Are Spyders super sensitive to road crown?

[Slowpoke387]

I've never tried riding "no hands", might be a self preservation thing. I run about 17 PSI in my fronts and about 28 in the rear. Make certain that your front tires are as equal as can be regarding pressure. Use a relaxed grip and don't try to react to every little twitch or bump. Your Spyder will roll with the uneven surfaces of the road, try to do the same with it. The only time that I have had to put much effort into going straight is when I'm riding on a road where they have ground the asphalt in preparation for repaving and not too much then. I've only ridden a little over 6000 miles and hadn't ridden two wheels for close to forty years other than the cycle safety course that I took to get my license, so I didn't have much in the way of two wheel habits to unlearn.

Not so much looking to ride with no hands as looking to be able to relax and enjoy he scenery. Cant really do that if youre constantly having to keep the thing going straight. Riding loose and letting it do its thing helps but tell that to my wife. She hates it right now. Doesnt even want to ride it now, and i got it for her, not me. Going to take it out with the higher rear air pressure in a bit to see how that affected it.
Well ive beaten this topic to death, we will ride it more, get an alignment, and check in after some time. Thanks for everyone's input and thoughts.

[Zip]

I have not gotten an alignment and have not noticed any pulling

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Don't dismiss the bad tire possibility. Kendas are a cheap tire.

[marty1096]

awful oem tire on rear. last June my significant other drove my new spyder home as i followed. He was 65 then and has been riding two wheels since 12, escorted funerals for years, rode harleys, gold wings, ducatti's and victory's. I on the other hand rode 2 wheels for only a year when the spyder was purchased... after riding 40 miles home most of it freeway, he told me in no uncertain terms he would never ride my spyder again. it was all over the road...wouldnt go straight......last week was the first time he was on it as a passenger to go pick up his freshly painted victory. he told me even as a passenger he didnt like the feel when turning corners. So...will it follow the crown in the road yes, after 11,000 mile I have to pick a spot in my lane on the freeway where it wont wander or act squirrley and stay there. I noticed this year however the vibration was getting really bad...got worse as the rear tire approached needed replacement. Installed Yokohama S drive tire on rear today and noticeable difference. the only advice I can give your wife is to join "girls on spyders" on FB and read and ask questions and ryde the bike(if necessary just around the neighborhood), the more you ryde the more comfortable it will be....a person riding for you is not going to give you the experience you need to know when someone is telling you some bull**** about your bike....because you will know your bike....every body rides differently. I advise a new spyder rider to ride at least 20 min everyday for 30 days straight then come back and tell me what you think then. trial and error gave me learning experience. We just had an 84 year old grandmother join...I think she would like the group its national and over 3000 women strong...she can ask questions without fear.

[SteveLaoyster]

For those who would like to know more, here is a link to an old thread on laser alignment.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...aser-Alignment

And here also.

http://www.lamonstergarage.com/spyder-laser-alignment/

[Rogue Hawk]

My Spyder is partial to tiaras. It finds crowns to be to heavy for everyday princess duties.

[PMK]

The road crown can make it pull, but usually there is an easy to find sweet spot that works.

If you are at all mechanical, get two yardsticks and 4 bricks or similar. Place the yardsticks against the tires while resting the yardsticks on bricks.

Using two tape measures, with a person on the spyder, check the toe in or toe out. With a person on the seat, it should be about 3/16".

Our 14 has never been laser aligned. Done similar to what I described. Oem was pretty screwed up and handling was not good. With the setting above she runs very true and will go hands off at well above highway speed limits.

How does the bike feel in a constant radius corner. Do you notice any tendency to tuck or dart around, especially to the inside of the curve?

I thought before I suggested having the steering sensor nulled while they had the Spyder. Being an electric power assist, if it thinks you are trying to turnit will. However, based on how you describe no issues on flat ground, that may be ok.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Even new Ford pickups need getting used to. My brother bought a 2017 F-250. It has steering by wire. He felt it suddenly pull to the side on two occasions. He thought the steering was screwy and took it in to get it fixed. Turned out the computer was just compensating for the crown in the road! All he had to do was get used to how it works!

[Slowpoke387]

The road crown can make it pull, but usually there is an easy to find sweet spot that works.

If you are at all mechanical, get two yardsticks and 4 bricks or similar. Place the yardsticks against the tires while resting the yardsticks on bricks.

Using two tape measures, with a person on the spyder, check the toe in or toe out. With a person on the seat, it should be about 3/16".

Our 14 has never been laser aligned. Done similar to what I described. Oem was pretty screwed up and handling was not good. With the setting above she runs very true and will go hands off at well above highway speed limits.

How does the bike feel in a constant radius corner. Do you notice any tendency to tuck or dart around, especially to the inside of the curve?

I thought before I suggested having the steering sensor nulled while they had the Spyder. Being an electric power assist, if it thinks you are trying to turnit will. However, based on how you describe no issues on flat ground, that may be ok.

So to answer your question, if its a right hand sweeper it feels great. Relieves the constant pressure needed on the right bar to keep it straight. I love right hand sweepers right now lol. Left hand sweepers really push it to the right, which I'm sort of expecting due to these things not leaning over like a bike. Slight darting but my gut tells me that its just me getting used to it.

