This is belt vibration, right?

[Peter Aawen]

While it is pretty likely that your vibration is the belt, if your Spyder still has the OE tires then there is the possibility that it's being caused by dodgy tires!! And I'm not trying to implicate poor wheel alignment or balancing here, cos poor &/or rapid tread wear due to poor wheel alignment IS usually correctable if caught & identified soon enough, & tire balance issues are rarely only felt at certain speeds.... and they too are readily correctable! What I'm talking about is the irregular & patchy tread wear issues caused by poor tire construction or failures/defects in the tire &/or tread compound itself!

So just to try & eliminate any of the tires, start out by checking the front tires & making sure they have the same pressure! Once you know the pressures up front are very close to each other, check ALL your tires carefully for tread or sidewall issues. Look for lumps or bulges, even 'blisters' in the sidewall or tread, and only then start checking for wear issues. Start out by lightly running your hand (bare if you can, but do be gentle & careful & yes, you will get dirty! ) along the tire & feel the way the tread blocks pass under your hand... if it feels like one side of any of the tread blocks may have a 'sharp' edge, run your hand the other way to confirm, and if there IS a sharp edge on any of the tread blocks, see if you can identify WHERE the sharp edge actually is on those blocks, ie, front edge of the tread blocks as the tire rotates; back edge as the tire rotates; inside or outside on which tire; or left edge or right edge of one or more tires.... cos if you DO have sharp edges on any tread blocks (& any corresponding smooth edges on the other sides of those tread blocks) or uneven tread wear around or across the tread, your vibration MIGHT be caused by dodgy tires.....

The OE tires are renowned for poor construction issues causing this sort of tread wear issue & possibly also vibrations, making it extremely difficult if not impossible to align correctly &/or balance the tires &/or stop the vibrations, as well as creating rapid tire wear & in some cases creating quite dangerous tire &/or traction or steering problems!! In a few cases the tires have delaminated & that could cause a very dangerous & impossible to control steering &/or drive issues if it occurs at speed or in traffic, the twisties, etc!! So while the most likely cause of your vibrations probably IS the belt, with a fairly easy & relatively inexpensive long-term solution (I am ignoring the cheap & nasty BRP 'solution' when I say that!) you shouldn't overlook the potential for shoddy tires being involved!! Check them carefully, & if any of your tires do show dodgy or uneven wear in a way that isn't clearly the result of poor wheel alignment or balance issues, then I'd suggest you get rid of the OE Spec tires as soon as you can & replace them with something better - & btw, anything with the same or better load & speed rating & a matching bead profile is likely to be a fair bit better!!

[rodentrancher]

While it is pretty likely that your vibration is the belt, if your Spyder still has the OE tires then there is the possibility that it's being caused by dodgy tires!!

Thank you Peter, for a very informative reply. I have checked (and corrected) the pressures, but it didn't occur to me to carefully check out the tires in the way you describe (was making what I see are unjustified assumptions that the almost-new OEM tires would be fine except for pressure). I will have a careful look/feel at the tires today.

Oddly, the dealer apparently filled all three tires to 24 psi. I corrected to the pressures specified in the owners manual (20 psi for the front two, 28 for the rear). Doesn't seem to have made any difference in the vibration.

[tehrlich]

My vibration was significantly reduced when I installed the RonJon antisway bar and replaced the crappy stock shocks with Fox shocks.

My alignment has always been good (I've had it checked with laser alignment,) but that could be a part too.


Then, later... I had car tires installed along with a belt anti vibration device. Woah.... big big difference.

Later, later, I installed the centramatic wheel balancers, and now there isn't any vibration I can detect.

Smoooooth!

