First Spyder road trip impressions

[MLTDWN]

Hi all,

After some 35 years of riding motorcycles, over 30 long distance, mostly solo trips (including one Iron Butt ride), and at age 68, I just returned from my first Spyder road trip. I had such a GREAT time, I want to share my impressions, get your thoughts, and for those folks thinking about making the switch, DO IT. I hope this helps. Please bear with me since it’s a long review.

I got my 2018 RT Limited this past July. Rode from Chicago to TN/NC/GA area to do the Cherohala Skyway and Tail of the Dragon, and then down to see the Chickamauga/Chattanooga Civil War battlefields. Spent less than 20% of the ride on interstates. The Spyder was FANTASTIC! With the exception of a trip I took with my son 10 years ago, this was the most fun I’ve ever had on a motorcycle. I couldn’t be happier I made the switch! It’s put the joy back in riding for me.

PROS:

1. This may sound stupid. I didn’t know what to expect, but to me it WAS a motorcycle trip. No other way to explain it. No different, other than much less stress about slow speed maneuvering, weather, road construction and road conditions (not insignificant items). You still sit in a saddle for long hours enjoying the feeling of freedom, exposed to the elements and cagers, holding on to a set of handlebars, and being aware of every potential trap I looked out for on my motorcycles. I do miss having two fingers covering a hand brake though.

2. The feeling of stability, not lifting a heavy machine off a kickstand multiple times throughout a day when you’re tired, and not worrying about dropping a bike was wonderful. I’d done the Dragon 15 years ago on a BMW RT, and I know I did it faster on the Spyder on each of my three runs. The stability control was great comfort knowing if I pushed a little too hard, it could save me. I may have come close, but I didn’t activate it. Still it was a very nice security blanket.

3. I was less tired during and at the end of the day even though I’m older. On my return, riding 10 hours one day on country and mountain roads through TN, KY, IN and IL in over 100° heat, I wasn’t totally beat.

4. Got just as many waves from other riders as I did on my motorcycles. The camaraderie is still there. Got thumbs up from cars and pedestrians too. People like Spyders!

5. Got lots of compliments and questions which started those short fun encounters on bike trips with strangers. Even had a Harley Ultra Classic rider tell me he was jealous when he saw me backing up on loose gravel.

6. Didn’t care about those signs ordinarily causing me concern: Loose Gravel, Fresh Oil, Grooved Payment, Uneven Lanes, etc. Still careful, but no trepidation.

7. It’s not my age because I don’t drive much calmer in cars than I used to, but I was more patient, less in a hurry, did less speeding, and rode less aggressively. It’s plenty fast and leaves cars and trucks in the dust, but my guess is since it’s less maneuverable and not as fast as a motorcycle, it all combined to make me calmer. Less chance for speeding tickets or accidents. All good things which contributed to a better, safer time.

8. Riding by something you want to look at more closely or is photo worthy, and deciding to turn around on a small road, gravel shoulder, and so on to see it, was no big deal. Stopping on a hill, no problem! Trying to put a kickstand down on an incline, no problem!

9. Even with 3 wheels, you can find the “sweet spot” between one of the front tires and the rear tire to miss a small object or pothole.


CONS (none of which make me less thrilled about my Spyder):

1. Harder to handle on interstates than my Harleys or BMWs. I know motorcycles have less wind resistance, different physics and gyroscopic affects and accelerate faster which makes maneuvering and passing cars and trucks easier. On the flipside of course is passing a big semi and getting blasted with the wind is less daunting on three wheels. And avoiding interstates makes for more fun too if you have the time.

2. At 80+ mph on my latest BMW was smooth as silk (if it wasn’t a very windy day). On my Spyder I was really being tossed around at 80 mph even on non-windy days (part of the reason I rode slower, less aggressively, and smarter - all good things). And no one NEEDS to go 80 unless passing.

3. It was still very comfortable, but it was a less comfortable seating position to me than my BMW RT. I sit more forward and from YouTube videos installing pegs, I don’t think highway pegs would let me stretch out my legs all that much more to make a material difference (I’m 6’ tall). I have (and need) a driver’s backrest, but I had one on my BMW so that isn’t the reason.

