Dave & Teds Most Excellent Adventures 2013

[NancysToy]

Don't be too fast to discount your doctor's approach. The answer to soft tissue injuries, where physical damage is not apparent, is usually steroids, anti-inflammatories, and PT. You may also be surprised at what they find (or treat)in PT. My wrist and elbow pain, which started after I rode a ladder down to the concrete patio from my roof, turned out to be based in muscles in my hand and forearm. The sites of the pain were far from the actual sources. Take the pills, do the PT, and see how you feel in a few weeks. BTW, bad tendonitis usually needs about 4-8 weeks before it starts to feel a whole lot better...then it often disappears overnight. Don't ask me how I know.

[KCPete]

Hang in there, Dave...I've done similar things, though not quite to the extent of yours....follow orders, do the PT, (be faithful about it, too!) and things WILL improve!
are with you for a complete recovery. And better rub Teddy's tummy for me..

See you in April!!

Pete & Janet

[CyncySpyder]

So on Saturday morning, Teddy and I headed out to the garage to work some more on our electrical mods that need to be completed. With my buddies assistance from last week, we completed the install of the Moto-Lite fuse block and after he left, I was able to fumble around and actually got the new LCD for the Teddy-Cam installed on the dash. Talking about creative engineering- as the mounting bracket that came with the unit had it sticking out from the dash about 8 inches, almost hitting the handlebars when turning, so I knew I had to cut the mounting bracket down to Spyder friendly size, and I have to admit, tho crudely done, I'm very happy with the end result of my pseudo fabrication and the new position and placement of the screen. Not nearly as svelt as our1st gen monitor that died, but that one also wasn't enclosed in a weather/explosion proof case either. This one should last the test of time, at least I'm hoping it will.

So that brought us to running the wires from the LCD on the dash, down and back thru the Spyder and coming up thru the seat using the same hole as the Utopia Backrest uses. I had forgot that this was a new seat, and wasn't our old one, which I had already modified long ago, so that meant I needed to drill or cut another hole in the seat pan, to allow for the size of the video connectors to fit thru, and then fish them thru the foam and out the top directly behind the bar that firmly holds the Utopia in place. I don't know about you, but drilling and cutting on a perfectly good seat (or body parts for that matter) is always a little disconcerting for me, but it needed to be done.

I didn't have a drill bit large enough, and the larger cutting bits I had were to large, so I opted instead to use our sonic Fein Tool & was able to cut a rectangle right above where the bar mounts on the pan side & it worked very well with the added benifit of being mostly hidden, not that you would see it underneath the seat anyways, but made me feel better for it not looking too sloppy, ya know.

So I had to run 2 video cables and one power cable up thru the seat, that the cables will connect to two different cameras and all the connections will be safely housed in the leather pouch on the backside of the Utopia BackRest, providing for a mostly clean and unseen installation. The actual Teddy-Cam, pointed at the lil star will again reside in a crude hole that I cut into the back flap of the backrest that covers the pouch, as it is the most direct placement for viewing Teddy while he's ryding in his carrier.

With the new addition of Teddy's Sun- Canopy, that gave me the idea of installing the second camera on top of it and facing reward, for the times when we're towing our Camp

[KCPete]

Does the Teddy-Cam have DVR capabilities?

I can see it now...a new reality series..."Travelin' with Teddy"...."Rydin' My Red Sled"..."Tails from the Back Seat"..."Teddy's Spyder Mods"......

[eddieshep999]

I can see it now...a new reality series..."Travelin' with Teddy"...."Rydin' My Red Sled"..."Tails from the Back Seat"..."Teddy's Spyder Mods"......

KCPete - I think this will be a new TV Reality Series - TV = Teddy's View With a DVD to Follow - Dog V Dave

[CyncySpyder]

So on Saturday morning, Teddy and I headed out to the garage to work some more on our electrical mods that need to be completed. With my buddies assistance from last week, we completed the install of the Moto-Lite fuse block and after he left, I was able to fumble around and actually got the new LCD for the Teddy-Cam installed on the dash. Talking about creative engineering- as the mounting bracket that came with the unit had it sticking out from the dash about 8 inches, almost hitting the handlebars when turning, so I knew I had to cut the mounting bracket down to Spyder friendly size, and I have to admit, tho crudely done, I'm very happy with the end result of my pseudo fabrication and the new position and placement of the screen. Not nearly as svelt as our1st gen monitor that died, but that one also wasn't enclosed in a weather/explosion proof case either. This one should last the test of time, at least I'm hoping it will.

