WaltH
02-19-2009, 09:41 PM
I took delivery of my Spyder one year ago, today. Since then, I have ridden 28,200 miles (614 engine hours) on the Spyder and 15,700 miles on my Harley Fat Boy. More than 80 percent of the Spyder miles were from long-distance rides (at least one over-night stay). All of the Harley miles were from cruising. The touring rides required 83 nights of paid lodging (hotels, motels, etc.). The Spyder stayed with me for all of the hotel nights; however, it had to remain outdoors. My total miles and paid-lodging nights are down significantly from prior years because life on the road becomes a little more difficult as I grow older (age 72) and because the touring schedule was relatively light. Normally, I attend all of HOG’s national touring rides, however, in 2008 there were no such rides. Harley was focusing on the celebration of its 105th anniversary.
My experience with the Spyder has been generally very good. I had one serious breakdown which gave me ten days in “Limp Home Mode”. Fortunately, I was not on the road when it happened. BRP and the dealer at first could not find the problem, but eventually, it was discovered to be a corroded electrical connector to the VCM. The connector did not seal properly and water splashing up from the road caused the connector to corrode. This was either a faulty connector, or a failure to install it correctly at the factory. The problem occurred at about 3,000 miles.
Otherwise, I have had the “usual” problems such as; a burn mark on the muffler (get a Hindle), squeaky brakes (get BRP upgrade), too much body roll (maximum preload - performance sway bar - 4 inch risers), sticking parking brake (get BRP upgrade), a tendency for the engine to appear to run hot, and a noisy transmission.
I have never had more than five bars on the temperature gauge, and the coolant has never boiled over, but I get uncomfortable when the temperature rises very rapidly at a stoplight. Highway traffic jams are a cause for anxiety when the temperature rise seems threatening. I would like to see the fan kick in sooner. I am thinking of running a parallel circuit to the fan that I could control manually. I would flip the switch on when approaching a traffic jam, or in other circumstances where I wanted the fan to run continuously. I had such a switch for a “police fan” on one of my Harleys and it worked wonderfully.
The transmission noise is most noticeable at about 20 mph and 40 mph. It appears that BRP is using straight cut gears in the transmission (spur gears), as compared to helical gears, which are much quieter. It could be that spur gears are less costly, but also stronger. Harley uses a combination of helical gears and spur gears. Automobile transmissions tend to have helical gears. Since I have long felt that Harley transmissions are noisy, I do not see the Spyder noise as a problem needing a solution. The nosiest motorcycle always seems to be the one I am riding at the time.
I still have the original front tires (6/32” remaining), and I am on the second rear tire (4-6/32” remaining). The first one was replaced at 12,000 miles because I was leaving for a long trip and did not want to cope with it away from home. This was before we had the dealer list. The second rear tire is looking good. Wear patterns for all three tires are very uniform. BRP specifies minimum tread depth of 3/32” front and 5/32” rear. On the rear tire I have at least 6/32” almost everywhere. All of my tires should be serviceable for a while longer. I will buy tires before the start of the touring season. I carry 25 psi in the front, and 30 psi in the rear.
Parts and labor are relatively expensive for the Spyder so I try to keep the technicians from doing unnecessary work. I actively manage the maintenance schedule and insist on being the one to determine which maintenance items should be performed, and when, although I am open to suggestions. I view the published maintenance schedule as a guide. Once the warranty period has expired I intend to change some of the service intervals. Changing synthetic oil every 3,000 miles is unnecessary and wasteful. I will stretch-out the interval to 5,000 or 6,000 miles, which would be more in line with what other manufacturers require. Similar opportunities are available in other areas.
The Spyder has the following modifications: two Corbin seats with backrests, Corbin saddlebags. Hindle muffler, H.I.D headlights (NMN), fog lights (BRP), four inch handlebar risers (BRP – NMN), performance sway bar (Evoluzione), 12 volt power outlet (BRP), ISO grips (Kuryakyn), highway pegs (Kewimetal – Kuryakyn –Harley).
