This article written by
Curt Gran, STOC #5137, IBA# 330 and the original content is at this web page:
http://www.hard-core-ware.com/howtos/index.php?page=mccruise Curt is the owner of:
fuzeblocks.com (http://www.fuzeblocks.com/index.php)
MC Cruise Control, ST1300A
Part #1 of 2Supplemental To Installation Instructions First, let me say that MC Cruise has done their homework and come up with a great product and a great set of installation instructions. This installation is only a mild challenge if you are even slightly mechanically inclined. I won't say it's easy but that is only because of the time it takes. I wouldn't recommend trying to do it all in a day but I have heard of people that have. So if their manual is so great why are you writing up your own? Well, I'm not. This is not a replacement for MC Cruise's installation manual but a supplemental to point out areas I had an issue with in the install or questions I had about the instructions. I'm not going to rewrite a 30+ page install manual although it sounds fun. (Never mind the red tape. That's just a piece I used for padding)
Read through MC Cruise's instructions before you start and then read them again. Make sure you understand the procedures. The instructions that MC Cruise provides are very good although the photos are in black and white so it's hard to see some of the things they are talking about. That's where this supplemental will hopefully pick up. I've tried to include the points here that I had issues with and hopefully they will help others with this install.
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Cost: ~$525 (full kit with everything you need)
Difficulty: 7 (it just takes some time)
Parts List: *
MC Cruise Website (http://www.mccruise.com/)
*
Joe Sears' Site, MC Cruise US Distributor (http://www.spoiledbiker.com/)
* Joe's Information:
o Phone: 1-877-246-7187 or 407-334-4539
o Email: mccruise@msn.com
o Website: www.spoiledbiker.com
* You get everything you need
Tools: * What's listed in the instructions
* 10mm combination wrench with ratcheting end (a real time saver)
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Follows the Manual: This is a great winter project because about 20% of the time on this project will be in getting the body work on and off the bike. That should tell you that this install is not that hard although it does take some persistence and patience. By the way I have none of that and I still managed to get it to work. I take off all the body work in the winter so it was the perfect time to do it. I did have to put the rear, dash, and fairing on though to road test it.
I'm not going to cover taking the bike apart because that's something you can get from the service manual and the MC Cruise instructions cover everything you need to do. If you don't have one I highly recommend picking it up. It pays for itself in time saved. You don't need to take everything off the bike but I highly recommend removing the upper tank and the side cowlings. If you wanted to pick between the two then go with removing the upper tank. The nice thing about the ST is you can still run the bike with the gas in the lower tank (yes, I tried this and it does work). Before you take the bike apart run the gas down until the low fuel light starts blinking and then you know that the upper tank is empty.
The reason for removing the upper tank is that the critical part of this install is getting the throttle cabling adjusted correctly. It's not hard to do but you want to make sure it's done correctly. The second part is the placement of the CIU assembly. The placement of the CIU is important and you may have to put in and take out the base plate of the air box of few times before you get it just right. If you don't remove the tank you'll get a broken neck spending all that time under the tank trying to get all of that done. And for me that just adds to the frustration of trying to make sure everything is right the first time. I didn't want to screw up my install so I took the time to make sure that the cabling and placement was right before I put everything back together. In the end it paid off and I did all my rode testing with the upper tank off and never had to go back in to adjust the cabling.
I'll break this down into the major sections of the install and try to follow the installation instructions as close as possible.
Installing the wiring loom I did not wire wrap anything until I had the entire installation done. The reason I did this was to make sure I could route the wiring and adjust everything to work around tight spots and spots where I needed more slack. This worked well as originally I thought the wiring harness was too long but after the install I realized I had to pull everything back to give enough slack to plug the wiring harness into the control unit.
The wires that run between the tank and the frame are a concern and you want to be sure they are out of the way. I tried to route them a different way but I think the best way in the end is they way the instructions say to do it. The only other wire that was a concern was the wiring that runs to the actuator. You want make sure it doesn't get pinched by anything on the way to the actuator.
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Use the space between the rear fender and the frame as a place to pull back any slack in the wiring harness that you need to. You can tuck a lot of wires in the space there right at the place where the harness runs under the rear passenger handle mount. I tried to hide a lot of the wiring but honestly you're going to put the side covers back on so you're not going to see a lot of them anyway but if you try and keep them behind other things you'll have a better chance of not pinching anything off.
Installing the speed sensor There were two things with the speed sensor but nothing major. Ok maybe three things.
One, the right angle bend that goes around the end of the swing arm on the speed sensor bracket was bent about 2mm to short. The bracket is suppose to go around the end of the swing arm but mine didn't quite make it. It did go around enough though to have the axle nut force it into place. It didn't go on quite perfect but it's tight in place and isn't going to move at all and that's what you really need because you want to make sure that the sensor is right over the magnets that go in the rotor hex bolt heads.
