Riding Impressions After The First week

[Jim Haebe]

Hi all, just thought i would offer my impression of my Spyder after the first week of ownership. Picked it up from the dealer late in the day Wednesday June 24th and rode it home (about 5 miles). The Spyder and I hit the street and I was already assured that my decision to own a Spyder was on point. Only once in the nearly 500 miles of riding around have I tried to put my foot down and that was on the ride home from the dealer. Bike is responsive, brakes are a treat, love the way they feel. Engine is starting to loosen up now, RPM's increase much more rapidly. As a long time Harley rider and owner, the crusing RPM for this thing is quite a ways past when a Harley motor is threatening to expose its internal workings. The clutch lever pull is very light in comparison, very linear in feel. Much easier to work. Also the throttle is extremely easy to rotate. My FLHT is a wonderful bike and has taken me many a mile all over the country. But it is a 1984 vintage and things have changed significantly. The Spyder is the first bike that I have owned that has self canceling turn signals, a belt final drive and turnsignals that operate from just one button. A friend (Spyder PE 315, I think) and I took a trip to the mountains yesterday (7-2) . I got my first taste of the twisty's Spyder style. I scared the living hell out of myself a few times but overall it was great. The Spyder requires much more rider input to ride aggressively. My seat cover does not allow for any sliption of my butt, so I find it somewhat difficult to shift around on it. My friends seat cover is not as tacky feeling as mine. He has over 15,000 miles on his after about a year. His seat is probably burnished somewhat what with all the butt time on the cover.
Any way the bike is everything I thought it would be. I will install the stiffer sway bar ASAP, get a different seat/cover? and it needs a "Front Brake Lever" the only real engineering deficiency of the bike, in my opinion.
Thats all for now, working on maching my handle bar risers. After that I have to add some width to my lift to accomodate the extra wheel width and finally, I need some floor boards. I have some ideas on them. Will share them with all when I begin making them. Thanks .......................Jim

[Tom in NM]

Let me be the first to welcome you to a whole new way of riding, Jim.
And, it is great to have another Spyder rider here in NM.

Tom

[gazey]

Glad to hear you are liking your Spyder Jim. It only gets better as time goes on. I'm hearin ya on the front brake thing. I also would like to add one. As for the twisties, I have done over 7000km and still feel a little unsettled in the fast corners, but its getting better all the time. I have added the 4" NMN risers and have found the ride position a lot more comfortable. Hwy pegs are next on my list.

Ride safe.
Gazey

[Roaddog2]

Self canceling signals what welcome

[NancysToy]

Good synopsis. You adapted to the Spyder quite quickly, it seems, which is often more prolonged for those of us used to two wheels. I, too felt the seat was too "sticky", but few others have mentioned it. Love the word "sliption", BTW. You are right that the Spyder requires a much more active rider and more rpm. You get used to that in a hurry, in fact it may become habit forming. In the meantime, while you are waiting for a sway bar, experiment with tire pressures and shock preloads. We are both fairly light and don't ride real aggressively, so the standard preload settings work for us, but many have found a need to increase them, especially in front. Lube them before you adjust them! Many of us run tire pressures of 20 front/30 rear. Some run a couple of pounds lower, but all prefer the handling with higher pressure in the fronts. The difference is amazing! Have fun, and welcome.
-Scotty

[Desert Spyder]

"Sliption"? Just so were on the same groove here, define sliption. I kinda like it!

[retread]

welcome
Sliption is the opposite of sticktion. The willingness to allow something to slide as opposed to keeping it stuck in place. Some old telescopic forks had a lot of the latter.

john

[Bersquack]

AND welcome

[Big Arm]

welcome Sounds like a good first week of riding.
They only get better.
Waiting to see the new mods you come up with

[DynamoBT]

Welcome to the club!!! Glad yur lovin' it!!! It's a blast!!

[Dragonrider]

welcome .. I found that my years of ATV riding made the transition seamless - even with 40 years of two wheeling. The ride is just like riding my 700 Grizzly with power steering in 2wd on the logging roads at "high speed"

Moves are the same, results are the same. I was able to average posted +20 on most of the twisties on the ride home through the mountains. About the same as I'd do on my K12LT - certainly not a sportbike, but plenty fast enough for me...

[ataDude]

welcome

[Jim Haebe]

Thanks all for the replies. Been a long forum reader(Chevy Talk, Practical Machinist,Metal Meet are few), but never one to post much. I prefer to read and digest. The word "Sliption" (Slip-shun,weak attempt at dictionary humor) is just some made up word. We have Sticksion as Retread alluded to, but no actual word for the opposite. There's Slip, Slide,Slippage to name a few but nothing that conveys the feeling. Sliption is just a cool word. We used it at work as if it were real, we all knew what it was.
I have adjusted the tire pressures to the 20/30 setting. Had mentioned to my friend about the mushy feeling when making L/R turns. He suggested that I increase tire pressure. He is also a forum reader, told me about SpyderLovers.
I have yet to adjust the shock spring rate, Will do that when time permits.
Again, just wanted to say thanks for all the input. Going off to the shop to begin fabbing the handlebar risers, I"ll work on them for a few hours, then it's off to a soiree (that's a French word, for party) to enjoy the company of friends and celebrate America's birthday. Happy Birthday All !....Jim

[Big Arm]

Don't forget......we like pics here

[slather1]

Glad you took to it so quickly. Only on motorcycles for 37 years and it was strange to me. Now I ride it more than motorcycles. I originally thought I had to have a hand brake but have grown accustomed to riding without one.