Dave & Teds Most Excellent Adventures 2013

[CyncySpyder]

So there I was, stripping the sled once again with teddy supervising as usual & I allowed my mind to wonder how our mini road trip to Evansville would go, cause we really are in need of a decent sized road trip to help replenish our psyches after the past couple of weeks that we've had. Then I made the mistake and started to wonder if anything could or would go wrong on the trip. I think I'm as rational as the next person, and before going on any road-trip of decent length, we try to think of possible issues that may arise and if so, what we would or could do about them.

That's rational thinking.......... right? You know, the BoyScout Creedo about always being prepaired

With knowing that I had alot of work to do on the Sled to hopefully get it back up & running again, Richard & I had texted back & forth & it seemed that Saturday would be the best day for us to make the trip, cause he was going to be home all day having a yard sale & the weather was forcasted to be about as perfect as one could hope for, so I really wanted to get the sled apart, fixed & back together last night, and that way, Teddy & I would have the entire day to do the road-trip & we could take our time, stop & smell the roses if you will, and really enjoy it instead of just racing there and back home again. Just an FYI: Neither of which am I opposed to a road-trip is always a good thing Also, Sunday is forcasted for rain off and on pretty much the entire day, so Saturday was our goal ................ as long as nothing got in our way

So there I am & my phone rings & I look & the caller ID shows its my Co-Worker Mary calling Oh No, this aint gonna be good was the first thought thru my head. Sure enough,
"You wanna work tomorrow?"
"Huh? I have plenty of stock, they don't need my department to run tomorrow." I said.
"Barry (our supervisor) just called me and asked if you and I could work in another dept. Their low on stock & really short on ppl, said he really needs us to work."
"Cr*p! Did you tell him we both had plans for the weekend?"
"Yup, I told him & he's aware, still said he needed us tho, can't get anybody else cause they've already been forced the past 2 weekends & we haven't."
"Sh*T!!! Are you serious? So if we say no, he's gonna go ahead and force us anyways?"
"Yup."

Long story short, here I sit at work. Had to go to bed early (midnight) so I didn't have enough time to get the sled running yet, cause I had to be in here at 5am. And to make matters worse, after she called & I was stewing a bit while working on the sled, thinking what else is gonna go wrong, my phone wrang again. This time its my brother, explaining he had to take my other brother to the ER & that he thought he was going to be admitted ......... Are you Frig'n Serious??? C'mon........

TBC.................
TBC......

[CyncySpyder]

I honestly think I was a bit in shock at what was transpiring at that time & I vividly remember looking around the garage hoping to see a hidden camera & this was all just a really bad joke, but it wasn't. It was once again my reality.

My brother that's in the hospital, doesn't really take care of himself very well at all & over the past year has kind of let himself go, gaining close to a hundred pounds & does little more than work. When Teddy &! I visited them a few days ago, I told him he looked 12 months pregnant & he needed to do something or he'd surely be having a heart attack or worse really soon. IT WAS A JOKE, or so I thought.

I asked what happened & how serious & my brother explained that the other brother came home from work with his arm swelled almost twice the size of normal and that it hurt really bad when he tried to bend it. In the ER his BP was really high and they think he has bursitis & that he has an infection in the fluid of his elbow. They know he's allergic to the antibiotic, but it's the only type that will help, so they may have to keep him and give him other meds to counteract his allergic reaction.

So I said I'd be on my way in a bit, but he told me to wait cause the hospital was closed for visiting hours and the only way in was thru the ER & that he'd call me back if and when they decide if their going to keep him or not, so I said ok & decided it was time to stop working on the sled & time to get cleaned up, either for the hospital or for work in a few more hours.

I dared not think to myself again, what else can go wrong.

[RTVIPER]

I honestly think I was a bit in shock at what was transpiring at that time & I vividly remember looking around the garage hoping to see a hidden camera & this was all just a really bad joke, but it wasn't. It was once again my reality.

My brother that's in the hospital, doesn't really take care of himself very well at all & over the past year has kind of let himself go, gaining close to a hundred pounds & does little more than work. When Teddy &! I visited them a few days ago, I told him he looked 12 months pregnant & he needed to do something or he'd surely be having a heart attack or worse really soon. IT WAS A JOKE, or so I thought.

