Staff at MotorCycle Cruise Controls have monitored the promotion of fitting car cruise controls to motorcycles on the internet over the past 4 years with concern. Our personal experience after ten years in the business tells us that it is only a matter of time before riders adapting these kits get seriosuly injured or killed.

Click here to see relevant information on safety issues relating to fitting off-the-shelf after-market car cruise controls to motorcycles.

	An example of fitting automotive cruise controls to motorcycles being promoted on the internet - click on the photo to link to this site. This is on a Yamaha FJR1300 where the dangers of a throttle jam by the bead-chain are extreme. In-line four engines having the carburettor or throttle body spindle in the centre of the engine probably presents the greatest risk of any configuration. The MCS CIU eliminates the possibility of a throttle jam.
	Another example of the dangers of fitting automotive cruise controls to motorcycles being openly promoted on the internet - click on the photo to link to this site. This is on a Kawasaki GTR1400 Concours where the dangers of a throttle jam by the bead-chain are still very high. This in-line four engine has the carburettor or throttle body spindle at the end of the engine, but still presents a serious risk of a throttle jam. The MCS CIU eliminates the possibility of a throttle jam.
	The final example is on an ST1300 Honda where the dangers of a throttle jam by the bead-chain are less in our opinion, but still not worth the risk. Click on the photo to link to this site. This V-four engine has the carburettor or throttle body spindle at the end of the engine, but still presents a risk of a throttle jam. The MCS CIU eliminates the possibility of a throttle jam.

Being riders ourselves, our policies and products have always put rider safety first, so we find we can no longer stand by and not offer a product which can reduce the risk to those installing these kits. Consequently, MCS has decided to offer a complete range of cable interface unit kits to those riders determined to fit automotive cruise controls to their bikes. This strategy can at least eliminate one of the serious risks (mechanical throttle jams) involved in fitting these cruise controls to motorcycles.

The other hazard riders should be aware of is the risk of the 'chip' in the cruise control locking up when hit by a high voltage electrical spike. Motorcycles are inherently electrically noisy and get worse with age. Most times if a spike locks the chip, the computer simply stops working and turning the cruise off and then on again resets it. However if the cruise is opening throttle when it 'locks', then it will keep opening throttle until it reaches maximum throttle and not respond to any signals to turn off - brakes, clutch, acceleration, speed! It takes about 2 seconds to apply full throttle, so there is very little time for the rider to respond by turning off the power to the cruise control. It is important to realise that this 'sudden unexpected acceleration' - a search on Google will find many references - can occur even when the cruise is NOT engaged. As long as there is power to the chip, there is a small but real risk of this happening - so beware!

The MCS cruise control range has every electrical filter known to man built-in to prevent spikes getting to the chip - including opto-couplers isolating all inputs and outputs to the chip. Despite that, we also built in a final safeguard, a physical device (not operated by the chip) which ensures that whenever the brakes are on, the actuator loses power. This means that no matter what happens, the rider retains control of the vehicle.

We are woking on another accessory which can make the installation of after-market car cruise controls safer and will bring that to market as and when we can, but in the meantime all we can do is caution riders fitting these devices, give them the benefit of our own experience and make the CIU device we invented available to reduce the risk now.

Model-specific Cable Interface Units (CIUs) designed to replace the 'bead-chain' actuator-throttle connection used on many after-market automotive cruise controls are now available. There are two types: 1. for motorcycles having both opening and closing throttle cables (uses a dual spool CIU); and 2. for motorcycles having an opening throttle cable with a spring return mechanism (uses a single spool CIU).

MCS can supply model-pecific CIU kits for motorcycles we already make cruise controls for: see our site map for the complete range. We can also supply our universal CIU kit for other bikes.

To order simply use this web site and make sure you provide the make, model, year, ABS info and whether it has both opening and closing throttle cables for your bike in the 'comments' section of the order. In most cases this will be sufficient for us to provide the correct product. If not, we will email you for more information.