Can I just disconnect the under Seat switch on my 2022 RTL?

[ahh-cool]

On the RT there is a switch on the bottom of the back seat. I know they make a cap that covers that switch. Can I just disconnect it and then the Nanny will not know when we ride 2 up?

[Mikey]

Well first you have to know which way the switch in there works, open loop or closed loop; that way you know whether you have to tie the wires together or leave them separate but taped up of course. Do you really horse around enough to want to disable that system? As much as we all bitch about her, she probably has saved our bacon a few times!! Just make a cap; it's the easy way out and you can always take it out easily if you ever change your mind and come back down to earth. Be safe!!! Good luck!

[Snowbelt Spyder]

On the RT there is a switch on the bottom of the back seat. I know they make a cap that covers that switch. Can I just disconnect it and then the Nanny will not know when we ride 2 up?

If you really want to disable a safety system, reduce your braking effectiveness, and increase your chances of flipping over in a tight and fast turn, and ending up in a hospital bed…or worse…have at it. Too much? That’s the point.

Besides, on our earlier Spyders, disconnecting that switch caused a VSS trouble light and code to be set. Maybe the same on the 20+ models, also.

[EdMat]

Since it's a 3 wire connection it knows when it is disconnected as the switch has both open and closed elements at the same time. You would need to remove it and put it to the side where it could not be compressed, block it off in place, or put together a plug connecting the 2 leads that should make up the closed circuit. If not, you throw a code.

[SLICE]

When that switch rapidly slows the trike it will scare the ever living crap out of you, it has close to nearly tossing my wife off the side of the bike.

''Their'' safety device is deadly IMO.

There are those of us that know how to ride aggressively and remain in control of the machine.

Can you just imagine that happening on 2 wheels you'd be doing the pavement slide in the blink of an eye.

Flame on.

[ahh-cool]

Maybe I'm confused on what it does. I was told it makes the bike sluggish when 2 up. My bike rides so much better when I ride alone

[Peter Aawen]

Maybe I'm confused on what it does. I was told it makes the bike sluggish when 2 up. My bike rides so much better when I ride alone

Yep, someone's been feeding you stories if you think it's that button making it any more sluggish!

That button really only changes the timing and degree of when/how much the Nanny will step in, basically aiming to help keep you, your pillion, and your Spyder upright & pointing in the direction you are aiming it with the greater weight aboard and the raised CoG that carrying a pillion up high on the rear, cantilevered waaay out over the rear tire brings!! Adding extra weight up high like that & right out on the end of the dirty great lever these things have behind the swing arm pivot & the upper shock mount can REALLY mess up your Spyder's directional control and stability VERY QUICKLY, especially under hard cornering &/or brake applications, so that switch detects any significant weight back there and triggers an earlier & more proactive Nanny response as well as changing the front/rear brake balance so that you don't end up tossing your pillion over you & the handlebars if you ever hafta panic stop!!

But it doesn't change the way the engine produces power, or retard your potential acceleration; so any 'extra sluggishness' you might detect while riding 2-up is really down to the extra weight you've got on the Spyder, and the only way to really fix that is to up the power output or minimize the extra weight. Have you considered a Stage 1 or 2 ECU Upgrade?? A Pedal Commander or similar might help you get quicker response to your throttle inputs, but the only real way you can get more power &/or maintain your Spyder's 'peppiness' etc with an extra load/pillion passenger aboard is to upgrade the ECU to unleash a bit more of that power that BRP has deemed you're not allowed to have but the same engines in other applications CAN have, seemingly without impacting on the engine reliability too; OR you need to reduce the weight you are asking your Spyder to carry when you're riding 2-up! Good luck with the latter bit! Me, I'd be doing the ECU Upgrade, and maybe a cat delete plus a lighter a/mkt exhaust if you haven't already done it - that'll instantly get rid of a bunch of useless weight!

[Mikey]

Course the bike rides better when you're alone; in the back of your mind, you're not thinking of the responsibility you have onboard and you're having fun, plus some of the things Peter said. I guess the best way and cheapest way to test out this theory is to make the cap to cover the switch and try that out, if your bike is still numb after that and you don't like it, open your wallet up and do what Peter said.

[ahh-cool]

I guess the biggest problem I have is that it doesn't corner as well with 2 up. I thought that would fix that problem

[Wahrsuul]

Couldn't possibly have anything to do with the extra weight...

As far as I'm concerned, nanny it too abrupt already, at leas on my '14. Maybe it's smoother on the newer models?

Doesn't matter - when I'm riding two-up, I'm not trying to ride hard, so it's not an issue.

[K80Shooter]

I guess the biggest problem I have is that it doesn't corner as well with 2 up. I thought that would fix that problem

Have you replaced the stock sway bar? If so you might need to do something to the front shocks, spring adjusters maybe?