I asked what happened & how serious & my brother explained that the other brother came home from work with his arm swelled almost twice the size of normal and that it hurt really bad when he tried to bend it. In the ER his BP was really high and they think he has bursitis & that he has an infection in the fluid of his elbow. They know he's allergic to the antibiotic, but it's the only type that will help, so they may have to keep him and give him other meds to counteract his allergic reaction.

So I said I'd be on my way in a bit, but he told me to wait cause the hospital was closed for visiting hours and the only way in was thru the ER & that he'd call me back if and when they decide if their going to keep him or not, so I said ok & decided it was time to stop working on the sled & time to get cleaned up, either for the hospital or for work in a few more hours.

I dared not think to myself again, what else can go wrong.

First your best friend, now your brother. When it rains it pours!! Hang in there.

[CyncySpyder]

From what I can figure out with all the different ppl feeding me information, it would seem that my brother has a severe Staph infection in his left elbow & that it may have gotten into his bones, tho this has yet to be confirmed. They took him off Morphine yesterday cause it was doing nothing for the pain & they had to put him on something stronger and he could potentially be in the hospital for 7-10 days

On a more positive note, my best friend seems to be doing well. He's enjoying be back home and independent once again, and has been activily back at work in trying his best to KILL ME or at least my taste buds & digestive system ... You see, my buddy is a really good cook, or should I say more along the lines of a Grill Master & he really is good at it. Me, I really enjoy Spicy stuff, the hotter the better Years back, he used to go to Jungle Jims about every other month & buy a different bottle of Hot Sauce, like the INSANE stuff they keep behind the glass case locked up & you have to sign a waiver to purchase it.......... that kind of hot sauce & he'd try his best to find something that I just couldn't handle.

Usually, it never worked tho, & I'd eat it on anything, salad, whatever, it didn't matter & I'd eat it just fine ..... and enjoy it too That is, til one time he got this stuff aptly named 'Possible Side Effects' and I ate it just fine, which really frustrated my buddy. But the next day, I found out just WHY it was called 'Possible Side Effects' and worse, I found out what the 'Possible Side Effects' were, first hand Well, actually a different part of the body, but this is a family Forum, so I won't go there. But I will just say the next day, after once again regaining my composure, I called him to give him the good news that he Finally Got Me & actually found a Hot Sauce that I Couldn't Handle.

So my buddy had to find out what the ingredients were & this year has started his own 'Pepper Garden' with his neighbor across the street, growing the worlds hottest peppers that their are. All in an attempt, to once again, 'Get Me' but this time, with his very own concoction. He called yesterday to let me know that his 'Special' Chilli was ready & that I should stop by for some

So after Teddy & I visited my brother in the hospital, we headed over to Dougs & picked up our 'Special' Chilli, complete in a special solid black tupperware container so the contents wouldn't 'burn' thru His neighbor said they had tried it and wished me luck cause he thought I'd surely be needing it

I tried a little last night, and yeah, it was warm, but nothing I couldn't handle, so I brought the rest in today with me to have for lunch. Like the 'Possible Side Effects' the going down part wasn't the issue, it was the other end of things that became the issue If you understand my meaning and I'm curious if this is going to have a similar effect or not I'm thinking not, just really wasn't that 'HOT' on my own personal scale, but I think most ppl in general would say its WAYYYYY TO HOT

Its good to see my buddy getting back into the ring of life once again

[CyncySpyder]

That which does not kill us, only makes us stronger

That which We Create that does not kill us .......................

I want it to be done
But is anything ever REALLY done?

I'm at the point, where I need to reconnect the battery & and either bring life back into Teds Red Sled, or it could, more than likely, cause a total melt-down of the electrical system

I guess, worse case, the melting fuse-box and wires could cause a fire and the sled could potentially blow up, since it does have a full tank of gas, and it could blow the entire garage into low earth orbit

I do have a fire extenguisher standing by, but I'm still afraid to reconnect the wires & turn the key. At least right now, if I put everything back together, the sled is still a nice garage ornament to look at & dream. But if I do, and the worse happens, well, then we wouldn't even have that

Who woulda thought 5 little amps could cause so much trouble

[RTVIPER]

That which does not kill us, only makes us stronger

That which We Create that does not kill us .......................

I want it to be done
But is anything ever REALLY done?

