Dave & Teds Most Excellent Adventures 2013

[Tiny1]

[MarkLawson]

I figure that if the receptionist has called him and he is expecting you, & if you come into the room & he's in the bathroom doing his 'personal business' with the door open , you probably should take it as a sign that you might want to find another place to stay...

[lookerjdc]

no, its not that, and its not like I had a trampolene and trapeze setup in the room with some female companionship. altho, after a long ride........ but lets not go there

I will tell you tho that after a long trip, and checking into the hotel, I was appalled at the room, and went across the parking lot to the Best Western and arranged for a change of hotels the next day....

Dave and Teddy had a long ride, a long trip, and a long week, and Im sure he is just trying to composes his next installments to the story without screaming.....

[CyncySpyder]

So in we go, tired, sore, exhausted and a little pensive cause we're not totally sure what all to expect. As stated by our roomate which was lookerjdc , the room left much to be desired. I mean, it had all your basics, but even standing out in the hall thinking all my thinking, there was an overwhelming smell of smoke, tho I tend to be a little sensitive to telling when its around, as my mom smoked her entire life and couldn't quit no matter what she tried, so I grew up around it all the time. But I mean the smell even in the hall was thick, and inside was just the same. The room itself had all the basics, but you could tell with a quick glance that it had not been renovated in many many years and was WAY OVER DO for renovation. Even one of the two chairs at the table had the vinyl from the back pad torn and hanging half way down I was like wow, they could have just taken scissors and cut the hanging part off at least, but better yet, the entire chair just needed desperately to be tossed in the trash. But I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I didn't say a word, but I didn't have to.

This was our first time meeting our new roomate, lookerjdc (Jeff, hope you don't mind me using your name, if so just say something & I'll edit this out) from Florida and I was grateful for his offer to share his room. We did the introduction thing, and Teddy needed none of course, and was quick to jump from bed to bed checking out the room and a little shmooz'n with his newest fan. After a little while, I noticed he found a stale gum drop or something like that from under the bed, but thankfully it was too hard for him to chew. Upon that, Jeff made it clear to us that he was not happy with the room at all, and had in fact, gone across the street to the Best Western and made a reservation for there for the next day and the rest of the event. I was a little worried at first, not knowing if he was still able to get a double room or not, but he let me know that it was still the same set-up and tho it was a bit more expensive, it was worth it to get out of the hole we were in.

I'll be honest, I'm sure we chatted and BS'd for a while, but since I was so exhausted, I don't remember much else that happend that evening, and Teddy and I were soon in bed and fast asleep. Being that its just Teddy and I at home, I knew that Teddy snored but never knew that I did myself, but Jeff informed me of the fact the following day. Guess we dozed offer rather quickly and Jeff was still awake to notice sorry bout that I know at home, I toss and turn and even tho Teddy usually falls asleep snuggled in around me, he's usually in a chair when we wake up at home. Seems half way thru the night, I must have been toss'n and turn'n and Teddy decided to go and sleep with Jeff instead of me I'm not hate'n tho

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

[currin20fan]

Ha! I met "this person", Jeff at the racetrack in Daytona. We hit it off pretty good ourselves. I know you enjoyed our time with him. I don't think he bites either.

[lookerjdc]

no, I dont bite much..... lol

Dave was completely exhausted when he arrived and as he said, we did the obligatory introcutions, etc. and he was heading for his bed (no, Dave, you can use my name, your snoring did not bother me)

I did tell him NOT to unpack since I was not happy with the hotel and I changed reservations

I mean, I know I'm a smoker, and in some peoples' eyes that makes me a leper, but this room was like something out of Psycho.... It was really sort of offensive....

it was funny, when I did fall asleep, I woke up around 3 am or so and there was Teddy, cuddled up next to me... lol... not even my own dog does that... and that became a running joke for Crusz Joe every night I went into the conference room.... he would ask me 'so, did Teddy sleep with you again?......lol

but I went back to sleep, woke up the next morning, told Dave that he could sleep in and when he was ready, to just go across to the Best Western and check in, I told the person at the desk to keep an eye out for someone with a red mohawk dog.....

and thank Carol... its always a pleasure to see you - hopefully you will come out for Biketoberfest and we can run Daytona International together again (this time I am really going to pass a lot of people so I can get up to speed more often.....)

