Cruising for a bruising?

Santa-2512 said:
....whats the difference of going into a bend at 60 holding the throttle open, or going into the bend at 60 on cruise ? Its not as if your riding with your hands off the bars.

its like anything else, appropriate use if the conditions dictate...
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One day you'll find out, evidently. If you don't know the answer to that question, then you are in trouble.
 
Enginerelight said:
When it rains, the paint on the tarmac turns into a skating rink and they have long thick (5m long) arrows painted before every exit. This arrow happened to be on a long descending left hand bend and I was doing 70 mph. Without warning the bike just slipped away under me. I didn't come off but it was very close and it's only because the off-ramp was there and therefore had somewhere to go that I didn't end up cutting myself in half on the sharp barrier. I hasten to add that I wasn't intending to take that particular exit.
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If you know what happens when it rains (skating rink), why didn't you avoid the arrow, or if the bend was that tight and couldn't be avoided, slow down?
 
CPJS said:
The CC is often turned off when a speed increase is needed, in this case closing the throttle could be dangerous because of following traffic is expecting an increase of speed and not the vehicle in front of them effectively putting on the brakes with no brake lights, as you say 'valuable meters lost'. Remember we are dealing with texting car drivers relying in on a red light to tell them when to look up from their mobiles.
I most frequently use the CC to keep my speed down in built up areas and will be gathering a queue of annoyed local 4x4s behind me, the last thing I am going to do is chop the throttle. A little bit of throttle brush the clutch and off you go. Pillions appreciate the smoothness as well.
CC is a tool, having different ways of using it is a plus, don't stick to one way. Use whatever way the situation demands.
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Why would anyone turn off the CC when a speed increase is needed? If you open the throttle the speed increases even when the CC is engaged. There is no need to mess about trying to switch it off.
 
Santa-2512 said:
Why is it, i drive my car, engage cruise and drive at 70mph

tap the brakes and the car slows imperceptably,

Do it on the GS, and its like you've slammed the anchors on and are trying to scrub speed off like its going out if fashion
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All to do with aerodynamics and weight. Relatively speaking the bike has the aerodynamics of a house brick and the weight of a feather whilst the car is more like an arrow made of lead. Stop powering the bike and it just stops, meanwhile the car will sail on happily as it slowly loses speed.
 
Little-Brit said:
All to do with aerodynamics and weight. Relatively speaking the bike has the aerodynamics of a house brick and the weight of a feather whilst the car is more like an arrow made of lead. Stop powering the bike and it just stops, meanwhile the car will sail on happily as it slowly loses speed.
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Gearing helps too.

My car does 40mph/1,000 revs. Think the bike is around 16mph/1,000.
 
BobT said:
Why would anyone turn off the CC when a speed increase is needed? If you open the throttle the speed increases even when the CC is engaged. There is no need to mess about trying to switch it off.
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There is every need to turn it off for safety reasons, we all use the strong engine braking the GS has and judge distances with that in mind, to have the CC chime in when slowing down and you have forgotten it was still engaged will ,as said before, lose valuable meters, anyway the chances are that you will have to use the brakes/clutch before needing it again.
 
CPJS said:
There is every need to turn it off for safety reasons, we all use the strong engine braking the GS has and judge distances with that in mind, to have the CC chime in when slowing down and you have forgotten it was still engaged will ,as said before, lose valuable meters, anyway the chances are that you will have to use the brakes/clutch before needing it again.
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Your missing one salient point, once cruise is disengaged, (by closing throttle past detent) braking or engaging clutch , the bike is slowing, Cruise wont reengage unless you physically reengage it.

If your talking about cruise derived from locking the throttle grip open by way of a bar or knob, thats not cruise, thats a workaround to keep the throttle open.

The electronic cruise fitted to the LC models operated by a switch on the LS switch cluster is electronic cruise and dose not surge in corners or auto re-gengage / resume unless you press the button to make it do so.

If you've pressed re-engae mid corner and got into trouble , thats your fault, not the cruise system
 
Mr Bean said:
If you know what happens when it rains (skating rink), why didn't you avoid the arrow, or if the bend was that tight and couldn't be avoided, slow down?
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The arrows are big and not always that easy to avoid, moreso those inticating direction fwd and right: 5m long by 2m wide covering the majority of the lane; it's that or the dividing line which is painted with the same paint. The bend is a motorway bend, designed, therefore, for 120 kms/h. Until it happened to me I had no idea they could be so treacherous. On recounting my story to the villagers in Oviñana/Cudillero it transpires that these arrows are notorious, leaving one villager facing the wrong way after a 180 in his car! There was no (legal) speed at which that bike would not have skidded; it was like hitting black ice. Dry they are no problem, but in my investigations it seems that there are three factors at play:

1) The authorities are using sub-standard paint that doesn't meet requirements for the area (wet/cold). They are cost-cutting and so far, that I know, it has cost one biker his life. Even morning dew is dangerous.

