Cruise Control Unwanted Behaviour

[fred_jb]

In another thread I described how I had a scary incident while away in France, where the bike suddenly surged forward and did a small wheelie as I was exiting a mini roundabout. It left me heading for a tall kerb at the side of the road, and I only just regained control in time to steer away. One suggestion for the cause of this was that I had somehow accidentally resumed CC. I turned out that I had forgotten to disable CC from using it the previous day so I suppose this is a possibility, but other people I have discussed this with said that most CC systems are designed to not resume at road speeds below about 40 km/h.

I've just had some new Roadtec 01 tyres, so while out today starting to get them scrubbed in, I decided to test this. I set the CC at about 60 mph, then cancelled it but left it enabled. I then made a left turn at some lights, so I was in 1st gear at low speed, probably no more than 10 mph, and after checking there was nobody behind me I flicked the resume switch. I was quite surprised that it did immediately resume, despite the slow speed, and did so with quite a jolt of acceleration.

It seems that this could therefore be an explanation as to what happened, though I still don't know how the resume switch could have been activated. However something else I have remembered about that day was that due to problems with Garmin Southern Europe maps being missing (a whole other story) I was using Google maps on my phone Bluetoothed to my Sena headset to navigate to the airport to pick my wife up. The phone was in my tank bag powered by a cable to a USB socket I have fitted near the left side of the instrument panel. I was careful to route this cable so that it couldn't get tangled with anything, but I suppose it is possible that while negotiating the mini roundabout that it might have got tangled with the CC switch.

Anyway, I would interested to hear if anyone else has had problems with accidental activation of CC, and what your views are on whether BMW should have programmed it to be inoperable below a certain speed, or to at least be more gradual in its throttle application from slow speeds.

Fred

 

[Neil W]

On mine at least (plus both my cars ) even if you leave cruise control turned on once you disable its specific activation (at a set speed ) whether it be by use of brakes/pulling in the clutch or shutting the throttle past its closed position the vehicle should not return back to its previous set speed, unless you physically reset it.

Similarly if you physically turn off the cruise control at the main switch once you turn it back on (again by the switch) it should not return to its previous set speed , whether it is above or below 40 km/h

 

[bogey]

Hi
Haven't had any issues with mine but given your posts I'm going to try it out and see what happens. I will let you know how I get on.

B

 

[fred_jb]

On mine at least (plus both my cars ) even if you leave cruise control turned on once you disable its specific activation (at a set speed ) whether it be by use of brakes/pulling in the clutch or shutting the throttle past its closed position the vehicle should not return back to its previous set speed, unless you physically reset it.

Similarly if you physically turn off the cruise control at the main switch once you turn it back on (again by the switch) it should not return to its previous set speed , whether it is above or below 40 km/h

I'm not sure what you mean by physically reset it, but I'm talking about the facility to resume a previously set CC speed, having previously stopped it by using brakes, clutch, etc. At this point, unless you move the main switch to the left to disable it, CC is still armed and can be resumed at any time simply by moving the left hand tab back towards the rider. It seems like it will resume at any road speed, and if the speed you resume at is well below the set CC speed, then it does so with a fairly enthusiastic burst of throttle which to my mind is not ideal, especially at low speeds.

 

[CPJS]

Thanks for that, just read the manual, I did not realise there was resume on the switch. I have always pushed the button forwards to activate and thats it. I leave the on/off part of CC in the on position all the time as some folk have had trouble with the that part of the switch breaking. I can't read the speedo let alone the stupid little letters on the switches.

 

[fred_jb]

Hi
Haven't had any issues with mine but given your posts I'm going to try it out and see what happens. I will let you know how I get on.

B

Please do report back. In the meantime I might try it again but this time I will try to be a bit more scientific about it and record exact speeds, etc.

 

[XPilot]

Thanks for that, just read the manual, I did not realise there was resume on the switch. I have always pushed the button forwards to activate and thats it. I leave the on/off part of CC in the on position all the time as some folk have had trouble with the that part of the switch breaking. I can't read the speedo let alone the stupid little letters on the switches.

I also leave it ON and just flick the switch forward to set. I've never accidentally pulled the switch to resume - in fact I don't think I've ever used the resume function. I'll give it a go tomorrow and report back.

 

[steadysteve]

Fred, did you see my reply about the little visor cleaning strip on my gloves activating the cc on my bike? I think it caught the resume switch when I moved the indicator switch exiting a roundabout.
I have always thought the resume function is too gentle in normal use. I suppose BMW have to allow for it being resumed while leaning over in a corner for examples.