I have not noticed that on mine but, my wife does not like going fast in the twisties, if I do, she reminds me real quick like. We need an emoji getting whacked with a fry pan.

[Mikey]

I guess the biggest problem I have is that it doesn't corner as well with 2 up. I thought that would fix that problem

What is it doing that you don't like? Help us, help you!

[Snowbelt Spyder]

I guess the biggest problem I have is that it doesn't corner as well with 2 up. I thought that would fix that problem

But, are you actually getting VSS interventions, or is the machine simply not handling the same? The VSS system doesn’t work in secret. You’d know it. It tells you. And of course, handling changes when you add the extra weight and change the center of gravity.

Is your passenger helping by leaning into the turn with you, or do they have a death grip on the handles trying to keep sitting upright?

The problem, when people complain about VSS interventions, is that there is no Time Machine. You can’t go back and re-run the same maneuver without a VSS system, and see if you’d still have a good outcome. Even if an intervention is abrupt, it could be keeping you right side up.

So, as mentioned, you might want to consider upgrading the sway bar if you haven’t, air pressures, alignment, teach you passenger how to ride in the corners, etc., whatever is applicable.

[ahh-cool]

I just ordered the Baja Ron sway bar.
Not sure what a Vss intervention is.
She does not lean in the turn unless I ask her
For the most part she just sits there relaxed.
It just doesn't handle well in the turns

[K80Shooter]

I just ordered the Baja Ron sway bar.
Not sure what a Vss intervention is.
She does not lean in the turn unless I ask her
For the most part she just sits there relaxed.
It just doesn't handle well in the turns

Get the bar installed and you'll see an improvement.
Not sure what psi you have in the front tires but I run mine "cold" at 17 and by the time the tires warm up it's around 18.5 to 19 + or -.

[Peter Aawen]

I just ordered the Baja Ron sway bar.
Not sure what a Vss intervention is.
She does not lean in the turn unless I ask her
For the most part she just sits there relaxed.
It just doesn't handle well in the turns

The thing about Spyders is that if you want to ride them a bit more than gently, both you and your pillion MUST become much more involved than you would on a 2-wheeled motorcycle, or it won't handle well in the turns, maybe also not on the straights either.

At their most basic level, just about anyone can ride a 2-wheeled motorcycle once they get the thing moving, because there's two dirty great gyroscopes (the wheels!) keeping everything upright and wanting to go straight ahead; and all it takes to turn is to lean in the direction you want to go... Sure, there's skill in going faster, pointing it where you want to go, and judging the amount of lean necessary for cornering etc, but the physics of it all actively helps a 2-wheeled bike rider in many ways. And if people can get over their innate prejudices & fears about riding harder, faster, & leaning more, it's a naturally intuitive progression from there; as you get more confident you learn how far to lean and how to use the handlebars & throttle to help make those turns; but it's all fairly intuitive, and until you start riding harder/going faster there's not much actual 'work' or 'effort' involved, so MOST people can actually stay upright on a 2-wheeler AND make some pretty reasonable turns, without much need for upper body strength or movement.

And at its most basic level, the same applies to Spyders... IF you don't want to ride it all that fast or turn it too hard, you & any pillion can simply sit on it like half-filled sacks of potatoes and tootle around with little effort, nice and relaxed and enjoying the view -and that's fine, if that's what you want to do! BUT, once you decide you want to ride harder &/or turn quicker etc, it's NOT so intuitive anymore and you're going to hafta WORK HARDER to do this - because it doesn't lean and make things easy for you, the Spyder is going to feel like it's trying to throw you off on the outside of any corner or turn, and if you & your pillion don't become actively involved and WORK with the Spyder to help it turn harder & faster, it's gonna feel like it doesn't handle well at all! The brisker you want to ride, the MORE you both hafta lean into the turns and become active participants in physically riding this machine that's trying its hardest to throw you off! The faster you want to ride and to turn, the more work YOU BOTH are going to hafta do! If you don't, it's not going to be a great ride; but if you both DO start leaning into the turns and working with the Spyder to help counter all the 'throw you off' forces that 2-wheeled bike riders never really get to experience (well, not until it all goes truly pear shaped anyway! ) then the better you'll both feel about the ride, the more agile the Spyder will feel, and the faster you'll be able to dive IN to corners; the harder you'll be able to turn THRU the corners; and the quicker you'll be able to get on the gas on the way OUT of the corners, all without the concerns for bumps or slippery/loose surfaces that the 'not working as hard' 2-wheeled bike rider hasta worry about! So once you are actively involved in riding your Spyder and doing anything much more than sitting there like a quite relaxed half filled sack of potatoes, it gets closer to becoming the far more agile and quicker thru the tight stuff machine than any 2-wheeled motorcycle ever could be - but you and your pillion will only get out of it as much as you put in!