[CyncySpyder]

As Jeff has stated, he allowed Teddy & I to sleep in while he was up bright and early making the hotel changes, and was going about his day of enjoying his SpyderFest Experience. Teddy and I woke up around 8:30am and proceeded to get ready for the days festivities, along with packing up all our stuff that I had trudged in the night before. Wet clothes, especially a soaked thru FirstGear Thermo Ryding Suit weighs alot more than dry clothes do, that's for sure- and if you don't get them properly dried out, eeewwwwwww that mildew smell

So anyways, I'd gotten my shower (which at only being 5'9, I still had to duck in under the shower-head told ya, this place was WAY OVER DO for a total RENOVATION) and felt much more energized than when we had arrived. With my arms full of numerous bags and all of Teddy's gear, we do a once over of the room, making sure we weren't leaving anything behind, and then made our way to the elevator. Oh the elevator Teddy's Nemisus As I fumbled to push the button for the elevator, Teddy begins to panic, of the impending doom that soon awaits him, and he goes into full blown panic mode, of trying his damndest to get away, while in pan-cake formation, almost like a salimander on its belly with all 4 limbs trying there best to push them away from something. Of course, as all this is happening, the cleaning crew and I'm guessing is either the owner or manager is close by cleaning another room and come out to see what all the comotion is about, and then, once they see Teddy, the Manager guy that is Indian and has a very Indian accent begins to question me in a manner that I felt like he was a cop & I was a burglar or something and it kind of went like this.
"You cheking out?"
"Already done, our roomate should have already taken care of it, thanks."
"You cheking out? What rume? What rume? What rume numba yu in?"
"321, but we're already checked out, just leaving now."
"We need check yu out."
As if I had stolen something, he drops whatever he was holding and goes running down the hall to the room we just left. I wasn't sure what his deal was, but we didn't wait around to find out, cause the elevator had finally come to our floor and opened, and like any good bandit, I scooched Teddy onto the elevator and quickly pushed the 'CLOSE DOOR' button and then 'LOBBY' button hoping to make our escape without any further beratement from the Manager.

In all honesty tho, I'm thinking cause he saw Teddy, he wanted to make sure the 'dog' didn't do any damage to the room, or go potty and cause a mess inside the room (not that you'd really be able to tell with how bad it was anyways) then I feared the battle of trying to explain to him, if he insisted we had to pay an extra charge for having a pet in the room, as many establishments have this policy, but with Teddy being certified, he's exempt to these policies, but most management aren't aware of this, and so ensues the education process, and I just wasn't in the mood for that so early in the morning, especially with someone like I had just dealt with, so on we went.

Out to the parking lot we go, and I proceed to remove the travel cover from off the Sled, when I notice the antanae is missing, gone, the rubber boot and metal antanae is just gone, but the hard plastic of the bottom is still in its position making me wonder if someone took it cause it didn't appear to be broken off or snapped. UGH!!! Anyways, we continue and put the rest of our stuff into the camper and we meet up with Jesse out in the parking lot. He asked how our night was, and I explained how bad our room was and that we were changing to the hotel directly across the street and Jesse proceeds to rave about how good his room was. He even had me come in to see it, and it was much better than ours had been. Must be something about not renovating the smoking rooms or something is how I took it, but with the experience I just went thru with the Manager guy, I had no intention on staying there anyways.

I plugged in PitBull PowerSports into the GPS and Jesse followed behind us on his tricked out RT-S as we made our way to get us registered and figure out where everything was and so Teddy could start schmooz'n with his many fans. Woooo Hooooo LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED

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

[currin20fan]

Dave...........several folks were missing their antennas after spyderfest. I had read on some threads that drug dealers steal them. I don't do drugs so I really don't understand how or why but that could have happened to your antenna. Maybe someone else will chime in to this and explain it better than I can.

