Quote Originally Posted by Wick76 View Post
Hello everyone. I have been reading this forum for a while, but just recently joined. I have been the owner of a 2014 RT Limited for about a year now. The bike is in very good condition, and has relatively low miles (about 11,000). My wife and I have just recently been putting some miles on the bike. We did not ride much together last year due to her being in school, but we are planning on hitting it hard this year.

So to my question...
I have been reading a lot about the improvements to the new RT Limited vs the previous model. I am trying to justify purchasing a new model vs upgrading my current bike. I have already had to put a fair amount of money into my 2014 due to a DESS error fix, rear tire replacement, and oil change. I know the last two are just maintenance, but nothing on the Spyder is cheap. I have heard that some big improvements can be made to 2 up riding with BR's swaybar and suspension upgrades. My wife and I are easily over 450 lbs combined, so we get a lot of body roll in corners, which makes her nervous. I know the new Limited has heated seats as well, which would be a big plus for my wife. I have seen a couple of options for putting heated seats on the older models, but none of them are cheap. Then there is the radio / speakers. I have yet to hear the speakers on the new RT, but mine leave a little to be desired. Once again, I know they can be upgraded, but that is not cheap either.

I guess to get to my point...if I upgrade to the newer model, am I just going to have to make all of the same upgrades to be happy with it, or is the new model that much better? I have read opinions that go in both directions. I mainly just want my wife to be comfortable and happy. I have other bikes to ride when I am solo. The only thing I can tell for sure is that I like the floorboards far better on the new model. I have always found the foot position of my Spyder to be odd and a bit cramped.

Just looking for opinions from those that might have had to make this same decision.
... I also have a 2014 RT and this is my last Spyder .... 58,000+ miles and very few issues ( most were fixed under warranty ). I also had the DESS issue ( warranty ). ... I then moved the DESS to a place under the right headlite ( ease of removal if necessary ) ( then had DESS canceled by " Joel the Biker ") some have changed the REAR spring to a stronger one.... The amp in the RT is NOT the problem, it's the crappy speakers and they arn't hard to change - but you must do all four or all you will notice is the crappy ones .... I'd keep it, the newer models have issues of their own ..... good luck ... Mike