4. With a pack on the back seat, putting in gas was a pain. I didn’t want to have to take my pack off every time, so I had to prop up the seat by putting my water bottle underneath while I took off the cap and pulled out the gas nozzle. I still had to hold the seat up higher with one hand while pumping with the other. Tough on the old back. Lifting up a tank bag over the gas tank was much simpler.

5. Even with nothing on the back seat, I find filling the tank harder. My motorcycles generally were on top of the tank which was easier to see when you were getting to the top. On the Spyder, the gas pump automatic shut off prevented me from getting close to full and I had to keep topping it off by pulling the pump out ever so much and putting a bit more gas several times. I had to be very careful not to have some gas spill out.

6. I had a mechanical issue my second day out on a rural southern Indiana road. I set the speed control at the 60 mph speed limit, and when I turned the throttle to accelerate, nothing happened. You could turn the throttle to full and the bike would not accelerate at all. I tried turning the speed control off and also pulling off the road to turn the bike off and “reboot”, but it made no difference. The bike would accelerate like a bicycle and creep up to around 60 mph where it capped out (deadly pulling onto a crowded road which fortunately I wasn’t). I thought the limited number of dealers, and especially where I was, could be a problem getting it fixed (not that much different with my BMW - nothing like a Harley for availability of dealers). Fortunately after creeping along for about 40 minutes I stopped to look at a map to find the nearest town of any size (Owensboro IN) where I might have to call it a day. This time, the bike did reboot and was fine for the rest of my trip, although I didn’t use the speed control again (mechanical things “fixing themselves” is never encouraging). The good news is a few days later I called my service manager in Chicago (iMotorsports) to explain what happened (he’d heard of it before), told him I was in Chattanooga where there had to be a dealer, and he immediately spoke with one of their technicians who thought it was a computer glitch and would be ok. They recommended I stop in for a diagnostic test run just to be sure. I called White’s Cycle & Marine in a late afternoon and they saw me first thing the next morning. Their technician took it out, ran the tests, all of which showed nothing wrong, and agreed that it was some possible computer glitch that shouldn’t affect the rest of my trip (they did suggest I bring in it here to have it checked again). The prompt attention of both dealers and service guys was gratifying. I’ll post reviews for both.

7. On small 2 lane mountain roads with blind corners and hills and hardly any traffic, I’m very cautious to stay to the right side of the lane on my motorcycles since people often cross the double yellow lines never expecting to see anyone. On a Spyder obviously, you can only move over so much.

8. I didn’t get great gas mileage (around 32 mpg). I know the Spyder is much heavier so it didn’t comes as a shock. But what do you get??

OVERALL, it’s a TERRIFIC vehicle and makes riding a complete joy. I’M SOLD!!

[MLTDWN]

Meant to add, for all of our issues, this IS a great country! So many beautiful things to see and so many nice people!

[Tyris]

Con 4 I carry small piece of metal, actually it's pointed on one end and has a Y on the other, it's used for jamming in ground and sitting your fishing pole on it. It keeps the seat up so can use both hands on the gas nozzle. Anything will work, block of wood, just got to be second nature to carry along.

[ARtraveler]

Thanks for the review.

[2RTsGV]

Great review

[DGoebel]

Great write up, welcome to the fray! Check out the gas door mods that Blueknight911 Mike and others have done. Simple easy fix and you'll rarely ever have to lift that seat again. Something I see the engineers took care of on the 2020 RT's, only the drivers portion of the seat lifts.

[Mikey]

Good review, glad you had a good time! As much as we all bitch about our rides at times, they really are a neat toy to ride!

[flyboy34]

Thanks for the great review. Early next year when I’m 71, I will be purchasing my fist Spyder for almost the exact reason you alluded to. Your write up just puts it over the top for me. Former HD rider and had one BMW in there.

[RTSJohn]

Great Post... Thanks for sharing your experience and the JOY it brings. I bought my Spyder early this year and at 74 I am having the most enjoyment since I stopped flying back in the 90's.

