Seeking help with front Fender Shimming, 2020 & later Spyder RT

[shakin_jake]

When I was in my early 40’s I wised up and purchased a motorcycle lift from Handy Industries. The one I have is operated with compressed air & IIRC this lift was a birthday present from Mrs. Jake as she didn’t care to see me roll around the garage floor to work on my motorcycles. Fast Forward 25 years and I’m back to rolling around on the floor as I work on my Can Am Spyder as it’s too wide to fit on the motorcycle lift. And here I thought I was making a giant leap forward getting a Spyder. Fun to ride, not so much fun having to get back down on the floor to work on this bastid

So your humble forum member bought dark side tires to replace the OEM rubber. Due to my unfamiliarity with J type wheels and a few other curve balls, it’s been one goat ph#*k after another changing the aforementioned tires yet I can’t imagine having this much fun doing any else in what little spare time I can spend on this hobby. Here’s my question for the day- Can anyone point me to a post in this forum a charitable member put up with pics showing how they attached washers to move the front fender on the 2020 & later Spyder RT’s? Poor old Jake is having a hard time trying to wrap his head around this baffling (for me) procedure. Any and all help is greatly appreciated


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood

[shakin_jake]

~~~here’s where I’m stuck. I see the 2 fender stays. One is 12 o’clock high, the other is to the right, a bit darker sticking up about 2 o’clock. I’m guessing those 2 fender stays are the ones that have to be shimmed. That said, the way the fasteners screw into the fenders, i have no idea where you would place washers to enable the fender to come out in order to accommodate the wider 175/55/15 tire. Maybe its like the guy that can’t see the forest for the trees but to my way of thinking, i don’t see how adding washers will enable the fender to come out so that the wider aftermarket tire onto the stock rim will fit


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood

[Peter Aawen]

If you want to space the inner fender away from the inside of the tire, then I reckon you're looking at the wrong screws Jake!

Try looking further down the stay brackets, to the very bottom of the stays where the brackets themselves bolt onto the end of the 'A' arm. IIRC, there's 4 bolts down there holding the fender stays onto the 'A' arm, two to each bracket, that bolt the bottom end of the fender brackets onto the inside of the 'A' arm end; so putting washers between the plate on the bottom of the stay brackets and the end of the 'A' arm where they bolt onto it will move the entire fender and brackets away from the wheel hub and IN, closer to the body of the Spyder, giving you more space in the wheel well for your wider tire... which is what you want, isn't it?!

And when it comes to slipping the wheel under the fender, the fender itself is a bit flexible, so if you angle the top of the wheel in and at the same time gently lift the outer lip of the fender over the top of the tire tread to let you slip the wheel hub over the lug nuts. Then once the wheel is on the lug nuts and secured, the fender lip should clear the tread of the 175/55R15 tire. I don't believe the fender styles have changed since the update that occurred waaay back in 2013, when my RT came out with the 'update fenders' that have the large raised rib on the outside, and I've been able to fit (large-ish) 175/60R15 tires under my fenders without any shimming; altho I did hafta swap out those hex head screws shown in your pic (with heads that project 10mm or so into the wheel well) that hold the black inner fender to the coloured arch bit - not those on the brackets that you've identified tho, cos they're recessed a bit away from the wheel, so they don't project out into the wheel well very much at all... I swapped the hex head screws for pan head screws that also don't project all that much.

I hope that makes sense & is of help... Over to you.

[shakin_jake]

If you want to space the inner fender away from the inside of the tire, then I reckon you're looking at the wrong screws Jake!

Try looking further down the stay brackets, to the very bottom of the stays where the brackets themselves bolt onto the end of the 'A' arm. IIRC, there's 4 bolts, two to each bracket, the bolt onto the inside of the 'A' arm end; so putting washers between the plate on the bottom of the stay brackets and the end of the 'A' arm where they bolt to it will move the entire fender and brackets IN, closer to the body of the Spyder, which is what you want, isn't it?!

And when it comes to slipping the wheel under the fender, the fender itself is a bit flexible, so you can angle the top of the wheel in and gently lift the outer lip of the fender over the top of the tire tread and slip the wheel hub over the lug nuts. Once the wheel is on the lug nuts and secured, the fender lip should clear the tread of the 175/55R15 tire. I don't believe the fender styles have changed since the update that occurred waaay back in 2013, when my RT came out with the 'update fenders' that have the large raised rib on the outside, and I've been able to fit (large-ish) 175/60R15 tires under my fenders without any shimming, altho I did hafta swap out all those hex head screws shown in your pic (with heads that project 10mm or so into the wheel well) that hold the black inner fender to the coloured arch bit - not those on the brackets that you've identified tho, cos they're recessed, so they don't project into the wheel well much at all... for pan head screws that also don't project all that much.

I hope that makes sense & is of help... Over to you.

~~~yes it did Peter, made sense. I was able to fit the wheel/tire by doing as you said. Also, after spinning the wheel/tire I determined shimming isn’t necessary and thank the Lord for that. Many thanks my friend!


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while

[EdMat]

I knew you could do it Jake.

[shakin_jake]

I knew you could do it Jake.

~~~I’m always appreciative of the help I get here Ed. I suppose when i get right down to it, I didn’t think I would have any trouble with it until another member (Northernsledder) mentioned in my other thread, that he thought I might need to shim the fenders, so the new Vredsteins wouldn’t rub on the fenders. Up until that point I never gave any thought to the possibility of the fenders needed shimming, then when I first tried to slide the wheel back onto the hub stubs, I encountered trouble doing so, that’s when I thought the fender needed to be shimmed to allow the wheel/tire onto the hub studs. Off course I was wrong, but I didn’t know that until Peter came along. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to how Cretin Girl runs and handles with the aftermarket rubber.

I should mention the reason I came about needing new tires. I may have mentioned why in my other thread but what happened was back in November of 2023 I was running down a dirt path with deep ruts. I ended up making a 180 degree turn and while turning the front wheels over the steep ruts, the left front tire lost air pressure completely, unbeknownst to me until I traveled a little faster and farther then I realized I was running on a flat tire. I made the decision at the time ride the 3 miles home on the totally flat left front tire. I could see that the wheel never touched tarmac once I got back on paved road (County Road 318), so I was satisfied I wasn't harming the wheel. As soon as I made it back home, I aired up the flat tire and it held all of the air. Next morning I adjusted the pressure and went for a ride at which time I discovered that I had a definite vibration coming from that wheel. After consulting with Mike (BLUEKNIGHT911) via messaging we determined the 3-mile ride on the flat tire, even though I never ran faster than 30 MPH, ruined the cords in the tire so the wisest step would be tire replacement.

I thought strongly of going with another set of OEM tires yet ultimately, I went for a set of Vredesteins in 175/55/15 after reading the praises of many members here. I thought it was a safe choice. Anyways, being the first time I replaced tires on my Spyder, it’s been an eye opening experience, and I have to agree with several here that have said, the easiest course of action if you want to DIY is to remove the wheels and let a tire shop handle the actual R&R of the old and new rubber. As for balancing I’ve been using the Marc Parnes kit on my last 2 two wheelers, so I had Marc send me the cones for the Spyder wheels and so far, I have the left wheel/tire balanced & now mounted. I’ve yet to do the right front but will as time allows. It goes w/o saying but I’ll say it anyways, I’m very appreciative of all the help I’ve received from the many members on this forum. AFAIC that’s one of the reasons why SpyderLovers is the best Internet forum for Can Am owners. The best resource bar none!


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood

[Mikey]

Jake, I would find a friend that can weld and come up with a mod to fix that nice jack to work under your ride!!