flow one way through an LED, no ground is seen by the servo and the unit will not work. The relay will bypass the brake light, providing ground to the servo for normal operation, but will cause the ground circuit to open when the brake is applied, thereby canceling the cruise. If you have a combination of incandescent bulbs and LED’s in the brake lamp circuit, a relay should not be needed but can still be used if desired.

Well, it's off to Radio Shack I go... yet more wiring. Bleh.

- Badtux the "Tired of wiring" Penguin

Posted by: BadTux / 9/03/2006 04:27:00 PM

Comments:

LED brake light? That must be a pretty new bike. What year is it?
# posted by BBC : 3/9/06 7:27 PM

It's an aftermarket brake light module. It not only is brighter than the OEM bulb, but it flashes when I hit the brakes, and it flashes *BRIGHT*. When I put my brakes on, people think it's a cop car or something up ahead of them, and they get off my butt big time. Not strictly legal, but hey, it's a war zone out there for motorcyclists...

I put the original bulb back in, took her for a spin, and the cruise control works fine. I need to set the sensitivity to "high power vehicle" because it surges when I hit 'set' (due to not enough travel in the linkage, thus it's more sensitive), but on a surface street she kept me at 45mph just fine. I got on the freeway and took her up to 80mph, hit 'set', and she stayed there. Felt weird waving my right hand around in the breeze while going 80mph! Probably wouldn't stay there if I were going up the Sunol Grade, but hey, we're talkin' faster than I would normally go -- I wanted to see if this wheezy one-lunger was sucking enough vacuum for the cruise control at that speed, and yep, it was, thanks to the reservoir and check valve.

So now I gotta figure out a way to fix it so I can put my LED brake light module back in. The stock bulb is just plain *DIM* compared to that thing, not to mention pulling four times as much power! I'm thinking that I might be able to just put a resister to ground, without going the full relay route, and get enough ground to enable the cruise control. I really don't like the notion of putting a mechanical relay if I don't have to...

-Badtux the Cruisin' Penguin
# posted by BadTux : 3/9/06 7:39 PM

Congrats, pal. It works! Combining one aftermarket product with another is always a little iffy, but you're gettin' there.
# posted by Gordon : 3/9/06 9:39 PM

Honor Roll

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"Keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce." -- Molly Ivins, 1944-2007

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