Hi all. Has anyone noticed an issue when using cruise control and struggled with braking? I've had a few instances now when travelling down hill in cruise control and the bike is using the brakes as opposed to engine braking to manage speed. I have pulled the front lever and there is what feels like hard resistance on the lever and brakes won't work! In most circumstances I touch the brake and the cruise control cancels but it feels like at times when the bike thinks there's a hazard or a reason to slow down, it doesn't want to stop what it's doing. Since owning the bike for around 6 months it's probably done it three times and never really caused a problem but it can be a bit unnerving as it's usually in scenarios where I don't have time to cancel the cruise control before attempting braking. The most recent instance was travelling down a long hill (Whitfield hill Dover to be precise) and the radar was braking to keep distance from the vehicle in front which drove over a chunk of tyre which I then had to avoid so I instinctively grabbed the front brake but it didn't matter how hard I pulled that lever it was not slowing down! Cheers
Not helpful for your issue, but I have not had this issue at all with thousands of miles on my bike. I roll the throttle forward, tap the front or rear brake lever/pedal and the cruise disengages and the bike begins slowing down and engine braking. Hold down the brake works as expected. When your problem happens, do you see the cruise indicator go out or is it still engaged?
Admittedly it's a rare occurrence and I expect either rolling the throttle forward or actually hitting the cancel button would likely cancel it. 99% of the time using the brakes when in cruise control will cancel it however in these particular circumstances i.e down hill whilst the cruise control is using the brakes either by radar or to maintain cruise speed, it does it. You literally cannot pull the front brake lever in no matter how much you try, it's very odd. Only once the bike has dropped the speed will it give control back to the rider.
I have experienced this but you may be exaggerating what's happening. To you it seems like the bike will not give back control and it takes ages, as you are in a state of heightened awareness. Could it be what's actually happening is you grab the brake, it's stiff because the bike is braking, it registers you grabbing the brake, turns off cruise control and gives back control. All in a very short time - but it seems like ages to you. It's like the crash scenario where everything happens in slow motion. Just a suggestion. Try it again in the same scenario but this time you will be ready for it and less overly aware. See how long it actually takes.
This is my experience too. When the bike is braking itself in cruise, there is a significant stiffening of the lever as the system must be pre pressurised, if you are pulling hard against an already pressurised system you may well be overbraking and abs is kicking in. ABS is virtually imperceptible.
Is it necessary to put cruise control on a single carriageway limited at 50mph? Could it be related to the lower speeds? Only my car has adaptive cruise control and it can be a pig if I use it off the motorways.
