My module finally arrived and I took delivery of my new Spyder!

[ECM747X]

Got an Email Thursday that my module came in and was installed. The other parts, comfort seat, moveable wind deflectors, were installed. Just had to install the trailer hitch. That was installed Friday morning and was out the door early Friday afternoon with it. I have put 536 miles on it this weekend. Took it easy Friday and unlearned 45 years of two wheels. Felt comfortable at the end of the day. Did a little over 100 miles on it Friday. Saturday the wife and I took it out for most of the day. She loves it and is getting her endorsement so she may ride it as well. Today, put it through its paces on very twisty roads around me. I had a ball. I am completely impressed by the way in handles and corners. However, I am going to get the Baja Ron sway bar. Just has a little to much sway for my taste. Already on order. I bought several things today for the Spyder actually. Spread it out over multiple vendors from this site.

[pegasus1300]

Being a visual society, we really like pictures

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Got an Email Thursday that my module came in and was installed. The other parts, comfort seat, moveable wind deflectors, were installed. Just had to install the trailer hitch. That was installed Friday morning and was out the door early Friday afternoon with it. I have put 536 miles on it this weekend. Took it easy Friday and unlearned 45 years of two wheels. Felt comfortable at the end of the day. Did a little over 100 miles on it Friday. Saturday the wife and I took it out for most of the day. She loves it and is getting her endorsement so she may ride it as well. Today, put it through its paces on very twisty roads around me. I had a ball. I am completely impressed by the way in handles and corners. However, I am going to get the Baja Ron sway bar. Just has a little to much sway for my taste. Already on order. I bought several things today for the Spyder actually. Spread it out over multiple vendors from this site.

& .... I highly recommend IMPROVED sway-bars over going the shock / spring change .... that being said with ONLY 500 + miles driving a Spyder I think you are adding something before you are able to tell if a Sway-bar is even needed. Do you think your Spyder is handling so poorly that getting a sway-bar is Critical to your safety or even joy ?????. I sincerely believe you need to have at least 3 or 4,000 mi. driving time before you make this decision. However I'm a FIRM believer in Freedom , so it's your choice ..... good luck .... Mike

[bigbadbrucie]

I totally agree with everything you’ve said Mike...100%. I actually had put on 50,000 km’s (35,000 mile +/-) before I added the sway bar to mine.

[ECM747X]

I do understand what you are saying. And appreciate the input. I, however, have many miles under my belt with high performance vehicles and racing. I can tell right away on if something needs a little improvement. It isn't that it handles badly, I can just tell it can be improved with a stiffer sway bar. I notice little things like that right away on about anything I drive. When I was hard in the curves today I could really feel the roll in it. Especially when hitting close together S turns.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I do understand what you are saying. And appreciate the input. I, however, have many miles under my belt with high performance vehicles and racing. I can tell right away on if something needs a little improvement. It isn't that it handles badly, I can just tell it can be improved with a stiffer sway bar. I notice little things like that right away on about anything I drive. When I was hard in the curves today I could really feel the roll in it. Especially when hitting close together S turns.

.... I get goosebumps when we here at Spyderlovers get a New member who has a great wealth of knowledge .... So how do feel about the OEM Kenda tires ?????? ..... Mike

[ECM747X]

Well, I'm not unimpressed with the tires. Nor impressed... As I mentioned I did put it through the paces on the road today. There were two instances of some understeer. This did occur on some uneven pavement though. Some could have been the tires and some could have been the shocks. One time, I am pretty sure, it was the shocks not rebounding enough. But, I really wont ride like this normally. Just wanted to see how it actually handled. The other time I did feel as if the front tires lost a little traction it was very brief and just a slight correction in steering stopped it. All the other times the tires held well on even pavement through the turns. This is where the roll comes in. I think the roll is causing the camber to change, more than it should. Also, I need to check the alignment. When going thru S turns I could feel the steering being a little squirrely as the bike shifted its lean left to right and back. The camber could be different between the front tires making the roll affect the steering even more in the approach to the curves and the rear may not be tracking correctly either. I did notice the belt isn't centered on the rear pulley. So, it may be a combination of several things. Once I check the alignment, or point it out to the dealership and see what they do to check it, and it is good, then I can better judge the tires. I do know I need a stiffer sway bar though. I really feel the roll is excessive. I would like the front to stay planted a little better than it is. For lack of a better term.

