Cruise control

My name is Joe Brandenburg from Brandon Distributing Inc. I build and design electronic cruise controls for motorcycles. I am looking for someone in the twin City area that would like a free cruise control on there bike. If you are interested in this please call me at 763-241-4172

With all due respect I'm sure you have a reputable company and quality products but we limit our forum to scooter conversation and
particular to the Silver Wing. Being a business man I'm sure can see where this particular topic could lead us to. This is of course my
personal opinion and subject to higher authority. Howard

My 2 cents.

Not unusual for CC manufacturers to ask for donor bikes to test/create installation instructions, and to give a free one in exchange.
Quite frankly we can use a good electronic cruise control since the only one out there with clear instructions that is designed for motorcycles and the Silverwing in particular is from Australia.
http://www.mccruise.com/

Brandon,
Perhaps a website link, which shows some information about other CC's you've done.
Also I notice you say "design and build" but not manufacture.
And that you are a "distributing" company.

We tend to be wary of off-the-shelf car cruise control modules that are adapted to the motorcycle because they don't focus on the safety considerations unique to bikes.

If you are trying for instance to rep an Asian product and build a following, you will meet with significant skepticism unless there is significant material backing that your cc was built from the ground up for motorcycles.

Unless they have put out something brand new, anything rostra based, such as the 100 series or similar won't pass muster here or most MC boards.  I've had a rostra based cruise control before on my wing and it worked great, but I risked certain safety concerns to do it. Check out the above referenced website and their product to see what you are up against.

We are a pretty savvy bunch when it comes to electronic cruise control, and you are gonna have to have a top notch product at a reasonable price for this bunch to consider it.  BTW, If you have a genuine cruise control for a Honda NM4 I'm also interested personally.

Regardless of what the board decides to do with your post, if you would like to PM me for further discussion you can.

Here is the link to their home page: http://www.brandondist.com/home.html

I did go to it and it is in Elk River, MN which is only 20 miles or so from me.

Just for info sake, Joe, I have an 08 Silverwing which I am currently putting back together from dumping it. I have a throttle lock on it currently but a nice new "Real" cruise control would be nice. Especially a free one. Hopefully the offer still stands in a week or so when I get her back on the street.

Dale N.

I would like to talk to you about the bike. Please call me at 763-241-4172 Monday-Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm. or if it is easier for you forward me your number

Here is my opinion---after over 1.5 million miles and one new bike with factory electronic cruise control-----TWO WHEEL VEHICLES DON'T NEED THEM!! Simple throttle stop works...many are available. Emphasis should be on paying attention to riding. I find simple throttle stop like NEP effective for wiping/picking nose and a little wrist relief.

Bikes, BMW and Triumph and may be others used to have friction screws to prevent throttle fly back....and Harley had so much friction in their bowden wire set up...it never flew back.

My opinion:adding junk might be another way to leave you stranded---SilverWings are now older machines, adding stuff may leave to failure when you don't want it!..I think walking sucks!

Isn't it a bit late to be designing an electronic cruise control to fit the Silver Wing in 2016. It's quite an old design maxi scooter that's been around since 2000, and is no longer imported into the US.

It all depends upon what inventory of Swings
are still out there still running.

No, it depends on who'd be daft enough to buy one.

I've ridden a lot of miles on Goldwings and found the electronic cruise control great. A touring type bike ought to have one. West Texas, Nebraska, North Dakota, the list goes on. Cruise control country.

[quote="Meldrew"]No, it depends on who'd be daft enough to buy one.[/qu?
ote]

I am sure if the price is right and that there is a perceived need others will dish out the $s especially here in the states. A lot of far destinations to ride to.

exavid wrote:

I've ridden a lot of miles on Goldwings and found the electronic cruise control great. A touring type bike ought to have one. West Texas, Nebraska, North Dakota, the list goes on. Cruise control country.

I just knew the Gold Wing would inevitably get mentioned again on a topic about electronic cruise controls. In fact the forums favourite chrome laden barge comes up at every possible opportunity to be compared with the Silver Wing on topics about tyres, seats, screens, etc, even cup holders etc.

The Silver Wing is a maxi scooter, and it's not a touring type bike either. It's been around since the start of the 21st Century in FSC/FJS form, it's discontinued in the US, and is now no longer in the Honda UK scooter line up.

So here we are now in the summer of 2016 and someone wants to design an electronic cruise control for the Silver Wing, why now? If it's such a good idea it would have been far better if someone had developed one for of it at least 10 years ago.

10 years ago the particular electronics may not have been available, or available as cheaply as necessary.
10 years ago there may not have been a sufficient size installed base for this bike.

The simple fact is, that the same cruise control that he is offering for the wing he is also offering for many other bikes.  

