First ride today

[RealWing]

Picked up the RTL from the dealer today and rode about 200km home. Lots of fun!! Great riding machine.
It was missing one part- the heated passenger arm rests. Will install when available. Only surprise was when passing. The trike darts to the left when crossing the centre hump , plus adding passing power makes it drive more to the left - interesting!!
One question- should the drive belt be hard against the inside flange at the rear wheel??
Jim

[RayBJ]

Congrats!
Maybe holding on too tight?
The belt should be credit card gap from the flange. Needs adjustment.
Check your air pressures up front and be within 1/2 lb between them.
Get a laser alignment.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Picked up the RTL from the dealer today and rode about 200km home. Lots of fun!! Great riding machine.
It was missing one part- the heated passenger arm rests. Will install when available. Only surprise was when passing. The trike darts to the left when crossing the centre hump , plus adding passing power makes it drive more to the left - interesting!!
One question- should the drive belt be hard against the inside flange at the rear wheel??
Jim

It depends on how " hard " against that flange it is . ..... Mine is about 2 cc away .... but the Total range is about 3.5 mm ..... good luck .... Mike

[CopperSpyder]

On the new Spyder RTL, Nice looking machine!! The belt will move a little from side to side so check it a few times to see where it runs to be sure. Getting a laser alignment has helped a lot of times, but you just need to get use to the way the Spyder handles if you have not ridden one before. Give yourself time to adjust to the machine. Then look for ways to make it better for you if you have too.

[EdMat]

RealWing, that jerking to the left under heavy acceleration is possibly a subconscious forward movement of the right hand when you quickly twist the throttle. It doe not take much to be noticeable. Different things like this catch first time spyder riders off guard. I think it's worse for folks that have lots of 2 wheel miles. I was ready to sell mine during the first interstate ride. Now I think nothing of just using one hand and swapping out every 10 miles or so. Take your time, get used to it. Relax the grip a bit.

[ARtraveler]

[K80Shooter]

Also when you check the belt placement, make sure that you have went in a straight line for a short distance. The belt moves when you turn either left or right and takes a bit to get back in place

[Pooch]

Lower the front tire pressures to 18 cold. To me the owners manual recommendation of 20 in the front makes for squirrely and bouncy handling. As already stated, keep the front tire pressures with no more than 1/2 psi between the two.
I find the rear tire owners manual recommended cold pressure of 28 to be ok.. but 1 psi or 2 lower is pretty nice too.

[RealWing]

Also when you check the belt placement, make sure that you have went in a straight line for a short distance. The belt moves when you turn either left or right and takes a bit to get back in place

Good suggestion. I had just turned into the driveway and parked it. I’ll check after driving straight.

[RealWing]

Forgot to add that my Spyder was shipped without the heated passenger grips. I was not aware they came that way. Will be installed when available

[RealWing]

Checked tire pressures tonight. Outside temp was 21C or 70F

LF 18.3
RF 17.3
Rear 22.7

I'll check again in AM when it is cooler and I'll equalize the front pressures.

[Bangorbob]

Congrats! Blue and Red are my favorites. When moving to the left when passing a lot will depend on the crown of the road also. Where I live in Nevada a lot of the hiways and roads are what I would call rutted for heavy trucks/etc. Good luck and have fun.

[newdave]

Forgot to add that my Spyder was shipped without the heated passenger grips. I was not aware they came that way. Will be installed when available

That's the story I got when I picked up my '22. Dealer said BRP will contact me when they're available.

[JohnRuckus]

Lovely machine. Congrats!

[FrogmanDave]

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...-That-Aligment!!!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Picked up the RTL from the dealer today and rode about 200km home. Lots of fun!! Great riding machine.
It was missing one part- the heated passenger arm rests. Will install when available. Only surprise was when passing. The trike darts to the left when crossing the centre hump , plus adding passing power makes it drive more to the left - interesting!!
One question- should the drive belt be hard against the inside flange at the rear wheel??
Jim

Let me add to my original answer ..... " Belt is hard against the Flange " it's easy to check this drive straight for at least 50 feet ....stop... shut engine off and slowly roll it backwards ( also straight ) and see if the belt comes off the Flange .... If it does I doubt it's really HARD against the flange ..... If it doesn't I think you need to align that belt ..... good luck .... Mike

[RealWing]

Let me add to my original answer ..... " Belt is hard against the Flange " it's easy to check this drive straight for at least 50 feet ....stop... shut engine off and slowly roll it backwards ( also straight ) and see if the belt comes off the Flange .... If it does I doubt it's really HARD against the flange ..... If it doesn't I think you need to align that belt ..... good luck .... Mike

I did that and it did not come off the flange. I would have expected that check to be part of the pdi??

[RealWing]

Contacted the dealer today about the belt alignment and they want me to bring it in (400 Km/250 miles round trip!!) I checked the belt alignment on the front pulley and it looked ok.
Also told them about the steering instability going over the crown in the road and they will also do a laser alignment at the same time. The service manual toe specs appear to be +/-2 deg, but I thought there would be a preferred setting?

[K80Shooter]

Contacted the dealer today about the belt alignment and they want me to bring it in (400 Km/250 miles round trip!!) I checked the belt alignment on the front pulley and it looked ok.
Also told them about the steering instability going over the crown in the road and they will also do a laser alignment at the same time. The service manual toe specs appear to be +/-2 deg, but I thought there would be a preferred setting?

If you would drop the psi in the front tires to about 18psi it will steer a lot better. Thats what I run in my stock Kendas (Krapendas)

[RealWing]

If you would drop the psi in the front tires to about 18psi it will steer a lot better. Thats what I run in my stock Kendas (Krapendas)

I set both to 18 aftrer I found more than 1/2 psi difference between them. Didn’t notice any improvement

[K80Shooter]

I set both to 18 aftrer I found more than 1/2 psi difference between them. Didn’t notice any improvement

I didn't re-read the earlier post's and thought you might be running 22 or so in the front.

[RideOn]

Also when you check the belt placement, make sure that you have went in a straight line for a short distance. The belt moves when you turn either left or right and takes a bit to get back in place

The belt will also move quite a bit when you use reverse. I agree that forward in a straight line is more accurate.

[RealWing]

Took the Spyder to the dealer today. They corrected the rear wheel belt alignment to ensure there was a small gap (fingernail width they said is the spec!!) at the inner flange. They also did a laser alignment. It wasn't too bad they said. Left wheel was out by 6mm and right by 5 mm.(approx 1/4”). They readjusted and it now seems much better on the road.

[ks4hcoach]

My son bought a 2009 Spyder GS about 6-7 years ago when he was living in Minnesota. He brought it down to my place in Kansas for the winter as he did not have a place to store it inside...and I did. So of course, I started riding the 2009GS Spyder and enjoyed driving it, especially with my wife as a passenger. The handling, especially on the two lane ashphalt and chip and seal roads in my area could best be described as "twitchy". It liked to dart around with dips and irregularities in the road, but despite that was still fun to drive.

I had made a fixture to check the toe in/toe out on my ATVs in the past and knew from experience that a "toe out" condition on the front will make the ATV steering very sensitive and very "twitchy". Upon checking the GS Spyder, I found it in a toe out condition of well over 1/4 inch. No wonder it was darting around and twitchy to drive on less than smooth roads. I adjusted both front tie rods to bring the front end to a very slightly "toe in" base on my measuring jig and found this to vastly improve the steering on the rough roads. Later that fall I took the bike to the local Can Am dealer to have the laser alignment done. Bike drove much better after that. I can highly recommend the laser alignment, especially on the older units that had alignment work done that may have been questionable at best.

I later found out that the dealer that he bought the 2009 used GS Spyder from did not do the laser alignment. Several years later, this shop went out of business...

In any case the laser alignment is well worth seeking out as it will maximize the driving experience of the Spyder. Adding better sway bars, better shocks, and good tires such as the Vredesteines also all contribute to a more stable, better handlng experience on your Spyder.

Thanks

Rod