Anywhere near Area 51?

Actually after 3+ years and 40,000+ miles my Rostra stopped working last month. Haven't had a chance to check it out yet but maybe I should change the oil. 

All the way back to basics: it is important to remember the Rostra only needs three things to 'work': 1) the actuator's brake light wire must be connected to ground. 2) it must have 12 volt power. and 3) it must see a stream of pulses w/in an acceptable range from somewhere (on the C-14, we use the VSS but it could be ignition pulses or any other electrical pulses really).

Everything else, such as the brake light signal, the clutch signal, the control switch wiring and similar is NOT NEEDED to make the unit function. Those items can prevent it from working but they are not needed to allow it to function. This can be a helpful way to think about it when diagnosing a problem.

Brian

Thanks Brian! I have no doubt I can find the cause once I get into it. But I don't need it right now and its HOT here in Austin. On a cooler weekend in Sept or Oct I plan to get into the bike for a bunch of maintenance issues. Valve clearance, cam sensor O ring, Rostra and going to replace that @#$% hydraulic CCT with an APE.

Everything worked out great until the return trip about 8 miles out of Tonopah the unit quit working.

I haven't had it happen to me lately, but there was a time when if I accelerated to pass someone (manual override of CC with throttle) and then applied brake before it settled back to the set speed that it would go "tilt" and just quit and refuse all attempts at resuscitation. I would have to turn it off and count to 10 (sometimes 30) and then turn it back on to get it to resume working again. Most likely an unrelated coincidence but it seems more stable since I retrofitted a "engaged" LED. There were others that said they had to power off the whole bike to get it to reset. Did you try anything besides the "set resume" button when it quit working on you? 

I haven't had it happen to me lately, but there was a time when if I accelerated to pass someone (manual override of CC with throttle) and then applied brake before it settled back to the set speed that it would go "tilt" and just quit and refuse all attempts at resuscitation. I would have to turn it off and count to 10 (sometimes 30) and then turn it back on to get it to resume working again. Most likely an unrelated coincidence but it seems more stable since I retrofitted a "engaged" LED. There were others that said they had to power off the whole bike to get it to reset. Did you try anything besides the "set resume" button when it quit working on you?

I used the power side of the brake light switch, maybe I should change that like (I think) Brian did. He even mentioned that in his write up. I'd have to go back and re-read it.

I used a relay on the brake light I think. It's been awhile and I can't exactly remember.

Yes, I have the relay from the brake light working. That's the only way I could get it to go into diagnostic mode. But I think it's the power red (mine is red/brn) from the switch that I have going to the power side of the brake light also. I think, I'd have to look at it again. Where Brian used the Power wire from the auxiliary power pwr/grn on the left side of the fairing for that?
Not hard to change out.

Your choice, it makes no difference where 12 volts is tapped into to power the Rostra as well as to let it 'know' the brake light circuit is powered up. This is a safety feature that I overrode; I just powered both fused wires into 12 volts in the same place on the bike. Rostra recommends powering the 10 amp fused wire into main power but the 4 amp powered wire into the brake light power side of the system; that way, if you, say, open a fuse on the brake system and the brake light relay will no longer work to disengage the Rostra, the Rostra will not engage in the first place- again, it is a safety thing. And not a bad idea to do it the way Rostra suggests (10 amp wire to incoming 12 volt power, 4 amp wire to the brake light power circuit).

But neither way will have any effect on the operation of the system; from the Rostra's point of view, it is all merely 12 volts no matter where it comes from.

Brian

I used the power side of the brake light switch, maybe I should change that like (I think) Brian did. He even mentioned that in his write up. I'd have to go back and re-read it.

Posi- Taps are generally quite good if used on the right size wire, etc. Soldering is excellent but only if the soldering quality is high. Remember, a good solder joint is like good sex: hot, wet and shiny. :-) And a bad solder joint is like bad sex: cold, dry and dull. Bullet connectors are the most suspect of all; the general bullet connectors available in the US from places like auto supply stores are TERRIBLE. Decent bullet connectors are fine but should be greased to make sure they do not corrode.

Best of luck with this Rod.

Brian

It all works right now. May just be a connection not as secure as I previously imagined.
I don't do soldering very well, so I'm using posi-taps elsewhere and bullet connectors for the ground and power. So that could be the issue right there.

I opened the box for the Rostra today and about had a coronary. That thing is huge! Never noticed the scale in the pictures before. No wonder you guys are saying it barely fits. Lol

And I always thought the Rostra was small/compact because it was a nice servo system without a huge vacuum accumulator and actuator.

http://www.mccruise.com/collections/kawasaki?page=2

McCruise just came out with a new compact design.