So that brought us to running the wires from the LCD on the dash, down and back thru the Spyder and coming up thru the seat using the same hole as the Utopia Backrest uses. I had forgot that this was a new seat, and wasn't our old one, which I had already modified long ago, so that meant I needed to drill or cut another hole in the seat pan, to allow for the size of the video connectors to fit thru, and then fish them thru the foam and out the top directly behind the bar that firmly holds the Utopia in place. I don't know about you, but drilling and cutting on a perfectly good seat (or body parts for that matter) is always a little disconcerting for me, but it needed to be done.

I didn't have a drill bit large enough, and the larger cutting bits I had were to large, so I opted instead to use our sonic Fein Tool & was able to cut a rectangle right above where the bar mounts on the pan side & it worked very well with the added benifit of being mostly hidden, not that you would see it underneath the seat anyways, but made me feel better for it not looking too sloppy, ya know.

So I had to run 2 video cables and one power cable up thru the seat, that the cables will connect to two different cameras and all the connections will be safely housed in the leather pouch on the backside of the Utopia BackRest, providing for a mostly clean and unseen installation. The actual Teddy-Cam, pointed at the lil star will again reside in a crude hole that I cut into the back flap of the backrest that covers the pouch, as it is the most direct placement for viewing Teddy while he's ryding in his carrier.

With the new addition of Teddy's Sun- Canopy, that gave me the idea of installing the second camera on top of it and facing toward the rear, providing a view of whats behind us while ryding with the Moto-Mate Camper in tow. Being as large as the Spyder, this has given us issues in the past and we tried a wireless license plate mounted camera on the back of the camper, but that option proved poor results with the set-up that we had, so I'm thinking using a wired camera on top of his sun canopy should provide us with a good view over and to the sides of the camper that we're missing now.

TBC. . . . work work work

[currin20fan]

Don't be too fast to discount your doctor's approach. The answer to soft tissue injuries, where physical damage is not apparent, is usually steroids, anti-inflammatories, and PT. You may also be surprised at what they find (or treat)in PT. My wrist and elbow pain, which started after I rode a ladder down to the concrete patio from my roof, turned out to be based in muscles in my hand and forearm. The sites of the pain were far from the actual sources. Take the pills, do the PT, and see how you feel in a few weeks. BTW, bad tendonitis usually needs about 4-8 weeks before it starts to feel a whole lot better...then it often disappears overnight. Don't ask me how I know.

I too have had a similar situation and it took me 8 weeks to recover. Did the PT and meds. I think the key words here are PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE........which I don't have a whole lot of but the PT works.

[CyncySpyder]

Does the Teddy-Cam have DVR capabilities?

Do to the added size and cost of the DVR model, we found it prohibitive, especially considerring our new economic reality. Tho if our fortune changes in the future, I do believe it is upgradeable

[CyncySpyder]

So around comes 3pm & my best friend calls and wants to know if I planned on watching the game. What game you ask? The Dejavu game of the Cincinnati Bungals. For the second year in a row, they made it to the first round of playoffs and for the second year in a row, they were matched against Houston at their deaffening stadium. But this year, the Bengals actually had a really good defense, tho no offense to speak of.

But yeah, I told him that Teddy & I were out working in the garage, but that we had planned on breaking to watch the game & he asked if it was cool for him & his daughter to stop by & watch the game with us, which of course it was.

So Teddy and I stopped our working and progressed back to the warmth of his condo, and I readily started a fire in the fireplace to warm our chilled bones from hours out in the garage. We have a small heater out there, but the best it can maintain is around 50-55 degrees & thats with keeping the garage door constantly closed. There is no other door, so if you open it, all the warm air is gone and your chilled for the next couple of hours till the little heater can bring things back up to 50 or so. So it was nice to take a break then anyways.