[bikerbillone]

Good thread here, some here know I'm 86, so I think how many good years left that I can enjoy on a Spyder.....I'm sort of itching to see how the 2020 is gonna work out for the those that are gonna step out and make the test.

[spyder01]

If you want to fix that seat rising problem look for McMaster-Carr on the web and order pn 9416k17 gas spring 15.63" length,40lb force ,$16.41,It pops on in maybe 2 minutes and when you turn the key your seat will actually pop up all by itself and stay up.If you've got a 20lb bag on it Im not sure it will pop up but it would probably stay up by itself so you could pump gas easier.Ive also got part numbers for a gas spring to put on the trunk to make it stay up,just search my previous posts.

[MLTDWN]

Thanks for the suggestions and comments everyone. I’m glad this was also able to help flyboy 34 feel that much better about his decision. Just took that same picture spyder01 so I know exactly where it is!

[zebber]

Good review, I, like you , have been riding bikes for over 50 years. I just bought my Spyder RT couple weeks ago and I love it around town but on the interstate I don't feel as confident on it as I do my bikes. Maybe it's just my Spyder but it seems like it is wiggling around in the back all the time, just slightly but enough that I can feel it. I also don't like the way it blows around when a truck passes , much more than my bikes. I just installed one the Baja Ron sway bars and that helped a little but it's still noticeable. So for now until I get more familiar with it I still take my longer trips on the Victory Vision.

[woods]

I keep telling my riding friends...It's just so easy to ride! Road changes you're still careful but no panic,wife gets on...don't have to hold it up,driest ride I've ever had on a bike in the rain and if you slow down like ya should on wet roads it's veeery stable.3 wheel braking with ABS is awesome! After my 18 RTLTD got over it's growing pains it's been great!

[Revalden]

Good review, I, like you , have been riding bikes for over 50 years. I just bought my Spyder RT couple weeks ago and I love it around town but on the interstate I don't feel as confident on it as I do my bikes. Maybe it's just my Spyder but it seems like it is wiggling around in the back all the time, just slightly but enough that I can feel it. I also don't like the way it blows around when a truck passes , much more than my bikes. I just installed one the Baja Ron sway bars and that helped a little but it's still noticeable. So for now until I get more familiar with it I still take my longer trips on the Victory Vision.

If you get those Kendas off the Spyder your Spyder will settle down and you'll love it even more. DO IT! NOW!

[MLTDWN]

On the truck passing wind issue, it was extremely windy my last day out, especially since I was in the farmlands of central Illinois with nothing to block the wind. The weather gods were making up for 6 days of hot but pretty perfect weather (I’ve never been out 7 days before without rain). I stayed on 2 lane roads until I had less than a 100 miles left and was close to the Chicagoland metropolitan area. Every time a large truck went by, I ducked behind the windshield like I’d do on my motorcycles, but as always was still hit by a significant blast which wasn’t fun on the Spyder or any of the motorcycles I’ve ever had. All I could think of was how much worse being blasted like that would be on 2 wheels where I felt I’d be holding on for dear life. At least with 3 wheels, while it definitely got my attention, I never felt like it could throw me off my track. I’ve always disliked wind more than rain but I just wasn’t as bothered by it on the Spyder. It was just less stressful for me.

[Northofthesix]

I've only had my Spyder a couple weeks but I drove it 1400km home in 2 days from the dealer I bought it from... my initial sense was that wind and trucks and little potholes bothered a lot more than I expected, but I did find by the second day I was much better at anticipating when this would happen and adjusting my stance or focusing more on resisting those forces. Easier to steer at low speeds for sure than any 2 wheeler I have ever owned, but as everyone says, an adjustment especially at highway speeds on the freeway. Feeling more comfortable each time!!

[Spyder Insyder]

MLTDWN, I'm wondering where in Az. you are. I'm in Payson and also have a 2018 RTL. Age here is 70 and have been riding 50+ years. Maybe we could meet sometime for a ride, the weather up here has been great the last couple weeks.
Feel free to PM me.