I'm at the point, where I need to reconnect the battery & and either bring life back into Teds Red Sled, or it could, more than likely, cause a total melt-down of the electrical system

I guess, worse case, the melting fuse-box and wires could cause a fire and the sled could potentially blow up, since it does have a full tank of gas, and it could blow the entire garage into low earth orbit

I do have a fire extenguisher standing by, but I'm still afraid to reconnect the wires & turn the key. At least right now, if I put everything back together, the sled is still a nice garage ornament to look at & dream. But if I do, and the worse happens, well, then we wouldn't even have that

Who woulda thought 5 little amps could cause so much trouble

Look on the bright side, if anything should go bad (god forbid), purchase a 2014 model

[KatLen0405]

Hey Teddy!! Wake Daddy up and get packing It's almost time to go to Kattawa!!

It's time to party Spyder-style

[OJ UK]

Usually, it never worked tho, & I'd eat it on anything, salad, whatever, it didn't matter & I'd eat it just fine ..... and enjoy it too That is, til one time he got this stuff aptly named 'Possible Side Effects' and I ate it just fine, which really frustrated my buddy. But the next day, I found out just WHY it was called 'Possible Side Effects' and worse, I found out what the 'Possible Side Effects' were, first hand Well, actually a different part of the body, but this is a family Forum, so I won't go there. But I will just say the next day, after once again regaining my composure, I called him to give him the good news that he Finally Got Me & actually found a Hot Sauce that I Couldn't Handle.
I tried a little last night, and yeah, it was warm, but nothing I couldn't handle, so I brought the rest in today with me to have for lunch. Like the 'Possible Side Effects' the going down part wasn't the issue, it was the other end of things that became the issue If you understand my meaning and I'm curious if this is going to have a similar effect or not I'm thinking not, just really wasn't that 'HOT' on my own personal scale, but I think most ppl in general would say its WAYYYYY TO HOT

Its good to see my buddy getting back into the ring of life once again

Yeah I had similar!! One year at the Daytona Beach Fleamarket I bought some Dave's Insanity Sauce and I used to enjoy it in a mug of soup or on a cheeseburger on a chilly winter's evening.
Next trip out to DB I bought some Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce.......that was enough for me! I cannot even begin to tell you about the agony!! And I shan't as we have ladies, children and persons of a nervous disposition present!

It's certainly good news to hear about Doug's on-going recovery......and the fact he's made a special dish just for says to me that he's grateful for your assistance and that's his way of showing it!
(Or maybe he's actually trying to kill you.....Death by Chilli!! )

[CyncySpyder]

I'm really starting to believe in this Chaos Theory thing & how either I'm attracted to 'IT' or 'ITs' attracted to me Not sure which polarity, but either way, I wish I knew how to get away from ..... 'IT'

Took yesterday off of work cause my brother had to have surgery on his arm. Seems the infection was spreading at an alarming rate & the Medical Staff in charge of his care at the hospital thought it best to open his arm up and drain it and clean out as much of the infection that they could and add in some drain tubes to help facilitate drainage from all the High Doses of Anti-Biotics they've been pumping into him for the past 4 days. They were worried that this could potentially turn into a MRSA case and are trying their best to avoid that from happening.

He seemed in a better mood once he awoke, as he could at least move his arm a bit without almost going to tears like before and he was joking a bit instead of just being in constant pain, tho I'm sure the pain meds have alot to do with that. I'm sure relieving the pressure and cleaning out the area had to make it feel better, at least in the short term, tho we're really not sure where he goes from here.

[CyncySpyder]

Teds Red Sled is once again Teds Stripped Sled and is in so many pieces all over the garage its painful to look at

Even tho I had double checked everything I could think of to check, and had the fire extenguisher at hand, I was still afraid to turn the key & see what happened. So I did something I rarely do, and I called docriverside for advice on the topic, and more so ...... moral support.

At least if I turned the key with having him there on the phone, I could explain what was going on & if the worse case happened..... where the fire/smoke/sparks/melting/burning whatever was coming from and he could hopefully tell me what to do to correct it, besides just hitting the Kill Switch and disconnecting the battery.

Luckily tho, Teds Sled Roared back to lyfe and everything seems to be ...... fine ..... so far

I'll explain further and add in all the missing pieces to the puzzle about all this at a later time.......... possibly. But we still have alot to do to actually get Teds Red Sled put back together and ready for our trip, supposedly leaving tomorrow morning Tho at this time, that really seems like a long shot ... But I have Faith

[KatLen0405]

Dave, today is only Wednesday! If you are leaving tomorrow for Kattawa you are going to be a day early. And everyone at work will wonder where you are on a Thursday!

