Teddy's New Adventures

[StriperKing]

Yes use car wax on the shield and it will shed water much better. Everyday turtle wax works great on plastic, the stuff in the green bottle.

[Barbwire]

Emmy says hey Teddy wanna meet at the next Spyderfest??? You are kinda' cute!

[SnoWhite]

Just looking at your carrier, is that a custom one or did you purchase it? I have a little shi zu who would love to travel with me.

[CyncySpyder]

Yes use car wax on the shield and it will shed water much better. Everyday turtle wax works great on plastic, the stuff in the green bottle.

I'll have to give that a try, thanks for the heads up We did get caught twice this weekend in downpours. Good news, the XM Nav Weather on the Garmin Zumo 665 works really well, & it alerted us about 15 minutes before hand that there was bad weather in the area & again when we were gonna get wet Bad news, without an added water-shedding aid (rain-x/TurtleWax) the angle didn't change enough to cause any better visibility so I'll definitely being giving the Turtle wax a shot

Emmy says hey Teddy wanna meet at the next Spyderfest??? You are kinda' cute!

I'm sure Teddy would be smitten with Emmy as well They would make a cute couple

Just looking at your carrier, is that a custom one or did you purchase it? I have a little shi zu who would love to travel with me.

Teddy has a few different carriers actually. If your referring to the black one with the red zippered top, we got that one from PetsMart. Think it's called a PetMate Carrier. It's hideously ugly IMO & comes in like a cream zebra print. I couldn't have something look'n like that on TEDDYS new , so I painted it. So its not custom except for the paint job It IS a really convenient carrier, & is totally collapsable. The top & bottom both zip off & on & it also has a side screen zipper door. I usually use it for road-trips, as it provides more protection for him (especially at highway speeds) than his usual open doggy bed does. We use the doggy bed & harness combo for cruising around town cause it provides much more visibility for TEDDYS fans to better appreciate him When I get home from work today, I'll try and find the pic of the PetMate Carrier that I took of it while we were at PetsMart the other day. They sell for like $49 here in Northern KY. Most ppl won't buy them cause they are ugly, but they are totally useful & a good product if you can get over the looks of it

[CyncySpyder]

[CyncySpyder]

Just looking at your carrier, is that a custom one or did you purchase it? I have a little shi zu who would love to travel with me.

Here's some pics of Teddys travel carrier. I took the pics of the new one on the shelf at PetsMart. IMHO, its an UGLY looking carrier, but a GREAT design So, if you notice in Teddy's pics, I have it painted black with a red topto match his new Viper Red RT-S Most the time, we leave the top off unless extreme heat & sun or rain then we zip on the top Its very handy & useful that you can zip the top or bottom off and also has the zipper side access as well Hope this helps for you looking, & believe me, ryde'n your Spyder with your best friend right behind you, doesn't get much better than that

[TicketBait]

Sweet ride and video. Love the turn signal indicators!

[Questions]

Yes. It all looks great. Now we have all these ideas rattling around... What to do next ... Decisions decisions!

[BLUE MULE]

Sweet ride!! I'm not so sure about your statement about " not being mechanically inclined ". So the only screen you seem to be missing is the 60'',240HZ, 3D HDTV. Post that mod when you get it on -personally I'd go with Samsung or Sony.

[CyncySpyder]

[SnoWhite]

Here's some pics of Teddys travel carrier. I took the pics of the new one on the shelf at PetsMart. IMHO, its an UGLY looking carrier, but a GREAT design So, if you notice in Teddy's pics, I have it painted black with a red topto match his new Viper Red RT-S Most the time, we leave the top off unless extreme heat & sun or rain then we zip on the top Its very handy & useful that you can zip the top or bottom off and also has the zipper side access as well Hope this helps for you looking, & believe me, ryde'n your Spyder with your best friend right behind you, doesn't get much better than that

Wow that is great information. I'm going out tomorrow and see if I can find one for little tigger. I just hate leaving him behind, he seems so sad. I know he will be so excited to have his own ryde. I will have to post pictures. Thanks again for all your help.