[CyncySpyder]

As I had figured, PitBull PowerSports was packed and teaming with Spyders and people everywhere, so much so, when we arrived right around 10am, there wasn't even enough room to park in their lot, so Jesse and I rode around the parking lot of their neighbor which is Shlotkies Deli (or something like that) and since Teddy & I also had our camper in tow and needing extra room for it, we ended up parking in the rear of their parking lot, along with a host of other Spyders and even a few 2 wheelers

It was so good to be able to ryde with Teddy right behind me again, I hadn't realized how much I missed my lil co-pilot til that moment, when we pulled to a stop and he started going crazy like usual trying to get his Doggles off and I just had to bust out laughing at the lil guy

You see, we have a rule, that when Teddy is on the Spyder and its moving, he's got to leave his Doggles on, but........... as soon as we stop, he's alowed to take them off, and for the most part, he complies just fine

But you see, over the years of ryding, he's learned how to take them off all by himself, tho he usually has to struggle a bit to get it done. They are held on by two elastic bands, one that goes around the back of his lil head, and the other that goes under his muzzle. Well, he's learned that if he takes his paw and drags it across the elastic band and pulls his paw down, 1/2 the time his claws (depending on how trimmed I have them) will catch and they will usually come down off his face and then rest hanging around his neck

The other way, and I can't believe I don't have more pics of this cause it looks really cute is that he'll take and make like he's at a Heavy Metal Concert and starts 'Bang'n His Head' against the walls of his carrier, and eventually he gets the doggles to slide up from his face to come up and perch right on top of his head, dividing his red mowhawk in half kind of just like us humans do when we put our shades on top of our heads

I tell ya, I never taught the pup that and he just kind of figured it out all on his own and when we stop, if I take too long to dismount for whatever reason, he goes a 'Head Bang'n' trying to get those damn Doggles off, and I've realized through 5 pairs now, the more he Head Bangs, the more he scratches the plastic lenses up, and the more of a struggle it is to get him to leave them on cause like anyone of us, who likes to look out of glasses that are all scratched up and hazy Well, he's no different, only thing is, I can't get him to understand that he's causing his own problems by doing that Like his red pair, as soon as I put them on, he immediately starts trying to take them off until I yell at him, and then he gives me the puppy-dog look of "Gee, you don't have to yell at me dad " and then he'll leave them alone, that is till he thinks I'm not looking, and then he'll start the Head Bang'n again, but that's why we have the Teddy-Cam, to really piss him off He'll think I'm busy driving and not watching, and he'll start Bang'n and I'll see him in the monitor and yell real loud, "STOP!" and you'd think I just shocked him with a Taser and he'll give me the 'Evil Eye' like "Hey, how'd you see that?"

Its comical at times but others, he can be a real pain But its important for him to keep the Doggles on while we're riding, and its not a 'fashion' or 'cool' thing, its a health issue Not only do the Doggles protect a dogs eyes just like our goggles or face shields protect ours, but Teddy's Vet also told us that the constant air pressure against a dogs eyes can cause premature Glaucoma to set in, causing all kinds of issues later in a dogs life I had no clue about that til she clued us in when we first started ryding I love his Vet she really does look after the lil guys best interests and she truly knows how much he 'Enjoys the Ryde'

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

[CyncySpyder]

So we finally get parked at the rear lot of the deli next door, and Teddy goes a 'Head Bang'n' to get his Doggles off, and I'm laughing silly at the poor lil guy. I know he was happy to be ryding again, as much as I was to have him once again with me, kinda like p-nut butter & chocolate, their both good by themselves, but just so much better when together

Of course, as soon as we stop, we get the deluge of on-lookers not believing what their seeing, or for many, fans that have waited for so long to actually meet the lil star in person, and Teddy poses for picture after picture while I happily answer curious questions from his enchanted fans.

After a bit, we made our way to meet up with Jesse once again, who had parked I think in the front lawn, as there wasn't enough room for him where we were. As we walked and managed our way thru the crowed, it was sprinkling just a bit every now and then, but thankfully nothing like the deluge that we began our trip with. We made it inside and to say it was organized chaos almost in a circus type event, would be about as appropriete as I can describe it And sure enough, Teddy's lil nose goes leading him to the first food source he can sniff out that isn't his hypoallergenic dog chow that he gets daily back home, and wouldn't you know it, it wound up being pop-corn from the pop-corn maker and a few kernals and fallen on the floor.