2) Many lorries have ill-fitting fuel caps that spill diesel, especially on bends. It is one of the reasons that roundabouts become so slippery, as we all know.

3) Bad design: They choose 120kmh bends to place arrow(s) with sub-standard paint covering an area of 10m2. The one I hit is NOT the only one. Funny how all of a sudden you notice these things. They are fucking muppets and I'd like to walk into that department and throttle the lot of them.

Believe me, I learned about biking from that!!
 
Enginerelight said:
The arrows are big and not always that easy to avoid, moreso those inticating direction fwd and right: 5m long by 2m wide covering the majority of the lane; it's that or the dividing line which is painted with the same paint. The bend is a motorway bend, designed, therefore, for 120 kms/h. Until it happened to me I had no idea they could be so treacherous. On recounting my story to the villagers in Oviñana/Cudillero it transpires that these arrows are notorious, leaving one villager facing the wrong way after a 180 in his car! There was no (legal) speed at which that bike would not have skidded; it was like hitting black ice. Dry they are no problem, but in my investigations it seems that there are three factors at play:

1) The authorities are using sub-standard paint that doesn't meet requirements for the area (wet/cold). They are cost-cutting and so far, that I know, it has cost one biker his life. Even morning dew is dangerous.

2) Many lorries have ill-fitting fuel caps that spill diesel, especially on bends. It is one of the reasons that roundabouts become so slippery, as we all know.

3) Bad design: They choose 120kmh bends to place arrow(s) with sub-standard paint covering an area of 10m2. The one I hit is NOT the only one. Funny how all of a sudden you notice these things. They are fucking muppets and I'd like to walk into that department and throttle the lot of them.

Believe me, I learned about biking from that!!
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So where does cruise control fit into that,? road markings and ambient weather , both which should have been factored into your ride ...

Oh and i've seen & experienced the std of driving in and around Valencia, it leaves a lot to be desired ;)
 
Santa-2512 said:
So where does cruise control fit into that,? road markings and ambient weather , both which should have been factored into your ride ...

Oh and i've seen & experienced the std of driving in and around Valencia, it leaves a lot to be desired ;)
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I'm going to have to ask you to re-read the original post to understand that question, Santa. I have enough to do without repeating myself. I did factor it in, that's the point; had I used CC, I propbably wouldn't be here to tell my tale.

On the question of the standard of driving in Valencia, I am in total agreement with you, there. I have just had to pass my driving test again (I also did the theory so I don't have to give in my UK licence - I did my bike test here in the 90's and they've acknowledged this)....but I digress..... There are some very stupid rules and every city/province seems to have their own idea about how roundabouts should be used; a cyclist is allowed on a dual carriageway but a moped is not :nenau. I took a philosophical view and just got on with it; a refresher was not a bad thing.

I have to say, though, that the standard in the UK has declined somewhat. It's almost as if people have forgotten how to drive; those that were locked down didn't drive and are out of practice; and those that had to got rather used to having the roads to themselves and still think they do.:blast
 
Santa-2512 said:
The electronic cruise fitted to the LC models operated by a switch on the LS switch cluster is electronic cruise and dose not surge in corners.....
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Oh yes it will! It can happen on any bend at any time. If at any point the speed drops below that which is set, it will attempt to regain that speed; ergo, a bend which has a change of gradient is where it's most likely to happen but not exclusively.

As I said, (and I hasten to add that I sincerely hope not) you are in for a rude awakening one day.
 
The bike won't surge, it just feels like it as it stops decelerating. That is exactly what I was talking about in my last post ,that is why if are going to start riding above the CC set speed for anything more than a quick squirt it is safest to disengage the CC.
 
You could certainly forget to cancel cruise control if you’re driving at a higher speed than than the set speed for more than a few seconds.

Relaxing the throttle will then not slow you down as you might expect. That might be scary, or much worse.
 
Agree with the above two posts. It's scary enough in a car when it happens. That's why you have the "RES(ume)" switch: disconnect, accelerate, then RES. Personally I was referring to surging in a corner under normal conditions. Anyone who uses it on a road with bends needs their head examined. In fact, that's exactly what will happen.
 
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