I still need floor boards, cruise control, taillight enhancement, and a hand brake lever. Riding with highway pegs can be dangerous due to the increased reaction time needed to get the feet back on the regular pegs. A hand brake lever would eliminate this problem, particularly since my brain is conditioned to use a hand brake. I would like to have the Penske shocks, or something similar, but price is an obstacle. The need is not urgent because the Spyder corners much, much better than it did in the beginning.
I have had a very successful first year with the Spyder, in part, because of the information available on this forum and the other forum. My fellow Spyder owners know a lot more about the product than my dealer. Thank you for a great year.
My experience with the Spyder has been generally very good. I had one serious breakdown which gave me ten days in “Limp Home Mode”. Fortunately, I was not on the road when it happened. BRP and the dealer at first could not find the problem, but eventually, it was discovered to be a corroded electrical connector to the VCM. The connector did not seal properly and water splashing up from the road caused the connector to corrode. This was either a faulty connector, or a failure to install it correctly at the factory. The problem occurred at about 3,000 miles.
Otherwise, I have had the “usual” problems such as; a burn mark on the muffler (get a Hindle), squeaky brakes (get BRP upgrade), too much body roll (maximum preload - performance sway bar - 4 inch risers), sticking parking brake (get BRP upgrade), a tendency for the engine to appear to run hot, and a noisy transmission.
I have never had more than five bars on the temperature gauge, and the coolant has never boiled over, but I get uncomfortable when the temperature rises very rapidly at a stoplight. Highway traffic jams are a cause for anxiety when the temperature rise seems threatening. I would like to see the fan kick in sooner. I am thinking of running a parallel circuit to the fan that I could control manually. I would flip the switch on when approaching a traffic jam, or in other circumstances where I wanted the fan to run continuously. I had such a switch for a “police fan” on one of my Harleys and it worked wonderfully.
The transmission noise is most noticeable at about 20 mph and 40 mph. It appears that BRP is using straight cut gears in the transmission (spur gears), as compared to helical gears, which are much quieter. It could be that spur gears are less costly, but also stronger. Harley uses a combination of helical gears and spur gears. Automobile transmissions tend to have helical gears. Since I have long felt that Harley transmissions are noisy, I do not see the Spyder noise as a problem needing a solution. The nosiest motorcycle always seems to be the one I am riding at the time.
I still have the original front tires (6/32” remaining), and I am on the second rear tire (4-6/32” remaining). The first one was replaced at 12,000 miles because I was leaving for a long trip and did not want to cope with it away from home. This was before we had the dealer list. The second rear tire is looking good. Wear patterns for all three tires are very uniform. BRP specifies minimum tread depth of 3/32” front and 5/32” rear. On the rear tire I have at least 6/32” almost everywhere. All of my tires should be serviceable for a while longer. I will buy tires before the start of the touring season. I carry 25 psi in the front, and 30 psi in the rear.
Parts and labor are relatively expensive for the Spyder so I try to keep the technicians from doing unnecessary work. I actively manage the maintenance schedule and insist on being the one to determine which maintenance items should be performed, and when, although I am open to suggestions. I view the published maintenance schedule as a guide. Once the warranty period has expired I intend to change some of the service intervals. Changing synthetic oil every 3,000 miles is unnecessary and wasteful. I will stretch-out the interval to 5,000 or 6,000 miles, which would be more in line with what other manufacturers require. Similar opportunities are available in other areas.
The Spyder has the following modifications: two Corbin seats with backrests, Corbin saddlebags. Hindle muffler, H.I.D headlights (NMN), fog lights (BRP), four inch handlebar risers (BRP – NMN), performance sway bar (Evoluzione), 12 volt power outlet (BRP), ISO grips (Kuryakyn), highway pegs (Kewimetal – Kuryakyn –Harley).
I still need floor boards, cruise control, taillight enhancement, and a hand brake lever. Riding with highway pegs can be dangerous due to the increased reaction time needed to get the feet back on the regular pegs. A hand brake lever would eliminate this problem, particularly since my brain is conditioned to use a hand brake. I would like to have the Penske shocks, or something similar, but price is an obstacle. The need is not urgent because the Spyder corners much, much better than it did in the beginning.
I have had a very successful first year with the Spyder, in part, because of the information available on this forum and the other forum. My fellow Spyder owners know a lot more about the product than my dealer. Thank you for a great year.