[ECM747X]

Now, with all that, I am still impressed with the Spyder. I rode a few motorcycle trikes, I wouldn't ever own one. Not putting the many that have them down in the least. Just not something I liked to ride. With a few tweaks, so to speak, the Spyder can be an even a better ride. I am not going to put a bunch of money into front shocks, unless these start showing signs of wear or the springs lose their tension. I plan on two up touring pulling my trailer behind it, checking out many different camping areas. I am not much of a speed junkie anymore. I am getting older and my reflexes aren't what they used to be. LOL. MY wife hasn't seen much of the country. That's our plan. I took her out to my moms in Arizona and rode the bike there. She was like a kid in a candy store seeing all the sights. As I am getting older my Indian Roadmaster was just getting a little too much to hold up riding two up. My left knee isn't what it should be anymore. There were a couple of times when she was dismounting that my knee gave out and I almost dumped the bike. Hence, me having a Spyder now. I love the bike and it is pretty much everything I hoped it would be.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Well, I'm not unimpressed with the tires. Nor impressed... As I mentioned I did put it through the paces on the road today. There were two instances of some understeer. This did occur on some uneven pavement though. Some could have been the tires and some could have been the shocks. One time, I am pretty sure, it was the shocks not rebounding enough. But, I really wont ride like this normally. Just wanted to see how it actually handled. The other time I did feel as if the front tires lost a little traction it was very brief and just a slight correction in steering stopped it. All the other times the tires held well on even pavement through the turns. This is where the roll comes in. I think the roll is causing the camber to change, more than it should. Also, I need to check the alignment. When going thru S turns I could feel the steering being a little squirrely as the bike shifted its lean left to right and back. The camber could be different between the front tires making the roll affect the steering even more in the approach to the curves and the rear may not be tracking correctly either. I did notice the belt isn't centered on the rear pulley. So, it may be a combination of several things. Once I check the alignment, or point it out to the dealership and see what they do to check it, and it is good, then I can better judge the tires. I do know I need a stiffer sway bar though. I really feel the roll is excessive. I would like the front to stay planted a little better than it is. For lack of a better term.

Excellent review ..... Thanks .... Mike

[Saluda]

Congrats and enjoy.

[Piratezz]

Congrats and enjoy, Swaybar is going to improve that alot, front is then way more planted, and reading that you are cruisin with the spyder, that swaybar, and tyres, are right on point for you....
If you really wanna seek the limits of the spyder, then shocks come in to mind... and good tyres....and for comfort you might wanna install a cupholder, ... there is so much stuff on the market, once the farklevirus bytes, it hooks and never would let go.

Just enjoy the miles of smiles, the RT is going to give you....

[kroache]

Now, with all that, I am still impressed with the Spyder. I rode a few motorcycle trikes, I wouldn't ever own one. Not putting the many that have them down in the least. Just not something I liked to ride. With a few tweaks, so to speak, the Spyder can be an even a better ride. I am not going to put a bunch of money into front shocks, unless these start showing signs of wear or the springs lose their tension. I plan on two up touring pulling my trailer behind it, checking out many different camping areas. I am not much of a speed junkie anymore. I am getting older and my reflexes aren't what they used to be. LOL. MY wife hasn't seen much of the country. That's our plan. I took her out to my moms in Arizona and rode the bike there. She was like a kid in a candy store seeing all the sights. As I am getting older my Indian Roadmaster was just getting a little too much to hold up riding two up. My left knee isn't what it should be anymore. There were a couple of times when she was dismounting that my knee gave out and I almost dumped the bike. Hence, me having a Spyder now. I love the bike and it is pretty much everything I hoped it would be.

I also have a RoadMaster. It definitely can be a handful riding 2 up. My wife prefers the Spyder so we always take it if travelling together. I removed the trunk and still use the RM when out messing around with my 2 wheel buddies. They give me lots of grief over the new Spyder but that's all OK. Can't get any of them to test ride it though....I think they're worried they might actually like the thing lol.
Congrats on the new Spyder!!

[Woodenfish]

Just a little Spyder information I can share with you because I haven’t had mine long enough to know as much as others on this board is that the drive belt is not supposed to be centered on the pulley. It should be about a credit cards thickness away from the inner edge. Hope you continue to enjoy your purchase.

[Pooch]

You might want to lower the front tire pressures 2-3 pounds cold. On my 2021 RTL I lowered the front Kenda tires to 18psi but kept the rear Kenda at 28 (as per the manual for the rear tire). Made one HECK of a difference for me in handling. Also, the manual advises to keep the front tires not more than .5 psi from each other. With this improvement in handling I am not seeing a new sway bar in my future.

[FrogmanDave]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

[GreyGhost]

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Just a little Spyder information I can share with you because I haven’t had mine long enough to know as much as others on this board is that the drive belt is not supposed to be centered on the pulley. It should be about a credit cards thickness away from the inner edge. Hope you continue to enjoy your purchase.

At some point you may discover the Spyder video of what the BELT is doing while you are driving it ..... it moves left to right and back on the rear pulley ..... constantly .... ( Ask IdahoMountainSpyder, he may have the LINK ..)Mike

[Spyderrage]

& .... I highly recommend IMPROVED sway-bars over going the shock / spring change .... that being said with ONLY 500 + miles driving a Spyder I think you are adding something before you are able to tell if a Sway-bar is even needed. Do you think your Spyder is handling so poorly that getting a sway-bar is Critical to your safety or even joy ?????. I sincerely believe you need to have at least 3 or 4,000 mi. driving time before you make this decision. However I'm a FIRM believer in Freedom , so it's your choice ..... good luck .... Mike

Everybody is right about riding your spider and getting use to it before making changes . I installed heavier sway bar on mine and ended up taking it back off. Spider rides and handles much better with stock sway bar . BRP engineers know what there doing . When I started riding the Spyder I was riding with a death grip on the grips and over correcting moves . Was all over the road .

[ECM747X]

Thank you all for the inputs. Much appreciated. I was going to look into the tire pressures as well. Just ran out of time. Won't be able to be back on the Spyder till Friday. Work calls unfortunately. I did get the service manual and did read up on the belt alignment procedure. You are correct about the small gap from the edge. Yes, a couple of cub holders are definitely in order. The Boss already told me to get some. LOL.

[ECM747X]

Got to go over the Spyder this weekend. A few things I found. Front tire PSIs were 23 and 20.5 PSI. Rear was 30. That explains some of the handling issues. Dropped the fronts down to 18, rear to 28. Rode for 2 hours and the PSI only rose 2 PSI. So I am leaving them there. The steering is much better now. The rear belt. It was all the way against the flange with no gap. Re-aligned the belt. I did lift the rear up and run it it thru to watch the belt and not once did it come off the flange before the alignment. Was able to get my GPS mount and wiring done. At the same time, modified my bars to where they would go forward more and then repositioned the left and right modules to be level again with some minor modification. I had to move them forward due to my height. When in a left turn the bar would hit my leg and I would have to swing it outward in a tight turn. Put my K.O.T.T grills on and installed rear armrests for the wife. Its coming along nicely. The test ride after the belt and tire PSI adjustment was like night and day. Still going to install the heavier sway bar though.

[ARtraveler]

[imgoinmad]

Got an Email Thursday that my module came in and was installed....

What's with Indiana that people are getting their parts? You're the 3rd person I've seen on this forum from IN who has had their parts arrive!

[Azbronco]

Wow--sounds like the dealer wasn't as thorough as they should have been!

[TheCajun1957]

Something you may consider, get a frontend laser alignment, makes a world of difference.

[FrogmanDave]

Something you may consider, get a frontend laser alignment, makes a world of difference.

Give my thread a read Click here