[CyncySpyder]

But I can breath now

I've had my first issues with TEDDYS new 2011 in the past week. 3 cold starts where it went up to 5000 rpm's while idling extremely rough & a major loss of power. Shut it down, do the key off & on 3 times, try it again & it usually starts back up fine

Been get'n geared up for our trip to the Spyders in the Aderondacs, so I took Teds Red Sled up to Middletown Cycle for the 9000 mile service & to get the Firmware update done They got everything done for me the same day but I will have to have the throttle body replaced once we get back from our trip. If anyone is in the South-West Ohio/Tri-State area, I can not say enough good things about Aarron (the owner) & Middletown Cycle He'll do what-ever he can to earn your business

So, everything is a go for Teddy to make his appearance at Spyders in the Adirondacks

We're gonna be share'n a camp-site at Whispering Pines Campground in Lake Placid with Arntufun & his Wonderful Wife

Hope to get to meet many more of you guys up there. Let us know if your gonna be making the trip & maybe we can connect

[CyncySpyder]

I slept maybe two hours the whole night last night I've been working on so many different mods with Teddy's & his camper to make our lives on the upcoming long road-trip to the Adirondacks a lil more comfortable, especially for Teddy Gotta take care of the lil guy

Last year, our longest trip with being a new SpYder owner was from Cincinnati Ohio to St. George Island Floridabut I had done that trip at least a dozen times in my car in the past, so even tho it was my 1st time on a motorcycle () I still didn't really have many worries Since then, we've done a total of 13,700 miles on TEDDYS 2010 black RT-S & now we've got right at 10,000 miles on his new 2011

This will be our first trip to anywhere north, as we've always gone south or west in the past & have never been anywhere near NY, so I have a little trepidation especially with hearing of all the bear attacks on ppl up there & even the SpYder Ryder that had a run in with a bear but more excitement than Anything

I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure the best way to deal with the extreme heat & making sure Teddy is comfortable He hates being in his enclosed carrier, but that might be the best alternative for keeping him outta the sun. His doggie bed carrier leaves him totally exposed & for around town, that's fine. But we're look'n at 13 hours one way on the open highway we're gonna be leaving Wednesday right after I get off work, so around 4pm. So maybe a couple hours in his enclosed carrier won't kill him & once it starts getting dark, I can unzip the top off & let him hang his head in the wind again

I also keep those blue modular gel packs that you freeze under his carrier pad, so he's literally sitting on ice and dogs cool down thru the pads of their paws, so this method has worked really well with help'n keep the lil guy cool in hot temps & we've always got on-board water for him as well

As for the camper, something I noticed while camping at Maggie Valley this year, was that I needed a canopy over the camper for shade & to help keep the area dry for when it rains. The Moto-Mate is great for Teddy & I, but it's literally a bed on wheels. So if your all wet & get in, your bed is all wet as well Well, see'n as Ive been getting laid off usually 1 day a week & not even getting 40 hrs and am broke, I came up with a cheap mod for this problem tho I'm not sure how well it's gonna workbut we're gonna try it out soon enough. I've taken an old rectangular patio umbrella that I had and am mounting it to the camperThe size is perfect to cover the camper and gives a little extra shade for the front door area to place a couple of chairs in the shade & even tho it doesn't match the white camper, it DOES at least match TEDDYS Hey, you make do with what you have, right

You shoulda seen us at the car-wash with this huge umbrella opened up & covering the SpYder & the camper while I was trying to figure out the best way to mount this thing so it wouldn't blow away I'll post pics of the mock-up when i get home, but needless to say, ppl thought I was CRAZY

[CyncySpyder]

Here's the pics of the "mock-up" of the canopy umbrella for the Moto-Mate Camper I just had it sitting on the camper tongue for the pics & honestly, just to freak ppl out a lil bit as they thought I was gonna try n ryde this way

I'm working on permantly mounting the base tube to the side of the camper, in the middle next to the door That way, once we get to the camp-site, all I have to do is get out the umbrella, open it up & place it in the tube & WhaLaaa Done Deal
In the position I'm talking about (not in the pictures) it will totally cover the entire camper & also provide the front door area with a couple of more feet of added coverage to place a couple of camp chairs in front & have them in shade as well And with the camper weighing in close to 400 pounds fully loaded, I don't think its gonna be going anywhere barring a tornado of course

Was out ryding 1 day last week & the temp. on the was showing 113F I had to pull over & snap a pic as proof I'm SO GLAD to have AC while riding Teddy's or there'd be NO Way I'd make it in temps. like these

Also, just finished giving Teddy his trim & touch-up so he's look'n good for all of his fans & photo ops

[draboo]

How is da Tedsters leg coming along? Kiddo wanted me to ask!

