Results 1 to 12 of 12
  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Stafford, VA
    Posts
    7
    Spyder Garage
    0

    Default 2016 Spyder RTS SE6 with a periodic gear change Issue?!

    I have a 2016 RTS SE6 (previously owned a 2011 Spyder RTS SE5) now with 5700 miles on it and for the second time, it exhibited a problem with shifting. Once occurrence was this past weekend and the previous occurrence about a month ago. In both instances, I had travelled at least 100 miles before the problem occurred. In both instances, after about 5 minutes, it returned to a properly running trike.

    I use my cruise control a good deal (prevents me from having a lead foot) and in this last occurrence much like the first I was doing 40 MPH with cruise on when all of a sudden, the cruise control seemed to turn off by itself and the bike downshifted to 3rd from 5th gear then down to 1st and when using the throttle to try to regain speed and also upshifting, the bike did not at first respond. There were no warning lights lit or limp mode indicated on either occurrence.

    After about 2 minutes of trying to upshift and increase throttle, the bike all of a sudden started to run properly with cruise control on and I was able to return home without incident.

    I have experienced limp mode once on my 2011 RTS but that was due to overheating while on I-95 on a high heat day in mid summer.

    Any thoughts would be appreciated.

  2. #2
    Very Active Member Bfromla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Bossier LoUiSiAna
    Posts
    5,977
    Spyder Garage
    1

    Default

    Finger accidentally down shifting If you wearing gloves or gripping bar too close to hilt. Hope you find out unexpected downshifting worse than “brake check”

    2013 STL SE5 BLACK CURRANT
    SpyderPop's: LED bumpskid
    SmoothSpyder: dualmode back rest
    T r * * LED:foam grip covers, Tricrings, FenderZ,
    brake light strips, wide vue mirrors
    Rivico SOMA modulation brake leds
    sawblade mowhalk fender accents
    minispyder dash toy
    Lid lox
    KradelLock
    Pakitrack
    GENSSI ELITE LED H4 headlights
    FLO (Frunk Lid Organizer)
    BRP fog lights, trailer hitch
    SENA 20S EVO
    2013 STL , Stock Stock Black currant

  3. #3
    Active Member Boilermaker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Muncie, Indiana
    Posts
    396
    Spyder Garage
    0

    Default

    Did you check for fault codes?

  4. #4
    Very Active Member IdahoMtnSpyder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Idaho
    Posts
    9,767
    Spyder Garage
    1

    Default

    Maybe your foot was touching the brake pedal causing it to trip the brake switch.

    2014 Copper RTS

    Tri-Axis bars, CB, BajaRon sway bar & shock adjusters, SpyderPop's Bumpskid, NBV peg brackets, LED headlights and modulator, Wolo trumpet air horns, trailer hitch, custom trailer harness, high mount turn signals, Custom Dynamics brake light, LED turn signal lights on mirrors, LED strip light for a dash light, garage door opener, LED lights in frunk, trunk, and saddlebags, RAM mounts and cradles for tablet (for GPS) and phone (for music), and Smooth Spyder belt tensioner.
    2014 RTS , Copper! (officially Cognac)

  5. #5
    Very Active Member Bfromla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Bossier LoUiSiAna
    Posts
    5,977
    Spyder Garage
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by IdahoMtnSpyder View Post
    Maybe your foot was touching the brake pedal causing it to trip the brake switch.


    That would cut CC but not down shift as OP describes

    2013 STL SE5 BLACK CURRANT
    SpyderPop's: LED bumpskid
    SmoothSpyder: dualmode back rest
    T r * * LED:foam grip covers, Tricrings, FenderZ,
    brake light strips, wide vue mirrors
    Rivico SOMA modulation brake leds
    sawblade mowhalk fender accents
    minispyder dash toy
    Lid lox
    KradelLock
    Pakitrack
    GENSSI ELITE LED H4 headlights
    FLO (Frunk Lid Organizer)
    BRP fog lights, trailer hitch
    SENA 20S EVO
    2013 STL , Stock Stock Black currant

