Get the switch pack replaced. The MOCO has a updated switch and lever that will get installed per a service bulletin.

 

Did that change? My cruise disengages, not from pulling in the clutch lever, but from a sudden increase in engine RPM. That is the same thing that disengages the cruise if the rear wheel pops off the pavement because of a good sized bump. I have an 08 King and the owners manual lists the things that disengage the cruise.

 

In the 2008 Elec Diagnostic Manual it states :

4. The ECM monitors both the engine RPM and the VSS output speed signal. The ECM signals the throttle control actuator to open or close the throttle to keep the speedometer output speed signal constant. The engine RPM is monitored to detect engine overspeed, a condition which automatically causes cruise disengagement. 5. The ECM automatically disengages cruise mode whenever the ECM receives one of the following inputs: a. Front or rear brake is applied. b. Throttle is "rolled back" or closed, thereby actuating throttle roll-off (disengage) command. c. Motorcycle clutch is disengaged (ECM senses too great an increase in RPM). d. Cruise ON/OFF Switch placed in the OFF position. The switch is located on the fairing cap of FLHTCU models, the instrument nacelle of FLTR models, and the left handelbar lower switch housing on FLHRC models. The green Cruise Enabled/Engaged lamp in the tachometer face (speedometer on FLHRC models) is extinguished to indicate that the system is deactivated. The orange lamp in the fairing cap switch of FLTR models is also extinguished. e. Handlebar-mounted Engine Stop Switch placed in the OFF position. f. Handlebar-mounted Cruise SET/RESUME Switch is pushed to SET and held in that position until vehicle speed drops below 30 MPH (48 km/h) or pushed to RES until vehicle speed exceeds 85 MPH (137 km/h).

So if you don't deactivate the Cruise and just pull in the clutch the RPMs kill the cruise and not the clutch switch......

 

2016 manual says roughly the same thing... they added wheel slip also in to “C”, but I missed, and as you correctly stated, it’s the rpm’s increasing that is detected and disengages the CC, not the clutch switch itself. So with or without that switch “in line”, if you pull in on your clutch, rpms will increase, that increase will be detected, CC is disengaged. I don’t know if you could engage CC if clutch is pulled in and coasting at say 50mph... never tried engaging CC while coasting down the highway. But I’d think if you by-passed that switch somehow, the bike is goings to see it as the clutch is pulled in. A couple pages further back in the manual it also says

CRUISE CONTROL INOPERATIVE CONDITIONS
The cruise control will become inoperative under the following conditions:
“Clutch Lever Is Pulled In” is one of about two dozen items that will cause it....

The only issue I’ve had with that clutch switch, or that I can think of, is if that button gets stuck in, bike doesn’t know clutch is pulled in, and won’t let you engage starter with bike in gear and clutch lever pulled in. I don’t know what else it could effect because the manual also say this about the clutch switch

Clutch Switch;
The clutch switch is part of the LHCM. There are two types of clutch switches, one type for mechanical (cable) operated clutches and one for hydraulic operated clutches. The switches function differently and are not interchangeable. The LHCM communicates the position of the clutch switch to the ECM and BCM over the CAN communication circuits.

NOTE The clutch switches are not interchangeable. If swapped, it could cause DTCs or improper vehicle operation.

may simply be monitored, so you can’t start the bike in gear without pulling in clutch lol

 

no puzzle. they started with the neutral safety switch on the 07 touring bikes. so your 09 does indeed have a clutch safety switch.

this is from your 2009 owner's manual.

 

..

nope.

 

Happened to my ‘16, while at the dealership for something else...
As all have said, cumbersome part that switchpak is... $200 to replace.
I’d rather have the option to start it in gear, than not. Just sayin’

pc