First time out riding on 2 or 3 wheels ....

[Rigsby]

Hi everyone, I went out yesterday morning for my first proper Spyder ride and it was a blast

Got up at 6 ish to avoid the traffic and stayed mainly on the back roads for a ride of about 40 mins, great fun, although as you can imagine having never ridden a bike or trike before I did take it steady. You suddenly become more aware of other road users around you and wonder what they might do next. And some of the pot holes that you wouldn't even notice in a car have you constantly trying to avoid them which isn't always easy. I found the steering kind of twitchy and almost jerky but I'm sure it is something that I will get the hang of. Turning corners was uummmm interesting I suppose you could call it, a completely different sensation to a car ( obviously ). I'm working today and can't wait to get back out there

Made a couple of changes to the bike, it came with floorboards as well as driver and passenger backrests but just sitting on it I didn't feel as comfortable as I remember it to be from my short test ride back at the end of last year. I have a stiff left hip and always thought the floorboards would be my best choice as my left leg needs to be quite straight when sitting. They floorboards were in position 2 so I moved them to P5 but still wasn't comfortable so decided to put the standard foot rest back on the left side and it seems much better now. Also took out the drivers back rest as It was stopping my sitting as far back as I wanted. The right hand side isn't going to be as easy though. The bike was also fitted with a brake lever on the handlebars which I must say I ended up using more than the foot pedal for some reason so I am thinking of keeping the hand lever but I still need to move the right hand side floorboard/foot peg from P2 to P5. Now the brake set up would have to be changed and I'm guessing that BRP make something in the UFIT range to allow me to do that ?? or isn't it that simple?? Anyway first overall impressions are GREAT, happy riding, Rigsby

[youngers]

hey fellow rider , you have a fellow country men , looking for some u-k spyder folks , look at the thread " where is every one " by rtman 10 hope you folks can gain momentum in spyder rides

[Bob Denman]

I'm glad to hear that you're sorting things out, and enjoying the ride!
Here's to many more "Miles & Smiles"!

[gkamer]

Hi everyone, I went out yesterday morning for my first proper Spyder ride and it was a blast

Welcome from the state of Washington, USA

[Chupaca]

To the spyder world and congrats on the new ryde... You will find if you read the Do' and Don't on this site you will get aquainted much faster to your spyder. Generally takes 300-500 miles to get really comfortable but you have a good start....

[ARtraveler]

and Keep on riding, it only gets better.

[Speedsterjohnny]

Welcome! I'm new also (6/1) and enjoying it very much! I have 30+ years on single track vehicles so there was a slight learning curve, mostly about relaxing the death grip that comes from riding a new type vehicle.
My F3 is great fun and I'm lovin' it!

[SpyderAnn01]

Welcome! Your Spyder feels twitchy because it doesn't like being on the wrong side of the road.

[Rigsby]

Welcome! Your Spyder feels twitchy because it doesn't like being on the wrong side of the road.

You could be spot on there

There were a couple of corners when it was on the wrong side and then it was me that was feeling twitchy

[Rigsby]

Welcome! I'm new also (6/1) and enjoying it very much! I have 30+ years on single track vehicles so there was a slight learning curve, mostly about relaxing the death grip that comes from riding a new type vehicle.
My F3 is great fun and I'm lovin' it!

Ye I have been reading the do's and don'ts and have picked up a few tips so that may help

[Rigsby]

I managed to take off the hand brake unit this afternoon and replac the right hand side floorboard with the other foot peg. It was a tight squeeze to get the hand brake unit off as the floorboard was in position 2 and the large centre nut that holds the unit was fouling the side of the engine but its all done now, so left had peg is in position 5 and right hand peg is in position 4 with the brake unit back on. Had a local shop increase the foot brake rod by 85 mm to allow for the different position and the bike feels much more comfortable now. can't wait for tomorrow now to try it out ( please don't rain )

[bushrat]

You can purchase the exact length rod needed to move from position 3 to position 4, and/or up to position 5. Conversely, you can also buy shorter rods to move down to either position 1 or 2. BRP sells them. Not very expensive. Occasionally available on the 'For Sale' thread. Enjoy your ryde and keeping adjusting until you find maximum comfort. Cheers.

[Rigsby]

I had a few hours out on my Spyder yesterday morning as the weather was being kind. I felt a lot more comfortable riding now that I have removed the floorboards and replaced the pegs in a better position. As you know I took the brake rod off to reposition the foot peg and had a local shop weld a section in to give me a rod that is 85 mm longer. As soon as I moved the Spyder I realised that the hand lever was no longer applying the brakes so put it back into the garage and took the brake lever unit and brake pedal off again assuming that I hadn't put something back correctly but once again the foot brake worked but not the lever. I checked that I had full braking with the pedal and that nothing on the lever unit was going to cause any problems out on the road and off I went to the car park to try it out before going on the open road. I had obviously not measured the required rod size correctly and it was too short for the lever to work properly...but the foot pedal seems to be in a better position now than it was before so I think I am going to leave it as it is. So the moral of the story is ......measure twice, cut once and keep your fingers crossed you get away with it anyway if you mess it up

[ThreeWheels]

Handbrake ?