No aftermarket sway bar and no laser allignment.....

[deer30084]

.....and after 10000 miles on my 2015 F3, my ride is doing just fine! Keeping an eye on that rear tire though.

[PMK]

.....and after 10000 miles on my 2015 F3, my ride is doing just fine! Keeping an eye on that rear tire though.

The need for the swaybar is not for evetyone. Same on the alignment, but that is somewhat of a crap shot.

The lighter the rider, the less a swaybar is needed.

Because of the Spyders primitive steering design, it suffers from bump steer. In simple terms, any time the front suspension compresses the wheels alignment is changing.

For luck of the draw, your weight is proper for where the alignment is set. If a heavier rider were to enjoy your Spyder, chances are it would be better with a swaybar and an alignment.

[jcthorne]

Swaybar and alignment are not so much about need. No one NEEDS a Spyder either.

That does not change the fact that both items do exactly what they are advertised to do. And both make a considerable difference in the quality of ride on a Spyder.

Yes, you can get along without either of them. I can get along without beer too. I just don't want to.

[trikermutha]

Change the rear tire and let us know if you need a alignment at some point.

[ARtraveler]

Thank you for the update.

[BryanSD]

Yep, no sway bar or alignment was necessary for my 2017 RT Limited. One of these days though, I'd like to ride one with a sway bar and compare. I just know that at this point in time if I told my wife (she drives it too) I needed either, she would ask, "what for?".

[trikermutha]

some like the bar some dont..I didn't like the spongee feel and wanted more control in my turns too. Plus the gusty winds did help with the sway bar too..

[Navydad]

I have the shock stiffeners and car tires and I regularly wake up Nanny in the curves. My dealer has the Rolo alignment system and I had them check my RT when I bought it. Two years and 24,000 miles and it tracks and handles great. I live for the twisties so a sway bar will probably get installed sooner or later. More than likely during the winter when I get bored and need a project to keep me out of mischief

[Chupaca]

You seem very happy with your ryde and that's great. No need for the swaybar but in the long run if you get the chance the alignment is worth it cause that one may cause tire wear and handling problems. You are watching your back tire but also check the front cause those are the ones affected by the alignment....

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Gad you have one of the few Spyders that seems to be well aligned from the factory ….. I've had three Spyders ..two really needed the alignment and one was like yours and didn't :yes,...… Mike

[Rattlebars]

Mine's clean on alignment. Sway bar is the single best farkle I put on her. I'm still not sure if the solid heim joints made the most improvement or the bar, but I love the difference with both!! Once the bar was on, no "bump steer" at all.

[PMK]

Mine's clean on alignment. Sway bar is the single best farkle I put on her. I'm still not sure if the solid heim joints made the most improvement or the bar, but I love the difference with both!! Once the bar was on, no "bump steer" at all.

Wrong. On a Spyder, unless you redesign the steering linkage or remove the fronts shocks and install solid bars, you have bump steer.

Bump steer, It never goes away.

[Easy Rider]

Wrong. On a Spyder, unless you redesign the steering linkage or remove the fronts shocks and install solid bars, you have bump steer.

Bump steer, It never goes away.

This tends to explain what I have observed.

Initially I had a LOT of trouble with not being able to hold a line comfortably.
This persisted even after I got used to the basic difference in steering technique.

After a lot of time and miles with no modifications except increasing the air pressure in the tires, I realized that the only time I was having a significant problem was on asphalt roads with OLD surfaces or a road with a bad surface.

The old asphalt is a problem because with age it develops troughs in the tire tracks and ridges between them, in the middle of each lane, between lanes and at the edge of the pavement.

It is almost impossible to ride a Spyder on this kind of pavement without having at least one tire fighting one of these ridges.
The "obvious" riding position centered in the lane puts your back tire on the ridge in the middle of the lane.
As the tire goes a bit to one side of the ridge, it upsets the geometry and makes it feel like what happens when you are hit with a HARD gust of side wind.

THERE IS NO WAY TO FIX THIS......except to avoid old asphalt roads that are worn like this.
Alas, in Florida almost all of the roads are like this.

I have a sway bar to be installed and will have an alignment.......but don't expect either of those things to significantly help the problem I am having.
When I ride on concrete or fresh, smooth new asphalt, it tracks beautifully.

[ThreeWheels]

The alignment is a hit or miss proposition. Sometimes the alignment comes from the factory quite excellent. Sometimes it's pretty horrible. A laser alignment can't hut and will PROBABLY help. But if you don't have any issues to begin with, then consider yourself fortunate.
As to the sway bar, in my opinion, 2014 was a watershed for Spyders with gobs of improvements including suspension.
The RonBar takes a good suspension and makes it even better still.

That's my opinion, if I'm wrong, doubtless many people will here will let me know.

[BajaRon]

Wrong. On a Spyder, unless you redesign the steering linkage or remove the fronts shocks and install solid bars, you have bump steer.

Bump steer, It never goes away.

True. Because of the way the Spyder suspension is designed, any amount of lean will create some amount of bump steer. But because this issue is exponential and not linear, any reduction in lean will eliminate a much greater amount of bump steer. So the effect of an upgraded sway bar will reduce the amount of bump steer to a point where the rider may no longer perceive it.

There is an easy way to test how much bump steer you are getting. When entering a curve or sweeper at a speed which creates a fair amount of lean on your Spyder, pay attention to how many times you have to adjust the angle of your handlebars to stay centered in your lane. Typically, with stock suspension, you will need to make at least 3 adjustments to the handlebar angle. This may not seem like much and many stock Spyder riders simply get used to this process. But on a road like the Dragon, or a long day in the saddle, you may begin to notice arm or shoulder fatigue.