[IGETAROUND]

Not so much looking to ride with no hands as looking to be able to relax and enjoy he scenery. Cant really do that if youre constantly having to keep the thing going straight. Riding loose and letting it do its thing helps but tell that to my wife. She hates it right now. Doesnt even want to ride it now, and i got it for her, not me. Going to take it out with the higher rear air pressure in a bit to see how that affected it.
Well ive beaten this topic to death, we will ride it more, get an alignment, and check in after some time. Thanks for everyone's input and thoughts.

I don't ride your model; however my ? to you is how many miles have you under your belt on the Spyder. Same ? for the wife. If you have less than 1000 miles give it some time. The sensitivity to steering input of these vehicles is truly amazing!!

As mentioned the front tire pressure needs to be as close to identical side to side as you can make it and I would respectfully suggest you not go above 18 to 20 psi in the front. If you run 25 and up in the back; you will more than likely experience wet road traction issues.

Almost all spyders need a laser alignment; according to the spyder experts less than 1% are properly aligned when delivered to the owners. It does make a marked difference in required corrective input crowned road irrespective.

These are a pleasure to pilot when set up properly; they are a nightmare until then!! The first $ invested in making it yours is to get a ROLO laser alignment by someone who does a lot of them. That would be Ann and Joe Meyer or Spyderpops or the gentleman in Houston (sorry old fart moment on names).

Then get some miles under your belt 1-2 thousand and I believe that you will have a different opinion than you and your spouse currently have. Just MHO

Al in Kazoo with 40 K and counting

After looking at your home state; you might want to take a trip to NESTLE's (sp) in upstate New York, they will treat you right and get your ride "squared away " properly. Some one will come by and spell the shop name properly for you, be patient please.

Al

[crna59]

I am a MSF Instructor here in WA State and I'm constantly switching from 2-wheels to 3-wheels. I have to get a whole different attitude when I jump on the Spyder. I'm still finding myself "fighting" the thing for the first 2-3 miles and then I start relaxing and riding much differently. Doing the weight shift and pressing on the opposite bar helps greatly. I thought it was sensitive to crowns, but it was just me!!

[SpyderSteveFL]

It's not mentioned much but I think zbunker is on the right track. It's called DPS and it is a computer setting. For some reason this is off alot. You need a good tech that really knows how to use BUDS and understands the settings. Have a good shop check DPS FIRST. After you know DPS is good you can check alignment with ROLO - usually if its not needed there is no charge.

[Spyder 42]

FWIW, SWMBO's RTL was hard to manage in the curves. It tracked straight on flat surfaces so I was st a loss. A Lazer alignment showed that the left wheel was dead on but the right was toed out by 1/4". Best $100 spent on the RTL.

[Slowpoke387]

FWIW, SWMBO's RTL was hard to manage in the curves. It tracked straight on flat surfaces so I was st a loss. A Lazer alignment showed that the left wheel was dead on but the right was toed out by 1/4". Best $100 spent on the RTL.

Very interesting. Well it goes in on Friday so I'm hoping they find something similar. nothing worse than being told its normal and its me lol. Cant wait.

[Slowpoke387]

Got it back today finally. Just a hair better but im really thinking its the nature of the beast. I will try different tires at some point because i know tires are what connect us to the road and can make or break a ride. After that we will just ride it and hopefully forget all about it. Its still a hoot to ride. Just wish it was more of a sit back and relax ride. Its not, you have to be on ur toes non stop or it can grab a road irregularity and just go with it instead of over it. Maybe tires, maybe just because of the three wheels.

[Peter Aawen]

..... Maybe tires, maybe just because of the three wheels.

There's quite a few (many thousands!?!) people out there ryding their Spyders without feeling they are badly upset by crowned roads, & once they get over that first 'get used to the differences' 500-1000 miles or so, most actually find their Spyders to be a more relaxed & easy riding machine than their previous (in many case significant) experience on 2 Wheels. So there's a good chance that you/your Spyder DOES have a correctable issue! But.... if you spend your time asking about & looking at (as I have!) many of the Spyders of those who don't have similar issues, it rapidly becomes apparent that by far the majority of those who find their Spyders comfortable & easy to ryde on any road surface are running after market tires, NOT the crappy Kendas! I won't expound on how crappy the Kendas are (much) more here, I do that enough elsewhere, but I doubt I'd be far wrong to suggest that when you get around to throwing the Kendas away & replacing them with some good quality car tires, you'll probably want to kick yourself for not doing it sooner!!


I reckon there aren't too many who'd argue that after the ROLO Wheel Alignment & maybe the upgraded sway bar (particularly for those who want to ride a little more aggressively) fitting proper tires is the next single most impressive improvement you can make to your Spyders ryde & handling! Sure, for RT Owners, the Magic Mirror Mounts might be a cheap & easy wonderful & extremely welcome upgrade, but they just improve the ease of servicing the machine & reduce mirror vibrations; fitting good tires can make a vast improvement on almost all the ride & handling issues you tell us you are concerned about, especially if you make the time & effort to get your tire pressures right for those tires, the way you ride, & the loads you put on your Spyder instead of running the 'one size fits all' compromise pressures off the tire placard/manual that simply don't take any of the myriad of variables that have an impact on the 'correct pressure for your application' into account!

So, are you sure you don't want to toss the crappy Kendas now & see how much of an improvement quality tires can make??

[Highwayman2013]

Usually the toe is off a little. We had our 2016 F3L aligned and the toe was good but the fronts were not strait with the rear tire causing a slight crabbing effect. Once laser aligned it is a wonderful ride with no pulling or drifting. How much air are you running in the air bag? We are running about 40 psi.