Sadly, the Bungals lost againthis year, 2nd time to make it to the playoffs, just to be knocked out by a mediocre team for the 2nd year in a row

[CyncySpyder]

Teddy really enjoys when Doug & Madison come to visit. We joke that Teddy reveres Doug as God, as Doug usually brings good treats for Teddy & he was the one that taught Teddy to 'Spin' when he was stopping by every day to take care of the little guy back when I had my back surgery.

Then Madison & I got on the floor and played keep-a-way with Teddy with one of his favorite balls, but no matter how hard we try, Teddy usually wins handily, he's just so fast, but its all good fun. After our game I went ahead and 'refreshed' Teddy's Viper Red color of his MowHawk & Tail, cause his black roots were longer than the Red part, and we can't have popperazzi snap'n pics of him looking like that -lol. I did this while we frustratingly watched the Bungals lose once again in the first round of playoffs. Its been 21 or 22 years now since the Bengals have had a winning season, so to say Cincinnati fans are a little frustrated would be needless.

This was the first time that Madison was present to see me do Teddy's hair & she was amazed at how calm he was for the entire process, dozing off a couple times even while we were waiting for the color to set. Teddy is used to it & doesn't fight me at all, as he knows he gets a really good treat once he gets done & believe me, this is one VeryMotivated dog when it comes to him getting a treat. If I'm smart enough to figure out how to communicate what I want him to do, with positive reinforcement and most of all treats, I think I could train him to do just about anything.

[CyncySpyder]

Anyone out there that's reading this that may be a relatively newer Spyder Owner, allow me to share a learned lesson with you. If you pose a question here on SpyderLovers and your fortunate enough to have Scotty (NancysToy) chime in with a nugget of advice, do yourself a favor and LISTEN TO THE MAN

[CyncySpyder]

So after the game, Doug & Madison took their leave & Teddy & I had just lost ALL motivation to head back out to the chilly garage, as it was now in the upper 20s, so we decided to call it a night and hit the garage again on Sunday.

Seeing as I had the Spyder more apart now than ever, as I had to remove the entire seat to thread the video & power wires, If you've ever done this, you know how much of a pain this is to do the straight forward way, cause there is very little room at the rear of the seat to remove the 2 bolts that hold it on, and you hopefully know to stuff a rag or something down into that black hole in the center, otherwise you will surely loose one of the speed nuts or worse, a spacer down this bottomless pit, never to be seen again. After doing a little research, I saw where someone suggested removing the built-in passenger back rest, as it is very easy to do, like 3 bolts and 2 push-pins and it pops right off and that leaves you with plenty of space to access the 2 bolts that you need access to in order to remove the seat. Thank you whomever suggested this, as it does save alot of knuckle busting trying to get into that tight space at the rear.

One major issue I ran into was after I was finished with the seat and ready to reassemble everything, I can't locate where I put the 2 bolts that hold the passenger sensor to the bottom of the seat. See what happens when I start something & stop midway thru. Teddy & I looked for over an hour with no luck, so I guess I'm going to have to order 2 more of them

[stillriding]

One major issue I ran into was after I was finished with the seat and ready to reassemble everything, I can't locate where I put the 2 bolts that hold the passenger sensor to the bottom of the seat. See what happens when I start something & stop midway thru. Teddy & I looked for over an hour with no luck, so I guess I'm going to have to order 2 more of them...

May I respectfully suggest that the next time you remove your seat, instead of removing the sensor from the seat, just follow the wires and unplug it. It makes things a lot easier.

[CyncySpyder]

So I realized I was stopped in my tracks with the seat reinstallation, so I doulble checked all my electrical connections that had just been completed, and turned the key to once again bring life to Teds Red Sled to confirm that the new Teddy-Cam was working propperly, and am proud to report, success on that front.

Ok, on to our next mod. Last winter, I found a really nice weather-proof indoor outdoor heating pad made for outdoor dog kennels in cold climates & I was able to get it with a 12 volt connector to use on Teds Red Sled, but my issue became how to power it. I usually take off his carrier when I'm ryding alone, like going back & forth to work, that way I don't have to worry about water getting it all wet or building up if it rains or snows.Do to this, I needed a way to power his heating pad, but it had to also be easily removable, so direct wiring was out. This is where a very wise Spyder Owner suggested that I get the BRP 12 volt plug accessory and install it at the rear of the left side heated passenger grip. If you've ever looked there, there is a prefab cut-out already in place just for this reason. At the time, I was too stubborn to shell out the $25 + the cost of install so I figured there had to be another way to go about it.

