Spyder RT Limited – My observations

[Rando]

First of all, a little background about me. I recently turned 53 and my first motorcycle was a Spyder Premier Edition, so that is my only motorcycle comparison. As some of you know, I sold it on Friday and picked up the RT Limited on Saturday and took it to Joe’s Gizzard City, a place mentioned in the Michigan group thread.

The 2011 RT Limited is an awesome machine and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride yesterday! I put about 155 miles on it with that trip. Today, it was in the 80’s here in Michigan, what should have been a perfect day for riding! However, my Spyder had a problem, which I will share in a bit but first let’s start with yesterday.

It was my first experience with C&C Sport of Brighton, MI. They treated me well and spent about 2 hours going over the paperwork, the Spyder and introducing me to everyone in the different departments. They even showed me the service area and got to see them work on a Spyder. I was impressed with the whole operation and was treated very well! They knew I was a bit in a hurry (wanted to make it to the meeting place on time) and they knew I had 3 years of Spyder experience so some things were glossed over by my request. I had plenty of time to look over the Spyder before handing over the check so that to me was the most important part. I had a check list made up with the help of Scotty (Nancy’s Toy) and Lamonster.

Let me back up a day. When I decide to purchase the Spyder, I also said I wanted the trailer to go with it and of course the hitch. They had recently received them and they were still in the crate. On Friday, when they uncrated the trailer, they noticed some shipping damage and will need to order a new one. That was my first disappointment but since I wasn’t planning on using it right away, it was no big deal.

Now on Saturday, when I left the dealership for Joe’s Gizzard City, I noticed the gas gauge was showing empty. I should have noticed it sooner since they went over all the instrumentation with me. Was it too much to ask to have a full or at least half a tank of gas for a new customer? Especially considering what I just spent on everything? Oh well, my fault for being in a hurry but now I had to waste time to fill it up.

I can’t say enough about how enjoyable the ride was there and then home. Here are a few things I wish it had at the time of purchase or at least optional from the factory:

• Heated seat (the heated handgrips are awesome!)
• Floorboards
• Highway Pegs (is the plastic in the front of the pegs supported enough to rest my feet on?)
• A way for the music to easily be playable in my helmet. Is that possible?
• Fuel door for the seat. I realize Corbin makes one but why should I have to buy a whole new seat?
• The high brake light that ESI sells should be OEM on all RT’s.
• Locking glove box. I found out from Scotty that if you lock the handle bars, it locks the glove box. I never have locked my handle bars so I would prefer a separate lock.
• An adapter for the hitch wiring so I could hook it up to another trailer with a standard flat plug. Magic Man, can you work your magic?

When the bike was still being prepped, I had asked my salesperson to have them install the batter tender wiring since I already had the Tender Junior and had been using it on both of my other Spyders. Now here is where the story gets interesting.

This morning (Sunday) I went on a short ryde around town. The speed was only between 25 and 45 mph. When I turned back into my driveway, I got a check DPS and a check engine light!!! I sent Lamonster and email and he said his first thoughts were the battery connection. I dug out the owners manual to see how to get to the battery and I also hooked it up to the battery tender. It was solid red. I didn’t have the tools to run a test on voltage so I waited all day and no change by late afternoon, just solid red. A wasted day of no ryding!

I decided to bite the bullet and started pulling the “tupperware” off and boy am I glad I did! First of all I noticed the panel to check the oil was not properly installed. The plastic tab was outside, not inside like it’s supposed to be. I also noticed the grommets were all pushed in and one was really chewed up. I’m lucky I didn’t lose a panel on the ride! The middle panel had the same issue with the grommets. I thought I saw a post that these were supposed to be glued or in the case of the RT Limited, something else was done to keep the grommets in place?

When I finally got to the battery, I discovered the negative cable had only been tightened FINGER TIGHT! Apparently when the tech installed the battery tender cable, he must have gotten distracted and never finished tightening it down! I called Lamonster to thank him and told him what a pain it was to get to the battery. He told me there was a SHORT CUT but I’m glad I followed the owners’ manual and discovered the pushed in grommets!

By the way, the salesperson was going to show me how to check the oil but since I was in a hurry and knew where it was, I let it slide. If we would have taken the panel off, we would have both noticed that it had been installed incorrectly. I checked the panel on the other side and it was the same way, the tab was out instead of in.

So now that the negative battery cable has been tightened down, I will let the battery tender do it’s thing overnight. At any rate, I don’t think the dealership thoroughly charged the battery!

Sorry for the long post but hopefully it will help someone else out.

Many thanks to Lamonster and this wonder forum!

[Lamonster]

Sorry you had trouble with your new RT but glad it wasn't too serious.

This is the panel under the seat to access the battery. It's two screws.

[bone crusher]

First of all, a little background about me. I recently turned 53 and my first motorcycle was a Spyder Premier Edition, so that is my only motorcycle comparison. As some of you know, I sold it on Friday and picked up the RT Limited on Saturday and took it to Joe’s Gizzard City, a place mentioned in the Michigan group thread.

The 2011 RT Limited is an awesome machine and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride yesterday! I put about 155 miles on it with that trip. Today, it was in the 80’s here in Michigan, what should have been a perfect day for riding! However, my Spyder had a problem, which I will share in a bit but first let’s start with yesterday.

It was my first experience with C&C Sport of Brighton, MI. They treated me well and spent about 2 hours going over the paperwork, the Spyder and introducing me to everyone in the different departments. They even showed me the service area and got to see them work on a Spyder. I was impressed with the whole operation and was treated very well! They knew I was a bit in a hurry (wanted to make it to the meeting place on time) and they knew I had 3 years of Spyder experience so some things were glossed over by my request. I had plenty of time to look over the Spyder before handing over the check so that to me was the most important part. I had a check list made up with the help of Scotty (Nancy’s Toy) and Lamonster.

Let me back up a day. When I decide to purchase the Spyder, I also said I wanted the trailer to go with it and of course the hitch. They had recently received them and they were still in the crate. On Friday, when they uncrated the trailer, they noticed some shipping damage and will need to order a new one. That was my first disappointment but since I wasn’t planning on using it right away, it was no big deal.

Now on Saturday, when I left the dealership for Joe’s Gizzard City, I noticed the gas gauge was showing empty. I should have noticed it sooner since they went over all the instrumentation with me. Was it too much to ask to have a full or at least half a tank of gas for a new customer? Especially considering what I just spent on everything? Oh well, my fault for being in a hurry but now I had to waste time to fill it up.

I can’t say enough about how enjoyable the ride was there and then home. Here are a few things I wish it had at the time of purchase or at least optional from the factory:

• Heated seat (the heated handgrips are awesome!)
• Floorboards
• Highway Pegs (is the plastic in the front of the pegs supported enough to rest my feet on?)
• A way for the music to easily be playable in my helmet. Is that possible?
• Fuel door for the seat. I realize Corbin makes one but why should I have to buy a whole new seat?
• The high brake light that ESI sells should be OEM on all RT’s.
• Locking glove box. I found out from Scotty that if you lock the handle bars, it locks the glove box. I never have locked my handle bars so I would prefer a separate lock.
• An adapter for the hitch wiring so I could hook it up to another trailer with a standard flat plug. Magic Man, can you work your magic?

When the bike was still being prepped, I had asked my salesperson to have them install the batter tender wiring since I already had the Tender Junior and had been using it on both of my other Spyders. Now here is where the story gets interesting.

This morning (Sunday) I went on a short ryde around town. The speed was only between 25 and 45 mph. When I turned back into my driveway, I got a check DPS and a check engine light!!! I sent Lamonster and email and he said his first thoughts were the battery connection. I dug out the owners manual to see how to get to the battery and I also hooked it up to the battery tender. It was solid red. I didn’t have the tools to run a test on voltage so I waited all day and no change by late afternoon, just solid red. A wasted day of no ryding!

I decided to bite the bullet and started pulling the “tupperware” off and boy am I glad I did! First of all I noticed the panel to check the oil was not properly installed. The plastic tab was outside, not inside like it’s supposed to be. I also noticed the grommets were all pushed in and one was really chewed up. I’m lucky I didn’t lose a panel on the ride! The middle panel had the same issue with the grommets. I thought I saw a post that these were supposed to be glued or in the case of the RT Limited, something else was done to keep the grommets in place?

When I finally got to the battery, I discovered the negative cable had only been tightened FINGER TIGHT! Apparently when the tech installed the battery tender cable, he must have gotten distracted and never finished tightening it down! I called Lamonster to thank him and told him what a pain it was to get to the battery. He told me there was a SHORT CUT but I’m glad I followed the owners’ manual and discovered the pushed in grommets!

By the way, the salesperson was going to show me how to check the oil but since I was in a hurry and knew where it was, I let it slide. If we would have taken the panel off, we would have both noticed that it had been installed incorrectly. I checked the panel on the other side and it was the same way, the tab was out instead of in.

So now that the negative battery cable has been tightened down, I will let the battery tender do it’s thing overnight. At any rate, I don’t think the dealership thoroughly charged the battery!

Sorry for the long post but hopefully it will help someone else out.

Many thanks to Lamonster and this wonder forum!

That's really pathetic and inexcusable. They should make some amends to you...you could've had a serious problem and it would've been their fault. How distracted can you get not to tighten a nut on a battery? I mean, giving someone the benefit of the doubt is one thing, but with a series of issues on a new bike, someone there needs to do some explaining.

I'm glad you like your new ride. I'm even more glad to hear you addressed all the issues and you are safe...

[Littlebadwolf]

Sorry to hear about the problems Randy....and you missed the first terrific day of riding here to boot...Hope it's all worked out for you...Larry

[ijon1]

I also have problem with my RT. I put on my parking brake and it shows a fault and won't release. We set in a parking lot in Brighton Mi. for two hours and finally it released. I rode it home quickly. And tried to engage it again. It won't disengage. Anyone have and ideas?

[JohnS_Rosamond]

Having been a mechanic, I know that you can get distracted, but something like the battery should have been double checked before the bodywork was put back on. Also, having one grommet pushed in might mean that they were a little rough putting a panel back on, but having so many pushed in is really bad form. I just put a little oil light oil on my finger and dab it on the grommet. How long were they in a rush for? Sorry to hear that you had trouble.

What is the shortcut to the battery? I am unaware of what you are referring to.

[M109Dreamer]

I am possibly picking up a new 2011 RT-S SE5 next week. This will be my first Spyder. Is there a way you could post up the checklist you used. I would really like to go into receiving the Spyder with knowing what to check and look for.
Thanks,
Shane

Check List Please????

[M109Dreamer]

Check List Please!!!

Anyone

[Idaspud]

If all goes well and all the stars and planets line up I will be picking up my new 2011 RTS tomorrow and would greatly love to have the pre delivery check list prior to leaving the dealership. Any help on this folks of the forum. in advance thank you.

Idaspud


Spyder Lover all mostthis is me inside

[Rando]

The dealer should hand you a BRP PDI customer checklist. If they don't give it to you, ask for it. Go over everything on the list. It is two pages and very detailed. The main thing is to look over the bike from front to back, top to bottom and make sure everything works. Make sure it has enough gas to get you to a gas station or better yet, ask for a free fillup!

[clueless]

Sorry you had trouble with your new RT but glad it wasn't too serious.

This is the panel under the seat to access the battery. It's two screws.

NICE! missed this in your post before about it! will definitely check the battery more often knowing its only 2 screws to remove

[redlightron]

Thanks so much for the post. I will be picking my new 2011 RT Limited this weekend and I will be checking it very closely on the things you have listed. And by the way, on your new ride.

[sealfloorboards]

Sorry to hear about your misadventures. I'm very close to getting an RT at SpyderFest. As to floorBoards I invite you to check out my website: sealfloorboards.com. I'll be showing them at SpyderFest.

Ride in comfort,

John
Seal FloorBoards

First of all, a little background about me. I recently turned 53 and my first motorcycle was a Spyder Premier Edition, so that is my only motorcycle comparison. As some of you know, I sold it on Friday and picked up the RT Limited on Saturday and took it to Joe’s Gizzard City, a place mentioned in the Michigan group thread.

The 2011 RT Limited is an awesome machine and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride yesterday! I put about 155 miles on it with that trip. Today, it was in the 80’s here in Michigan, what should have been a perfect day for riding! However, my Spyder had a problem, which I will share in a bit but first let’s start with yesterday.

It was my first experience with C&C Sport of Brighton, MI. They treated me well and spent about 2 hours going over the paperwork, the Spyder and introducing me to everyone in the different departments. They even showed me the service area and got to see them work on a Spyder. I was impressed with the whole operation and was treated very well! They knew I was a bit in a hurry (wanted to make it to the meeting place on time) and they knew I had 3 years of Spyder experience so some things were glossed over by my request. I had plenty of time to look over the Spyder before handing over the check so that to me was the most important part. I had a check list made up with the help of Scotty (Nancy’s Toy) and Lamonster.

Let me back up a day. When I decide to purchase the Spyder, I also said I wanted the trailer to go with it and of course the hitch. They had recently received them and they were still in the crate. On Friday, when they uncrated the trailer, they noticed some shipping damage and will need to order a new one. That was my first disappointment but since I wasn’t planning on using it right away, it was no big deal.

Now on Saturday, when I left the dealership for Joe’s Gizzard City, I noticed the gas gauge was showing empty. I should have noticed it sooner since they went over all the instrumentation with me. Was it too much to ask to have a full or at least half a tank of gas for a new customer? Especially considering what I just spent on everything? Oh well, my fault for being in a hurry but now I had to waste time to fill it up.

I can’t say enough about how enjoyable the ride was there and then home. Here are a few things I wish it had at the time of purchase or at least optional from the factory:

• Heated seat (the heated handgrips are awesome!)
• Floorboards
• Highway Pegs (is the plastic in the front of the pegs supported enough to rest my feet on?)
• A way for the music to easily be playable in my helmet. Is that possible?
• Fuel door for the seat. I realize Corbin makes one but why should I have to buy a whole new seat?
• The high brake light that ESI sells should be OEM on all RT’s.
• Locking glove box. I found out from Scotty that if you lock the handle bars, it locks the glove box. I never have locked my handle bars so I would prefer a separate lock.
• An adapter for the hitch wiring so I could hook it up to another trailer with a standard flat plug. Magic Man, can you work your magic?

When the bike was still being prepped, I had asked my salesperson to have them install the batter tender wiring since I already had the Tender Junior and had been using it on both of my other Spyders. Now here is where the story gets interesting.

This morning (Sunday) I went on a short ryde around town. The speed was only between 25 and 45 mph. When I turned back into my driveway, I got a check DPS and a check engine light!!! I sent Lamonster and email and he said his first thoughts were the battery connection. I dug out the owners manual to see how to get to the battery and I also hooked it up to the battery tender. It was solid red. I didn’t have the tools to run a test on voltage so I waited all day and no change by late afternoon, just solid red. A wasted day of no ryding!

I decided to bite the bullet and started pulling the “tupperware” off and boy am I glad I did! First of all I noticed the panel to check the oil was not properly installed. The plastic tab was outside, not inside like it’s supposed to be. I also noticed the grommets were all pushed in and one was really chewed up. I’m lucky I didn’t lose a panel on the ride! The middle panel had the same issue with the grommets. I thought I saw a post that these were supposed to be glued or in the case of the RT Limited, something else was done to keep the grommets in place?

When I finally got to the battery, I discovered the negative cable had only been tightened FINGER TIGHT! Apparently when the tech installed the battery tender cable, he must have gotten distracted and never finished tightening it down! I called Lamonster to thank him and told him what a pain it was to get to the battery. He told me there was a SHORT CUT but I’m glad I followed the owners’ manual and discovered the pushed in grommets!

By the way, the salesperson was going to show me how to check the oil but since I was in a hurry and knew where it was, I let it slide. If we would have taken the panel off, we would have both noticed that it had been installed incorrectly. I checked the panel on the other side and it was the same way, the tab was out instead of in.

So now that the negative battery cable has been tightened down, I will let the battery tender do it’s thing overnight. At any rate, I don’t think the dealership thoroughly charged the battery!

Sorry for the long post but hopefully it will help someone else out.

Many thanks to Lamonster and this wonder forum!

[GaryTheBadger]

"The high brake light that ESI sells should be OEM on all RT’s. "

Completely agree...its the single most common accessory I install on my customer's RTs. If I owned an RT, it'd be the first accessory I'd add.

[Marker]

"The high brake light that ESI sells should be OEM on all RT’s. "

Completely agree...its the single most common accessory I install on my customer's RTs. If I owned an RT, it'd be the first accessory I'd add.

and it most likely will be on mine too

[GadgetGuy442]

Rando -

Was great to meet you on Saturday, and am glad that your new ride got you there and back - in spite of the things you uncovered. Issues aside, it's a beautiful machine you have, and I'm sure you'll have a season of great riding!

Look forward to seeing you at another ride event!

Bill

[JohnS_Rosamond]

Battery access is not simply the two screws under the seat. In the photo Lamonster posted, you will notice that the long middle side panel has already been removed (one of the battery cover screws secures the upper rear of the long side panel), then you can access the battery cover. So what's the short cut? I suppose that you could notch the plastic panel so that you don't have to remove the long panel, but I don't know if even that would work since it has to still fit under the pass. hand grips first.

[Rando]

So what's the short cut?

The short cut is what Lamomster posted. Maybe it's different for his since his is a pre-production Spyder RT. I followed the owners manual and it was quite a process!

[Lamonster]

The short cut is what Lamomster posted. Maybe it's different for his since his is a pre-production Spyder RT. I followed the owners manual and it was quite a process!

You can get to both battery post by removing that one panel. The positive post can be checked with a wrench and the negative is right in view. It no different on mine than it is on yours.

[MouthPiece]

Battery access is not simply the two screws under the seat. In the photo Lamonster posted, you will notice that the long middle side panel has already been removed (one of the battery cover screws secures the upper rear of the long side panel), then you can access the battery cover. So what's the short cut? I suppose that you could notch the plastic panel so that you don't have to remove the long panel, but I don't know if even that would work since it has to still fit under the pass. hand grips first.

You can get to both battery post by removing that one panel. The positive post can be checked with a wrench and the negative is right in view. It no different on mine than it is on yours.

I sincerely apologize, but I'm confused because of a couple of these posts. Are we saying that NONE of the plastic panels on the outside need to be removed? I guess my problem is with the term panel. Would someone please explain for this dummy?

[Lamonster]

I sincerely apologize, but I'm confused because of a couple of these posts. Are we saying that NONE of the plastic panels on the outside need to be removed? I guess my problem is with the term panel. Would someone please explain for this dummy?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_7wj-k_DVI[/ame]

[SpyderDen]

with Lamont. Just checked my 2011 RTS and have the same two screws to remove the battery cover.

[MouthPiece]

Thanks Lamont!!!! You dah man!!!!! I'm not cornfused anymore.

Chris

[Mr. White]

I took delivery of my RT-S SE5 two weeks ago. No problems to date other than poor receive on my BRP CB.

Last Saturday I rode with my group and I was sweep and I could not clearly hear the lead (he leads often and I sweep often) unless he was 2-300 yards from me. At a 1/4 mile, he was garbled and braking up. With the same distance on my Wing, he is clear. Not sure what to do about this.

When they installed my CB, GPS and FX radio, I gave them the hookup to my Gerbing heated clothing and they installed it directly to the battery terminals...not the solenoid by the battery. I bought a plug that plugs in the trunk of the RT and hooks to my Battery Tender...charges great...As soon as I got home, I charged the RT battery 24 hours, as I do all my new batteries...I believe it makes them last longer when their first charge is close to 100%.

One issue is the small handgrips. Too small for my hands and my fingers get cramped. Same thing on my Wing...I changed them out to large grips and will do the same on the RT....I will loose my heated grips I think, but that is not a big issue with me.....the size of the grip is.

Off hand, does anyone know if they make a grip that will fit over the heated grip? Not a big deal, but thought I would ask.

The limited is a beautiful machine...they seem to be few and far between in south Texas...my dealer only got one, not sure when they will get another and it is sold....

[Y Rider]

I took delivery of my RT-S SE5 two weeks ago. No problems to date other than poor receive on my BRP CB.

Last Saturday I rode with my group and I was sweep and I could not clearly hear the lead (he leads often and I sweep often) unless he was 2-300 yards from me. At a 1/4 mile, he was garbled and braking up. With the same distance on my Wing, he is clear. Not sure what to do about this.

When they installed my CB, GPS and FX radio, I gave them the hookup to my Gerbing heated clothing and they installed it directly to the battery terminals...not the solenoid by the battery. I bought a plug that plugs in the trunk of the RT and hooks to my Battery Tender...charges great...As soon as I got home, I charged the RT battery 24 hours, as I do all my new batteries...I believe it makes them last longer when their first charge is close to 100%.

One issue is the small handgrips. Too small for my hands and my fingers get cramped. Same thing on my Wing...I changed them out to large grips and will do the same on the RT....I will loose my heated grips I think, but that is not a big issue with me.....the size of the grip is.

Off hand, does anyone know if they make a grip that will fit over the heated grip? Not a big deal, but thought I would ask.

The limited is a beautiful machine...they seem to be few and far between in south Texas...my dealer only got one, not sure when they will get another and it is sold....

Check out this thread for a solution to the hand grips: http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...ght=clam+shell