[CyncySpyder]

How is da Tedsters leg coming along? Kiddo wanted me to ask!

His leg is there Gimpy as ever But I'm thinking there's a couple of reasons for that. 1 is from lack of use & 2, its all in his head
The reason I say that is, while in normal everyday situations, he baby's it like it was just operated on yesterday not 4 weeks ago. But once I get out his ball or a stick, WOW!!! Look at him go & on all 4 without missing a beat

His vet has given him a clean bill of health as far as his leg goes the incision has healed up well, & all his hair has grown back it's just get'n him to use the dang thing consistently that's the issue

[CyncySpyder]

After 15 hours on the road, from 5am til midnight last night, Teddy has arrived in New York

[CyncySpyder]

After 24 hours on the road, 1 totally closed highway witnessing 2 different car accidents (1 flying off the expressway on ramp aiming right at us) & dealing with 2 different Idiot Popperozi trying to take video of teddy while we're doing 70 & almost causing multiple accidentsI'm very thankful to say we made it home safe & sound, tho my back-side is a little sore (to put it mildly) I've gotta get some sleep, have to be up at 4:30am for work tomorrow But I'll fill in all the details once I get caught up.

Hope everyone else that has been traveling has made it home safe as well

[ThreeFeet]

Sure am glad you made it ok!!! Teddy's not supposed to get into trouble on the road. Poporatizze or what ever needs to give him room to breath!!! And his chauffer a softer seat!!! See if he can't get that for you Dave!!!sorry bout the spelling

[CyncySpyder]

Ok, I'm awake & even made it to work on time, but the dang drama with idiot drivers continues even this morning on my way in. Sure, come on over, we can both fit in one lane ....

Anyways, here's a breakdown of every fuel stop but one. I forgot to snap pics of the readings due to being overrun by Teddy's adoring fans, so I missed one fill-up on the trip back home.

To make sense of it, its broken down into 3 segments
1) Leg 1 from Cincinnati to New York towing Camper
2) Cruising around ADK without the Camper
3) The trip back home from NY with Camper
1st column #miles for that tank
2nd " # gals. Of fuel (87 octane)
3rd " pulling TRailer or NOt
4th " AVG MPG for that tank
5th " actual $cost for that fill-up
6th " total $cost per segment & avg MPG's for that segment
SITA-MPG.jpg
Hope this helps some of you that are planning trips. Remember, everything is variable, so undoubtedly, your results may vary

[GloryRyders]

Glad that you and Teddy made it home safe and sound. You need to try to have less excitment on the rode with the various assortment of idiots that are out their driving!.....................stay safe!

[CyncySpyder]

Planned on leaving right after work on Wednesday, around 4pm. Got home & the news was reporting that I71N was closed, due to a semi overturning, & wouldn't you know it, that was our route. See'n as it was around 93 degrees & rush hour, I decided to wait a little while for things to get back to normal & hopefully cool down a little. I had been up since 4:30am & just worked an 8 hour shift in 100+ degree temps (no AC at the plant I work at) so I thought it would be smart for Teddy & I to take a quick nap. Well, it sounded good so of course, fate had to step in with other plans

I get a call from my Credit Union saying that they got notice that my SpYder Insurance had been canceled & that they were going to "buy it for me & charge my account, per contract" but they couldn't cause my account was overdrawn! WTF ??? I told them I'd check into things & call them right back I pulled my account up on-line, & noticed that since we traded in Teddys 2010 RT-S for his 2011 SpyderFest EdDition SpYder back in April, they had been debiting my account for both of the loans ever since instead of just the new one. UGH!!! I should have caught it sooner, but I didn't. Called my loan officer, had her look into it, & yup, I'm SO sorry, I forgot to cancel the other one out, my bad NO SHT!!! Ok, at least one problem dealt with. Now on to the insurance scandal

I called Marc Fisher (Great Agent) with ForeMost Insurance, & left a mesg. On voice mail about my problem, & that I was suppose to be leaving any minute and heading on a 2000 mile round trip, to of all places, New York Not that it's good to be without insurance anywhere, but, um...... New York At least we weren't going to New York City He promtply called me back within 15 minutes & I explained what I was told. I knew when i switched Spyders that I'd have an additional premium, and my notice said it was due the 11th & I had sent the check on the 5th. Well, I rummaged back thru my mail, & found another notice stating that they will deduct my premium from my check & send me back a check for the over-payment balance Marc said he'd check into it & call me back as soon as he found out something There WAS NO WAY I WAS LEAVING WITHOUT HAVING PROOF OF INSURANCE

