Lack of traction / excessive wheel spin

[isthatahemi]

Anyone else's bike like this? I can't go full throttle in and of the first 3 gears, I even had the traction control light flash at 80mph on my first run to 90mph or so, in 4th gear iirc.
I know the roads are a bit dusty, but this thing shreds the rear tire, even with a smooth launch, if I am choppy with the throttle. I'm not talking some spinning, I mean full scale paint lines on the road whenever I get on it aggressively. I let a buddy ride and he noticed it as well. Is it possible that tire pressure is an issue? Machine is brand new, but it sat on the showroom floor for 4 years.

I am thinking maybe the dust from winter is still on the street, but it this at all normal?

[Bob Denman]

What tire pressure are you running out back?
It's probably got more to do with the road surface; but how you're twisting the bike's tail is sort of asking for this sort of thing to happen anyway...

[BajaRon]

Sounds excessive to me. Check tire pressures. The rubber in your 4 year old tire may have hardened. It may get better as it wears. The way you're going it may not take long!

How much do you weigh?

[isthatahemi]

~190# give or take a donut. I have the FMF pipe, which loses somewhere around 10# off the back.
Hey Ron, I ordered one of your sway bars! It should be here next week. Looking forward to it!

[teadave]

Mine was like that when the tire got to be 5 years old. Installed a Kuhmo and got lots of traction now. Once rolling I have to dump the clutch to induce wheelspin now.

[Chupaca]

Looks like you have several possibilities as well as combinations. Tire pressure for sure, tire condition if not used regularly good cause, road condition for sure or any combination. Was it always this way..??

[PistonBlown]

The stock Kenda tyre on the Spyder has some weird properties. It's a soft tyre that wears quickly and yet it seems to lack grip on colder days or dusty/muddy surfaces. I used to find I'd loose traction like this if I wasn't careful when the road surface is cold, damp or dusty - in particular when making a turn while pulling away e.g. at a T junction or pulling out of a petrol station. Like you my Spyder had sat in the dealers show room for a couple of years before I bought it. I kept the tyre pressures correct.

I ended up changing over to a Toyo even though I had a new Kenda in the shed and was amazed at how much better the grip was in the same situations. What I did notice about the Toyo was that the side walls and general flex in the tire was far less than the Kenda, which I assume would have an impact.

Believe me the Kenda will not last very long so you can then change to a decent tyre:-)

[Bob Denman]

Sounds excessive to me. The rubber in your 4 year old time may have hardened. It may get better as it wears.

How does a Kenda ever get to last that long??

[Orange Spyder Man]

Its a shame BRP installs such an inept tire on these spyders.. for the $180.00 price tag you would think they could find a much better tire for this application..

osm

[Bob Denman]

You have to remember; Kenda is the only manufacturer that actually is getting their tires certified for use on motorcycles... BRP may just not have a choice.

[Highwayman2013]

They have Kenda's on the Slingshots too. I wonder how long those back tires will last.

[Bob Denman]

Somebody should ask Randy about that...

[billybovine]

Cold and dirty pavement.
Excessive twist of the fun grip.
The rubber compound on the older Kenda tire is harder as per the BRP specs.
Age of tire may have made it harder.
Tire maybe over inflated.

[otter28169]

They have Kenda's on the Slingshots too. I wonder how long those back tires will last.

Talked with a gentleman whom makes deliveries for polaris, including slingshots, and he said they are wearing the tires out very quickly. Wouldn't surprise me, I had significant wear on my kenda in less than 4k miles. Then again, I ride like the passenger backrest is on fire.

Just sayin'..............

[Bob Denman]

I wonder if Tirediscount.com will sell a Kumho tire to a SlingShot owner, without grilling them first?

[isthatahemi]

Must be the age and the dust.
And Bob, please relax on the pointless posting. Every thread is peppered with messages I can't see lol

[Bob Denman]

Chill, dude... public forum.

[kep-up]

Let's see..... Excessive wheelspin?
Maybe a problem with the right wrist?

[Bob Denman]

I didn't say it... but

[BajaRon]

Chill, dude... public forum.

Seems appropriate...

Excessive Wheel Spin.

Excessive posting.

Who's to say what 'Excessive' is!? After all, we still don't have a clear understanding of what 'IS' means!

[BajaRon]

~190# give or take a donut. I have the FMF pipe, which loses somewhere around 10# off the back.
Hey Ron, I ordered one of your sway bars! It should be here next week. Looking forward to it!

It's not going to help any with the wheel spin. But you should have a lot more fun while your wheel(s) are spinning!

[otter28169]

You guys are all saying excessive wheel spin like it is a bad thing

Get to wearin' that bad boy out and then you will have a reason to replace it.

Just sayin'.............

[BajaRon]

You guys are all saying excessive wheel spin like it is a bad thing

Get to wearin' that bad boy out and then you will have a reason to replace it.

Just sayin'.............

If wheel spin is due to an extraordinary amount of HP, then that's a good thing. If it is due to a very low traction factor, that's a bad thing. Since there is no reason to suspect the first condition, the 2nd must be considered to be the case.

[isthatahemi]

To quantify excessive spinning, I mean it wouldn't hook up meaningfully until 3rd, and the traction control light flashes at 80 mph. It has improved a bit with mileage, it was pretty silly that cars could walk away from me while I sit there spinning. It has improved a bunch, but I imagine I have the original hard compound tire, and this might be the reason BRP went with a softer compound.

Time to get hosed for the break-in check-up/ $300 / Nice!

[isthatahemi]

So the short answer was the dealer put 41psi in the rear tire. Nice.

I just had shoulder surgery a couple weeks ago or I would have checked it sooner. Leaning and reaching doesn't feel so good.