Jeronimo
03-01-2017, 12:31 PM
Hello all! Just this past Saturday I picked up a new to me 2009 Spyder with 24k on the clock and I am mostly pleased with the results. The short story is that I rented a trailer with the intent to haul the machine from Yakima WA to Spokane WA. Thinking that a machince 5' wide would fit on a trailer 6' wide made perfect sense at the time, but due to a circus involving multiple uhaul stores :banghead: and time becoming a issue I failed to measure the actual opening that the drop down ramp covered. I discovered the opening was less than 5' upon the attempt to load the machine, again :banghead:. I had a window of clear dry weather and accommodating road conditions, so the best alternative was to drive the 200 miles back to Spokane, on the Spyder, while my wife drove the truck pulling the trailer, back to Spokane. Fortunately, I thought to bring my foul weather gear- standard issue Alaska riding gear that is, for I am a recent transplant. It made the 32*F ride comfortable with exception to the lack of heated grips. Before departure I instructed my wife to stop at EVERY Rest Stop along the way so that I could thaw my hands. What a life saver that was, The gloves I wore, thought they were my snowmobiling gloves, were only thinly insulated and low wristers, also they were designed for use with heated grips. Basically they were great wind breakers.
As for the Spyder. I had driven one only once before and it was a dealer test drive at low speed around a silly little cone marked course in a parking lot, what I got most out of it was the different riding positions between the RSS and the RT, 2013my. Hardly informative to the nature of the beast, so to speak, but I did have a very good preconception of the handling dynamics and familiarity with the driver position. Anyone who has experience riding snowmobiles knows exactly what I mean, the similarities are many and I was instantly comfortable once I was on the road.
The handling is very predictable, the ride very smooth and comfortable- the Ultimate seat the previous owner had installed was easy on my back side- I was very happy with the lack of vibration overall and especially at how little there was transmitted to the handle bars. The power was smooth and responsive, fuel economy was 35mpg+- as expected. Now, due to all of the delays with the aforementioned trailer, we were already behind the clock.
As darkness fell I noticed that the headlights were poorly aimed, low and left :gaah:, so much so that I had no time to adjust course if an obstacle, or pothole, was in my path. I was also disappointed with the intensity of the beam. Fortunately, I arrived home without incident due to poor headlights.
I did notice a thread regarding headlights and an LED replacement option, but I did not see a solution as to how to actually install the LED's. I removed the necessary parts to gain access to the headlight bulbs and housings in order to adjust them, in doing so I noticed two things; 1) I could only see 1 adjustment screw - for horizontal movement - I could not find a vertical adjustment. Am I missing it, or does it not exist? 2) looking at the bulb and retainers and comparing them to what I see online http://www.xenondepot.com/H7-Xtreme-LED-kit-p/xt-led-h7.htm I do not see how one could properly mount the new LED system. Any solutions out there for this?
Another issue I have is with the mirrors, all I can see with the mirrors are my XXXL hands with the mirrors at maximum adjustment. Is there an alternative mounting location and replacement option, or an extension available for stock mirrors?
Thank you for your time and I am looking forward to being part of the Spyder community.
As for the Spyder. I had driven one only once before and it was a dealer test drive at low speed around a silly little cone marked course in a parking lot, what I got most out of it was the different riding positions between the RSS and the RT, 2013my. Hardly informative to the nature of the beast, so to speak, but I did have a very good preconception of the handling dynamics and familiarity with the driver position. Anyone who has experience riding snowmobiles knows exactly what I mean, the similarities are many and I was instantly comfortable once I was on the road.
The handling is very predictable, the ride very smooth and comfortable- the Ultimate seat the previous owner had installed was easy on my back side- I was very happy with the lack of vibration overall and especially at how little there was transmitted to the handle bars. The power was smooth and responsive, fuel economy was 35mpg+- as expected. Now, due to all of the delays with the aforementioned trailer, we were already behind the clock.
As darkness fell I noticed that the headlights were poorly aimed, low and left :gaah:, so much so that I had no time to adjust course if an obstacle, or pothole, was in my path. I was also disappointed with the intensity of the beam. Fortunately, I arrived home without incident due to poor headlights.
I did notice a thread regarding headlights and an LED replacement option, but I did not see a solution as to how to actually install the LED's. I removed the necessary parts to gain access to the headlight bulbs and housings in order to adjust them, in doing so I noticed two things; 1) I could only see 1 adjustment screw - for horizontal movement - I could not find a vertical adjustment. Am I missing it, or does it not exist? 2) looking at the bulb and retainers and comparing them to what I see online http://www.xenondepot.com/H7-Xtreme-LED-kit-p/xt-led-h7.htm I do not see how one could properly mount the new LED system. Any solutions out there for this?
Another issue I have is with the mirrors, all I can see with the mirrors are my XXXL hands with the mirrors at maximum adjustment. Is there an alternative mounting location and replacement option, or an extension available for stock mirrors?
Thank you for your time and I am looking forward to being part of the Spyder community.