My CC quit last weekend. I blamed the tyre fitter bending the rear wheel pick-up, and bent it back and it fixed it... for about 20 metres.
That's really annoying, when a fix works intermittently.
On Wednesday I got around to addressing the problem. The diagnostics pointed to a broken brake signal wire, but I couldn't see how that could happen after checking the wiring at the front brake lever. I didn't want to get too serious about wiring for another reason- raising the tank when you have a tank cover, raised handlebars, a Touratech lockable GPS mount and Abe's boy's horn guard is a right royal pain in the exhaust.
I contacted Brian Farkleit of OZSTOC fame who happens to be another Brisbane denizen. When he heard I'm in QLD he said the fault might well be the actuator solenoids which fail more frequently up here because apparently our petrol has more wax in it. That's been his experience, to the extent that he's known people to have to clean their solenoids once a year. He gave me a detailed description of the process with appropriate warnings.
His diagnosis seemed reasonable, since I wasn't getting the solenoid response in the diagnostic tests.
It's a bit of a pain, but not difficult if you're careful and meticulously clean. They tested fine for resistance and response on the bench after the overhaul but still dead in the bike.
After much head scratching I finally tested the brake signal wire for continuity, and it failed. I bypassed it and voila- the solenoids worked and the rest of the diagnostics came good. It appears the intermittent aspect of the failure was related to the break being at the head stem and 90,000 km worth of flexing finally made a complete break.
This is typical of trouble-shooting. Why would the brake signal, incorporated to provide a disconnect of the CC on brake application ( sending a 12v signal to the computer) stop the CC working? Just one of those things- maybe there's a very low voltage present that the computer needs to be assured it's line is ready for a signal.
When it was all working again I told Brian and he said, "While the tank is up, why not check the CIU?" I had the tank up while tracing the break and what he said made sense, except I had a compelling aversion to going deeper after my experience installing my first CC on an ST1300, where the machine screws on the intake trumpet bases resisted all attempts to remove them, and I ended up drilling one out.
I learned later they are JIS heads. Anyhoo, my CC's engagement has been sluggish forever and I knew the fix, but preferred to put up with it. Darn- in for a penny, in for a pound- so I got serious and went in deep, reaching the throttle body after only a bit of B, S & T. (No, not abuse- Blood Sweat and Tears). I took up the slack in the connecting cable and rebuilt the bike. Oh yes- while I was in there, I took the opportunity to clean the air filter which definitely needed it.
So props to Brian Farkleit for giving me the ideas and encouragement. My advice regarding Cruise Controls is, if you didn't install it, you might as well take it to him to trouble-shoot. There's a lot to know. If you're moderately handy with tools and following instructions, the MCC brand made in Melbourne comes with detailed instructions. However, if you'd like a professional installation, take the box and bike to Brian on the south side of Brisbane. He's done so many he will do it in half the time you'd take. He does actuator solenoids from go to whoa in an hour- and his rates are reasonable. Don't ask how long it took me. I'll be quicker if there's a next time.