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Cruise control adjustment?

8K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  TmDILL 
#1 ·
When setting the cruise control on my 2003 1800, the speed will drop by 2-3 mph and then speed up to 1 mph above the speed selected. I know there must be a way to adjust this. Comments would be appreciated. Thanks,

Ken
 
#2 ·
It is usually slack in the throttle cable

one of the adjustments is down the cable a bit from the bars.... there is a thread on here somewhere on how to make the adjustment
 
#3 ·
Yes it can be adjusted and several here have done it themselves. Mine has a bit of a lag but I can't be bothered to adjust it. Maybe next air filter change I might...
 
#4 ·
Stolen with pride at some point in the past and stored away in my Evernote...
==

ADJUSTING THE CRUISE CONTROL ON THE GL1800. ELIMINATE THE IRRITATING ENGAGEMENT LAG. It is NOT necessary to remove the top shelter in order to adjust the cruise control lag as the Honda Service manual states. Nor is it necessary to unplug the key switch from its harness as some other web site instructions say to do.

METHOD 1.

If your going to fix the cruise control lag, there is no need to guess how many turns it needs to go. Once you get to where you can adjust the cable, start the bike, run it until the fast idle kicks off and you are at regular idle speed, turn the barrel nut out until there RPM's just start to increase, turn it back in to normal RPM's and your set. No guessing involved

METHOD 2.

1. Pop out the front speaker grills, and remove the hex bolt that retains the instrument cover from each side. The rear of the instrument cover is retained by rubber grommets, much like your engine covers. Just lift up and the panel will come off.

2. Remove the screw on the right side of the ign switch flange and loosen the left one.

3. Pull the plastic tunnel cover out from under the switch flange, bend it back out of the way and tie it off to your handlebar with a zip tie or whatever, threaded through the screw hole.

4. Now you can see the cables coming from the cruise control unit. You will be adjusting the one with the barrel adjuster in it. Forget the setting marks on the cruise control unit...they aren't accurate.

5.Select the 2 open end wrenches that fit the lock nut on the barrel adjuster, and the one that fits the barrel itself. WARNING!... Before you go any further, tie strings to each wrench so that if you drop one (and you might) you can retrieve it. If you drop a wrench down there, it is gone forever, and it could do mischief if it gets into something.

6. Loosen the lock nut and adjust the barrel outward (ie making the cable housing longer and hence reducing slack). It is kind of trial and error, but it will probably take at least 2-3 turns to get it right. Take the tie off that is holding the cover back to the bars and you can ride the bike and test it if you like. If I remember right, mine took over 3 turns, but yours may vary. If you go too far, the cruise will "over-engage" and that can be dangerous.
 
#8 ·
Using your suggestions I was able to access the cable adjustment without taking the top shelf off. Today I made a total of three separate adjustments with a test ride after each. The adjustments were incremental and total about two full turns to the left (to shorten the cable). So far I have not noticed any change in the delay but didn’t want to go too far. Will continue to make more adjustments tomorrow with no more than 1/4 turn each time until I notice a difference in the delay. Thanks for your information.

Ken
 
#10 ·
No wonder I found no affect. Will go back tomorrow and turn adjuster to the “right”, first to restore the two complete turns then lengthen gradually from there. I read No 6 but it did not register because I had in mind that I needed to shorten the cable. My BAD! Will post results tomorrow.

Ken
 
#12 ·
Two turns “right” to reset back to original, then two additional turns “right” for first adjustment. Test ride showed it corrected the lag by 90-95%. Only slight lag but still set speed to one mph above selected speed. I believe I will leave the cruise adjustment for now and try to figure out why the increase in set speed. I will play with the throttle adjustment and see what happens. Should I try to lengthen or shorten the connecting throttle adjustment to reduce the set speed? Thanks for all of you instructions. On the way to solving my problems???.

Ken
 
#17 ·
Thanks. I pulled the speaker covers and instrument cover last night looking for the cable but I guess I was looking in the wrong spot. So, I put everything back together. I guess, I will try again tonight or tomorrow. I see by a picture that it should be close to the ignition switch right side and several inches below it.
 
#18 ·
IL pulled the cover again and didn't realize the first time that the black plastic beside ignition switch was not part of the larger top cover. So, yes pulled it back and there was the adjustment nut. But mine is angled across behind the ignition switch and really hard to adjust. My 8mm wrench was too long to use in that area and the 10mm wrench for the lock nut was barely of use. So, I got out my tool kit that came with the bike and took out the 8mm and cut it almost in half. Now, I had room to use it. Note: I'm going to replace those tools with better ones.

I tied the wrenches with string as people suggested and sure enough I dropped the 10mm down into never land. But was able to pull it back out with a big grin. I marked the adjustment nut so as to try and keep track how many revolutions I turned it. But, even at that it was hard to tell. I think I went 3.5 or so. I did the final adjustment with the engine running and never did get the RPMs to increase but decided I was almost done. Then I wanted to tweak it one more time and did not have the string attached to my wrist and yes, I dropped it. I looked down into the black hole and saw the string laying across something and said, I can get it. I have a piece of solid copper wire used for making grounds and about the same size as a coat hanger. The nice thing about copper is you can bend it easily. So, I made a small hook and reached down and plucked the string and pulled the wrench out. Whew!.. Buttoned everything down and took the bike for a ride, testing the cruise at 60mph on my way to get the bike inspected. The cruise engages perfectly and immediately where before I would probably travel a quarter of a mile before it felt like it engaged and a bit more before it reached the set speed. Thank you for all that posts instructions and answered questions.
 
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#19 ·
I posted several years back about the # 1 way tamathumper posted. It is easy and works the first time. METHOD 1.

If your going to fix the cruise control lag, there is no need to guess how many turns it needs to go. Once you get to where you can adjust the cable, start the bike, run it until the fast idle kicks off and you are at regular idle speed, turn the barrel nut out until there RPM's just start to increase, turn it back in to normal RPM's and your set. No guessing involved
 
#20 ·
Joe, I use your method and it does work. But, it is that reason that I didn't get any notice of the idle changing that gave me the idea to make a final turn of the adjustment nut. Still did not change but I quit after fishing out the wrench.
 
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