Audiovox CCS-100 Cruise Control Install on 2003 Honda VTX 1800 Retro

Scope: This is a description of how I installed an Audiovox CCS-100 Electronic Cruise Control on my ’03 VTX Retro.  It is possible that the cruise control could be installed on other models and years of VTX.  I have NOT researched other models that the install would work on.  Feel free to review the instructions, check your VTX’s wiring, and determine if the Audiovox cruise could be installed on your VTX.

Installation time: Probably 8-12 hours.  I spent much longer than this because I had no documentation to go from for VTX installation.  I referred to other Audiovox CCS-100 cruise installs on Kawasaki Councours, Valkries, and Mazda Miatas.  The experiences of these installations aided me in my installation.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In order to connect the servo cable to the bellcrank on the throttlebody, it was necessary to drill and tap a hole in the bellcrank.  NOTE: I received input from another VTX'er.  He put the cable loop on the post behind the end of the cable return spring.  Connecting the cable in this way would not require drilling a hole.  The drilling method will be described in more detail later in the document.  If you don’t want to drill this small hole in your bike, you can stop reading and continue to use a manual throttle lock, or try hooking behind the return spring.  If you are willing to continue, you can have an electronic cruise on your motorcycle for not a lot of money.  Perhaps you can find a way to connect to the bellcrank without drilling and tapping a hole.  

Background: I decided to try installing the Audiovox Cruise Control on my VTX after taking a long ride through the Black Hills of South Dakota on my dad’s 1998 Goldwing.  The Goldwing has a cruise control, and I loved the way it worked, and how it kept my hand from getting tired.  I decided I would take a chance and buy the components to install a cruise on my VTX. 

I finished installing the cruise in May 2005, and rode from southeast Iowa to Rapid City, SD over Memorial Day weekend.  The cruise worked very well for me on the trip.  The weather conditions challenged the cruise control (very strong headwinds and crosswinds), but it continued to work well.  I rode almost 1900 miles, and the cruise control was used for the majority of the trip.  

Materials Used

• Audiovox CCS-100 Cruise Control (Parts 1, 3, 6, 8,10, 11, 12, 23, 24, 28 29(shorter one),  and 33)

• Solder for electronics (not plumbing solder)

• Crimp ring connector

• 1- spade lug adapter, female to two male (see picture)

• Clear silicone, small tube

• Threadlock (a. k. a.  Loc-Tite)

• 6” Shrink Tubing approx 1/8” diameter

• Electrical Tape

• 6’ - 3/8” split (corrugated) black plastic duct.  Available at auto parts stores, looks same as black split duct that comes with the cruise control, except smaller diameter.

• 12 - 6” black cable ties (a. k. a. Ty-raps)

• Piece aluminum plate 1/8” thick or thicker (optional, for mounting control keypad)

• Scrap aluminum or steel for practicing drilling and tapping

• 4- bolts ¼” x ¾” long stainless steel.  ½” long may work.

• 4 – Flat Washers, stainless steel for above

• 4 – Lock Washers, stainless steel for above

• 4 – ¼” Hex Nuts stainless steel with nylon inserts (a. k. a.  Nylocks)

• 1 - #4 x 3/8” panhead (Phillips) screw.  The smaller (flatter) the head the better.  Longer screw is OK since you will probably cut down the screw with a Dremel tool and cutoff wheel. 

• Thin steel or very thin washer for #4 screw above

• Piece of Angle Iron approx 2.5” x 2.5” by 2.25” long, 1/8” or more thick. Thicker is better.

• 4- bolts ¼” x ¾” long stainless steel.  ½” long may work.

• 4 – Flat Washers, stainless steel for above

• 4 – Lock Washers, stainless steel for above

• 4 – ¼” Hex Nuts stainless steel with nylon inserts (a. k. a.  Nylocks)

• PVC pipe

• Ends for PVC pipe

• PVC glue

• 3’ – 5/32” vacuum tubing (windshield washer tubing)

• 1 – one way vacuum check valve to go with 5/32” diameter vacuum line

• 2 – vacuum fittings for vacuum tubing above

• 2 -#8 x ½” panhead screws (optional, for mounting control keypad)

• Basic metric and standard wrenches, metric Allen wrenches

• Basic hand tools (visegrip, screwdrivers)

• Bench Vise (handy to have)

• Jigsaw with metal blade, or saw with steel cutoff wheel

• Drill
  
  

