This one always astounds me.
Maybe it was applicable in the past when all we had was 'throttle lock' type cruise controls, which are now considered ancient technology, and cruise control wasn't just a
small part of a whole suite of integrated safety aids & applications that are pretty much State of the Art
INTEGRATED SAFETY SYSTEMS, but that's not how the modern Cruise Control or the Integrated Safety Systems on our Spyders work?! Your Cruise Control is
not going to spin up a drive tire or make any tire any more likely to aquaplane than it is with only your hand controlling the throttle - in fact, it's
LESS likely to do that because it's generally steadier,
AND even if something like that
does happen, the Nanny will react to cut cruise
far quicker than you can respond to back off the throttle manually!
Using modern Cruise Control (like that on our Spyders) in any
CRUISING condition isn't a bad thing per se (ie, ryding along at a steady pace in whatever conditions) simply because it's just
ONE part of that suite of Integrated Safety Systems -
cruise control doesn't work alone!!
As you're ryding along and using either the throttle or cruise control to try & maintain a steady speed, the whole VSS/Nanny & its entire suite of sensors & systems is there to work
FOR you at making your ryde safer!
If the Nanny responds to anything adverse, and she
WILL do that
FAAAR Quicker than you can; the
VERY FIRST THING she does (in milli-seconds) when any of the myriad of sensors reports an issue (in milli-seconds) is cut the throttle/cruise & reduce power, and she does that MUCH quicker than you can even
think about backing off on the throttle too! So why would you
NOT use a Safety Aid that can keep a steady throttle better than you; react far quicker than you to any issues/changes; cut power &/or apply one or more wheel brakes far quicker than you can; and basically
WORK FOR YOU TO MAKE YOUR RYDE SAFER?? 
Do you pull the fuse on your car's ABS every time it rains or you drive on a dirt road? People used to do that before ABS became as good as it is these days! Do you pull the fuse on the air-bag if you're only going to drive on the Freeway? People used to do that cos they thought the only time an air-bag would help was in a low speed accident around town, but they're better than that now! Do you ONLY use cruise control in fine conditions where ALL it's doing is maintaining a steady speed while you have little other competing demands for concentration and it's at its
LEAST helpful?? Or do you use your Cruise Control as just ONE integrated part of that State of the Art suite of Safety Systems that is widely recognised as being one of the best there is, and that has components which have been very carefully designed and calibrated to work
TOGETHER to keep you safe?
Dunno about you, but I know what I do!
Sure, if you are changing speed
ALL the time in any condions, then you might not want to select cruise; but if you are travelling along at a steady speed for any distance of much more than a few hundred yards in
ANY conditions, selecting cruise
at an appropriate speed for those conditions is surely a
GOOD thing to do?!
It allows you to concentrate on being more aware of what's happening around and ahead of you without having to devote any real effort to keeping on moving at your chosen appropriate speed for the conditions! And
YES, that appropriate speed you set on cruise might be a little slower than if you were concentrating
solely on getting the best safe speed you could given those circumstances/conditions, and concentrating on
THAT (your speed) to the exclusion of putting any more effort into watching for any variations in speed or tracking of the vehicles ahead, the road surface, the spray patterns, any standing or running water on the road, keeping an eye on the cage alongside you with the driver on his phone, watching the rear-view mirrors for the tosser coming up too fast to see you thru your spray, and all those other things that you
SHOULD be considering, especially in adverse conditions! Using Cruise Control to (slightly?) reduce the amount of concentration devoted to maintaining your speed and freeing up some 'extra concentration' to put towards monitoring the potential for increased dangers all around you that are present due to the adverse conditions should be a good thing, shouldn't it?!
Trust the Nanny a bit more! Use Cruise appropriately to help make your Ryde safer, regardless of the conditions. The Nanny
WILL respond to feedback from all those sensors
FAR QUICKER than you can; and to
NOT use your Cruise Control in circumstances where it & the VSS/Nanny could help keep you safer simply because of some old, outdated, & possibly irrationally ingrained fears about completely different technology is pretty short-sighted in my view, and is very likely putting you and other road users around you at greater risk to boot!
F3 Riding in the rain?
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Originally Posted by SpyderAnn01
Somethings can be controlled a lot easier when you have control of the throttle.
PE #2735
