Cruise Control Headache ('16 RTS) - Goes ON, but will not engage! Any ideas?

[Old Prof]

Short history: Bought this '16 RTS in January (15,000 miles on it). After putting a little over 1,000 miles on it, the Cruise will not engage. It indicates "ON" but will not engage.
Which fuse controls this? Any other DIY solutions?
Thanks in advance for your experience & help.

[Navydad]

Check to see if your brake lights are on while riding. Sometimes it is the switch at the brake pedal that isn't allowing the cruise to work. Make sure the pedal is all the way up and not triggering the switch. Does the bike have an aftermarket pedal extension installed? It has happened where that little bit of extra weight on the pedal will be enough to put pressure on the switch. It doesn't take much and then no cruise.

[Jdr00ejr]

If the Cruise is "turning on" but not setting - like NavyDad - the first thing I would check is the brake system. If the Spyder thinks the brakes are on it won't allow the cruise to set.

I just finished working on a customer's bike who had added some additional brake light and turn signal lights. They had an issue whereby when the turn signal was turned on the brake light would pulse. This resulted in the Cruise "kicking off" whenever she tried to change lanes on the highway.

Anything that could be triggering a brake light would be interpreted as you applying the brakes to the computer and automatically stop the cruise.

[Peter Aawen]

I would think that your issue will most likely be something along the lines mentioned above, Old Prof, but just in case any of the following helps... What revs are you pulling when you try to select Cruise Control?? I ask this cos I had one fella here in Oz come to me with a similar concern; he told me he just couldn't get his RT's Cruise Control to engage at anything but Freeway speeds!!

In an effort to work out what was wrong, I took his bike for a ride and had No issues getting it to engage whenever I tried, even just cruising around the block at about 30 mph - for me, it worked fine! I thought that meant his issue would most likely be the brakes thing; probably meaning that before he got out onto the Hwy, stretched out, and put his feet on the Highway pegs that he loved so much and then selected Cruise Control, he might be unaware that his right foot was lightly touching &/or moving the brake pedal juuust enough to stop Cruise from engaging! So I followed him for a bit as he rode to check that and see what his brake lights were doing - it didn't take long to work out what the problem was, and it WASN'T his brakes!!

He was getting moving OK, then changing up thru the gears as quickly as he could, and only then trying to set Cruise Control while he was pulling the highest gear at the lowest revs he could for any given road speed - and the computers simply wouldn't let him set Cruise cos he was in too high a gear and his revs were too low!!

There's not too much in this with the 1330 Triple motors; waaayyy more with the 998 V-Twins, but it's something to watch out for! Simple solution tho, I told him that whenever he couldn't get Cruise Control to select, it was most likely cos he was in TOO HIGH of a gear for the given revs and road speed, so he needed to either change down, rev up, or both!

Funnily enough, that worked for him, and he found he could select Cruise Control in every gear and at speeds right down to his usual suburban 'tooling along' speed!

He went away happy, later reporting back to me that he was generally riding at least one gear lower than he had been for any given road speed, sometimes two; his Spyder was MUCH more responsive than it had been, it felt & responded like a much lighter machine; AND he discovered that over time, he started to get noticeably better fuel economy too!! That was probably because he was now keeping his Spyder's engine revs IN the most efficient rev range rather than riding around with the revs a touch (or more??) below that level!!

So, maybe that's something for you to consider Old Prof; and if not, maybe it'll help someone else?!

Good Luck!

[NorwegianRT]

I hope it is not as easy/silly as what I did when my RT was new to me, I turned cruise on and it lit up in the display, but no effect.
Then I read the manual and then I realized I never set the speed...

[RayBJ]

The brake switch is a great place to start. Watch the lights and SLOWLY press/release the pedal. Mine would go on and off a couple times on a single depression. I was constantly getting the nanny to mess with my riding in the twisties and it was due to a flaky switch. Replaced switch and nanny leaves me alone -mostly.

[LongIsland]

I hope it is not as easy/silly as what I did when my RT was new to me, I turned cruise on and it lit up in the display, but no effect.
Then I read the manual and then I realized I never set the speed...

Do you slide the button over, then press it down to set the speed?

[NorwegianRT]

Do you slide the button over, then press it down to set the speed?

At first try, I only slid left and saw the display show "on"; now I slide left and press down, and all is great!

[Allen42]

At first try, I only slid left and saw the display show "on"; now I slide left and press down, and all is great!

Once in cruise control, you can press up and down to increase or decrease the set speed. Also, if after braking or shifting, you want to resume previous setting, press up.