Because the bracket had to be forced on it took me a little longer to get the adjustment of the bracket right. The sensor is suppose to be about 1/8" away from the magnets. Too close or too far will cause the cruise to act jerky and not keep speed. I know because I tried to eyeball before the first road test. I was curious about how exact it had to be. Their tip about using an 1/8" drill bit is prefect because it will stick to the magnets that you put in the rotor hex bolts but put the magnets in first before you line up the sensor so you have them when you're setting the gap. If you think the bracket has the sensor too far out from the rotor bend the bracket so it will be closer to the rotor. Even too close is ok because it's easy to pull out on the bracket once it's mounted to make the gap. If you get it too close rotate the wheel so the rotor is out of the way of the sensor so you can push it towards the rotor to lessen the gap. Doing this isn't hard but again you want to get it right.
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The last thing is the wiring harness that goes to the sensor. The sensor bracket has sharp edges so you want to either file the edges down or make sure the wiring harness will not rub on the wiring harness. Or you might want to do both. Remember it's the swing arm so it's going cut into the wiring harness after miles of riding if you let it rub up against the bracket. I routed the wire lightly different than the instructions in that I routed it behind the brake hose first and then followed the instructions for the rest of it. In that way I'm sure the the wiring harness will not rub on the bracket.
Installing the actuator vacuum hose The kit includes tubing on both sides of the vacuum switch but I wish there was more tubing on the side from the switch (that's what I'm calling it) to the pressure regulator. The reason is that it is difficult to make the turn to send the tube down to the actuator. This would be a good place where more is better because you can always cut the tubing to the length you think you need. There are two tubes coming off the pressure regulator. The one you need is the smaller one that doesn't have a clip on it. Maybe it's obvious but I had to triple check because I don't know every piece of my bike and what it does. Did I mention the service manual is a good thing to have.
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The second part is that this is a vacuum hose and pinching it can be a serious issue also so routing the tube to the actuator was difficult because there is a flange around the lower tank that leads to a pinch point for the tube. Again the tubing being longer would be a big benefit but honestly you can run out and get more if you really want to. The kit does provide the amount you really need but again more would be better. I found a way to route the tube along the tank and come down right at the point where the side cover goes around the lift handle. There's a small gap there where I believe that the hose can travel without getting kinked but it's a really tight spot so I double and triple checked it. The way it's routed in the manual is right over the flange and I just didn't think it would work there without getting pinched.
Installing the vacuum actuator This is a time consuming part and taking your time here will pay off. I worked about a total of two hours on it but split it over two days because I get frustrated easily and getting the actuator set right is critical to proper operation. If you have a combination wrench with the ratcheting end it will be a life saver mounting the actuator. A ratchet is too big to get into it and a wrench is too slow because you may have to do it several times to get it right. It's nothing to do with the kit, it's just a tight spot to get into.
They suggest to remove the rod that attaches the preload adjustor to the frame. What I did was not remove it but loosen it almost all the way. What this allows you to do is bring the bar out far enough to work on getting the bracket mounted. I actually mounted the bracket without the actuator on it and then tried to get it set into place first. Then I took it apart and put the actuator on it and bolted it back in. I had to manipulate the bracket with the actuator on it in order to get the cable lined up so it ran behind the frame member straight. I had to do this whole procedure twice to get it right but again this is a critical part of the install so I wanted to get it all out of the way the first time. Making sure the cable is as straight as possible is key at this point.
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The cable goes between the rubber heat shield and the frame member. The rubber is glued on the edges so be careful when you pull it away from the frame and the lower tank. The cable should feed through exactly where it shows in the pictures. I thought that the cable would be parallel to the long axis of the bike but once you have it mounted you realize it has to actually be pointed inward a little towards the center of the bike in order to get the cable around the frame member and feed straight up into the air box area. The cable off the actuator is a little too long but the way I resolved this was to feed the cable up and then back down a little before I went around the air box against the right side of the frame. The cable actually comes up so far that it touches the PCV valve bracket that's behind the air box. It's a heavy gauge wire type mount.
Getting the wiring into the actuator is another adventure because you need to allow room for the vacuum tube and you don't want to pinch the wiring. Tape the connector the way it shows in the instructions and then feed the wiring around the other side of the actuator and then up into the gap where it can feed out the top of the actuator housing. To me this allows it to feed out with as minimal pinching as possible but honestly it is going to be pinched in there. Hopefully I've taken enough care to make sure it won't be an issue. Make sure the protective wiring cover is against the actuator cover hole so the wiring is protected inside the actuator cover. The rubber grommet provided will protect everything anyway but making sure the wiring covering goes inside the actuator cover will keep the elements from getting in there. A little RTV might not be a bad idea.
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I thought the bracket would put the actuator exactly where it needed to be but honestly it's a three dimensional puzzle and it's hard to get it exactly right. After a while I realized you just have to manipulate it into place because nothings perfect. This is NOT a big deal it just caught me off guard. I have to remember that this is something that is made to fit somewhere that the manufacturer didn't intend to be on the bike. The whole time I'm thinking how cool this is that MC Cruise went to all the trouble to put this kit together. The fact that you have to actually engage your brain when putting this together didn't occur to me until I realized what I needed to do. At first I thought I mounted something wrong but in the end a few extra minutes and it was right in place. I put on the rubber pad provided to prevent the actuator from banging on the lower tank and that was done.