Manual Cruise Mode, Pretty Cool

I've had a great time getting to know the Beast. I've been riding it a lot and consequently my wrist is sore from twisting the throttle so much. So when I saw the pigtail coming from the new controller labeled "Manual Cruise" I was intrigued to see how it might work. As it turns out it works quite well. Here's how to hook it up.

Added the Manual Cruise Circuit

I used the same basic technique to setup "Manual Cruise" as I did to setup the "Reverse" mode. Since I'm not using the horn, I had 2 momentary switches available-one on each hand grip. I used the left hand horn button to set up the "Reverse" mode, and the right hand horn button for the "Manual Cruise" mode.

The controller has a pigtail with 2 wires labeled "Manual Cruise". If you connect these two wires momentarily while the throttle is on you can release the throttle and it will continue to run. Momentarily touch the two wires again, then the motor will stop being energized. BTW: I noticed that when the throttle is twisted and released while in this mode, the motor will de-energize as well.

So using the the right hand horn switch is a logical and easy way to get this feature working. We still need to find the proper wires coming off this switch to the electrical box. In my case, it was the Orange and Green wires that came from the right hand grip's horn switch.

The Orange and Green Wires come from the Horn Switch

I used the remaining wire that ran to the controller which I found when looking for unused wires already in the harness, then added another wire and ran it myself back to the controller area. I laid my wire up against the existing harness and taped the wire to the entire length of the harness.

As I've done for the entire project, I used a Weatherpack connector to connect the "Manual Cruise" pigtail to the the proper harness wires, which connect to the right hand horn switch. But any weather protected connector should work fine. For more info on how to setup the Weatherpack connector, check this tutorial out.

One last detail; you have to enable this feature in the Daymak Drive app for it to work. Just connect the app to the controller, and tap the "Settings" icon. Scroll the list down till you see the "Manual Cruise" setting and turn it on. Note: there is also an Automatic Cruise setting, but it didn't seem to make any difference in how cruise worked. So I still have some research to do on what Automatic Cruise does.

Here's a video of the "Manual Cruise" mode working.

I've enjoyed this mode of operation, as it has made it more comfortable to ride.

Reverse on a Scooter? Why not.

If you have been reading through this blog, you know that during the controller upgrade we only used 5 or so pigtails from the controller. One of the pigtails that I didn't originally connect was the "Reverse Switch" pigtail. This allows the bike to go into reverse if a switch is closed and the throttle is rotated. The configuration software allows the user to set how fast it can go into reverse as well.

Schematic with Reverse Switch Installed

First thing, I'll post the schematic here again but with a momentary switch added to the Reverse pigtail. There are 2 wires on the pigtail, and if you jumper the 2 together, you'll see that the vehicle will go in reverse. So all we need to do is put a momentary switch in the circuit so you can hold it and twist the throttle and the vehicle will go backwards.

3 Unused Wires in Front Electrical Box

So where can we find a momentary switch? Well, on my Beast, there are 2 red momentary horn switches, one at each hand grip. I decided to leave the right hand switch connected to the horn, and disconnect the left hand horn switch and re-task it as the reverse switch. I chose the left side, since I needed the right side to twist the throttle.

Same 3 Wires in a white Connector in the Back

The first thing I looked for were 2 wires that were already running from the front of the vehicle back to the controller area. If I can find these wires, then I won't have to run my own wires which would make the job much easier. Luckily I found 3 wires in the front electrical box that had been cut, and were just sitting there. This came from the factory this way, so now I looked for the same color wires somewhere in the back by the controller.

Luckily the 3 wires were sitting in a white connector, unused in the back. I verified this by using a DVOM and checked for continuity through the wire from the front to the back. Since I only needed 2 of the three wires, I removed 2 from the white connector and stripped back insulation back from the same 2 wires in the front.

Weatherpack Connector Used

I used a 2 cavity WeatherPack connector to connect the "Reverse Switch" pigtail from the controller to the 2 wires identified earlier.

I used a pick to release the terminals from the white connector, cut them off and installed the insulator, terminal and connector, as seen in the picture.

White Shrink Tube for Original Terminals.

The front electrical box does not provide enough room to install a WeatherPack connector, so I chose to release the two wires from the connector, and add my own wires and terminals. For info on using Weatherpack connectors, check this site out.

First thing I needed to do is find the 2 wires that come from the Left Hand Horn Switch. As it turns out, its the Black and Purple wires in the white 9 way connector coming from the left-hand hand grip harness. I removed the mating terminals from the connector and added my own wires to those 2 cavities. I left the original harness alone so it could be easily restored if necessary. I also shrink tubed the 2 terminals I removed to protect them.

Set Reverse Speed Limit

Finally I used 2 Salmon colored Crimp and Seal Splice sleeves, which are weather protected to connect my 2 added wires to the 2 wires I identified as already in the harness.

All this may seem a bit complicated, but in reality with a little detective work using a DVOM to identify 2 wires you can use from the harness then use the existing left hand horn switch as the input to the controller.

The last thing to do is to configure the Daymak Drive App to regulate how fast the controller will allow the bike to go. So pull out your phone and go to "Settings" and locate "Reverse Speed Limit" and pick a percentage. I selected 10% to keep it safe and slow.

Be sure you hit "Save" to send the new value to the controller, otherwise it won't change. I would think keeping the percentage well below 30% would make sense, otherwise you could easily lose control.

Here's a quick video of how it works on my bike with the Reverse Speed Limit set at 10%.

I'm hoping that this feature may help in getting out of some sticky situations. It may not ever get used, but that is ok it was fun to get it working.

What was Left Over After the Upgrade

Left Over Parts

Now that the project is almost complete, I thought it might help to show what parts were taken off during the upgrade. Besides the pedals, storage compartment and horn, there were a few items that came off during the controller upgrade.

These items were (from left to right);

• PAS (Passenger Assist System) Reluctor and Hall Sensor, shown on the far left of the picture. If you decide to keep the pedals in place and plan to use it like a bicycle you will leave these items in place.
• A few connectors that were connected to the original harness. A black one that connected to the original controller, and a white one that had the Motor's Hall Sensor wires.
• One of the screws and nuts used to mount the components to the scooter.
• A harness that connected to the Main Connector (White with blue insulator) whose other end connected to the original controller.
• The original green controller (which I'd be happy to sell if you need it, 1/2 of what Daymak gets, just reach out to me).

On another note, I've noticed that the turn signals are not working so I have some more troubleshooting to do. If/when I figure this out I'll post the issue and fix here. Other than that the project is pretty much done.

The next thing I'd like to do is see if there is a way to change the speedometer from Kilometers to Miles per Hour. Not that this is a big deal, but it would be nice.

I'm sure there will be more to come, albeit at a slower pace. Hope this helps with your project.