Dudley and Jennifer's 10,000 Mile Journey Blog

[Firefly]

HOME again HOME again, jiggity jig. Will write later, 544 miles and we are so DONE. Will post later, have to just relax and BE right now.

AWESOME!!!

[wildbill6565]

You guys missed North Carolina so turn around and come on over!!!

[Kjen]

We didn't just get home and fall off the map. The internet in the park decided to stop the last few days.
We are doing well, just kind of vegetating right now. doing fine and set to get cleaned up in another day or so. Chiropractor adjustment was great..
Will get on as soon as allowable. I brought my puter to the local library.
Kind of miss this posting, guess I'll have to be more active later.
Thanks all.

[Kjen]

You guys missed North Carolina so turn around and come on over!!!

Yep, could kick ourselves for not taking the time to catch those 2 states, lol . What were we thinking of? Just like not going to Yellowstone because we'd had enough.
Anyway, thanks for your interest.

[Kjen]

+ 10

I think there is still a shrimp in Louisiana that Dudley missed!

Come back and get it!

Kind of miss the food, any chances of mailings? LOL, thanks bunches. Internet not working at home just yet so may be a few days until we are active; other than this brief spat at the library.

[SpyderGirl]

Glad to hear you made it home safe.

How many total miles did you ride?

[Kjen]

Glad to hear you made it home safe.

How many total miles did you ride?

Will have to check, something like 13,000 can't remember what we stopped on; started at 8242 and was 21,000 something or other when we pulled in.
Going now, be back when intenet at home works.
Don't forget us.
Thanks
Later.

[q-brrr]

We will work something out for you, I'm sure.

[SpyderGirl]

Will have to check, something like 13,000 can't remember what we stopped on; started at 8242 and was 21,000 something or other when we pulled in.
Going now, be back when intenet at home works.
Don't forget us.
Thanks
Later.

You guys ROCK! I can't wait until we leave on our cross-country trip... 18 states in 18 days..... only 25 days to go....

[Kjen]

You guys ROCK! I can't wait until we leave on our cross-country trip... 18 states in 18 days..... only 25 days to go....

Cool, it's an interesting feeling. Take time to smell and see a few flowers and such. Have fun.

[SpyderGirl]

Cool, it's an interesting feeling. Take time to smell and see a few flowers and such. Have fun.

Of course. Thanks. We'll both be taking turns riding, so it should be great.

[Smylinacha]

So how does it feel to do all those miles! I totally envy you guys! And thank you so much for sharing your journey with us - we got to go for part of the ride and we got to see some real cool pics of everywhere you've been and we can only hope we can do this some day.

Welcome home you guys! You ever come back east, you got a place to crash here - k?

[Kjen]

So how does it feel to do all those miles! I totally envy you guys! And thank you so much for sharing your journey with us - we got to go for part of the ride and we got to see some real cool pics of everywhere you've been and we can only hope we can do this some day.

Welcome home you guys! You ever come back east, you got a place to crash here - k?

Thanks Kim, it was awesome that ya'll invited us into your home in the first place-really appreciated the offer. Food and ocean was good too. People were outstanding..
As to the miles, I think we feel accomplished. Didn't have anything to proove other than seeing the country and seeing how spyder would perform. All was great and pretty uneventful as far as the bike itself goes. Hope the spyder lag goes away quickly. We have energy but then it's zapped quickly.
Enjoy yourselves while it's still summer.
Hugs.

[Dudley]

Well, now that I am about over Spyder lag, I have a couple of stats from the trip:

13,624 trip miles, 273 engine hours = 50 MPH rounded off

24,631 Spyder miles, 511 total engine hours = 48 MPH rounded off

I have had the break-in service, GPS and parking brake service, and steering update done. I had the rear tire replaced with an OEM during the journey, in Easton, MA. I change my own oil every 5000 miles and use Royal Purple Max-Cycle Synthetic 10W40. During this trip, I started out with a fresh oil change and did not change oil during the trip. I added 2 quarts in the 13,624 miles and still show oil on the dip stick. My only issues with the Spyder have been the parking brake "fix" (it was working perfectly) that had to be re"fixed" and the steering program update, that I regret doing.

[Don in E Texas]

My only issues with the Spyder have been the parking brake "fix" (it was working perfectly) that had to be re"fixed" and the steering program update, that I regret doing.

Welcome home! and thanks for your trip reports and great photo's!!

You mentioned regrets over having the steering recall done. I took our bike in for that and I was allowed to borrow their current demo bike, a '09 SE5 fully decked out with all Corbin "goodies" What a sweet ride!!!! I returned the bike - picked up my bike and it is terrible!!! Returned to the dealer this morning to give him a report -- he invited me to try the demo bike as the update has been installed on it. All I can say is "what a shame to do that to what was a great ride".. and only 400 or so miles on it. Dealer will be calling BRP.

don

[Dudley]

Welcome home! and thanks for your trip reports and great photo's!!