[Snoking1127]

So where is Old Pro and an update on his issue. Oh, he has a 2016 !! I deleted my stuff.

The cruise control operation starts on page 18 of this:

https://www.operatorsguides.brp.com/...p/616651EN.pdf

[Old Prof]

Many thanks for all your ideas/possible solutions. It's not a matter of trying to set the cc at lower rpms...I don't do that. I recently had the rear TricLEDs reworked, and added a brake flasher unit. The suggestions y'all offered that any change to the braking system could be the culprit. I'm still pondering what I can do before resorting to the stealer...er dealer. Thanks for all your suggestions!

[Snoking1127]

Many thanks for all your ideas/possible solutions. It's not a matter of trying to set the cc at lower rpms...I don't do that. I recently had the rear TricLEDs reworked, and added a brake flasher unit. The suggestions y'all offered that any change to the braking system could be the culprit. I'm still pondering what I can do before resorting to the stealer...er dealer. Thanks for all your suggestions!

SO try disconnecting the brake flasher, and test again.

[Old Prof]

SO try disconnecting the brake flasher, and test again.

As soon as I can, that's what I'll do.

[BertRemington]

If you do isolate the brake flasher as the source of the problem (and you probably will) then read this thread:

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...lay-on-2020-RT

Note that Cleg seems to be successful using the flasher, so a PM might be in order. Installing a diode in the correct point in the circuit will also fix the problem as discussed for the ST2 in that thread.

[Old Prof]

As soon as I can, that's what I'll do.

No change.

[BertRemington]

Two questions:

(1) has cruise control ever worked?

(2) can you have someone follow you to confirm the Spyder brake lights are operating properly?

[Spyderglide]

I have a 2016 Spyder RT, and I don’t ride it much (under 6000 miles) A lot of times I thought my cruise control was not working after turning it on, and quickly pushing the set button up, like you would in your car? If I remember right, I had to hold the button up till the cruise control was set to the speed I was going, then it worked? I could be wrong? It’s hell getting old!

[Old Prof]

Two questions:

(1) has cruise control ever worked?

(2) can you have someone follow you to confirm the Spyder brake lights are operating properly?

Yes, it has worked well for over 1200 miles.
Hmmm....I have to work on that, but it's an excellent, pragmatic approach to verify. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Old Prof]

I have a 2016 Spyder RT, and I don’t ride it much (under 6000 miles) A lot of times I thought my cruise control was not working after turning it on, and quickly pushing the set button up, like you would in your car? If I remember right, I had to hold the button up till the cruise control was set to the speed I was going, then it worked? I could be wrong? It’s hell getting old!

I believe you move the switch to the right to turn it on.... once your speed is attained, a quick push down sets the speed... thereafter a quick push up on the switch increases the speed, and a quick push downward reduces speed.

[Snoking1127]

I believe you move the switch to the right to turn it on.... once your speed is attained, a quick push down sets the speed... thereafter a quick push up on the switch increases the speed, and a quick push downward reduces speed.

And if you shift or touch the brake, then a quick push up resumes the speed that was set earlier.

[BertRemington]

Based on your symptoms so far (was working, no change when flasher disconnected) the most likely cause is a sticking brake switch as noted above. The switch is an SPST N-O microswitch which provides +12V to both the ECM and the brake lights. The brake lights (and taillights) are LEDs so respond instantly to the +12V. Any flicker in the brake lights is also observed by the ECM. If the ECM has debounce logic I doubt it's longer than 50ms.

Best wishes.

[Old Prof]

Based on your symptoms so far (was working, no change when flasher disconnected) the most likely cause is a sticking brake switch as noted above. The switch is an SPST N-O microswitch which provides +12V to both the ECM and the brake lights. The brake lights (and taillights) are LEDs so respond instantly to the +12V. Any flicker in the brake lights is also observed by the ECM. If the ECM has debounce logic I doubt it's longer than 50ms.

Best wishes.

I appreciate your advice. "If the ECM has debounce logic I doubt it's longer than 50ms." Translation please.

[BertRemington]

The ECM is essentially a tailored computer operating at computer speeds performing among other tasks sampling its analog and digital inputs. The brake switch is a digital input operating at mechanical speeds. From the perspective of the ECM brake switch closure is multiple digital signals as the switch contacts bounce until the spring holds them permanently closed. To prevent false positives the ECM takes several samples over some mechanically realistic time period. I suggested 50ms but that's probably too short. I use 200ms in my switch closure detection processing.

WRT the switch spring since the switch is a microswitch the spring is the mechanical lever on the outside of the switch.

You asked an excellent question. Let me know if you have more.