• #4 tap and drill bit for tap (Sears)

• #8 tap and drill bit for tap (optional, for mounting control keypad)

• Dremel type tool with coarse drum sander wheel and steel cutoff disk (or use hacksaw and metal file if no Dremel tool)

• C-Clamps or spring clamps

• Motorcycle lift (optional, but recommended)

Installation Overview

To install the cruise, it was necessary to do the following:

Remove passenger and driver seats

Remove side covers

Remove gas tank (optional, but will probably make the job easier)

Remove air cleaner housing (can leave attached to its hoses and move to the side).  You CAN"T remove the air cleaner housing without unbolting the gas tank, and at least moving it to the side.  Disconnect the vacuum line that connects toward the the top of the housing.

Open headlight to access wiring and connectors (optional? – I put the 4-pin plug for the keypad inside the headlight. I don’t know if the wires are long enough to hide this connector elsewhere, like under the gas tank.  If you don't want to open up the headlight, you could extend the power and ground that you used for powering the servo.  You would need to get some extra wire because the wires included will not be long enough. )

Make a bracket as shown in the picture.  I drilled only three holes, but drew in the fourth hole to assist with placement.  The yellow box shows how the bracket included with the servo lays on top of the bracket created.  I drilled the holes at an angle because the servo needs to be mounted at an angle in order to avoid the voltage rectifier that is bolted to the frame behind the exhaust.  Others have used some of the brackets that came with the AudioVox cruise, and cut them down to a useable size.

Servo Bracket (fourth hole drawn in)

Mount the bracket underneath the bike in front of the back wheel by unscrewing the 10 mm bolt holding the cooling reservoir.  See picture “Servo Bracket Installed”.  I used a different 10 mm bolt that I had on hand because the factory bolt got stripped out trying to reinstall it.  Be very careful reinstalling this bolt because it likes to cross thread.  You may consider buying a nut, bolt, and washer to replace the factory pieces.

Put the servo underneath the bike, and clamp it to the bracket using the clamps. Position the servo so that the four holes in the bracket line up similar to the yellow box drawn in the picture above.  The servo should tuck in behind the voltage regulator like shown in future pictures.  Mark the holes with a pencil.  You may need to remove the bracket from the servo and rotate it 180 degrees so it fits on the other side.  I positioned the servo this way so that it would be tucked under the VTX as far as possible, and not easily be visible from the side of the bike.  The way I mounted it, it is difficult to even see that the servo unit is there.  Therefore, it doesn't take away from the good looks of the VTX.  Take off the brackets and drill the holes.

Servo Bracket Installed	Servo Mounted (Servo power ground shown)

Route the servo cable up the bike, so that it ends up crossing between the two cylinders, and just below the frame.  Be careful how you route the cable so that it will not come anywhere near the exhaust, and won’t rub on anything.  The servo cable is a bit too long, but I was able to loop it under the tank so that it isn’t visible.  Be careful not to put any tight bends or kinks in the cable.  I used the Throttle Mounting Bracket with locking washer (AudioVox item 28) to mount the throttle.  I suggest mounting the servo cable LOWER than shown in the picture.  I would mount it as low as possible, maybe ½ to 1” lower.  In my installation the cable slightly rubs the air cleaner housing.  It still works OK though.

Image Showing AudioVox Bracket	Bracket Screwed to Frame.  Mount LOWER than shown.

The bracket will need to be cut off because it will be too long.  The bracket is screwed to the frame using two metal screws.  Be careful to locate the holes so that you don’t interfere with the black plastic line that runs along the frame.  It may be necessary to drill new holes in the bracket to avoid the plastic line.

Drilling the Bellcrank

I drilled and tapped a small hole into the bellcrank as shown in the picture.  I didn’t measure the depth that I drilled.  My goal was to drill through a thicker part of the metal so that I could get more threads.  The metal is cast, and is a little bit brittle for tapping, but it worked OK. The hole came out of the back next to the spring.  In the picture, I started out using the bead chain for the throttle.  You can try this if you like, but I felt that the Throttle Wire Loop gave me more clearance between the air cleaner and the bellcrank.  In the picture, I disconnected the throttle cable from the bellcrank, but you don't need to do that.  NOTE: You may try putting the cable loop behind the throttle return spring end.  The end of the throttle spring is the bronze colored wire below where I drilled my hole.  Lift the end of the spring, slide the cable loop onto the silver casting, past the end of the spring, and release the end of the spring  Drilling the hole would no longer be required.  Make sure that you are comfortable that the throttle cable can't get past the end of the spring.

