[Vagabond]

I've finally had a chance to finish the installation of the Rostra cruise control for the Versys 300. I got tripped up for a few days by a mysterious connection, but finally got it all worked out and it works very nicely. Might be some fine tuning once I have a chance to take a longer trip. Here are my results, plans and comments.

This cruise control solution for the V300 costs are roughly as follows:
(1) Rostra 250-1223 Universal CC $260
(2) Rostra 250-4369 Signal Divider $60
(3) Two 12v relays (waterproof, 10 amp min $12
(4) One latched push button, preferably lighted, for power switch. Waterproof. $10
(5) Two momentary push buttons, waterproof, for set/coast and accel/resume control $10

So roughly for $350 dollars and say a full day or three evenings work you can add cruise control. It was very important to me so I'm very happy with it.

Skill level required - This project involved a lot of connections and some bracket fabrication, but if you are comfortable with something like adding a USB outlet to your dash, you can do this. No single step is difficult at all, but there are quite a few steps. On a scale of 1 to 10 with the USB example as a 3 and valve shims (for me) as a 10, I'd say this is a 4 or 5.

Disclaimer! Rostra does NOT warrant installation on a motorcycle so you are on your own. Also, the information I provide below is what I did, and I make no warranties as to correctness or especially being optimal. You are on your own so please make sure you understand what is going on with each step. Finally, only you can be responsible for your motorcycle operation. If you do this, it is on you to be safe.

That being said, this has been a fun project and I hope some of you can make use of this. It took me some time to figure out the wiring even with substantial help from others, including:
Rostra Electronic Cruise Control (250-1223) on 2015 Versys 650 ABS | Kawasaki Versys Forum
and nj-bill. There are a number of installation documentations on motorcycles, but the little V through in a curve or two.

Let's get started....
Mechanical - I decided, since my model of V has the big open area behind the left front fairing, to install the main unit there. It and the wiring harness and cable fit snuggly there and was fairly eash to mount using existing threaded mount points for the California canister (I guess). I simply bent the supplied Rostra mounting bracket into sort of a Z shape and it went in easily.
I removed the left front fairing and all left side panels, but not the front fairing or windscreen. Also, seat and right side rear two panels must be removed. These are all very easy steps (unlike the front fairing).
I ran the cable under the left side of the gas tank, along the frame, then looped behind the rear left fairing until it was pointed forward at the throttle wheel (see pictures).
A bracked is needed at the throttle wheel and really took some consideration. I chose to make a relatively small one and simply JB Weld it as shown. If further tweeking was needed, I could bold on an addition to this one. Didn't need to. This bracked was the attachment point for the cable end. Another bracket was needed to hold the cable housing end and I elected to bend some scrap sheet metal around a frame member (shown) to hold the end of the cable housing. In retrospect, I would have lowered this bracket about an inch and had it on the back side of the frame member, but this solution works well.

Electrical - The optional switch panel that Rostra offers is pretty flimsy and not waterproof, so I agreed with others and just bought three push button switches to provide a clean installation on the Versys dash. Here is a list of the wire connections I used. If a wire is not mentioned, it wasn't used. Also not that I chose to not implement a clutch cutoff, only a brake cutoff. Just one less relay needed and I honestly didn't want to mess with it. I used two relays, one is the obvious Main relay to supply power (Rostra says up to about 7 amps) to the whole system. The other relay is the Brake relay, used to pick up the brake light power and communicate it to the Rostra box. This relay is used in the normally closed position to supply a ground path for Rostra, and is opened when the brake light comes on.
Rostra main harness:
Black - Frame ground
Brown, also Red - 12v load input to Pin 87 of Main relay.
Violet - Pin 30 of Brake relay
Dark Blue - Ground this wire as Rostra instructions indicate
Gray - connect to yellow wire of Rostra Signal Divider (this is the VSS or speedometer input) The signal divider is needed to halve the pulse per mile (PPM) square wave since the V sends >40,000 and the Rostra can't handle it.