Seeing as Teddy is SO food motivated, and I hate that he's a begger, I've actually tried to train him NOT to be a begger when at home, by putting cheyane pepper directly on my pop-corn. I love hot and spicey stuff, so I've eaten pop-corn that way for as long as I can remember, but usually dogs don't like really hot stuff like cheyane pepper. Well, did I ever tell you that Teddy ISN'T a USUAL dog at all No sir reee he isn't, he'll gobble down cheyane coated pop-corn as much as I will and beg for more Guess that training method didn't work to well now did it

Anyways, if there are food or treats involved, I always try to keep Teddy's training in mind, and I think I may have offended a person or two, but that's cause they just don't or didn't understand the dynamic of a 'Working Dog' and keeping them sharp to their training and commands. A couple ppl thought I was being mean, by not allowing Teddy to just have a treat without first having to perform a command, like sit, or lay, or wave, or high 5 etc....... But that's one of the main reasons when you see actual 'Service Dogs' like Seeing Eye Dogs for example, they usually have a vest on that says, 'Please Don't Feed Me, I'm Working' for that very reason. The animal usually goes thru many months and years of training, and for many, treats are the 1st basis of their training & reward system and giving a Service Dog treats without commands gives the animal mixed signals and can lead to confusion and ultimately behavior or performance issues with the animal.

I think most ppl in a relationship can understand this conundrum, like when your significant other asks, "Be honest, do I look fat in these jeans?" Well, you know as well as I do that their sending you mixed messages, because we all know what their words mean, but if you ARE honest with them......................... odds are, your going to hurt their feelings, cause a fight, and end up sleeping on the couch

So for an animal, who's trained that they only get treats for performing a certain command, and then they are given treats without having to perform, well, it can lead to much the same consequences ................ frustration.

Anyways, we had a good time meeting so many ppl, I just wish I actually knew who all we had met and talked with. Sadly, I remember many ppl's SpyderLovers Screen names, but rarely do I ever remember their actual names, and I really wish I knew how to better remember everyone. I feel so bad, that so many ppl authentically care about Teddy and I, and many thru various ways have helped us over the years in numerous ways, and I can't even recall many of their names. But we meet so many ppl, even on a daily basis, that I can't keep it all straight. I now understand why famous ppl have personal assistants, not only to do things for them, but most also keep track of there daily interactions so that if the information is needed again, they have it readily available. Sad thing for us, is I'm Teddy's Personal Assistant & I can't keep track of anything

Heck, just yesterday, whyle out ryding around town, we got flagged over 4 different times by strangers wanting to talk, to see the Spyder and Teddy up close and to take pics. One guy was like, "Dude, C'mon, you gotta let me get a pic of this? Man, this is FaceBook Gold! I'm post'n this right now!" I just nodded my head and smiled and oblidged. Another older couple with a solid white Pomeranian waved us down while we were driving by the skyrises down by the city center on the Covington RiverFront and I was embarrassed that I didn't remember them. The older gentleman commented that they hadn't seen us out for a while and he had just asked his wife about us. HUH??? He reminded me that Teddy and I had stopped late last year before leaving for Lamonts Bar-B-Q & I let Teddy off the Spyder to play with their white Pom for a bit while we chatted about the Spyder. When I asked where abouts did they live, he just pointed up. Confused, I looked up and thought he meant he lived in the skyrise hotel, but then he clarified that they live in the PentHouse of the neighboring SkyRise which were all multi-million dollar condos & my jaw dropped a little bit. Kinda like when at last years SITA in New York, and Ed (Erags & docrags) took Teddy & I over to see their RV complete with one Spyder Garage & Ed had to remind me to shut my trap before bugs started flying in Yeah, like that We meet so many wonderful ppl, and to think, before the Spyder I was as anti-social as a person could be.

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

[CyncySpyder]

Hey, you know how at some bars/clubs, they have 'Open Mike Night' where the spectators can be the stars for their 15 minutes of fame How bout we try that here and you add your very own experience to the story, if you maybe caught a glimpse of Teddy, or actually got to meet the lil ham, or even talked with and had pics taken with the lil guy, feel free to add your experience right here, in the middle of the story. I think its neat, as I only ever get to see my view of the world in which Teddy and I are a part of, to be able to get a glimpse of someone elses point of view, so please, feel free to share right here

Let me add one edit tho, for the person that was a little to curious about our camper out in the parking lot, and didn't realize Teddy nor I were actually in it and sleeping, there's no need to comment on what you saw when you opened the door and was I already know how large my rear end is, thanks

[CyncySpyder]

Have to admit y'all, I really like this Plasti-Dip stuff, tho it does have its limitations for uses. As you can notice in the pic with the mask fully blacked out with the Plasti-Dip, where ever the body panels would rub against it, like the Frunk lid or the mirror housings, you can notice where the Plasti-Dip wore thru. Tho, in these locations it wasn't visible to the naked eye, at least when the Frunk Lid was closed.