Left: Drilled and tapped hole in the bellcrank.  I tried the bead chain first, but liked the short cable better.

Right: Cables connected.  I did not use the washers shown in the picture.  I used a thin steel piece.  Washers were too thick.

I used the short Throttle Wire Loop, with a Bead Chain Coupling, and the Bead Chain Coupling Sleeve to cover it.  The Bead Chain Coupling pieces in my servo kit were poorly made, and I had to grind them with a cutoff wheel on my die grinder to get the slots to be big enough.  You get a couple of them if you screw one of them up.  I suppose the hardware store might sell some of these that aren’t made so poorly. 

The aircleaner housing will now rub on the new screw that was just installed. Use the drum sander wheel on a die grinder tool to sand away a small amount of plastic on the back of the air cleaner housing behind the bellcrank.  This clearance is necessary to allow the screw and Throttle Wire Loop end to pass behind the air cleaner housing.  The plastic is fairly thick.  I sanded away enough so that a thick piece of paper could be placed between the bellcrank and the air cleaner housing, and the paper could be pulled out easily without tearing.  You may have to reinstall the air cleaner housing several times and test the clearance to make sure that you have enough.  Reinstall the air cleaner housing, start the bike, and make sure that you can twist the throttle freely, and that it drops back into place.  If you have an aftermarket air cleaner housing, you should look closely at the back of it to find out if you have enough clearance for the bolt head to pass easily.

Vacuum Lines

I put a T from the kit into the existing VTX vacuum line, and ran it down to the servo.  Pictures are taken from the throttle side of the bike.  The other end goes to the side of the servo.

Before	During	After

Wire junction point under right side cover	White connector inside headlight

I put all of the wiring from the wiring harness in the corrugated duct that came with the AudioVox Cruise.  I ran them all the way through the duct.  You could try taping all of the wire ends together, and sliding them down the duct, or use a pull string with a weight.  Not sure if it will work or not.  Otherwise, use the slot in the duct, and push all the wires in.  I used a paint stirring stick for this. 

Be sure that you route the corrugated duct so that it doesn’t pass anywhere close to the exhaust pipes.   The way I routed the cables, the corrugated duct started at the servo, went up underneath the toolkit compartment, up near the front of the seat, and then along the right side of the frame with other wires that are there,and ended just past the rear coil.  From here, I used the smaller duct that I purchased to run from under the tank into the headlight.  I used more of the smaller duct to conceal the four wires that go to the keypad. 

The brake and servo power were connected by tapping into the wires as shown in the table.  I used solder and a soldering iron for my connections. I have used the crimp style connectors like those in the kit before, and have seen them fail.  If you use solder, I recommend stripping back insulation on the wire on the VTX, and wrapping the AudioVox wire around the stripped section.  You don’t need to cut the wire on the VTX that way.  I used a sharp, new wire stripper to cut the insulation without cutting the copper, then used a utility knife to split the insulation and remove it.   This left me a bare spot on the VTX wire to wrap the AudioVox wire around.

I have read that the AudioVox cruise may not work properly if you have replaced your stock brakelight bulb with LED bulbs.  A post at www.vtxoa.com discussed that the servo applies a small voltage to the purple wire to verify that the brakelight bulb is there.  With an LED system, the AudioVox can't sense the ground path, and won't engage.    I have not put LED brakelights on my VTX, so I don't have experience with the situation.  I would recommend installing a small 12V bulb between the purple wire and ground, and hiding the bulb so that it won't be seen.  I have not tried this, so I don't know if it will solve the problem or not. 

Below is the way I connected up the coil.  I used this lug so I wouldn’t have to try to strip and solder the short wire that runs to the coil.  I've seen these lugs at several auto parts stores with packages of miscellaneous lugs.  The blue wire was way too long for my bike, so I cut the wire shorter, and spliced in the part with the red tab with the resistor or diode in it.  You could also try to loop up the wire, but I recommend shortening it.  I’m not sure what the component under the red tab but you need to put it back in the wire.  Make sure that you don’t reverse it.  I think it’s just a resistor, but I’m not positive.  Watch which way the label faces before you cut the wire so you can put it back in the right way.