  6. #6
    Very Active Member Mikey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Durham,Maine
    Posts
    3,595
    Spyder Garage
    1

    Default

    I know mine and my friend's do not like the 40 mile an hour range, ether it will not set or it jumps out of cruse! I think it's the speed your trying to set it at and ride, but some of the other ideas you have up there will make it act up also, brake peddle spring getting loose and hitting switch, foot rubbing against the side and pushing it down slightly! There must be some sort of speed sensor involved in the unit some where possibly that may have something to do with it!! Good Luck if you find you problem let us know what you found!!
    2012 RTL , Pearl

  7. #7
    Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie Peter Aawen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Australia; Sth Aust, Adelaide Hills
    Posts
    9,522
    Spyder Garage
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Germainiac64 View Post
    .....I use my cruise control a good deal (prevents me from having a lead foot) and in this last occurrence much like the first I was doing 40 MPH with cruise on when all of a sudden, the cruise control seemed to turn off by itself and the bike downshifted to 3rd from 5th gear then down to 1st and when using the throttle to try to regain speed and also upshifting, the bike did not at first respond. There were no warning lights lit or limp mode indicated on either occurrence.

    After about 2 minutes of trying to upshift and increase throttle, the bike all of a sudden started to run properly with cruise control on and I was able to return home without incident.......
    A little bit of 'thinking out loud' here, but given that I've been able to reproduce pretty much exactly what you've described above on a couple of other Spyders Germain, I think there might be at least a little bit of value in my suppositioning!

    Cruise control is governed by a lot of things, including the ECU, and it needs certain minimum revs &/or road speed to operate, so if you were in 5th and only going 40mph, there's a good chance that you were probably only juuuust making the minimum required in both; and that 'good chance' probably extended as soon as your speed &/or revs started dropping, probably causing the computer to turn cruise off because your engine revs for the given speed were just too low. Then I'd guess that because your speed kept dropping even more, the SE6's 'safety over-ride' semi-auto gear down-change kicked in, and dropped the gearbox down in to 3rd, which was likely when you started trying to feed throttle & revs back in, which then meant there was too much torque being fed in even for 3rd, so the computer dropped the gearbox back down to 1st!! And it wouldn't let you change up then because you were STILL going too slow for any higher gear.... only possibly now with too much throttle wound on too! Once your speed & revs got back up above the minimum for both, things went back to normal & off you went....

    Given all that 'thinking out loud', do you reckon there's any chance it was actually the Spyder's computer doing exactly what it was designed to do by dropping out of cruise because you were ryding too slowly for that gear; then changing down to match the speed & revs; and dropping right down to first as you wound on throttle trying to get it up & moving again; & only allowing that once the road speed & engine revs were matched and your throttle setting wasn't trying to dump in too much torque before that?!?
    Last edited by Peter Aawen; 09-19-2020 at 07:08 AM.
    2013 RT Ltd Pearl White

    Ryde More, Worry Less!

  8. #8
    Very Active Member Mikey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Durham,Maine
    Posts
    3,595
    Spyder Garage
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Aawen View Post
    A little bit of 'thinking out loud' here, but given that I've been able to reproduce pretty much exactly what you've described above on a couple of other Spyders Germain, I think there might be at least a little bit of value in my suppositioning!

    Cruise control is governed by a lot of things, including the ECU, and it needs certain minimum revs to operate, so if you were in 5th and only going 40mph, there's a good chance that you were probably only juuuust making the minimum required in both; and that 'good chance' probably extended as soon as your speed &/or revs started dropping, probably causing the computer to turn cruise off because your engine revs for the given speed were just too low. Then I'd guess that because your speed kept dropping even more, the SE6's 'safety over-ride' semi-auto gear down-change kicked in, and dropped the gearbox down in to 3rd, which was likely when you started trying to feed throttle & revs back in, which then meant there was too much torque being fed in even for 3rd, so the computer dropped the gearbox back down to 1st!! And it wouldn't let you change up then because you were STILL going too slow for any higher gear.... only possibly now with too much throttle wound on too! Once your speed & revs got back up above the minimum for both, things went back to normal & off you went....