You mentioned regrets over having the steering recall done. I took our bike in for that and I was allowed to borrow their current demo bike, a '09 SE5 fully decked out with all Corbin "goodies" What a sweet ride!!!! I returned the bike - picked up my bike and it is terrible!!! Returned to the dealer this morning to give him a report -- he invited me to try the demo bike as the update has been installed on it. All I can say is "what a shame to do that to what was a great ride".. and only 400 or so miles on it. Dealer will be calling BRP.

don

My steering is a lot better. But what they did was like going to the doctor for a broken finger, and while he fixes that, he breaks a leg because he thinks it will make you walk better. Like a bill in Congress, says one thing, but all the porks under the cover change it for the worse. Yea, a bunch of us Spyder Ryders are a bit annoyed.

[Smylinacha]

Thanks Kim, it was awesome that ya'll invited us into your home in the first place-really appreciated the offer. Food and ocean was good too. People were outstanding..
As to the miles, I think we feel accomplished. Didn't have anything to proove other than seeing the country and seeing how spyder would perform. All was great and pretty uneventful as far as the bike itself goes. Hope the spyder lag goes away quickly. We have energy but then it's zapped quickly.
Enjoy yourselves while it's still summer.
Hugs.

We finally got summer but I hate it already - way too hot and humid for me. If I wanted the humidity I would live in Florida. I am looking forward to a New England Fall. Next time you guys come, pick a time where you'll get here for leave peeping!

[Dudley]

Jennifer (Kjen) and I took this journey this past summer. For those of you who are new to the forum, what we did with our Spyder might interest you. With all the postings about Spyder nightmares, ours has been virtually flawless. I have read where some people have lost their faith and trust in their Spyder because of others having problems. This has a tendency to take the joy out of venturing too far from the nest. We should not forget that nothing is ever guaranteed...no trip, machine, breath, etc. Enjoy life, as it is given to you but for a short time. Don't waste it over needless concerns.

[powerbyaj]

Jennifer (Kjen) and I took this journey this past summer. For those of you who are new to the forum, what we did with our Spyder might interest you. With all the postings about Spyder nightmares, ours has been virtually flawless. I have read where some people have lost their faith and trust in their Spyder because of others having problems. This has a tendency to take the joy out of venturing too far from the nest. We should not forget that nothing is ever guaranteed...no trip, machine, breath, etc. Enjoy life, as it is given to you but for a short time. Don't waste it over needless concerns.

I lost faith in my spyder with steering problems and fire i was ready to sell then move on. After my last trip to Cabo i now have more faith in my spyer then every before. I rode my spyder between 6000 and 7000 rpms for miles after miles not once did motor or steering component skip a beat. If works correctly 90% of time leave it alone.

[SpyderWolf]

Jennifer (Kjen) and I took this journey this past summer. For those of you who are new to the forum, what we did with our Spyder might interest you. With all the postings about Spyder nightmares, ours has been virtually flawless. I have read where some people have lost their faith and trust in their Spyder because of others having problems. This has a tendency to take the joy out of venturing too far from the nest. We should not forget that nothing is ever guaranteed...no trip, machine, breath, etc. Enjoy life, as it is given to you but for a short time. Don't waste it over needless concerns.

Very nicely stated. Thanks for sharing that as well.

[Dudley]

On August 12, 2009 Jennifer (Kjen) and I completed our journey. Seems hard to believe that was 3 years ago. For us, it was a once in a lifetime adventure. When I look at some of the pictures we took, I often have to ask Jennifer to identify them. We still have 14 more states to travel in to complete the original 48. Just a good excuse waiting to happen. I want to encourage any Spyder rider, spread your wings and fly. Don't worry about the unknowns, they will be there regardless.

[Dudley]

Well, the kids are settled in Tucson for their vacation, we're back home getting things together, Spyder is shining, the skies are cloudless, it's a perfect day! The Spyder has new oil, the tires are with proper air, no noticeable leaks anywhere, the coolant is to the full mark, I have a few tools for what I hope is not needed, and we are as jittery as all heck! We will be glad to get this rolling tomorrow morning (6-21) to see if we can complete the journey. We plan on daily postings unless we can't get WiFi at a motel. The pictures will be in our Journey album (Dudley and Jennifer's 10,000 Mile Journey) with captions to help everyone know a little about the pictures.
We wish all of you going to LA a safe and fun-filled trip. We will be checking SpyderLovers daily to check on everyone's LA Blog and enjoy your trip as we do ours.
We hope to complete our Journey, but if something prevents us from doing so, we will have tried. God Bless all of you and always remember to Ryde Safe.

It was Fathers Day, 2009 when we started our trip. Thanks to Spyder Lovers we were able to record the journey on a daily basis and take about 4,000 pictures and posted most of them on this thread. The trip was one we will never forget. I would like to thank, once again everyone who took time out of their lives to meet with us. Sadly, it seems like most of the riders of that time have left SL and no longer ride Spyders. Feel free to read this. Hope you enjoy. It's quite lengthy...the trip was 7.5 weeks.

[Don in E Texas]

Great journey and reports/photo's. My favorite? Picture of you with a bib on and the bib had a picture of a Lobster. The picture just showed me the joy you guys were having on your journey with time out to enjoy the local culture. See, this old man (80) does remember the good stuff.

Keep riding.

Don

[Jenni37]

Good day,

I met you two at Escondido Cycle Center last Friday. Sorry, we had to cut it short, they were trying to get some things taken care of before I left.

I had that light Blue F3T

It was a pleasure meeting you both & I look forward to reading about & seeing pictures of your journeys.

See you around-
Jenni P.