Greetings all,
I am the happy owner of a new to me 2011 RT SM5 . I have about 1500 miles on it now (just over 18000 total), a mix of I-95 commuting and back road cruising, and a few rides to the beach with my wife (the best part1!). I keep a fuel log, and have averaged about 28 mpg. I have noticed something that I would like some community thoughts about. I have read the boards, but none that I can find capture what I am about to describe. Bear in mind that the bike idles well with no surging, has never died, and the gas cap recall is in, no fuel on the ground when I stop riding, and no blue smoke my wake when I ride:

1) I have started noticing fume smell during riding. It has been very hot in Virginia lately, so I that could explain fuel smell when I am done riding, but the smell comes on when I open up the throttle, particularly in 5th gear. I can make it happen by blipping the throttle hard in any gear.
2) Sudden acceleration at highway speed seems rough, with some front end shuddering, particularly in 5th gear if the rpms go below 5050-5200 rpm around 65 mph. You can also feel the roughness depending on how the road dips and rises. It smooths around 5600 rpm, but it also has me moving too fast for commuting traffic. It's almost better to run 6000 rpm in 4th than to upshift. Smoother, but then mpg goes down.

Before I go tearing into the body panels on a fishing expedition, or paying a dealer to do it, any thoughts on what the problem could be? Or am I describing the life of a Spyder rider under normal conditions ? Is this something that I can wait to deal with until my next oil change in 1500 miles?

Thanks for thoughts!