[CyncySpyder]

Dave, today is only Wednesday! If you are leaving tomorrow for Kattawa you are going to be a day early. And everyone at work will wonder where you are on a Thursday!
Taking that day off at the beginning of the week really threw me for a loop and sure enough, I missed a day ...... somewhere ..... which is easy enough to do, but I'm so glad you helped me find it .....

As I had feared tho, we spent all of yesterday working on the sled & I'm Happy to report, even tho we're still no where near ready yet, things are progressing well & so far, I haven't blown anything else up and am pretty sure we've found the root cause to our Melt-Down Incident and are now in the process of trying to correct it so it doesn't happen again

Can anyone tell me for sure, as I'm still learning all this as we go, but with the battery on a 2011 RT-S, the correct method for adding any electrical mods is to first unplug the battery & the correct way to do that, from my understanding is to 1st remove the ground/negative (-) black connection then remove the positive (+) red connection from the battery terminals. Now upon hooking the battery system back up, the procedure is reverse and you 1st connect the (+) positive terminal then the (-) ground terminal ..... Correct???

My question is, when hooking the system back up, and with the positive (+) terminal connected, is it normal/common/usual on our Spyders, to get a small spark when 1st reconnecting the negative (-) ground terminal???

When discussing this with my brother, who has years of automotive wrenching experience, he explained to me that when I'm connecting the negative (after the positive has already been connected) there shouldn't be any sparks & if their are, that means something isn't wired correctly somewhere in the system ...

I've double checked just about everything with all the electrical mods that we've added over the years, and as far as I can tell, all seems to be working as they should, so I'm not sure why I'm still getting a tiny little spark every time I go to reconnect the negative terminal on the battery .... Could this be normal & OK for our Spyders? or is he correct? & something isn't wired right & I still need to keep searching...

We do have a Moto-Light Auxilary Fuse Block installed, and most of our mods are hooked into the system thru it, and then there are others (like the Garmin GPS) that are directly hooked into the battery with in-line fuses. Again, everything I've checked with all the added wiring seems to all be wired correctly.

In my experiences so far, I'm thinking if I had wired something backwards, like put a negative where a positive should go or vice-versa, that that item wouldn't work, and could surely cause a problem in the system, likely blowing a fuse....... correct???

If my above assumption is correct, that's where I'm a little lost, cause everything we've added into the system, powers off & on and all works as designed, so there are no apparent added mods to the system that I can tell, that would cause the system to not behave in the normal manner ..... again, at least that I can tell. But I'm just a little worried why I'm getting that little spark when hooking the negative (-) teminal back up, if I'm NOT suppose to be getting any spark from it at all ....................... is this really something I need to be concerned about???

Any suggestions or enlightenment would be appreciated cause we really need to get the sled put back together ASAP if we're going to be leaving tomorrow (Fri) morning for the Kuttawa/KY Lake/Lake Barkley Spyder get-together, but I don't want to do that until I know we're ok with the electrical system the way it is so we don't get a couple of hundred miles from home & experience another Melt-Down situation

[MarkLawson]

Dave, my experience has led me to expect a spark when connecting the negative terminal after the positive terminal. And yes, that is the correct sequence.

There are those who can say with real authority if I am right or correct me if I am wrong.

[Doc - Riverside]

When you hook up the negative battery terminal you will always gets some sparks. This is because there are some electronics that always need power ( Cluster) even when you power off the Spyder.

[eddieshep999]

When you hook up the negative battery terminal you will always gets some sparks. This is because there are some electronics that always need power ( Cluster) even when you power off the Spyder.

I agree ref getting a spark - I changed my OEM Battery for the Odyssey PC680 and connected as you Dave described in his post
When I connected the Neg I also got a spark - Everything has been ok so I guess it is just normal as Doc say's

[OldCowboy]

Heck, I even got a spark from the neg terminal when I replaced the battery on my Sportster, a bike which is virtually electronics free.

[CurtG]

Dave, as others have said if there is even one device drawing power even though the Spyder is off you'll get a spark. I delt with battery powered equipment in the alarm industry for 33 years and if I new there was something that should be drawing power and didn't get at least a little arc there was something else wrong. Just as a side not the size of the spark will be proportional to the amount of draw.