So if the only cost to him is the cost of the parts and labor to figure out how to install one on a given model, then he can inexpensively widen the application of his device. And with his only real competition from Australia at twice the price, those that want cc are going to flock to him.

If I had replaced my wing with another wing, I would get one.  If I lived anywhere near his business I would offer him my NM4 to get one free too.

Different people have different needs, and it does nothing positive (personally or in the experience of being on this forum) to put them down for it.
When DennisB started offering new things for the wing just a couple years ago, nobody put him down for it.
In fact we all appreciated it. I see no difference between that and this as far as new innovations for an old model bike.

Although the silverwing is a maxiscooter by trade category, owners have proven time and again it is a very capable touring bike. How many times have we seem multiple motorcycles that are built on the same frame, with the same engine, but with minor tweaks the manufacturer calls one bike a touring bike or adventure bike or some other category? We see that a lot in cars too...same chassis and "platform" used for cars, vans, crossovers, etc. So what's the difference if its the owners tweaking the bike instead of the manufacturer?  You still get the same result.

I think you forget it's European riders that appreciate the concept of maxi scooters far more than the US does, and over here it's more about riding them, not blinging them with questionable junk for a short 'riding season'.

AMEN on adding junk.....and then putting it on trailer.

For me, I would like to have cruise control on any bike I ride since I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, especially in the throttle hand. I love riding but, this is robbing much of the pleasure from me. Using the cruise on my Goldwing helps tremendously as this allows me to drop my hand for just long enough to get some relief. When I ride my Scooter it is just difficult. The other reason is, it helps me maintain a constant legal speed and keeps me in good favor with the local Police. It wouldn’t take many tickets to pay for a good cruise control. In fact, the last ticket I got was while riding my Goldwing without the cruise activated. Spending money on tickets is money that could have bought more bike or riding merchandise.
Respectfully,

I can see the point of aids to hold a throttle open for comfort and convenience, like Go Cruise, or the simple Throttle Rocker. But not a new in 2016 electronic cruise control for a maxi scooter that's been around since 2000 and is no longer in production.

Not many places in the uk where you could really make use of a cruise control, too much constant variation in speed to cope with traffic, bends, etc.
So not for me, but each to their own.

Here in Texas, cruise control is a necessity.  Takes a full day to drive across the state, either east-west or north-south.  Probably takes even longer on a bike, especially in the summer.

Oh, and if somebody wants to offer electronic cruise control for a bike that's no longer in production but they feel there's potential profit from doing so, more power to them.  Hope he does well with that endeavor.

Many of the Western states have long stretches of highway with light traffic and no need to stop for a couple hundred miles if you don't want to. Throttle holders are a help but on those 400-500 mile days in mountainous areas they don't do the job. On the West coast you can ride on freeway from Canada to Mexico without having to stop unless there's an accident. Other than through the cities one can cruise at 70+ mph for hours. There's where a real cruise control more than pays for itself. I used them on my Goldwings often.
When one comes off a freeway and into 35mph territory it's nice to use the cruise to keep from going too fast. Thirty five really feels slow after a long haul on an expressway, it's easy to go a bit fast and snag a ticket.

I put a KAOKO on my C650GT recently and I wish I had found this for the Silverwing when I had it. I had used the little paddle assist and a Go Cruise2 but the paddle seemed to get in the way and wasn't really a cruise control as you had to keep hand on throttle. The Go Cruise made me nervous that it would get jammed and not release and I never really liked the way it worked. The KAOKO is out of the way unless you want to use it and holds the throttle in position when you need it - twist to release. Allows you to take hand off bar and move hand around and maintain speed to keep hand from getting tired and cramped. Don't really use it for daily commute but in midwest USA here there are long stretches of straight almost empty roads that it helps on longer rides. They do make a version for the Honda Silverwing.

Now truthfully, who's really putting in 400-500 mile days on a regular basis other than when they want to get to their destination ASAP on monotonous straight roads. As a riding experience it's dull and monotonous, and on a Silver Wing especially the less fuel efficient ones you're going to empty a full tank within say 130 miles, not a good idea on some arrow straight road out in the sticks. So you and your throttle hand are going to play a large part in determining whether you get to your next fuel stop without running dry, not a cruise control.

Then remembering some of the posts I've read on here criticising Mr Grinsel's exploits, riding 400-500 mile days are a drag and trailering the Silver Wing behind a car (with a cruise control) is the way to go.

Isn't trailering the preferred way the vast majority of bad a** bikers get to Sturgis, not riding there on auto pilot with a cruise control.

Meldrew wrote:

Isn't trailering the preferred way the vast majority of bad a** bikers get to Sturgis, not riding there on auto pilot with a cruise control.