I honestly thought the blacked out look gave Teds Red Sled a more Senistor Look to it and liked the change, but also (& this could just be my imagination) noticed that ppl didn't approach us nearly as much as we had gotten used to, like at the gas station or just slowly ryding around the city.


So I decided since I noticed a bit of peeling anyways, to go ahead and remove the Plasti-Dip from the face-mask piece that goes around the headlights.
I left the two side indentions on it with the black Plasti-Dip still in place, just as accents and I really like this color combination with what we did to the Frunk Lid and lower facia piece as well


Being the first time really using this stuff, I didn't know how easily it would actually come off, but have to say, as you can see in the one pic, it really peeled right off rather easily and with no sticky residue left behind at all.


Not bad, considering the only prep work needed was to make sure the piece being done was clean and dry, but no scuffing or any other prep was needed, and when you want to change it back, you just easily peel it right off, and your left with your original finish. I really like it and again, this might just be my imagination here, but the very day that I removed the black from the Face-Mask, and Teddy and I went for our usual ryde around town, we actually got waved over to stop 4 different times, in one day with ppl wanting to talk, see, and take pics of the Spyder and Teddy Kinda funny huh Just thought I'd share another day in our Adventures



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[SpyderWolf]

That Plasti-Dip looks like some very interesting stuff to play with.

[lookerjdc]

yea, I want to play with Plasti-dip also

so I left the Norman Bates hotel, went and checked in at the Best Western, and then headed down to the vendor village to check things out and get some stuff installed. I also had an appointment at Pitbull that afternoon to get the shock relocators and BajaRon anti-sway bar installed

my thanks and kudo's to Eric and the others at Pitbull for dealing with the insanity that was going on at Pitbull and getting things done - they had more than their hands full and they kept their grace under pressure

of course, not being the amazing Kreskin, how was I to know that Thursday, a wonderful sunny, warm day, would be the only sunny day for the remainder of the week and I had setup appointments that day.... lol oh well...

then I got the chance to follow Len in his Monster Truck to the 1/4 mile track.... damn, talk about a fast driver...... lol... he was moving like a bat out of hell... but I managed to keep up, even with the u-turn we ended up doing.... there was a line of Spyders that started following him from Pitbull but that line thinned out quickly as speed racer hit the highway....

i did one run on the 1/4 mile track but did not enter the 'formal' races

hung out at the track for a while and then as the sun went down and the temperature followed, I headed back to the hotel only to discover that Dave & Teddy had not even checked in yet

then it was off to the conference room to hang out with the Spyder ryders at the Best Western

back to Dave & Teddy.........

[SpyderWolf]

We arrived at the race track way too late to enter into the formal races. They were kind enough to let me make one run for fun, but I obviously need much more practice on the launch. I should have known better than to gun my SE5 full throttle when the green light came on, as all I did was spin in place. Shifting to 2nd didn't do much good either. I finally gained a little traction and rolled down the track in 3rd for a very disappointing finish. I will not be late next time.

[CyncySpyder]

Back to our little story .............. now where were we? Ahhh yes, The Tedster Is In The House

As most of you that got to make the trip for SpyderFest 2013 know, it was definitely a spectacle to see all the masses of people and Spyders all crowded into Lens new home for all of us at PitBull PowerSports

I didn't use to understand it, but with a few years of experience now under our belts, I am getting better at understanding it all the time. What is IT you may be wondering. Well, IT is the fact that even tho we go to all these different events all over the country (tho we have yet to make it out to Left Coast) how Teddy & I somehow seem to miss out on much of the actual 'Stuff' that most of the others get to partake in

But I get it now, and I understand it and for the most part, I accept it and have learned to just 'go with it'. Still confused what I'm talking about No worries, so am I Don't think I've had enough juice to get my brain started yet this morning

Oh yeah, PassPort Runs, that's what I'm sorta talking about, but there's usually so much more, different entries and such things, we miss out on most of them, cause we're usually too busy being us, and socializing so much with Teddy's fans, that we often times miss out on whats really going on. Has happened many many times and in the past, I would usually be left kind of dumbfounded not understanding how we would have missed signing up for one thing or another, one trip or another, one door prize or another, etc...........