Ride and ride safe,
Curt

[rcdurango]

Dave, you should get some spark because there are things still pulling a drain on the battery. And it being a loss connection it will spark. Once tight it will be fine. Start that bad boy up and go for a ride. See ya in KY.

[CyncySpyder]

Well, no surprise here, but this weekend didn't go exactly as planned, but it (& us) did go ...

My brother was released from the Hospital on Friday so Teddy & I couldn't leave when we planned, and stuck around to help make sure he got settled in at his home with my other brother to help care for him.

Then, being up against the clock, I had to finally decide what mods HAD to be done to make the trip & what mods could wait, and then with those prioritized, complete them as quick as possible ...

Good news is, I didn't blow the sled up and we had no further melt-downs with us once again ryding on a burning Spyder (more on this later)

Happy to report, our In-Line Blower mod so far, seems to be a HUGE success with keeping Engine Temps down We installed a 4" In-Line Marine Blower like used on boats, used part of the OEM ducting for the intake mounted right at the top mount of the left-hand side Elka Shock and nothing on the other end of the blower, but with it pointed straight up to the KnN Air-Filter that now sits atop the throttle-bodies since we removed the OEM Air-Box & Resonator & replaced it with the KewlMetal Air Intake.

Along with this, we also added a little electronic display that shows the Time, Battery Out-Put & also came with a remote temp. sensor that we mounted about 2 inches away from the KnN Filter so we can monitor the Temperature the Intake is actually taking in.

On our 700 mile round trip Adventure to Kuttawa/Lake Barkley this weekend, we got to test it out pretty well, tho the temps were never really hot enough to really NEED it like in the dog days of summer, but it was still nice to have when we got caught in road-construction & I could watch our engine temps rise & rise, clicked the button to turn the system on, and within 2 minutes we were once again almost back to ambiant temps getting fed into the engine

I'll post more about this later, along with some pics we've taken, but I mostly just wanted to let everyone know, even tho the trip home yesterday was a very wet one, Teddy & I Have made it home (& me back to work) Safe & Sound & were glad to meet as many of you that we did at the Oasis Dinner on Saturday Night

[rcdurango]

Well, no surprise here, but this weekend didn't go exactly as planned, but it (& us) did go ...

My brother was released from the Hospital on Friday so Teddy & I couldn't leave when we planned, and stuck around to help make sure he got settled in at his home with my other brother to help care for him.

Then, being up against the clock, I had to finally decide what mods HAD to be done to make the trip & what mods could wait, and then with those prioritized, complete them as quick as possible ...

Good news is, I didn't blow the sled up and we had no further melt-downs with us once again ryding on a burning Spyder (more on this later)

Happy to report, our In-Line Blower mod so far, seems to be a HUGE success with keeping Engine Temps down We installed a 4" In-Line Marine Blower like used on boats, used part of the OEM ducting for the intake mounted right at the top mount of the left-hand side Elka Shock and nothing on the other end of the blower, but with it pointed straight up to the KnN Air-Filter that now sits atop the throttle-bodies since we removed the OEM Air-Box & Resonator & replaced it with the KewlMetal Air Intake.

Along with this, we also added a little electronic display that shows the Time, Battery Out-Put & also came with a remote temp. sensor that we mounted about 2 inches away from the KnN Filter so we can monitor the Temperature the Intake is actually taking in.

On our 700 mile round trip Adventure to Kuttawa/Lake Barkley this weekend, we got to test it out pretty well, tho the temps were never really hot enough to really NEED it like in the dog days of summer, but it was still nice to have when we got caught in road-construction & I could watch our engine temps rise & rise, clicked the button to turn the system on, and within 2 minutes we were once again almost back to ambiant temps getting fed into the engine

I'll post more about this later, along with some pics we've taken, but I mostly just wanted to let everyone know, even tho the trip home yesterday was a very wet one, Teddy & I Have made it home (& me back to work) Safe & Sound & were glad to meet as many of you that we did at the Oasis Dinner on Saturday Niht

Dave, Glad you and Teddy made it home safely. I was looking at the weather and your trip looked like the wet one for sure. It was nice
to see you and Teddy again. Wish we could have visited a little more. Would have loved to hear more about the mods you have made
on the Sled. I have a few questions on some and the pro and cons. I just didn't want to be in the way of the mob that Teddy draws. I
know its hard for you two to get a bite to eat. Maybe some day it will be easier to sit down and chat.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the trip and maybe next time even the ride around the lakes. I think you two would enjoy.

