APE HANGERS ON A SPYDER

[xpeschon]

First of all I must thank (and not in any particular order) Mo Lee, Len and Scotty.. With-out there help I could have NEVER tackled this project by myself.. It all started one day while I was out and about all by myself cruising down the interstate and doing some thinking, we all know what I’m talking about.. At any rate I said to myself “Self, wouldn’t it be kind of cool to put a set of Apes on this sucker”.. Again thinking---------OK, gotta find BARS, CABLES and how in the heck am I going to be able to tackle the whole wiring issue.. I have a 2008 SE so more wires to mess with…. After being educated from Len about Ape Hangers Spec (Pull back, etc) and how to read the dimensions he told me that a set of 16 inch bars would look really nice, I didn’t listen to him, I wanted LARGE APE HANGERS.. I found a set of 18 inch bars on the internet and when I received them I zipped tied them to the bike, I said again, “Self, that looks like it’s going to work perfect”.. I then had to get them powder coated cause they only came in chrome so that took a week... In the mean time I had to pick Lens brain again and talk throttle and return cables to him, again he came through and gave me a person to contact and it happen to be the boys at Barnett Cables out of CA.. Barnett said they have the specs for spYders so I ordered a set of 48 inches cables… In the mean time I got my bars back from the powder coater and mounted them.. Now its time for the wiring part,,,Oh no here we go the sensitive stuff—I picked Lens and Lees brain on how to do this, (but near as much as I should have though), so having said that I dis-connect the battery ---I then took a side cutter (MISTAKE) and about 3 inches from the controls I cut through the wires.. Well I ended up cutting through a couple splices and it was a mess for awhile.. I have the SE so when I cut through the wires to that there where 3 black wires and I could not tell what black wire went with what black wire, we all know in US that Black is ground but what are they in canada is what I was thinking.. Also when it was said and done I ended up with a BLUE wire on the control and the only wire I had left on the other end was a Black one.. Oh Oh.. OK, I decided to take a break from all the sodering and shrink wrapping and install the cable I just got… Well 48 inch cable where WAY long and besides the exposed wires where not long enough so they didn’t work anyway.. I called Barnett and told them to cut off 9 inches of the cable and extend the exposed cable by 1cm, Also I sent to them the original cables that came off the spyder, they can’t mess that up right?? So in the mailbox they go.. In the mean time I contacted Nancys Toys (Scotty) and let him in on the little project we had going on in MO.. Thanks to Scotty he took the time to scan the wiring diagram he had in his manual then emailed it to me.. That my friend help out a great deal.. This was all happening during the time of Sturgis and we all know Len was goofing around with LaMonster in South Dakota.. Anyway a couple calls to Lee to small talk about the project.. Right now I’m kind of at a stand still at this point awaiting the cables.. Finally I got the cables and can you believe they only added the 1cm to the return cable only and not the throttle cable, CRAP.. I then sent them back with a note and told them to call me once they got them back, they did and I explained and finally the 3rd time they fit perfect… The whole problem in the beginning is that the fitting that goes into the carb side is a bit shorter then the original one, hard to explain.. So Monday Labor day I sent Len a message it said “Len you busy today ??” He came back with “Bring it on up, lets finish the project”,, he already knew what I wanted, he was ready to go… I went over and visited with Lee just before I got the message and he said, “Let me come over and take a close look at the wiring”.. An hour later Lee showed up with his volt meter ( He’s an EXPERT in my book with this tool), make a long story short he was able to pin point a mis-take I did, we corrected it, soldered the wires up, shrink wrapped and went for a test ride,, PERFECT,,,and it ended up just fine…
I must tell you I am surprised at the handling of it.. I thought I was going to struggle a bit getting used to them BUT it steers really good, bit more sensitive and a bit more vibration.. Also, the mirrors do work now,, with the location of my arms and hands there is a CLEAR shot straight to the mirrors, nothing in the way.. So again, Thank you to Scotty for being so fast to respond and answering the technical questions in a timely manner, thanks to Len for all the support, advice and information you provided during the project just a whole lot of stuff and to Mo Lee for bringing over that volt meter, your knowledge and also for understanding the diagram I got from Scotty, that was confusing for me..
NOTE: Its 55 inches from the ground to the controls on the bar, its up there a little bit that’s for sure..
PS: There is yet still another wild project in the works that you will not believe.. STAY TUNED!!!
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X-Joe

[xpeschon]

Test run video Monday after completion.. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1964190385692

Seems as though the video will not work, not sure how you do this.. Its on my facebook but don't know how to get it on spyderlovers.. Sorry

[Mo Lee]

You just did and it works for me.

[SpyderLady]

Joe. Looks good.