Then it hit me at last years SITA in New York when Teddy and I got left behind on two different group rydes, but it wasn't the groups fault it was our own You see, traveling with Teddy is much akin as to traveling with a pseudo famous Toddler that everyone wants to meet, see and take pics with, but I also have to spend much of my time prepping the little star for his close ups, making sure he has had plenty to eat and drink and we can't forget all those important and frequent potty breaks

You see, before, I didn't get this, and I'd get frustrated at myself like if we were on a group ryde and we'd stop for gas or something, and then Teddy and I would usually be the last ones getting ready, everyone else waiting for us to get going. I always wondered how everyone got done with whatever so quickly but it took Teddy and I so much longer. I've always considered Teddy as just an (albeit a much better looking and much more personable) extension of myself, and never thought in the terms that we are actually two seperate beings with our own needs to be met at every stop, so before this realization, it frustrated me to no end why we were so much slower than all the rest, and often times, having to rush thru everything and in doing so, missing out on so much

Hey, I've never claimed to have been the brightest crayon in the box that's for sure. I remind myself of the SL member that's got an avatar pic with a Monkey with a blown off arm, and in the other he's holding a stick of dynamite or something and the caption is "I'm a Slow Learner" Seems kinda fitting for me

But yeah, so with this new found realization in thought, we took care of many of the requests for pics and introductions as soon as we walked in the door, but just getting from the Byke to the door itself took a good hour just by itself, cause when ppl saw us pull up, we were bombarded with person after person asking questions about Teds Red Sled, the Camper, and of course, Teddy himself, so it took a while just getting inside.

But as soon as I could get a free moment, I made sure to make our way to the Registration Table and to get Teddy & I registered for everything Since we had WON Lens little contest last year about seeing who would be the first to tear into their 2011 SpyderFest Eddition Bykes, and we were the winners when I tore the headlights out to put in the Xtreme Depot HIDS and found the MoGang magnets, Len said we won Free Registration for Next Years SpyderFest, and sure enough, Teddy & I both had our Name Tags, shirts and bags full of the Registration goodies waiting for us

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

[RTVIPER]

Hope you and the Tedster are enjoying the extended weekend. Riding the , I hope.

[CyncySpyder]

Hope you and the Tedster are enjoying the extended weekend. Riding the , I hope.

Would you believe, once again, our dog-bone windshield support bracket broke again Ive got it apart in the garage once again, instead of out ryding

[SpyderDen]

Would you believe, once again, our dog-bone windshield support bracket broke again Ive got it apart in the garage once again, instead of out ryding

I have had one break. Can't imagine having it twice.
BRP suggested that I shut the garage door on it. They did warranty it in the end.

[eddieshep999]

Would you believe, once again, our dog-bone windshield support bracket broke again Ive got it apart in the garage once again, instead of out ryding

Dave sorry to hear the problem with the dog-bone whindshield support bracket- like yours mine broke for the 2nd time
awaiting to see if BRP Will replace mine under warranty - Spyder is over 3 yrs old but the bracket was replaced under warranty last Jan 2012 by dealer

Will you pursue a claim with BRP or see if you can come up with a repair

If you do take the assembly apart to remove the middle bracket any chance you could post pictures as this maybe what I have to end up doing

Just wish someone had come up with a better solution to the cast bone dog leg - I suspect there are several dog bone leg brackets out there with faults which will later develop into a full failure - Hopefully not whist the Spyder is being ridden at speed on a highway

[lookerjdc]

Would you believe, once again, our dog-bone windshield support bracket broke again Ive got it apart in the garage once again, instead of out ryding

that sucks.... you and Teddy must be going insane

well, enjoy to free time, and duct tape it or something so you can get out for a short ryde today (weather permitting....)

or work on the friday/saturday adventures at Spyderfest sotry....

