[otto-man]

2012 GL1800, 85,000 miles...

At times I cannot engage my cruise control, or it may take many attempts to get it to engage and when it does engage it drops off, sometimes immediately and some times after a few miles or many miles. I have noticed, for a long while now, my right hand brake lever is very sensitive to shutting off the cruise control. A feather tap can shut the cruise control off. I like the sensitivity but don't understand how it can be so sensitive. I think this is the reason my cruise shuts off. It seems that if I lightly play with the lever when riding I can get the cruise control to engage. Is there a brake lever adjustment for the cruise control? I have not been able to find a brake down (no pun intended) of the brake lever assembly. Could it be the brake lever bearings?

Can someone explain how the brake lever interacts with the cruise control and how I might fix it?

Another cruise control question: I watched the Cruiseman's videos on the cruise control adjustments barrel, located above the air filter. When the barrel is being adjusted, what adjustment is being made? How would I know if an adjustment is necessary? Could this be the adjustment I need to make? When my cruise control is engaged it works fine.

Help greatly appreciated!

 

[Bullet Bob]

https://gl1800riders.com/forums/44-ohio-oh/448649-cruise-not-staying.html

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

2012 GL1800, 85,000 miles...

To me it sounds like your hand levers need service. Although it's not directly called out on the maintenance schedule, here in my climate, it should be done every 8k. At your mileage, easily a clutch lever, it's pivot pin, probably the rubber bushing that protects the back of the clutch m/c is torn, and a new brass bushing for the push rod is needed.

On the brake lever side, be sure to remove the bike lever, clean and inspect the pivot pin, and lever's bushing. If you have aftermarket levers and/or pins, those often cause problems.

Your issue could easily be resolved once the levers are working correctly and properly lubed. If not, test the switch on the right side with an ohm meter. Some will clean the switch, but at like $12 for a new one, they are not worth cleaning.

As for your c/c lag. Others probably adjust from its originally adjustment position, but the mechanical world, that would be an incorrect way to make an adjustment like that. There are only 2 correct ways to make an adjustment like that. One would be to adjust as needed during test rides (trial and error method), the other is described below.

What I do is allow the Wing to warm up till the temp needle is at its normal read. I then adjust the throttle cable. Once the throttle cable is adjusted, so adjust that first. I then adjust the c/c. To do that, you can probably follow someone else info regarding where it is, how to loosen the lock nut ... etc. But here is the trick to getting the adjustment really close on the 2001-10 non-airbag models. Turn the barrel nut which lengthens the cable's outer housing ... but only until the rpms just start to increase ... then back it off to bring the idle back down. You are using your hearing here to detect the increase in rpms. I usually turn the barrel 1/6 at a time. Then shorten its outer housing by turning the barrel nut the other way 2.5 turns. That should put you 1-2 mph drop. Closer the that, and when setting the c/c, it can immediately increase, and "bump" in rpms. That would be considered dangerous.

Lengthening the housing, lengthens the "path" the stretch cable has to pass through.