:lol!:   I'm picturing a Silverwing @ Sturgis....

A silverwing @ Sturgis is iike using a smart car to pace the indy500

You don't have to picture a smart for me, I've owned two versions and they're great little cars. They actually fun to drive and make more sense as a tourer than a lardass touring bike you put away as soon as the 'riding season' ends.

john grinsel wrote:

AMEN on adding junk.....and then putting it on trailer.

John,
Don't you use a trottle lock on your Swing? Do you use it?

I use a NEP, but seldom, wiping nose, etc. Do not take a trip on it. I prefer remaining in control of bike.

Guess I don't understand why such a subject should rile up a chosen few? If you don't like the idea, DON'T buy one; D'oh!!! It is that simple. For me I would take one in a heartbeat. Although I try and limit my travel to 300 mile days, some 400 tend to creep in and I could use a CC. And why get upset because the Goldwing has a cruise control? BMW makes a great CC as do other manufacturers these days. I LOVE the unit on the Goldwing and can't imagine not having it for 500 plus mile days. I figure that if a company wants to adapt a CC to a scooter no longer in production, they must have a reason or figure a market is available... My 2 cents.

GHM-PM wrote:

Guess I don't understand why such a subject should rile up a chosen few?  If you don't like the idea, DON'T buy one; D'oh!!!  It is that simple.  For me I would take one in a heartbeat.  Although I try and limit my travel to 300 mile days, some 400 tend to creep in and I could use a CC. And why get upset because the Goldwing has a cruise control?  BMW makes a great CC as do other manufacturers these days. I LOVE the unit on the Goldwing and can't imagine not having it for 500 plus mile days. I figure that if a company wants to adapt a CC to a scooter no longer in production, they must have a reason or figure a market is available...  My 2 cents.

++++++++ Totally agree with you...

No problem for me. I like electronic cruise controls. You gotta remember there are some curmudgeons other than me on this forum who are like Mikey in that old Life Cereal ad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34wJt3pRY0w

Is it really that hard to hold a throttle open at cruising speeds unaided for a couple of hours at a stretch, it isn't. It's pretty normal for me that a lot of the places I go to in Germany are between 300-400 miles from the ferry terminal to my hotel. There'll be a couple of fuel stops and comfort breaks, another for a hot meal and more fuel if I need it, so riding another 100 miles is neither here or there, it's just more of the same.

Now what advantage does a cruise control make? On that endless grey ribbon of asphalt I'm constantly working that throttle hand, having to overtake slower moving trucks, sometimes in convoys of a dozen or more again and again. If I do find a quiet stretch of inside lane to settle into and relax for while, there'll be something slower looming up in front within a mile or so, or a truck will appear in my mirrors behind me. So if I don't want to get boxed in between them I have to open up and clear off.

There'll be impatient 100 mph drivers thundering down the outside line flashing their headlights at the lesser mortals daring to be in their way. There'll be roadworks with contra flow lanes, the occasional miles long hold ups to thread my way through. There's hills steep enough for crawler lanes, and long downhill sections, and heaven forbid it could be raining all day too. So there's all the spray thrown up by trucks, the glare thrown up on wet roads when the sun breaks through, head winds, cross winds, and all the other stuff to content with... and I'm not on a Gold Wing.

dspevack wrote:

It's obvious there isn't a Vultus owners forum to you to play on.  

Enough with the snarky remarks already.

We value everyone's opinion, but we also agree that sometimes we disagree.

Tim

Meldrew wrote:

It's obvious there isn't a Vultus owners forum to you to play on.  

Actually there are two:  

http://www.vultusforum.com/
http://www.hondanm4.com/


But the community is small enough and manly enough that it doesn't have the drama and this forum does.

In all seriousness, the reason I stick around is that I was so invested in the Silverwing for so long I still feel I have a lot to contribute.

I try to stay out of most of it and and avoid the but occasionally I see something and I still

There's a great line from Smokey and the Bandit:
"How dumb you are depends upon what part of the country you're standing in."

Simply put, it means that things obvious to people who grew up in one situation will be completely confusing to someone who grew up in a different set of circumstances.  

Attitudes on cruise control are a great example because they are different based on different types of riding.

I have to keep remembering there are differing opinions, and there is
and try as I might I can't fix stupid..  

I agree with the above. I belong to many forums, automobile, motorcycle etc. but this one has more "drama" than any of the others put together... Why stay on you ask? Because in spite of all there is a lot of good Silver Wing info as well.

Some enjoy "drama". Some enjoy "comedy".






On here you get both!

despevac,

I really don't have an opinion on this but I love your exploding emoji........

Wow....Seek and yee shall find....