[kinggeek]

Why did you do the marine blower mod? Were you trying to fix high engine temps? I also removed the stock air box and have been living in New Orleans, Louisiana and have had zero issues with engine temps.

[CyncySpyder]

As you can imagine, getting pics INSIDE the Engine Bay of a stock Spyder RT is difficult to say the least, but with all the OEM Air-Box & Resonator removed, its then pretty much wide open. The only major issue that's really been discussed amongst those of us that have done this mod, is that since we've removed ALL the OEM Plastic of the Air System, we now have no outside air being pumped into the Engine Bay area once we either come to a stop or are stuck in stop & go traffic. At crusing speeds, there's plenty of air-flow but at slow or stop & go speeds, the engine is then sucking in the heated air thats around it inside the engine bay.

One way to correct this is to pump (or suck/blow) the outside ambiant air into the engine bay, but until recently, there's not been a tried & tested way to do this with positive results. Well, we've done it, tested it on a very limited basis, and have the positive results we were hoping for, but much more testing & further evaluation will be needed before I'd say this is a viable solution that I'd personally recommend to others ...CYA ....

1st, we mounted an illuminated toggle switch underneath the top of the upper dash console so we could turn the blower off and on as needed. As stated, while moving, there's really no need for the additional air. We hooked this switch directly to the battery with an in-line fuse, that way we could opperate the blower for a few minutes even with all the power to the sled being off, like after a long hot ryde & we'd be stopping for only a few minutes and then continue on ryding, to help prevent 'Heat-Soak' from happening.


As you can see, Teddy was tired of SuperVising and just wanted to hit the road



Here's where the blower In-Take is mounted to bring in fresh Ambiant Air from the Outside & we just reused the OEM intake piece that was previously mounted to the OEM Resonator.


Here's a pic of the actual blower mounted in place at the bottom of the engine bay. I thought about adding additional ducting to the exhaust end and having it right up by the KnN Filter, but after install & a little testing, found no need to do that. With it wide open like this, there's no restriction and it also helps to flood the entire area with the cooler outside air and that in turn, helps the Hot air to exit from the small side honeycomb grills at the top of the engine bay, under our middle deflectors.



I don't have a pic of it yet, but we also mounted a small computer type of fan right at the left side grill, blowing out, just to help evacuate the hotter air from the engine compartment, and you can feel the effects by hand or with watching the display as the temps quickly drop.

The marine blower we used was rated as the highest CFM output at the time we purchased it, rated at 235CFM I believe. This thing really BLOWS !!!

I also don't yet have pics of the digital display we installed, but it works well, tho its a Chinese piece and only gives the temps. in C instead of F or a choice of the two, but we're getting it figured out. Where as 22C seems to be around comfort level and getting over 30C seems to be pretty dang HOT

But we can now turn the blower on, and seriously, within 1 minute, you can watch the temp. reading at the Filter drop an easy 20C degrees & it gets all the way down to a degree or two above outside ambiant temp with just 2 minutes. At least, this has been our experience thus far on our just completed weekend trip to Kuttawa KY, tho the ambiant temps for this trip were all in the 40s to 70s, Im excited to give this a try in the summer & see how well it works with those type of temps. Heck, might even be cause for Teddy & I to take a long weekend trip south, like to Florida just to see ....

But on this past weekend test, we did get caught in a few construction zones, and we could watch the Engine Bay Temps climb & climb and once it reached all the way to 40C which Google tells me is 104F & as soon as I hit the Blower Button it went directly down to the same as the outside air temp + 2 degrees.... YAY !!!

Now our next mod is to add on a little duct work to Teds Red Sled and actually pipe some of that unwanted HOT Air into Teddy's Ryding compartment area so when we're still ryding in the middle of winter, he can stay nice and cozy warm ......... man, I wish I were Teddy, cause this dog's got it made .......

[CyncySpyder]

Why did you do the marine blower mod? Were you trying to fix high engine temps? I also removed the stock air box and have been living in New Orleans, Louisiana and have had zero issues with engine temps.

The major reason besides as I posted earlier, was due to Unintended Consequinces brought on by my Walking Down The Path of Good Intentions & leading to my butt being on fire .........