[CyncySpyder]

that sucks.... you and Teddy must be going insane well, enjoy to free time, and duct tape it or something so you can get out for a short ryde today (weather permitting....) or work on the friday/saturday adventures at Spyderfest sotry....

Sad thing is, and I hate to admit it, but that's exactly what I did Used duct tape to hold the pieces together from side to side stress and then a hose clamp for verticle stability Told ya, my head is a messed up place

I know from personal experience from our last episode of this happening that the hose clamp, once properly fitted will do the trick, but this one broke closer to the bottom, and not a smooth break, so I needed extra side to side support, and without having any extra space in that area, DUCT TAPE TO THE RESCUE Tho the dog-bone part is now completed, and since I had to tear the top of the dash apart to do it, and we got some more mod parts sent to us from doc, I decided to go ahead and properly mount Teddy's new LED Tube Light along the top of the dash as well and I'm not finished with that part yet, so we haven't been able to try out our temporary fix to see if it will actually work or not But Teddy's keep'n his paws crossed

[CyncySpyder]

Dave sorry to hear the problem with the dog-bone whindshield support bracket- like yours mine broke for the 2nd time awaiting to see if BRP Will replace mine under warranty - Spyder is over 3 yrs old but the bracket was replaced under warranty last Jan 2012 by dealer
Will you pursue a claim with BRP or see if you can come up with a repair
If you do take the assembly apart to remove the middle bracket any chance you could post pictures as this maybe what I have to end up doing
Just wish someone had come up with a better solution to the cast bone dog leg - I suspect there are several dog bone leg brackets out there with faults which will later develop into a full failure - Hopefully not whist the Spyder is being ridden at speed on a highway

Eddie, I'm starting to think WE (all of us with this issue) should probably report this to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) or I'm sure in your case, that you have a similar gavernment watchdog there in the UK

But this IS a safety issue, and BRPs fix is to just replace the entire assembly using the very same parts
Where's the logic in that

I stopped by and checked out my buddies 2010 RT-S, that also had his dog-bone replaced last year cause I showed him where it was cracked, and I had him run the windshield up and down so I could look at his real well. While his still has no noticeable cracks, when raised all the way up, and I got down under in front of it, I could clearly see two pot-marks on the dog-bone where when you have the shield all the way lowered, it looks like it is down so far, its rubbing against the mounting hardware. I can see this causing more stress on that dog-bone, if one were to ryde with the shield all the way down, then every little bump in the road would just be amplified even more.

I'm waiting til 9am this morning to call the shop and see what the Service Manager has to tell me. Being a 2011, we're now out of the factory 2 year warranty, but we do have the 3 year extended warranty, so I'm hoping he's going to tell me that they'll cover it again, minus the $50 deductable But even with that, if they just replace it with the same casting, what's the point

I did do a temporary fix as I did last year, using a hose-clamp but also had to use duct-tape cause this one didn't break cleanly. I do have pics and once I get home from work today, I'll send you a PM with the pics and notations of what your seeing

[Farmbanker]

I'm sure using cast is cheaper than getting a CNC made stainless piece but given the safety issue, it seems that perhaps BRP should consider this. :confused:

Sent from Galaxy S3 via Tapatalk

[CyncySpyder]

Just got off the phone with the new Service Manager and explained everything & he's thinking it should be covered, so I asked him to go ahead and order it and let me know when they can get us in for the repair, but was told that he has to see the problem first to open a warranty claim to have it covered and he can order the parts. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I explained to him that I just rigged it all up with a hose-clamp and duct-tape so that we could continue to ryde, and that in order for him to actually see the broken part, I'd have to undo everything I just did to make the byke rideable Understanding this is just BRP protocol, I asked if a picture would be acceptable? He gave me his email address and said to send them and he'd give it a try, but if they say no, then he'll have to see it before he can open the claim and order the replacement parts Which I understand, he's just doing his job

I inquired if he was aware of any new replacement parts for the dog-bone, and he checked with others and stated that it appears from the parts numbers to be the same one as the one that keeps breaking

So I sent him 3 pics showing the broken dog-bone casting, but I'm thinking BRP may have issues in approving it, cause it doesn't look stock, since I had painted all the grey metal castings including the dog-bone a flat-black so they'd disappear into the dash cover

Now we wait and see what happens