He calls back within the hour, says he's not sure exactly what happened, but that he didn't like the service HE was getting from that company in dealing with my issue, so he called another company and was able to get me an entirely NEW policy for the same coverages & deductibles as my old one for a little over a $hundred$ dollars LESS WooHoo!!! Where do I sign? I give him my credit card details & it's done only problem, what about proof of insurance for the trip that I'm about to walk out the door for No problem he says, give me your email addy & I'll have them email you temporary cards til after you get back & we get all the paper work done Well, I thank Marc for his quick response & Great Customer Service in remedying my issue & then the waiting game begins

For those that don't know me (Everybody knows Teddy ) I have ADHD, ever since I was a kid, & never "grew" out of it Tho, back then, they didn't have a diagnosis for it & they just thought i was a bad kid that didn't want to pay attention & do what i was suppose to do Anyways, I've learned many of the skills that helps someone like me to stay focused and on track, (post it notes everywhere,write everything down, etc.etc...) tho i will admit, it is a struggle on a daily basis. I hate taking meds, but I do take Adderall & it really does help Only problem, I can't sleep within 8 hours of taking it Knowing I had to get all these issues corrected right then, i had no choice but to take it, so there was no way I was gonna be able to take a nap now, while waiting for the proof of insurance cards to be mailed

So, me being me, off to modding I go wanting to make TEDDYS camping trip the BEST that I can, I had the mock-up for the Umbrella for teddies Camper done, but I went further by adding rope-lights to the inside of it & it turned out really good, tho I ran out of length & will eventually have to get a small 12 foot section to add to the one Supports Still, 3 hours later & no email

So, off to mod'n the little guys travel carrier. I use the Pet-Mate one that I posted about earlier for his long distance road-trips, as it has the top that zips off & on, so it can provide protection for the lil guy from rain & most importantly, the BLAZING HOT SUN. With all the ventilation holes and screen, it still allows for sufficient air flow so he hopefully doesn't overheat in these god-awful temps we're having lately Only problem was, I couldnt see a dang thing on his rear-view monitor when i have the top zipped on at night Because it also blocks most the ambient light Off to the garage & it was time to go thru some of the many storage bins that I have stored in there from my apartment fire Sad to say, it happened almost 3 years ago & I lost just about everything and most the stuff in the bins are garbage do to the fire, smoke & water damage, but you never know what you might find that still works unless you look. Eureka, I found another small strand of battery powered Christmas lights that are blue LED just the same as I have sewn into his doggy bed carrier that we use daily for cruising around town

UhOh, work calls, gotta get busy. Will finish updating this after i get home

[CyncySpyder]

So I ended up taking some of the small plastic wire ties that were left over from the Rope-Lite Umbrella Mod & used those to attach the blue battery powered LEDs to the inside of TEDDYS Pet-Mate Carrier, & it worked out just Great & now provides plenty of lite at night, even with the top on his carrier so another mod down to make TEDDYS road-trip'n Adventures the BEST we can

Mind you, Ive been doing all these mods out in our steaming HOT garage. For those that are unaware of the Ohio Valley/Cincinnati area weather patterns, we not only have had record numbers of days continuously above 90+ (17 so far) we also have HIGH HUMIDITY, usually in the 60's & 70's, & that makes for a very nasty air mass. Needless to say, at this point, I was just dripping with sweat & physically drained

It's now 4am, & still no email from the Insurance Company Off to take a quick shower to help myself feel better. After I get done with that, I get changed into comfortable Ryding gear in the hopes that I still get to leave soon for our trip. 5am now & I check again,Yeah!!! There it is

One last check of all the SpYder Vitals, oil, coolant, tires, gps, phone, RVCS, check everything over on the Moto-Mate Camper, double check to make sure I have everything packed & away we go On the road at 5:30am

This was our first long Road-Trip to test out all the mods that we had just completed in the previous couple of weeks. The Garmin Zumo 665 (now mounted to the top of the dash) with XM nav traffic, nav weather, & XM music proved to be an invaluable asset on our adventure. It showed our destination (Whispering Pines CampGround, in Lake Placid Ny) to be 760 miles and about 13.5 hours. The SITA registration & meet-n-greet at Tail O' the Pup bar-b-q was scheduled from 5-10pm, so I was hopeful that we'd still get to make it Sadly, I was mistaken, as I didn't account for SpYder time nor did I account for Teddy time Those of you that have had your Spyders for any length of time understand what I mean by "SpYder Time" as anywhere you stop (gas, rest-area?) your most probably going to have ppl coming up to look at your byke & ask all kinds of questions (hence, the Rock-Star moniker) Well, add to that a Moto-Mate Camper & a cute lil SpYder Ryde'n Pooch on the passenger seat, wearing doggles & yeah, EVERYTIME we stopped, you woulda thought the Circus was in town I'm kinda used to all the attention the Tedster gets, but with the Camper OMG!!! It was outrageous minimum of 30 minutes (at least) at every stop I mean, sure, I coulda been an AHole & ignored the ppl, but sadly, that's not in my nature Plus, as any of you that have met Teddy know, he knows he's a star & he loves the attention & schmooz'n & Pose'n for his adoring fans As I tell ppl, it's not my SpYder, its his & I'm just lucky enough to be his cheoffer? & along for the Ryde

Gotta work, more in a bit

[CyncySpyder]

Before we left, I had plugged in to the GPS to take the fastest route to Lake Placid NY, which meant taking I71N thru Ohio & hitting I90E thru PA & New York. Sadly, I90 is a Thru-Way (whatever that means) & it's mostly all toll roads which I soon learned, was going to financially rape me Where we live, I can't even tell you where the closest toll road is, there are none around here Well, I soon learned that it is very expensive to be pulling a camper, even with a motorcycle (SpYder) as I guess they charge you based on the number of wheels The 1st lady was busy taking pics of Teddy & was only going to charge us something like $2.80, but when she put her camera down, she noticed i was pulling a camper & apologized & said she charged us the wrong amount, & that it would now be something like $8.40 If that was it for the entire trip, ok, no big deal.

But NO this went on again & again & againAll total, I left home with $100 in cash & by the time we got to the campground, I had given out most of 3 $20 bills, - a few singles. The only other thing I spent cash$ on was at a "Service Area" stop to get lunch. Their "Service Areas" all have a fast food restaurant & a gas station along with parking areas. Not like our "No Frills" rest areas back home that's for sure. So we stopped at one & was approached as usual by a mob of on-lookers wondering what this thing I was towing was Most thought it was a Pop-Up, but I had to explain, there's no "popping" here, what you see is what you get It's basically just a bed on wheels. So then, id have to give them the quick once over, all awhile their playing with Teddy & taking pics I didn't know it, but a couple had followed us for about 50 miles & wanted to see up close what all are set-up entailed Very nice lady & she is a fellow SpYder Ryder, as she herself rydes an RS, just not then, as she was on a family trip. But she had lots of questions & just loved TEDDYS SpYder & Camper set-up So I told her about SpyderLovers.com (as I tell everyone that asks about SpYder information) & she said she never heard of it, but would definitely be joining so if your reading this,

ANyways, back to money. I didn't want to cause a stir inside the rest area/McDonalds, so I opened the vents on Teds camper & put him inside while I walked over the Thru-way to get to the McDonalds. I ordered our usual #3, LARGE size with a "diet" I know, I know But the sandwich & drink are for me & Ted gets the fries, as they are actually on his diet (duck & potatoe-allergies) & he loves them & it's rather convenient as well. Back home, the same combo is like $5.93, so I was a lil when the guy said, "$10" I asked him to repeat it, & he again said, "$10" I was like, "are you sure thats right?" He said "yup" I made the comment, "back home, the same thing is only $5.93" to which he riley replied, "well, I guess yur not back home then, now are ya?" SmartA,but it did make me chuckle I paid, got my food & drink, and as I was walking the long way back, I was thinking to myself, I feel like that seen from the Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy is walking with Toto & saying, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto" I new NY was gonna be expensive, but

So, Back to the circus I went. Ppl were around the byke waiting for me to tell them what they were look'n at, all awhile, the Tedsters going nuts inside the camper, cause he can smell those fries I get him out, open up the back of the camper, get out my lounge chair & we have our lunch/dinner right there while everyone around is gawking & taking pics TEDDYS probably on more FaceBook pages than any other dog around

Dang-it, work keeps get'n in the way of post'n

[Tiny1]