Audiovox Cruise on 08 does work great

[Stacey]

Hi Everybody,

Just wanted to give anybody thats looking to do an Audiovox install some feedback.

After 20 hrs of research and 5 hrs of getting all of the parts and 5 hrs spent trying to install my audiovox myself I made the call to Smitty on Friday night.

I had gotten the 5/32 hole into the tang but just couldn't get the needed clearance with the bolts I had. I talked to Smitty and he said he was open Saturday afternoon so I took off early saturday morning. I drove 650 miles Saturday and watched in amasement as Smitty installed my audiovox cruise within 3 hrs. I then got a hotel room and drove back the 650 miles Sunday. I tested the Audiovox every way possible on my return trip. It worked great and never had any type of malfunction. I keep it engaged for 2 hrs continuous, engaged - disengaged on 2 minute intervals for a cycle count of 20, verified that it would engage and hold at very high/high speeds, it all worked great.

Bottom line for me was that I wish I had saved myself a lot of time and just made the call to Smitty earlier.

Some notes on the install:

1) Smitty used a very high grade vacuum check valve, not the cheap check valve I got at autozone.

2) Only used one cylinder vacuum connection and it appeared to set quickly and holds speed +/- 1 mph even up hills.

3) Connected into the coil input near the ecu box.

4) Smitty used a type of bolt in the tang that has a smooth rounded head.

5) Smitty has a nice clean mount for the local control pushbutton pad.

 

[dcarver]

Yep, Smitty be da man. I just got to get him a job near me..

no ulterior motives, really..

 

[johnny80s]

From what I have read on the forum Smitty was having trouble getting the Audiovox to work on Gen II bikes. Have the issues with the Gen II bikes been worked out?

Thanks,

John

 

[Stacey]

From what I have read on the forum Smitty was having trouble getting the Audiovox to work on Gen II bikes. Have the issues with the Gen II bikes been worked out?
Thanks,

John

Hi John,

That was one of the reasons that I had done the 20 hours of research trying to figure out if it would work. The general concensus is that 20 - 30 % of the GenII installs have problems. Even Smitty himself has had 3 or 4 GenII bikes that he could not get to work within the 3 - 6 hr window he usually has to complete an install. With the other option being the $900 MCcruise I decided that I would take my chances with the Audiovox.

I was already fully commited before I contacted Smitty. I told him that I wanted to pay him to get it installed and if it didn't work he still got paid. I figured that if I could get it installed then I could modify one piece at a time to correct or trouble shoot any type of malfunction. Luckily, mine worked great from the start.

I believe that the 20-30% of problem installs could be caused by any of the following reasons:

1) Weak servo unit, or internally defective servo unit.

2) Variations in the number of vacuum connections. (1 vs 4)

3) Bad vacuum check valves. (Smitty only uses the best high grade check valves, not the cheap Autozone type )

4) Electrical wiring issues such as bad connections or bad ground referances. ( Smitty was very extremly careful with all of the electrical connections )

5) Routing of the pull cabel from the servo canister to the throttle connection. It is easy to see how sharp bends could add resistance for the cable flow causing the Audiovox to disengage.

6) Bolt clearance problems where the head of the bolt hits the regular throttle cable. That was the big issue that stopped me from continuing with my install solo.

With all of that said, once you get a cruise on your FJR you will ask yourself why you didn't do it earlier.

Good luck,

 

[johnny80s]

Thanks Stacey. Wished I lived closer to Smitty.

 

[Steve's FJR]

Thanks Stacey. Wished I lived closer to Smitty.

Where is Smitty located?

 

[Bill]

Smitty installed the Audiovox Cruise on my 2006 and it has always worked flawlessly.

 

[v65]

I had gotten the 5/32 hole into the tang but just couldn't get the needed clearance with the bolts I had.

Too late now, but you can tap that hole and use the bolt include with the kit. A bit of grinding (and some loctite) and you have a nice flush fit.

 

[smitty141]

Thanks Stacey. Wished I lived closer to Smitty.

Where is Smitty located?

50 miles south of St. Louis, Mo.

Smitty