 

[fred_jb]

Fred, did you see my reply about the little visor cleaning strip on my gloves activating the cc on my bike? I think it caught the resume switch when I moved the indicator switch exiting a roundabout.
I have always thought the resume function is too gentle in normal use. I suppose BMW have to allow for it being resumed while leaning over in a corner for examples.

Yes I did see it Steve, now you remind me. The abruptness of the resume may depend on road speed and what gear you are in. I can see that resuming in say 5th or 6th when you are not going too much slower than the set speed is not going to be too dramatic, but if you accidentally resume with a set speed of 60 mph when you are going slowly in 1st gear, then it seems to me that it is altogether too abrupt, and maybe the programming should be a little more sophisticated so that it takes account of road speed, what gear you are in, whether the bike is leaning, etc, and should perhaps even refuse to resume in some situations.

Fred

 

[Boxed-in]

It will of course disengage again when you change up a gear, as you are using the clutch.

 

[fred_jb]

It will of course disengage again when you change up a gear, as you are using the clutch.

Agreed - but by then the damage may be done if you resumed accidentally and were taken by surprise!

 

[Deleted account Aberdeen GS]

Operates between 30-210 Km/h according to their documentation.

PS Fred what do you make of the RoadTec 01's ? I'm curious because they won the MCN Sport touring test .( June 17)
(I get mine next week.)

 

[fred_jb]

Operates between 30-210 Km/h .

That may be the range of speeds where you can set it, but is not necessarily the speed range within which it will resume operation having been previously set.

 

[Deleted account Aberdeen GS]

That may be the range of speeds where you can set it, but is not necessarily the speed range within which it will resume operation having been previously set.

Yep ! Fair point.

 

[steadysteve]

It will of course disengage again when you change up a gear, as you are using the clutch.

Must be set up differently to other vehicles-- my car and truck both allow upshifts and keep the cc engaged

 

[fred_jb]

Operates between 30-210 Km/h according to their documentation.

PS Fred what do you make of the RoadTec 01's ? I'm curious because they won the MCN Sport touring test .( June 17)
(I get mine next week.)

Well I've only done about 10 miles on them so far and I've been taking it easy, though I'll admit I'm a fairly sedate rider anyway most of the time!

The first plus point is that the horrible howling noise the Annekees made is gone - took me a while to realise what was different because I'd almost accepted that as normal. The other first impression, which I think I've seen written by someone else is that the steering feels lighter, almost as if the front tyre is over-inflated - it isn't.

I don't necessarily regard this as a plus, particularly during low speed maneuvers which I'm not particularly confident about, and the last thing I want is for the steering to be lighter so that I oversteer or over-correct. I'm not sure whether or not I will get used to that, though it is probably going to be a good thing at higher speeds.

I also have the impression of a little more stiffness in the suspension, though still perfectly comfortable, so maybe they are stiffer than the Annekees and don't contribute as much to absorbing bumps.

I mainly bought them because it seems they have the best wet stopping performance. Even in the latest 2017 Motorrad magazine tests where the Conti Road Attack 3 won overall, the Roadtec 01 was still best in the wet.

Fred

 

[Deleted account Aberdeen GS]

Yep ! Thx Fred , similar expectations here.
Forgive the thread creep ?

The dealer fitted Conti TA 2 (when I asked for conti Road Attack 3!)
replacing worn A3's. He said "the TA2 are good on a GS", I'm sure they are .... but like you, it's not just about corners!

Stopping 3 m quicker in the wet from 60 could be a life saver one day?

 

[matchbox]

CC does not disengage if you change gear clutchless.

In my first few weeks of riding my Exclusive the CC resumed unexpectedly a few times(but without incident). I put this down to rider error. Previous '15 GS had exactly same control layout and I always left CC switch in the 'on' position for convenience and never experienced accidental 'resume'. So I think there is some quirk/inherent fault in the '17 MY GS that a few of us have experienced and may have nothing to do with the switchgear. I now ride with it in off position!

 

[fred_jb]

That is very interesting, and a bit worrying because it is so easy to forget to disable it after use. In my incident I very nearly had a potentially serious accident, so if it is true that the CC can resume unexpectedly without any physical input, then BMW need to investigate this and fix it with a software update if possible.

 

[matchbox]

Trouble is I can't be absolutely sure it is a fault. Almost impossible to replicate.

In fact I seldom use CC. Compared to a car a bike needs frequent fine throttle inputs and adjustments. Also UK roads are seldom free enough of traffic. Most often use it when my right hand and arm need a rest.