With all the chatter about Spyders going up in flames and boiling gas, I thought I should act & do 'something' when I had an issue a couple of weeks back with not being able to get the 'New' Fuel Cap off when we went to fill up. We were on dead empty & on a long ryde, so I knew what little fuel that was left in the tank was most likely boiling, & was erroneously (at the time) thinking that had something to do with NOT being able to get the fuel cap off. I later discovered they are unrelated, cause the Spyders Fuel System isn't pressurized like I had originally thought. Anyways, thinking I had a boiling gas issue, I took a page out of BRP's Fix-It Quick mod book & ordered some of that Heat Barrier they've been putting on all the 13s to help correct them from melting their mastercylinders etc.... and put the heat barrier around the fuel tank, especially toward the engine and exhaust areas.

Well, it must have worked, cause now I don't notice any boiling gas, BUT .........................
Now I notice that the seat is now much warmer than I had EVER Noticed it being before I did this mod. And it kind of makes sense, now that the heat barrier is protecting most of the fuel tank and the fuel inside, well the heat can't be absorbed there any longer and instead, must find other places/areas to either absorb into or disipate ............... in essense, creating my very own heated seat. Right now, as the temps drop, I'm really not complaining about this FoPa, but in warmer/hotter than h*ll temps, the last thing I think ANY of us want is ....................... a heated seat.

So that's the main reason for us to add the blower------

[CyncySpyder]

That is, taking 2 steps forward and one step back

Our Brake Monkey (Not to be confused with the Trunk Monkey) is once again on our backs and bugging the living h*ll outta me

I understand the need to alert a ryder when there is a major issue that could lead to catastrophy, but really BRP, flash the Orange Screen Of Death Once..... Just one time to get our attention, even make us push the dang Mode or Set Button to acknowledge it, and then relegate the warning to the small middle warning area on the LCD, but for Christ's Sake, PLEASE stop the dang warning from completely taking over the entire LCD display ...... Over & Over & Over & Over again I rarely EVER even glance at our analogue gauges and pretty much solely rely on the digital Speedo & Tach while ryding & this really turns into a P.I.T.A every time

Sorry, I just needed to vent that out into the Spyder-Verse so its off my chest Breath Dave, breath
There, much better now

Guess I'll give my bro a call & see how interested he is to try helping me do a manual flush of the brake lines to see if that has any effect on our issue I mean, we've replaced most the brake fluid, replaced ALL 3 brake pads, both front rotors (the rear rotor was replaced not all that long ago) and manually reset the previous Brake Failure Code & it did seem to correct the issue for the past 1400 miles, and here we find ourselves again

Teddy & I went over to my buddies house last night, to see how he's getting along, and he seems to still be doing well. He had made some Spicy Taco meat & thought for sure Teddy wouldn't touch it, but ahhhhhhhh...... Teddy is a food hound and greedily Woofed it right down, as my buddy watched in astonishment. But in all reality, I'd give it about a 6.5 on the Spicy scale, tho my scale is a bit skewed compared to what most would find HOT and I warned my buddy about Teddy's allergies, so he only gave him a little bit, but he still Woofed it right down & was beg'n for more ........

[CyncySpyder]

This last road-trip to Kuttawa/Lake Barkley just didn't do 'IT' for us cause I decided to leave a day later to make sure my brother was ok with getting released from the hospital, so in turn we missed out on all the group rydes and only got to see everyone for a couple of hours while at dinner at the Oasis, but that wasn't really any time to socialize, cause we were all trying to eat & I was trying to take care of the Carnival that happens pretty much everywhere Teddy goes. The HIGH point was getting to spend some quiet time with our gracious hosts Kathy & Lenny from Northern Indiana, back at the Buzzard Rock Resort

But as far as road-trips go, this one left much to be desired & I even questioned myself before leaving if we even should, cause I knew we were going to miss the group rydes and that the weekend was forcasted for showers and storms, but I guess I was just hoping for the best........ Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that we went, cause we did get to meet some wonderful ppl from here on the forum, but it was all just too brief to really be enjoyed. And the ryde home was cold, wet and windy for the entire trip and I think that's what has me bummed the most, cause I still haven't finished Teddy's Passenger Area yet to make it rain-proof (or at least better than now) for the little guy so he's not just getting soaked like he did.

Guess I was hoping it would be enough to get this restless feeling for a good long road-trip at least somewhat subdued, but I think it may have just made it worse