disappointed with rt

[rick]

G;day everybody, its been 3 weeks since we picked up our new rt and as proud owners we've done the usual driving around showing off the bike to anyone who would look at it, also trying to get used to the feel of the bike, after all its a totally different riding style to my honda vtx, so yesterday we decided to take the rt on its first country run. The weather was worm but windy. unfortunately it is a long weekend so the traffic was bad. The first thing that i noticed was when it came to overtaking, the shocking lack of power! On the vtx a simple turn of the throttle and hang on, when the time came to overtake on the rt turning the throttle resulted in nothing! Ok change down and get the revs up but still very slow excel-oration. The bike seemed to struggle to hold its speed and as gusts of wind hit, the bike felt like a brick on wheels. The speed would drop by as much as 5 km/h. In my opinion, this engine lacks low down torque and when a bike weighs 420 kl thats what is needed to give this thing some umph. When it came to climbing hills, i found myself going down the gears just to try and hold speed. Unfortunatley, that was not the worst problem! When i started cornering at speed, i have never been so frightened on a bike. The bike would lean violently to the side and i was sure it was going to tip over. Eventuately i gave up fighting with the bike and dropped the speed back to 40 mph. By the time we got to my pairents place, i felt exausted! Needless to say, it was a slow run home. Maybe i should have bought the goldwing!!!

[Bob Denman]

Rick I'm sorry to hear that your initial experience wasn't exactly a ringing success... It's NOT a motorcycle; no matter what the licensing says... I felt that it handled like a cross between an ATV and a snowmobile. they're going to lean since that's exactly what the front suspension is going to do when lateral forces are applied. Power... well the motors do loosen up and show a bit more once they've got some miles on them. Hang in there and let us know what you think after a couple more weeks of getting used to it! Good luck!

[clueless]

other thing is do a search on here

for tire and shock settings. my guess is your running the stock tire pressure and have the shocks set at mid preload.

[frank3]

First, and most important, the engine in the Rt is nothing like your VTX. The RT engine is a large bore, small stroke engine that LOVES high RPM. It's not a low RPM torque monster like most V-Twins. You need to keep the RPM much higher (above 4,000). I usually try to keep the RPM at around 5,000 while cruising, regardless of speed. I find myself running in 4th gear at 60 MPH and the RT runs great. You'll see a big difference. You'll notice that at 70 MPH, it runs a little over 5,000 RPM and that's where the engine loves to run.
As far as the cornering, It's VERY different from a 2 wheel machine. Jack the front shocks up to the firmest setting and inflate the front tires to 17 PSI. Takes a while to learn to corner but I'm sure you'll get used to it as many of us have. After about 1 or 2 thousand miles, you'll find your self loving it. I don't have any problem keeping up with my ridding buddies who both have 1200 RS BMWs. Relax your grip and go, it won't tip over.

[Dragonrider]

It takes at least several hundred miles to adjust to the Spyder - and learn you can relax on it. Crank the front shocks all the way up, run the tires at the upper end of pressure for highway riding, and a bit lower to lots of twisties, then stay in the upper end of the RPMs, as others have stated. Note that the V-Rod is the same kind of beast.

The RT actually will surprise you over time. However, you will never ever be able to take both hands off the bars (as you could on the Honda) - which does make for a more tiring ride.

The Spyder is not a heavy cruiser - and personally, I don't fit on a Goldwing (preferred my BMW LT).

Now go rent a Hardley trike for a day (that's 61 hp for a 536 kg bike), and then feel how much better the Spyder feels when you climb back on her. That's what convinced me to go for the RT over triking my KLT -

[Tonga]

First, and most important, the engine in the Rt is nothing like your VTX. The RT engine is a large bore, small stroke engine that LOVES high RPM. It's not a low RPM torque monster like most V-Twins. You need to keep the RPM much higher (above 4,000). I usually try to keep the RPM at around 5,000 while cruising, regardless of speed. I find myself running in 4th gear at 60 MPH and the RT runs great. You'll see a big difference. You'll notice that at 70 MPH, it runs a little over 5,000 RPM and that's where the engine loves to run.
As far as the cornering, It's VERY different from a 2 wheel machine. Jack the front shocks up to the firmest setting and inflate the front tires to 17 PSI. Takes a while to learn to corner but I'm sure you'll get used to it as many of us have. After about 1 or 2 thousand miles, you'll find your self loving it. I don't have any problem keeping up with my ridding buddies who both have 1200 RS BMWs. Relax your grip and go, it won't tip over.