Connector for coil-single F to two M	Coil connection ready for blue tach wire.  Audiovox wire (Blue) not shown.

Servo Dip Switch Settings and Configuration
On the end of the servo is a cover that needs to be removed.  Remove the cover, and remove the jumper as described in the AudioVox Manual.  Set the switches as follows:

NOTE: Remove the black jumper from inside the servo to the left DIP switches.  It looks like a thin piece of black plasitc.  Just pull it straight out.  It's not needed.

NOTE: My table above is misleading, and I'll get it fixed.  The Red power wire in this table connects to the 4 pin plug that comes with the AudioVox Cruise Control.  The other end of the Red wire has a fuseholder with a 3 amp fuse in it.  On the other end of the fuseholder, for some reason AudioVox chose to use an Orange wire instead of Red.  I connected the Orange wire to the Black wire with Brown stripe inside the headlight (6 pin white cable).  There are only two 6 pin plugs inside the headlight, so it would be difficult to mess this up.  Look at the AudioVox instructions if you can't figure out how to hook up the 4 pin plug.  It's really pretty easy, though.  I used one of the blue crimp connectors in the kit to crimp the Orange wire to the Black wire with Brown Stripe.  It looked like it was going to be too tough to solder it. 

You can try other settings for sensitivity if you want. Medium has been working well.  I didn’t try other settings. 

After you do a test ride, put the cover back on the servo and use some clear or black silicone to seal the edges of the cover.

Final Install with silicon sealer	Reflection of final assembly in a mirror under VTX

The Keypad Mount

I don’t really like my keypad mounting method, but I will explain how I did it.  I cut a piece of aluminum that is bigger than the size of the keypad.  I cut a slot in the aluminum plate so the wires could pass through, and drilled two holes to mount the plate to the bracket that holds on the clutch assembly.  I removed the small bracket on the clutch, and drilled two holes, and tapped them for #8 screws.  I would recommend spacing the screws as far apart as possible.  The length may vary for the screws depending on where you drill the holes.  Plan on cutting them off with your die grinder.  The way I mounted the plate is not very stable because the place I drilled into is curved.  The plate is flat, and is not resting on another flat surface.  I have used it this way for a while, and it’s fine.  I worry about it coming loose, but I have not had any problems so far.  I like that it is close to the grip, so I don’t have to move my hand very far in order to set it.    As others have done, I took apart the controller and sealed up the back with clear silicone, and put silicone in the hole where the wires come out.  The idea is to waterproof the keypad since it is not designed to get wet.  

If I were to make another plate like the one shown, I would use a thicker piece of aluminum that would allow me to make a countersink the heads of the screws.  The keypad could be mounted flatter that way.

Maybe someone sells a replacement bracket that has a flat face on it that can be drilled into, so that two flat surfaces can be touching.  A VTX'er sent me a picture where he used an "L"shaped piece of metal from the AudioVox kit, and screwed it into the bottom of the grip beneath where the horn button is.   The keypad sits to the right of the horn button.  

It might be better to try to fabricate a keypad mount that uses the mirror mounting hole.  Murph’s kits made a mirror mount bracket this (http://www.murphskits.com/bcm.htm) for the Kawasaki Concours.  I also read about someone using a rifle scope mounting bracket to mount the keypad.  Maybe J&P Cycles or someone sells a clamp mount that would work. 

The information on this site can be distributed for free.   Feel free to link to www.goodeyeclosed.com, but the information on the site is not to be duplicated elsewhere without contacting me at the email address on the home page.  

There is no warranty associated with this information, and the author isn't responsible for any damage or injury.  

Helpful Links

A link to a VTX 1300 AudioVox Cruise Control Install

http://www.bannersyuma.com/Assets/Installing%20Cruise%20Control%20VTX%201300.pdf

These links are to sites where owners adapted the Audiovox to work on other motorcycles.  You may find the pictures and descriptions useful.  Don’t use the servo switch settings!

Cruise install on a Valkrie.  Lots of good pictures.  Used a scope mount.

http://www.angelfire.com/il/sproulpage/page13.html

Link on installing the cruise on a FJR1300

http://www.fjr1300.info/howto/audiovox.html

A Kawasaki Concours Cruise install

http://www.mindspring.com/%7Egbyoung2/misc/addons/cruise/

Cruise mounting ideas for other motorcycle types

http://www.valkyrieriders.com/shoptalk/CruiseControl.htm