Once you start pushing yourself &/or your Spyder a bit harder/faster, it becomes a trade-off - 2-wheeled bike riders don't hafta work so hard or think so much about the actual riding 'process' anywhere near so much because it's so intuitive and the dirty great gyroscopes (wheels) at each end of the machine will be working to KEEP them upright &/or cornering iaw their lean angle, but they do hafta think about the road surface & how far they can lean before their (tiny) tire contact patches lose any grip on the road et al; while Spyder/Ryker riders have nowhere near the concerns about their steed's stability and grip, but they DO hafta think more about and work harder to counteract all the forces that are seeking to throw them off instead of helping them stay on like they do on that 2-wheeled bike!

Ps: If you don't already know what a VSS Intervention is, then it's unlikely that you've been riding hard enough; pushing the extremities of your Spyder's capabilities enough; or doing anything silly enough to have woken the Nanny up & triggered too much in the way of a Vehicle Stability System (VSS) Intervention already! If you HAD done enough to get anything more than maybe get a quick flash of the Spyder profile with squiggly lines behind each wheel that appears momentarily on the dash as the Nanny steps in to keep your rear wheel from spinning too much, then you would know it!! A full on VSS Intervention is very noticeable, and not really something you want to aim to trigger, cos basically, it means the Nanny gets very busy saving your butt from whatever unstable or uncontrolled situation you've managed to end up in, and she can use pretty much any & every controllable feature of the Spyder except to change where you've pointed the handlebars - so make sure you ALWAYS point those handlebars where you WANT TO GO, and not at anything you want to avoid!!

The VSS/Nanny can save you from a LOT of things, but she can't save you from an excess of your own stupidity, so please, leave that at home when you go out riding!

[ahh-cool]

Peter, I can control me, my wife is another story. She sits there in a daze. We don't have a car and I put as much as 2,000 miles a month on the RT

[Snoking1127]

Time to leave her home alone or get a new wife. If she is going to ride on the Spyder, then what Peter says is what she needs to do.

[Peter Aawen]

Peter, I can control me, my wife is another story. She sits there in a daze. We don't have a car and I put as much as 2,000 miles a month on the RT

Have you talked to her about it?? Is she scared of falling off or of being thrown off?? Cos if she is, then the second-best way to LESSEN the chance of that happening is for her to become actively involved in the process and to lean juuust a bit MORE than you do!!

If nothing else about your riding changes, then in order for her to minimise the chances of causing a riding incident in the situation you've described she needs to become an active rider! Sitting there in a daze is a recipe for disaster, and if she's not leaning her weight/upper body into the turn at least as much as you do, then because of the pillion's slightly higher and further back away from the Spyder's CoG, there's going to be more of that nasty centrifugal force stuff 'acting' on her and attempting to throw her off the Spyder & out of the turn! So by becoming actively involved in making sure that as much of the 'up high' rider/pillion weight gets brought forward & in towards the inside of the corner, she will be contributing significantly to minimising the chances of anything untoward happening. And at the same time, she'll be getting a bit of a (gentle??) work-out too, which is always good for your over-all fitness and something strongly recommended to those wishing to maintain an active, healthy, and long life!

But of course, the FIRST-best way to reduce the chances of a riding incident while riding 2-up is for you as the rider/pilot/operator to take your pillion passenger's comfort and safety into account and ride accordingly, even if it means you need to slow down a little &/or go easier on your cornering! These Spyders are really great for that tho, cos they have more stopping power and better stability thru the corners, so you can still ride reasonably spiritedly in the straight bits, then brake for the corners, maybe earlier or possibly a bit later but harder; steer your way thru the corner at a slower speed without too much concern for loss of traction or comfort etc due to the extra stability provided by 3 Wheels, especially if the surface isn't ideal; and then get on the gas earlier going out - so effectively you can ride as hard or harder on the straights, only end up doing all your cornering gentler for your pillion passenger's comfort, but you spend less time braking & off the gas than just about anything else on the road could do trying the same thing, and that way you can maintain a fairly good 'average speed' while still looking after your pillion.... Mind you, all the earlier or harder braking to slow down a bit more than you would otherwise followed by quickly getting on the gas again, quite likely sooner & maybe a little harder in order to get back up to speed may well cut into your fuel economy a fair bit, cos your best fuel economy will be achieved by minimising any of that sorta thing and aiming to smoothly maintain the best speed you can while keeping your engine revs in the guts of its most efficient Rev range in the highest gear you can pull for the given road speed...

So there's your choices - either your pillion becomes more involved & thereby possibly more comfortable/less concerned about the reduced forces acting to throw her off during cornering too; or you adjust your riding style to cater for her need for slower cornering. Either way it's a bit of a trade-off for someone isn't it!