[NancysToy]

Joe, I had some worries about this, as you know. I am tickled pink that ended up handling OK, and that everything worked when you pushed the buttons. Most of all, I am happy that you are pleased. You are a wildman, my friend!

[SteveMac]

Joe, I wondered what the heck you had been doing. Now we know! That,,, my friend,,, is one unique Spyder. I can't wait to see it in person!

Sounds like it was a lot of work though!

[JCSMOKE]

Damn, now I know I've seen it all.... Hmmm I wonder how that would look on an RT?

[Lamonster]

[Big Arm]

Nice job Joe,
Looks like a lot of work, but well worth it

[ARtraveler]

Kind of wild and crazy--but very cool.

[Mo Lee]

Glad you're happy with the results, they do look cool. Don't think they would work for my style of riding, however you and your helmet look perfect with ape hangers.

[Bob Denman]

"Individualism"... Very brave of you to try this, and I'm also happy to hear that you pulled it off!

[harleyRick]

I think it's great that's the thing about motorcycles you can personalize them and make them the way you like.
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[Yazz]

Joe, thought you were up to some handlebar monkey business when you asked about throttle cable lengths.

The blacked out apes are awesome looking!

[xpeschon]

Report will follow--So far so good.. Handles just fine... Len took a couple pics.. here they are

X-Joe

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[Some Guy]

That's wild!

So...now...how to rake the front end...

[xpeschon]

Some Guy: Don't give Len any ideas here...

X Joe

[pitbull]

Looking good joe! way to go out side of the box....I mean triangel !!!

[xpeschon]

[GloryRyders]

Lookin' good Joe............can't wait to see in person for the October Branson ryde...............you are comming, aren't you

[coz]

the apehangers are cool. VERYdifferent. now i want to see someone lower the rear 3 or 4 inches. when i sit on my bike, when it is on 5 1/2'' ramps it is soooooooo comfortable. it leans you back just a little instead of forward. HMMMMMM,,,,lower the rear 3 inches, raise the front with taller wheels,,,,,HMMMMMMMM. I'm sure this will be tried eventually.

[xpeschon]

OK, here's a bit of a report:

Not much going on for me yesterday so I decided to take the spYder out for a real test ride.. I put on 187 miles when it was all said and done, not a whole lot of miles I know but I wanted to ride on different types of roads to get somewhat of a good feeling on how I am going to like the apes.. I had already done some interstate riding so I didn't really need to ride the interstate much, although I did put on about 40 miles on it.. I mapped out a small little run and off I went:

Comfort: I must admit, I had adjusted my highway peg (Per Len's observation the other night) prior to the ride and it was "right on the money".. I ride with a backrest as well.. The bottom line is for comfort level, I am 100 percent pleased with the way it rides.. A+

Report on twisty's roads: OK, this is where I thought I would have a bit of a problem, and to be honest with you, its not a problem BUT its a bit more difficult to run through the twisty's. I lost a bit of speed attempting to run the twisty's with apes verses the traditional bars, I can live with that as well B-..

Report on Hilly roads: No difference in this area really, just a bit more funner I quess.. A+

Interstate Road: Again no huge difference here as well.. The reason I took a bit of interstate is I decided to run by CowTown and visit Len along with his shop since his shop folks haven't seen it yet.. We all remember Dan and the Master Tech Kevin ( I call him MT, I think he likes being called that), the both sat on it and was surprised at the comfort level.. One of them made the same comment I made earlier, "The mirrors actually work now", I was surprised by the comment cause I feel the same way.. A+

I left the key in the spYder, and while I was inside the store I heard it fire up and shortly after that I saw Len headed out on the outer road (for most of us that's the Performance Road) outside Cowtown, most of us know that road.. Len never drove it yet with the apes so I guess it was time, it looked to me that he needed a bit of a break anyway cause the shop was a bit crazy .. Maybe he will post his results..

Finally, I am 100 percent satisfied with the results of the MOD, it to me was a great improvement and I am happy that I (we Len, Lee and Scotty) did it.. I plan on not going back to the normal bars and run with these..

Have a great day and PLEASE look up to the lord and give praise for the victim's and family members of 9-11...

X-Joe

[xpeschon]

Where the heck did my avatar go???

X-Joe

[burg650]

Just when I thought there was nothing left to see on a spider here we go, looks cool.


Sent from iPad

[pitbull]

Joe it is without a doubt a lot of fun to ride! Total different feeling, and a great feel. When you told me you wanted to do this I was all for it but still had a few concerns, but I'm sure columbus did to when he sails the ocean blue in 1492. Any ways it's a cool ride and great mod really changes the bikes image for me. Kinda started to like rs again. Thanks for the ride.