    Given all that 'thinking out loud', do you reckon there's any chance it was actually the Spyder's computer doing exactly what it was designed to do by dropping out of cruise because you were ryding too slowly for that gear; then changing down to match the speed & revs; and dropping right down to first as you wound on throttle trying to get it up & moving again; & only allowing that once the road speed & engine revs were matched and your throttle setting wasn't trying to dump in too much torque before that?!?
    2012 RTL , Pearl

  9. #9
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Stafford, VA
    Posts
    7
    Spyder Garage
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bfromla View Post
    Finger accidentally down shifting If you wearing gloves or gripping bar too close to hilt. Hope you find out unexpected downshifting worse than “brake check”
    No, been ryding Spyders for 9 years with SE5 and SE6 transmissions.

  10. #10
    Active Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    48
    Spyder Garage
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Germainiac64 View Post
    I have a 2016 RTS SE6 (previously owned a 2011 Spyder RTS SE5) now with 5700 miles on it and for the second time, it exhibited a problem with shifting. Once occurrence was this past weekend and the previous occurrence about a month ago. In both instances, I had travelled at least 100 miles before the problem occurred. In both instances, after about 5 minutes, it returned to a properly running trike.

    I use my cruise control a good deal (prevents me from having a lead foot) and in this last occurrence much like the first I was doing 40 MPH with cruise on when all of a sudden, the cruise control seemed to turn off by itself and the bike downshifted to 3rd from 5th gear then down to 1st and when using the throttle to try to regain speed and also upshifting, the bike did not at first respond. There were no warning lights lit or limp mode indicated on either occurrence.

    After about 2 minutes of trying to upshift and increase throttle, the bike all of a sudden started to run properly with cruise control on and I was able to return home without incident.

    I have experienced limp mode once on my 2011 RTS but that was due to overheating while on I-95 on a high heat day in mid summer.

    Any thoughts would be appreciated.
    I know exactly what is going with with. I have the same problem and have spent over $2,000 so far trying get it fixed. I replaced the Brake Pedal with a larger pedal. I think that the Brake Pedal is not coming back to up 100% at all times. It only takes a tiny amount of drift to cause what it is happening to you. Downshifting from 3rd to 2nd or 4th to 3rd and the Cruise Control working intermittently. I find that when this begins to happen that if I put my foot under the Brake Pedal and try to lift the Pedal upwards, the problem goes away. I have not yet brought my Spyder back to dealer since I discovered this cause of the problem, to see if they can fix it. I was also told to check the Brake Switch as it can accumulate dirt and cause it to be problematic, so I sprayed some compressed air pressure into the Brake Pedal switch area and that seemed to stop the problem for a while.

    Hope this helps you.

    BobS

  11. #11
    Very Active Member BLUEKNIGHT911's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Central VERMONT
    Posts
    20,272
    Spyder Garage
    0

    Default

    Concerning the SE trans. ... it operates flawlessly IMHO ..... I have drag raced both my 12 RSS and my 14 RT. ... Max the throttle and keep it Full on ... Just watch the RPM's and shift it up, no hesitation works best ..... good luck .... Mike

  12. #12
    Very Active Member ARtraveler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Valley Springs, AR
    Posts
    41,274
    Spyder Garage
    8

    Default

    I love cruise control. Most of my miles these days are at 40 mph. I alternate between third and fourth gear depending on terrain. No issues whatsoever.

    Currently Owned: 2019 F3 Limited, 2020 F3 Limited: SOLD BOTH LIMITEDS in October of 2023.

    Previously : 2008 GS-SM5 (silver), 2009 RS-SE5 (red), 2010 RT-S Premier Editon #474 (black) 2011 RT A&C SE5 (magnesium) 2014 RTS-SE6 (yellow)

    MY FINAL TALLY: 7 Spyders, 15 years, 205,500 miles

    IT HAS BEEN A LONG, WONDERFUL, AND FUN RIDE.
    2020 F3L , Magma Red

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •