First time out in the rain on my Quatrac's

[CloverHillCrawler]

Got stuck out in the storms on Sunday. After one batch had moved through another popped up real fast after attending a funeral on Sunday and I was on my way home and couldn't wait for it to pass as I had to go to work early Monday.

All I can say is thank you for the recommendation of these Quatrac's.

I was dealing with water ponding and running off of hills. If anybody is familiar with DC I had to go from Gaithersburg to Frederick on 355 as not to get mixed in with all of the traffic on 270 during a storm especially as the sun is going down.

It was a beautiful view of the lightning going across the sky, I never quite had that type of view of a storm at night but I have to give it to the Quatrac's, I was worried at first about the grip these would have in a downpour.

They were spot on, I was able to maintain 35-40 mph without hydroplaning and never lost their grip. Me on the other hand, well I was soaked like a wet rat. I had only expected light showers so I only took a windbreaker.

I pulled the Corbin off of the bike and gave it some love with some saddle soap and pulled out the frunk and access panels as to let a fan pass air air over and through the Spyder to dry it out.

Anything else I should check or lubricate after having the USS CloverCrawler out for a spin in the great blue? I feel like I need to mount a 5 inch Mk 45 on the frunk after that ride.

6de107f9ae60112ee4301b2683cb9641--us-navy-ships-seas.jpg.02b15eec8cb01bd5f7522c44f6e7f0a0.jpg

[Little Blue]

...Thanks for your Report on the Quatrac Tires.
I am trying to get a pair installed on my Spyder.
My local dealer has already said no to 'Auto Tires'.

Ryde and Enjoy your Time. .....

[CloverHillCrawler]

...Thanks for your Report on the Quatrac Tires.
I am trying to get a pair installed on my Spyder.
My local dealer has already said no to 'Auto Tires'.

Ryde and Enjoy your Time. .....

All of the big chains did the same thing around here, I found a shop recommended by a mechanic at the HD shop that was going to do mine but was backed up for days with the spring surge of business coming in.

Look for a local rather than a national chain that also does work on atv's and side by sides. The shop that was recommended by the HD mechanic works on atv's and did the mounting for me.

I learned how to do the back tire removal from greatrydes you tube video so I could pull the back tire off and take it to get mounted.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Got stuck out in the storms on Sunday. After one batch had moved through another popped up real fast after attending a funeral on Sunday and I was on my way home and couldn't wait for it to pass as I had to go to work early Monday.

All I can say is thank you for the recommendation of these Quatrac's.

I was dealing with water ponding and running off of hills. If anybody is familiar with DC I had to go from Gaithersburg to Frederick on 355 as not to get mixed in with all of the traffic on 270 during a storm especially as the sun is going down.

It was a beautiful view of the lightning going across the sky, I never quite had that type of view of a storm at night but I have to give it to the Quatrac's, I was worried at first about the grip these would have in a downpour.

They were spot on, I was able to maintain 35-40 mph without hydroplaning and never lost their grip. Me on the other hand, well I was soaked like a wet rat. I had only expected light showers so I only took a windbreaker.

I pulled the Corbin off of the bike and gave it some love with some saddle soap and pulled out the frunk and access panels as to let a fan pass air air over and through the Spyder to dry it out.

Anything else I should check or lubricate after having the USS CloverCrawler out for a spin in the great blue? I feel like I need to mount a 5 inch Mk 45 on the frunk after that ride.

6de107f9ae60112ee4301b2683cb9641--us-navy-ships-seas.jpg.02b15eec8cb01bd5f7522c44f6e7f0a0.jpg

I don't know if you saw my recommendation for this tire, but I feel it is one of - if not the best Spyder tire currently available ....I see you have them front and rear .... I'm glad you liked it .... and Thanks for posting ..... People like to hear from as many happy users of tires as possible ..... Mike

[CloverHillCrawler]

I don't know if you saw my recommendation for this tire, but I feel it is one of - if not the best Spyder tire currently available ....I see you have them front and rear .... I'm glad you liked it .... and Thanks for posting ..... People like to hear from as many happy users of tires as possible ..... Mike

I am very happy with the wet and dry traction of the tires but they may actually have a little bit too much traction at 16 lbs. I am still having the nanny kick in on certain maneuvers at lower speeds than the kendas.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I am very happy with the wet and dry traction of the tires but they may actually have a little bit too much traction at 16 lbs. I am still having the nanny kick in on certain maneuvers at lower speeds than the kendas.

Both Peter and I like 15 to 17 front ( 17 if aggressive ) and 18 for rear ..... Traction is what PREVENTS you from sliding into the " pucker-brush " in the " twistie's " ..... good luck .... Mike

[CloverHillCrawler]

Both Peter and I like 15 to 17 front ( 17 if aggressive ) and 18 for rear ..... Traction is what PREVENTS you from sliding into the " pucker-brush " in the " twistie's " ..... good luck .... Mike

True but I have also found that the nanny kicking in at the "wrong time" for me is really screwing up my line especially when navigating tight twistie's.

[Yabbadabbadoo]

I've got the new Quatrac's on my F3S since last year. I have about 7,000 miles on them now.
Excellent traction, smooth ride and great wet road and hydroplaning performance.
I've found that below 18 psi on the fronts they feel too soft on the sidewalls on hard corners.
Same thing on the rear tire, I think it needs at least 20 psi.
Overall I've been running them at 18 or 19 psi front and about 22 psi rear.
At 7,000 miles the fronts show very little wear. The rear is showing some wear but my OEM Kenda was about 80% worn at that point. I think the rear will make 20K miles before I need to change it.

[Peter Aawen]

True but I have also found that the nanny kicking in at the "wrong time" for me is really screwing up my line especially when navigating tight twistie's.

You could fiddle with your tire pressures a little more, aiming to get that 'ideal for the ambient temps & conditions facing my upcoming ride' on a daily basis rather than just using the one pressure to suit all the possible variations in ambient temps & conditions that you might meet, but if you do that, it's very easy to dive down the rabbit hole & end up chasing your own tail seeking the perfect pressure on each & every condition/variable change - and if you do that, you'll probably waste a whole lot of valuable ryding time making tiny changes while adjusting tire pressures instead of ryding! . For MOST conditions that MOST of us are likely to ride in, the lower pressures we usually use & recommend for car tires on Spyders are going to be pretty close to the ideal pressure for MOST of us, MOST of the time, so any 'fine tuning' of those pressure changes are going to be requiring changes of less than one psi or so.... and for MOST of us, adjusting pressures within that sort of range & to that sort of accuracy becomes an almost pointless exercise in futility while chasing our own tail.... or disappearing down a bottomless rabbit hole!

So if you've found that 16 psi works well MOST of the time for you, maybe you could try varying one or more or even any of the other things that might encourage Nanny intervention beyond just playing with the tire pressure?? . Possibly, you could brake a tad harder &/or earlier on the way in to each corner so that you knock a couple of mph off your cornering speed (yeah, silly thought I know, especially since once you get the hang of using the better braking & greater front end traction your Spyder has, you can leave pretty much every other road user in your dust thru the tight twisties... But hey, it works for some! ) Or if you don't want to do that, you could practice 'late apexing' each corner; &/or possibly work harder on pulling on your inside hand (rather than pushing with your outside hand ) so that you start to move your weight across to the inside of each corner a bit more/a bit earlier.... &/or you could even bend at the waist a bit more, get your weight over & in as your face gets a bit closer to your inside wrist, & really lean in to each corner; or if you want to get right into it, you could aim to 'kiss your wrist on the inside corner side' (that's only sorta metaphorically ) and maybe move your bum in & down off the inside edge of the seat a bit (or a lot! ) in order to bring your weight in & down low on the inside of the Spyder as you corner at or nearer to the Spyder's limit?? Doing any/all of that does tend to get the adrenaline going a bit more; but ridden harder & closer to their limits (limits that are well beyond those of most equally as well ridden 2-wheelers!) pushing a Spyder hard is not only faster it's a WHOLE LOT more exertion & physically engaging than riding a 2-wheeler as hard as you can!

It really comes down to how much you want to reduce those Nanny interventions &/or get into the groove of doing a perfect run....

[JimH]

Hi Peter and Others:

Recently had a rear Quadratic installed on the rear after doing the fronts late last summer. There was a remarkable improvement on handling when I did the fronts, but the OEM rear still allowed me to dirt track sometimes around very sharp corners. Once the rear Quadratic went on that stopped. I am running 16 front and 18 rear as recommended. I found Nanny kicking on and a swishy feeling if I made a too sharp of a turn. I modified and smoothed out my turning (at least I think I did) and nanny is quieter but still comes on at times. I do feel like I am glued to the road and it is helping my riding and safety. A couple of months ago I was going to put on aftermarket shocks, at this point I am not sure it is necessary. I have gotten top-tier advice from people who know better about not only tires but other Spyder items. I will continue on the 16 FR/18 RR pressure and give it time for us to get used to each other.

I read in many posts the benefit of replacing the Kenda's - it is the truth! I am thankful for all the advice I get here.

[RayBJ]

I have the Q5s up front and the new Q in back. Running 17/18. I push curves VERY HARD and the Kendas were horrible, kicking in Nanny very frequently. The Q series. sway bar, & shocks solved MOST of my problems and learning to be smoother with the throttle and steering in the high speed curves sealed the deal. I just returned from a 4 day run in the Adirondacks & Green Mtns (VT) chasing my Beemer buddies that love 90+ mph with minimum slow down in the twisties. The RT hung with them except when they pulled out of the corners. They did 140+ on the straights as I watched them get smaller and smaller. Best top I could get (OEM tune) was 106. I needed 91 octane to keep them in sight. I've been running 87 for 'normal' riding but had to switch to improve acceleration - especially in the tighter switch-backs. Nanny kicked in only twice in 4 days. Re: wet traction, We hit 2 hours of heavy rain Sunday and the RT felt planted at 60-70. In comparison, the Altmax RT43 had much poorer wet/cold traction so I swapped it for the new Q after 3000 miles.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Hi Peter and Others:

Recently had a rear Quadratic installed on the rear after doing the fronts late last summer. There was a remarkable improvement on handling when I did the fronts, but the OEM rear still allowed me to dirt track sometimes around very sharp corners. Once the rear Quadratic went on that stopped. I am running 16 front and 18 rear as recommended. I found Nanny kicking on and a swishy feeling if I made a too sharp of a turn. I modified and smoothed out my turning (at least I think I did) and nanny is quieter but still comes on at times. I do feel like I am glued to the road and it is helping my riding and safety. A couple of months ago I was going to put on aftermarket shocks, at this point I am not sure it is necessary. I have gotten top-tier advice from people who know better about not only tires but other Spyder items. I will continue on the 16 FR/18 RR pressure and give it time for us to get used to each other.

I read in many posts the benefit of replacing the Kenda's - it is the truth! I am thankful for all the advice I get here.

Jim, I ride aggressive in the " twistie's " also ..... I use 18 rear and 17 Fronts for that reason ..... I remember back when RADIAL tires started getting popular .... almost everyone Complained about the " squishy feeling " they gave.... Even tho the Spyders are much lighter..... They also will FEEL a bit squishy at times. .... Peter and I are FIRM believers in " tire science " which doesn't include any " Butts " other than Pro racers ..... I also recommend a BajaRon sway bar over changing Shocks/Springs. .... good luck .... Mike

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

True but I have also found that the nanny kicking in at the "wrong time" for me is really screwing up my line especially when navigating tight twistie's.

I ride aggressive in the " twistie's " and do see the " nanny " flash at times ..... however, mostly She doesn't change the handling.... The Flash is only a brief warning telling me to correct my input ie. braking / steering etc. .... IMHO Nanny is your friend, also Traction is your friend. .... good luck .... Mike

[chunkmonk]

Got stuck out in the storms on Sunday. After one batch had moved through another popped up real fast after attending a funeral on Sunday and I was on my way home and couldn't wait for it to pass as I had to go to work early Monday.

All I can say is thank you for the recommendation of these Quatrac's.

I was dealing with water ponding and running off of hills. If anybody is familiar with DC I had to go from Gaithersburg to Frederick on 355 as not to get mixed in with all of the traffic on 270 during a storm especially as the sun is going down.

It was a beautiful view of the lightning going across the sky, I never quite had that type of view of a storm at night but I have to give it to the Quatrac's, I was worried at first about the grip these would have in a downpour.

They were spot on, I was able to maintain 35-40 mph without hydroplaning and never lost their grip. Me on the other hand, well I was soaked like a wet rat. I had only expected light showers so I only took a windbreaker.

I pulled the Corbin off of the bike and gave it some love with some saddle soap and pulled out the frunk and access panels as to let a fan pass air air over and through the Spyder to dry it out.

Anything else I should check or lubricate after having the USS CloverCrawler out for a spin in the great blue? I feel like I need to mount a 5 inch Mk 45 on the frunk after that ride.

6de107f9ae60112ee4301b2683cb9641--us-navy-ships-seas.jpg.02b15eec8cb01bd5f7522c44f6e7f0a0.jpg

I'm glad the tyres worked out for you. Also, yes, I know the area you are talking about - I owned a house in Germantown, and one in Darnestown (128). Used to make runs out to the ferry and out around Poolesville... Now I live across the river in Harpers Ferry.

[CloverHillCrawler]

I'm glad the tyres worked out for you. Also, yes, I know the area you are talking about - I owned a house in Germantown, and one in Darnestown (128). Used to make runs out to the ferry and out around Poolesville... Now I live across the river in Harpers Ferry.

I was out your way last Saturday, stopped in Harpers Ferry for a pit stop to take a drink and get a few hits off of the CBD pen for my arthritis on the way back from a group ride out to Triple Crown BBQ in Luray.