Good Luck!

[Mikey]

When I got my bike, the first thing I found was I didn't like all of the body roll the bike had in the corners, that was the first thing that had to go! I got a BajaRon bar, what a difference it made. But it was not the total package, my front end still wasn't right, it felt soft and not connected to the road, so I adjusted my shocks to the top, because that's all you could do with the piece of crap shocks that came on a 2012 RTL at the time, it helped a little more but still wasn't right. Got a set of aftermarket shocks from Elka, oh yea that was just what the doctor ordered. And now I am waiting to put the icing on the cake, as soon as the front tires wear out, with a set of car tires. Things have changed a little from 2012, but some things haven't, they still like to not give us a real good suspension under our bikes, and we have to tweak them to fit our way of riding. You drive different than me, so really only you can decide how far down the rabbit hole you need to go. But what I can say is, you're heading the right way in my book, do one step at a time and ride it a while to give it a chance. You still haven't told us what year you're riding, so it hard to tell what you may need from here, but you will see a change with the bar!!!

[Pooch]

One easy thing for her to try is..
When entering a curve press your foot down firmly on the outside foot board.
I.e… when turning left, press down on the right foot board and vice-versa.
This will help her maintain a proper riding position without her feeling like she has to struggle to stay on the seat.
Additionally, she might try using her knees to squeeze with and hold her body in a more stable position.
This advice is also for the driver… works great…. I learned this when I bought my Gold Wing trike years ago.

One experience I had was another rider’s wife found her pillion seat to be extremely uncomfortable after 2-3 hours riding.
They asked if she could ride my pillion seat for the ride home.. since I had the only available pillion seat. I have to say I have never been so uncomfortable with a passenger.. EVER …. this woman swayed side-to-side on the straightaways and forward onto me in the very slow curves. The swaying side-to-side made me constantly trying to hold the bike in the road. That was odd as I don’t have that swaying when its just me riding alone.
She was slumping so far forward that my arms were bent hard from her pushing me forward…and I had a Utopia back rest between us.
I felt I was nearly lying on the handlebars. Plus, lifting my foot to get it onto the brake was a huge effort.. I was that pushed forward. I hollered over my shoulder for her to hang onto the grab bars which I think she did do but she made no effort to control the rest of her body. When the group finally stopped I asked her if she was rested enough to go back to her husband’s pillion seat and thankfully she said yes. WHEW! My arms were toast and I was worn out after that ride.

[EdMat]

Some might want to watch a few Coach Bob and Coach Vic utube vids. She is paralyzed from the waist down and enjoys her time on the back of a Spyder.

[canamjhb]

I have had many pillion riders over the years, mostly on 2 wheels. It's important to provide instructions and expectations, even for experienced riders. Perhaps you might have come from 2 wheels??? Riding pillion on 2 is VERY different than on a Spyder. When I had a pillion rider on 2, I instructed them to not wiggle around or lean. Let me do the leaning. If they feel the need to look around me in corners, to do so around my inside shoulder. The very worst pillion rider I ever experienced was the time I took a fellow experienced rider 125 miles to a dealer to pick up his new bike. He kept trying to "ride the bike" from the pillion. He just could not sit still!

The Spyder is completely different. It does require more rider participation to perform it's best. I think Peter's advice is right on. If your wife is sitting still because she may be used to being a 2-wheel pillion rider, giving here some (gentle) instruction about the differences may help. And, who knows, maybe she will like being more involved in the riding experience. Good luck..... Jim

[SLICE]

OK the MTV button blocker has been installed and I got the wife out for a 135 mile ride. OH MY WORD what a difference not having the nanny shut me down and every street corner or red light turn or on ramp to the interstate.

Here in Florida when it's your turn to go you GO or risk being run over (seriously) I have never visited or lived in a state with such aggressive drivers. Every traffic light is a drag race to the next one. I seldom take the trike on the interstate because I don't want to ride at 80 + MPH like I do in the car.

135 miles today and my wife did not get launched into me once nor did she shut of the cruise control by fidgeting around in her seat.

If this button blocker was $50- I would have bought it, it is well worth every penny.

now here's a CAVEAT, this IS NOT for EVERYBODY. I am a super aggressive rider and after decades of riding my wife is use to my style of riding whether I was on my sport bike's or my touring Harley's or this spYder we both are tuned into each other.

Again this is not for everyone chose wisely. YYMV.

Stephan.

PS I just put up a video of my reaction to the button blocker on my YT channel
@asmallsliceofamerica

[Jetfixer]

On the RT there is a switch on the bottom of the back seat. I know they make a cap that covers that switch. Can I just disconnect it and then the Nanny will not know when we ride 2 up?

Sure you can. But I'd bounce that one off your insurance agent first if I was you.