Rostra four pin harness intended for their switch pack (cut it off if using your own switches).
Yellow - Accel/Res momentary switch
Green - Set/Coast momentary switch
Brown (really red and black) - MUST be connected to +12 volts, so to Pin 30 of Main relay
Black - Ground

Signal Divider
Red - Pin 30 of Main relay
Black - ground
Yellow - VSS output to gray wire of Rostra main harness (provides roughly 20,000 ppm square wave)
Green - VSS input from ECU pin 31 (pink)

Rostra switch bank settings
1,2 off,off (Gain)
3,4,5,6 on, off, on, off (PPM)
7,8,9 off, on, off (engine set up timer)
10 on (VSS square wave)
11 off (manual transmission)
12 off (open circuit)

Images below. Note wires are not dressed yet and no waterproofing.
Throttle wheel bracket:

cable housing mount:

Brake connection on right side

VSS connection at ECU

Rostra unit mounting bracket

My feeble attempt at a wiring diagram:

Please review carefully before using this information, and read the Rostra instructions completely before starting. A lot of good information is not disclosed until the troubleshooting section!
Also, it would be great if one of the electrical gurus on this forum would (1) check my work and (2) find a VSS source that may remove the need for the signal divider ($60). I couldn't figure a better way out.
Hope this helps!

 

[JT in GA]

Nice write up 👍🏻

 

[twowheeladdict]

Hope it works well for you. I love having electronic cruise control on my touring bikes.

 

[HelloFrom2012Versys650]

Thanks for posting this, very informative.

Looking at the throttle cable connection, does the cruise control end up twisting the throttle grip on the handle bar?

As far as a pulse divider goes divide by 2 is fairly simple but divide by 3, if needed, takes more parts. The tricky part is understanding the output voltage requirements (voltage and load, if any, on the receive side).

Divide by 2

https://www.eecs.tufts.edu/~dsculley/tutorial/flopsandcounters/flops5.html

Divide by 3

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/286052/divide-clock-frequency-by-3-with-50-duty-cycle-by-using-a-karnaugh-map

 

[Vagabond]

Thanks for posting this, very informative.

Looking at the throttle cable connection, does the cruise control end up twisting the throttle grip on the handle bar?

As far as a pulse divider goes divide by 2 is fairly simple but divide by 3, if needed, takes more parts. The tricky part is understanding the output voltage requirements (voltage and load, if any, on the receive side).

Divide by 2

https://www.eecs.tufts.edu/~dsculley/tutorial/flopsandcounters/flops5.html

Divide by 3

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/286052/divide-clock-frequency-by-3-with-50-duty-cycle-by-using-a-karnaugh-map

Hello, thanks for the question and thought on the divider. To answer your question, yes, the throttle on the V (as with most mechanical bike throttles these days) has cables running both ways so it does pull the grip when in action. In practice, you don't feel it really unless you really hit a big hill. A somewhat loose grip is all that is required.
Your idea of building a pulse frequency divider is really interesting. Quick check on the internet shows a 12 to 5 volt part to drive the flip flop is only about five bucks. If I was doing this again I might consider it. However, my one and only time I had so many other variables going on it was probably smart to leave my ancient breadboarding skills on the sidelines! If anyone is interested in trying this, there is a good place to mount this frequency divider under the seat, under the little storage area on the right side. It should remain relatively cool and dry there. That's where I put the Rostra version I bought.

 

[Vagabond]

Hello, thanks for the question and thought on the divider. To answer your question, yes, the throttle on the V (as with most mechanical bike throttles these days) has cables running both ways so it does pull the grip when in action. In practice, you don't feel it really unless you really hit a big hill. A somewhat loose grip is all that is required.
Your idea of building a pulse frequency divider is really interesting. Quick check on the internet shows a 12 to 5 volt part to drive the flip flop is only about five bucks. If I was doing this again I might consider it. However, my one and only time I had so many other variables going on it was probably smart to leave my ancient breadboarding skills on the sidelines! If anyone is interested in trying this, there is a good place to mount this frequency divider under the seat, under the little storage area on the right side. It should remain relatively cool and dry there. That's where I put the Rostra version I bought.

After re-reading my original post, I must apologize for all the typos. A minor emergency came up at home (frozen pipe cut loose) and I rushed through it. Sorry about that. South Texans don't handle cold well!

 

[nj-bill]

After re-reading my original post, I must apologize for all the typos. A minor emergency came up at home (frozen pipe cut loose) and I rushed through it. Sorry about that. South Texans don't handle cold well!

Did the pipe burst? If yes, all sins are forgiven. That's a bad problem.

 

[Itsgordo]

South Texans don't handle cold well!

Made me laugh. I heard y’all might be getting a new ski resort soon. Burst pipe no joke.
Great info! Hope the system performs well. Kill switch on the right it all else fails.
I’ve only had to use it once. Glad it was there. Throttle cable failed wide open on a woodland trail. Had to dodge a few trees while going off the trail WOT, but stopped before I kissed one.

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

...Kill switch on the right it all else fails.
I’ve only had to use it once. Glad it was there. Throttle cable failed wide open on a woodland trail. Had to dodge a few trees while going off the trail WOT, but stopped before I kissed one.

When I raced off-road (enduros) I installed a "PUSH ON/ PUSH OFF" kill-switch so, in the event of a WFO throttle event you just needed to PUSH it once, then deal w/ the 'ongoing' emergency.

 

[Vagabond]

I've finally had a chance to finish the installation of the Rostra cruise control for the Versys 300. I got tripped up for a few days by a mysterious connection, but finally got it all worked out and it works very nicely. Might be some fine tuning once I have a chance to take a longer trip. Here are my results, plans and comments.

This cruise control solution for the V300 costs are roughly as follows:
(1) Rostra 250-1223 Universal CC $260
(2) Rostra 250-4369 Signal Divider $60
(3) Two 12v relays (waterproof, 10 amp min $12
(4) One latched push button, preferably lighted, for power switch. Waterproof. $10
(5) Two momentary push buttons, waterproof, for set/coast and accel/resume control $10

So roughly for $350 dollars and say a full day or three evenings work you can add cruise control. It was very important to me so I'm very happy with it.

Skill level required - This project involved a lot of connections and some bracket fabrication, but if you are comfortable with something like adding a USB outlet to your dash, you can do this. No single step is difficult at all, but there are quite a few steps. On a scale of 1 to 10 with the USB example as a 3 and valve shims (for me) as a 10, I'd say this is a 4 or 5.

UPDATE: I've noticed a minor anomaly that I need to correct. When wiring the signal divider (not the CC unit), I show it connected after the power on button so it only gets power when CC is powered on. This apparently left open the possibility of transients when powering off the CC system, which caused my speedometer to wander around. If you powered the CC back on (not necessarily enabling it), all was ok again. The easy workaround is to power the signal divider (red wire) through the accessories, giving it power anytime the V is started. Rostra confirmed this wiring.

Disclaimer! Rostra does NOT warrant installation on a motorcycle so you are on your own. Also, the information I provide below is what I did, and I make no warranties as to correctness or especially being optimal. You are on your own so please make sure you understand what is going on with each step. Finally, only you can be responsible for your motorcycle operation. If you do this, it is on you to be safe.

That being said, this has been a fun project and I hope some of you can make use of this. It took me some time to figure out the wiring even with substantial help from others, including:
Rostra Electronic Cruise Control (250-1223) on 2015 Versys 650 ABS | Kawasaki Versys Forum
and nj-bill. There are a number of installation documentations on motorcycles, but the little V through in a curve or two.