With a suspension upgrade you should be able to enter pretty much any curve, set the steering angle on the handlebars and be done until you exit the curve. This may sound like a small thing. But believe me, it is pretty impressive and instills a great deal of confidence in the machine. Of course this is not the only benefit provided by upgrading your suspension. But it is one of the more noticeable and often used improvements.

[bscrive]

.....and after 10000 miles on my 2015 F3, my ride is doing just fine! Keeping an eye on that rear tire though.

My wife said the same thing, until she got an alignment and she saw just how much she was compensating. The sway bar just added to the control.


My dealer did say that BRP is now putting the Spyders out with laser alignments already done. He said that her 2019 will not need to be done. Not sure when they started it though.

[PMK]

True. Because of the way the Spyder suspension is designed, any amount of lean will create some amount of bump steer. But because this issue is exponential and not linear, any reduction in lean will eliminate a much greater amount of bump steer. So the effect of an upgraded sway bar will reduce the amount of bump steer to a point where the rider may no longer perceive it.

There is an easy way to test how much bump steer you are getting. When entering a curve or sweeper at a speed which creates a fair amount of lean on your Spyder, pay attention to how many times you have to adjust the angle of your handlebars to stay centered in your lane. Typically, with stock suspension, you will need to make at least 3 adjustments to the handlebar angle. This may not seem like much and many stock Spyder riders simply get used to this process. But on a road like the Dragon, or a long day in the saddle, you may begin to notice arm or shoulder fatigue.

With a suspension upgrade you should be able to enter pretty much any curve, set the steering angle on the handlebars and be done until you exit the curve. This may sound like a small thing. But believe me, it is pretty impressive and instills a great deal of confidence in the machine. Of course this is not the only benefit provided by upgrading your suspension. But it is one of the more noticeable and often used improvements.

Yes an No. In technical terms, it is not a suspenion issue at all, but rather a poorly designed steering setup. The Spyder has very short wheel travel vertically. Ideally, with any type of independent front suspension, the location of the tie rod ends are optimized to induce the least amount of bump steer.

Ron, our 14 Spyder has run your bar for many years. Without doubt an improvement. I also fitted BRP / Can Am aftermarket Fox Shocks. The Fox setup does run a firmer spring. Combined the increased chassis roll resistance from both the firmer springs and firmer swaybar, stabilize the chassis and add control.

I never had our Spyder laser aligned. When two wweks old, it became obvious to me, still with all stock swaybar and shocks, that the front wheels hadtoo much toe out. The excess toe out, combined with bump steer induced the sawing on the bars in corners, even unintended darting to the inside of the curve.

I did align the Spyder myself, using toe sticks. After a small amount of adjustment, the tow in setting was correct and the Spyder tracked well.

Adding the swaybar alone does not alter alignment. Installing the Foxes, raised the front 10mm. The 10mm change altered the toe in. The toe increased over 1/4” at the wheels.

After realigning, with the current setup, bump steer is not obvious with chassis roll. Corners are smooth with no sawing.

Simply, aligned correctly, accounting for the riders weight, and suspension setup the bikes are easy to handle and smooth.

[PMK]

This tends to explain what I have observed.

Initially I had a LOT of trouble with not being able to hold a line comfortably.
This persisted even after I got used to the basic difference in steering technique.

After a lot of time and miles with no modifications except increasing the air pressure in the tires, I realized that the only time I was having a significant problem was on asphalt roads with OLD surfaces or a road with a bad surface.

The old asphalt is a problem because with age it develops troughs in the tire tracks and ridges between them, in the middle of each lane, between lanes and at the edge of the pavement.

It is almost impossible to ride a Spyder on this kind of pavement without having at least one tire fighting one of these ridges.
The "obvious" riding position centered in the lane puts your back tire on the ridge in the middle of the lane.
As the tire goes a bit to one side of the ridge, it upsets the geometry and makes it feel like what happens when you are hit with a HARD gust of side wind.

THERE IS NO WAY TO FIX THIS......except to avoid old asphalt roads that are worn like this.
Alas, in Florida almost all of the roads are like this.

I have a sway bar to be installed and will have an alignment.......but don't expect either of those things to significantly help the problem I am having.
When I ride on concrete or fresh, smooth new asphalt, it tracks beautifully.

Granted smooth flat surfaces are awesome on the Spyder. With a stock swaybar and correct toe in, the bike should do ok in the scalloped asphalt. Ours did and that was two up. Add in the Fox shocks and swaybar, correctly aligned for riders weight and setup and it easily has little steering input on scalloped asphalt roads unless extremely scalloped.

I will say though, that on the badly scalloped roads, even less scalloped roads, there is a sweet spot, and a lot of finding that is where the rear tire is not on the peak, making the Spyder hunt the crown.

[Easy Rider]

My dealer did say that BRP is now putting the Spyders out with laser alignments already done. He said that her 2019 will not need to be done. Not sure when they started it though.

Everything you hear from a dealer is absolutely 100% true.
Especially if you hear it from a sales person.
RIGHT.

[Easy Rider]

I will say though, that on the badly scalloped roads, even less scalloped roads, there is a sweet spot, and a lot of finding that is where the rear tire is not on the peak, making the Spyder hunt the crown.

Maybe I need more practice but I have found it almost impossible to find that "sweet spot" where one of the 3 tires is NOT hunting the crown.
On a 2 lane road, there are 6 crowns; 3 on your side of the road.

Note: I am in Homestead this weekend for the NASCAR races......with the Spyder in tow.