[Mazo EMS2]

Are the tires new? When we got our RT brand new, the tires of course were brand new and caused a vibration for about the first 300 miles until they "wore in". I had them balanced a couple times during that period, but until they actually got some miles on em, they sucked.....granted they still suck, but the vibration is gone. The speeds that you describe your vibration happening though, are pretty much the norm for belt vibration. Seems to happen around 70-75 mph for most folks. Most just avoid that speed range, deal with it, or purchase a vibration dampener......I guess it all depends on your travels.....for me it's a pretty rare occurence to be driving in that range of speed

[johnsimion]

It's very easy to read this forum and convince yourself that you're feeling a vibration from the Spyder when it's actually the roadway. In addition to checking for the proper tire air pressure, wheel balancing and possible tire defects, ride the Spyder on several types of pavement finishes before you conclude that you actually have a vibration in the Spyder itself. Note that it's easy to notice a vibration, but noticing "no vibration" is a lot more difficult since that's what's normal and expected. After reading this forum, I had almost convinced myself that I had a vibration issue when I went for a 100 mile ride and experienced a mild vibration exactly like you described. Later the same day I was on a different roadway at the exact same speeds and lo and behold, there was no vibration. I didn't even notice that there was no more vibration -- my wife was the one who pointed it out. The vibration would be the same on every roadway if it was in the Spyder. I don't deny that the belt apparently can set up some kind of harmonic vibration, but I think the finish on the roadway may be able to do it, too.

[BryanSD]

I have a one month old 2017 RT and just about done putting a 1000 miles on it. I too had an odd vibration around the 70-75 MPH range with just over 150 miles on the odometer. Around that time, I had a loose lug nut that need to be tightened but I don't think that was the cause of the vibration. Within a week after the vibration...it just seemed to go away. I don't know if I just got to a better understanding how the Spyder performs with more experience or if the new tires on the machine just needed to settle a bit. I suspect it was both. I would follow John Simon's advice and give yourself a little more time. If the vibration doesn't go way, before you go out and start buying a new set of tires and other equipment, I'd take it back to the dealer and have them check it out.

[ejstrickland]

I too have a new 2017 RT Limited Spyder, and I have almost 2000 miles on it. I too get a vibration at highway speed, 70-75 mph. I can't make it happen and it seems to be on all roads. Not sure what to do about it, but to me it kind of feels like it's possibly in the engine. Also, I have to say, the Spyder seems like it could get very scary at highway speed if I had to make a sudden swerve for an object in the road. I have only ever owned regular motorcycles and those kind of feel more stable than my Spyder does on the highway. I feel like it would or could roll quite easily. What is everyone's thoughts about this?

Scared.

I have a one month old 2017 RT and just about done putting a 1000 miles on it. I too had an odd vibration around the 70-75 MPH range with just over 150 miles on the odometer. Around that time, I had a loose lug nut that need to be tightened but I don't think that was the cause of the vibration. Within a week after the vibration...it just seemed to go away. I don't know if I just got to a better understanding how the Spyder performs with more experience or if the new tires on the machine just needed to settle a bit. I suspect it was both. I would follow John Simon's advice and give yourself a little more time. If the vibration doesn't go way, before you go out and start buying a new set of tires and other equipment, I'd take it back to the dealer and have them check it out.

[Claimbo]

Thank you Peter, for a very informative reply. I have checked (and corrected) the pressures, but it didn't occur to me to carefully check out the tires in the way you describe (was making what I see are unjustified assumptions that the almost-new OEM tires would be fine except for pressure). I will have a careful look/feel at the tires today.

Oddly, the dealer apparently filled all three tires to 24 psi. I corrected to the pressures specified in the owners manual (20 psi for the front two, 28 for the rear). Doesn't seem to have made any difference in the vibration.

I have had the same problem with my 2016 from day one. I still get it from time to time but not nearly as bad as when I bought the bike. BRP is well aware of this problem and fails to acknowledge its existence. I have had the entire front end rebuilt and laser aligned. I have had new tires put on. I have put a baja ron sway bar on with no effect. I have a tensioner on the belt but that did not help. Everything I have done has not helped and BRP does nothing about it.

I am very disappointed in BRP. I believe this is a manufactures defect. Something in the engineering is wrong. Good luck. If you find a fix, let us all know.