I felt like you at first and went through increasing tire pressures and maxing front spring adjustment but still it wasn't what I wanted. I now have installed Elkla shocks with 2 way compression and dampening adjustment and now my RT holds the road much better and almost no lean at any time. Yes to the low power so use the gears and remember that this Roadster is heavy and it needs more time to pass then your last bike. The more time on the saddle the better it gets. I'm running 22 psi in my front tires. It wont hurt to experiment with tire pressures. I also had my dealer readjust alignment and it helped very much. Good Luck.

[SilverSurfer]

Concur with the comments in this thread. Bottom lines:

The Spyder (RT or RS) is not a motorcycle, and shares few of the ryding characteristics. The G-forces are lateral. You drive it like a snowmobile or jet ski. You must lean and brace in turns on a Spyder, vs. lean and counter-stear on a motorcycle. Be assured, Ryding a Spyder is an ENTIRELY new skill set unique to this class of vehicle.

The Spyders have heretofore come from the factory with two components that are a bit cheap, considering the expense of the machine, which I firmly believe affect one's perception of stability. These components are (1) the front shocks/springs and (2) the seats. I suppose you could count the rear shock as well, since I would want the same quality of suspension on all three axes (pronounced axees) of the vehicle ... so:

1. As Tonga mentions, you will ultimately want to upgrade your front shocks/springs to an Elka or Penske. I like the Elka Stage 1's or 1+'s. This upgrade alone completely changes the bike. The roll goes away which is great; however, what is given up in roll comes back in g-forces on your hands, because what was being dampened through the roll is now directly on you. This is where the DPS recall helps. I've not had it done yet myself, I'm hearing more good things about the most recent DPS recall, especially the comments that the Spyder tracks and maintains a line better.

2. Upgrade the seat. One must realize that the 'tippy' feeling is mostly illusionary given a number of factors, one of which is the stock seat. My evaluation of The stock RT seat, while not a total failure, is that it is neither orthopedically sound, nor optimal to accomodate long-ryde or aggressive-ryde interaction between one's legs, fanny and the machine. This became apparent to me on the recent trip to Gatlinburg. While there, I had the opportunity to sit in Corbin's seat for the RT. Wow. The Corbin puts you both about 1" back and 1" lower, resulting in a more natural reach for the handles, a lower center of gravity for you, the driver; and a wider, firmer seat which cradles your butt. These improvements mitigate a portion of that tippy feeling when cornering the Spyder.

3. Another sensation of 'tippiness' one gets is caused by death-gripping the handlebars when feeling buffeted. Lamonster's analogy was the old 10cc song which refrained, "So hold on loosely ... and don't let go; but if you hold on too tight now ... you're gonna lose control." This is absolutely true with the Spyder. I assure you that if you let up on the grip a bit, you'll sense the machine keeping its line and gradually build more confidence in its handling dynamics.

Ride Safe,

Paul
(Surfer)

[bruiser]

I've had my RT S since April. It took me awhile to get used to it, especially since I hadn't been on a bike in awhile. I had the same experience in cornering, feeling loss of control, slipping. I jacked up the front shocks and that really helped. Two up ryding took time too. I'm comfortable enough now that when on long rydes, I can run one handed for short periods. I do agree that the seat is not very comfortable on long rydes. Looking to get a Corbin ASAP. Wind buffeting is a problem, hope to solve that soon as well. As others have said, give it time.

[NautiBrit]

I have a 2008 RS and it took well over 1K miles before the engine loosened up and the torque felt adequate. I now have almost 20K miles and the motor will gladly lug down to around 3K rpm and pull hard without a downshift.

[Eddie]

First, and most important, the engine in the Rt is nothing like your VTX. The RT engine is a large bore, small stroke engine that LOVES high RPM. It's not a low RPM torque monster like most V-Twins. You need to keep the RPM much higher (above 4,000). I usually try to keep the RPM at around 5,000 while cruising, regardless of speed. I find myself running in 4th gear at 60 MPH and the RT runs great. You'll see a big difference. You'll notice that at 70 MPH, it runs a little over 5,000 RPM and that's where the engine loves to run.
As far as the cornering, It's VERY different from a 2 wheel machine. Jack the front shocks up to the firmest setting and inflate the front tires to 17 PSI. Takes a while to learn to corner but I'm sure you'll get used to it as many of us have. After about 1 or 2 thousand miles, you'll find your self loving it. I don't have any problem keeping up with my ridding buddies who both have 1200 RS BMWs. Relax your grip and go, it won't tip over.