Let's get started....
Mechanical - I decided, since my model of V has the big open area behind the left front fairing, to install the main unit there. It and the wiring harness and cable fit snuggly there and was fairly eash to mount using existing threaded mount points for the California canister (I guess). I simply bent the supplied Rostra mounting bracket into sort of a Z shape and it went in easily.
I removed the left front fairing and all left side panels, but not the front fairing or windscreen. Also, seat and right side rear two panels must be removed. These are all very easy steps (unlike the front fairing).
I ran the cable under the left side of the gas tank, along the frame, then looped behind the rear left fairing until it was pointed forward at the throttle wheel (see pictures).
A bracked is needed at the throttle wheel and really took some consideration. I chose to make a relatively small one and simply JB Weld it as shown. If further tweeking was needed, I could bold on an addition to this one. Didn't need to. This bracked was the attachment point for the cable end. Another bracket was needed to hold the cable housing end and I elected to bend some scrap sheet metal around a frame member (shown) to hold the end of the cable housing. In retrospect, I would have lowered this bracket about an inch and had it on the back side of the frame member, but this solution works well.

Electrical - The optional switch panel that Rostra offers is pretty flimsy and not waterproof, so I agreed with others and just bought three push button switches to provide a clean installation on the Versys dash. Here is a list of the wire connections I used. If a wire is not mentioned, it wasn't used. Also not that I chose to not implement a clutch cutoff, only a brake cutoff. Just one less relay needed and I honestly didn't want to mess with it. I used two relays, one is the obvious Main relay to supply power (Rostra says up to about 7 amps) to the whole system. The other relay is the Brake relay, used to pick up the brake light power and communicate it to the Rostra box. This relay is used in the normally closed position to supply a ground path for Rostra, and is opened when the brake light comes on.
Rostra main harness:
Black - Frame ground
Brown, also Red - 12v load input to Pin 87 of Main relay.
Violet - Pin 30 of Brake relay
Dark Blue - Ground this wire as Rostra instructions indicate
Gray - connect to yellow wire of Rostra Signal Divider (this is the VSS or speedometer input) The signal divider is needed to halve the pulse per mile (PPM) square wave since the V sends >40,000 and the Rostra can't handle it.

Rostra four pin harness intended for their switch pack (cut it off if using your own switches).
Yellow - Accel/Res momentary switch
Green - Set/Coast momentary switch
Brown (really red and black) - MUST be connected to +12 volts, so to Pin 30 of Main relay
Black - Ground

Signal Divider
Red - Pin 30 of Main relay
Black - ground
Yellow - VSS output to gray wire of Rostra main harness (provides roughly 20,000 ppm square wave)
Green - VSS input from ECU pin 31 (pink)

Rostra switch bank settings
1,2 off,off (Gain)
3,4,5,6 on, off, on, off (PPM)
7,8,9 off, on, off (engine set up timer)
10 on (VSS square wave)
11 off (manual transmission)
12 off (open circuit)

Images below. Note wires are not dressed yet and no waterproofing.
Throttle wheel bracket:
View attachment 191807 View attachment 191809

cable housing mount:
View attachment 191810 View attachment 191811
View attachment 191812

Brake connection on right side
View attachment 191816

VSS connection at ECU
View attachment 191813

Rostra unit mounting bracket
View attachment 191815

My feeble attempt at a wiring diagram:
View attachment 191817

Please review carefully before using this information, and read the Rostra instructions completely before starting. A lot of good information is not disclosed until the troubleshooting section!
Also, it would be great if one of the electrical gurus on this forum would (1) check my work and (2) find a VSS source that may remove the need for the signal divider ($60). I couldn't figure a better way out.
Hope this helps!

 

[Vagabond]

After an absence, I noticed my last post only quoted my original and not what I meant to add, so I'll try again.
I have noticed after spending time with the cruise control a small change is needed in the wiring. Basically, if you are riding and turn the power to the CC off at the button, the speedometer wanders around a bit. This is caused by transients coming from the little signal divider when it powers down. The simple change is to power the signal divider (only) directly from a source that is hot when the ignition is on. That's it. In my original design I powered it, like about everything else, from the main relay in the diagram. Rosta verified the need to power it on through the ignition.