So instead, I took the more problematic & difficult route. I drilled a small hole in the rear of the passenger backrest, under the cussion part where its just the plastic wall leading to the rear trunk where there's already a 12 volt plug readily accessable. For fear of water getting in from ryding in the rain, I originally only did a small hole large enough forthe 14 gauge wire to fit thru. I then cut and spliced the wire leading from Teddy's heating pad to the 12 volt connector on the end, and I fed the wire thru the hole and reconnected the wire & plug using Posi-Taps, so it was easy to unscrew the caps, take the wire apart, and remove the heating pad when not needed.

Well, this approach, while not perfect did work and provided the heat for Teddy when needed, and was also easy to remove when not needed.

That is, til we were on a road-trip last winter, with it being around 30 degrees and I realized Teddy was shaking in his carrier (glad I had the Teddy-Cam) it appeared with the twisting off and on over and over again, the wires broke off down to the casing, and they were no longer making a connection, nor completing the circuit, leaving Teddy without any direct heat source. We were on the road, after dark, out in Gods Country somewhere, so I had to figure something out. With the wire strippers being barried somewhere in the tool box stuffed in the camper, I was a little panicky to say the least. at what I could do for the little guy as we still had a few hours to go to reach our destination. Being on the road allot, I've learned to always have back ups for many situations, and if we can, have those back ups that don't require power, just in case that's not an option, like now.

After a little digging, I finally found my stash of Hand and Insole Warmers that I always keep in the trunk when on road trips in cold weather. Learned that lesson our first year doing a hundred mile trip to Indy in 16 degree temps. when I thought for sure my toes were going to get frost bite, even tho I had Insulated boots and thermal socks. Thanks to BajaRons 1st Gear Thermo Ryding Suit, and the RTs heated grips, windshield and full face helmet, everything else was fun, except my feet. Thats when I discovered they also make Insole Warmers just like they do for your hands, and have always kept a stash ever since. And thank God I did, cause I opened 8 of the Insole Warmers and lined his enclosed carrier with them, and within about 15 minutes, he was no longer shaking.

TBC..... work

[CyncySpyder]

One major issue I ran into was after I was finished with the seat and ready to reassemble everything, I can't locate where I put the 2 bolts that hold the passenger sensor to the bottom of the seat. See what happens when I start something & stop midway thru. Teddy & I looked for over an hour with no luck, so I guess I'm going to have to order 2 more of them...

May I respectfully suggest that the next time you remove your seat, instead of removing the sensor from the seat, just follow the wires and unplug it. It makes things a lot easier.

You are very correct & I learned this lesson just a tad too late, but believe me, I won't forget it

[CyncySpyder]

uploadfromtaptalk1357784211641.jpguploadfromtaptalk1357784256211.jpguploadfromtaptalk1357784273203.jpguploadfromtaptalk1357784315124.jpguploadfromtaptalk1357784395809.jpg

[CyncySpyder]

Still have a few bugs to work out, like the Teddy-Cam system stopped working shortly after start up. But talking about such a rush to ryde again my face stlll hurts. On the way back home, Teddy insisted going thru the drive-thru at GoldStar Chilli & once again, he got his very own complimentary hot dog while having his pic taken by the workers & other customers. uploadfromtaptalk1357785072361.jpguploadfromtaptalk1357785092496.jpguploadfromtaptalk1357785115698.jpguploadfromtaptalk1357785131961.jpguploadfromtaptalk1357785164074.jpg

[coz]

you're bike looks very different with the wheels and body back on it. i mean that in a good way.
good for you and ted

[Netminder]

Looking good Dave! Glad to see you and Teddy back on the Spyder!

[CyncySpyder]

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[CyncySpyder]

Ok, we took a 9 mile test ryde last night, as evidenced by the picture posts above & I have to say, WOW!!! WHAT A RUSH!!! Mind you, we didn't get over 3rd gear, & I'm not sure what made more of a dramatic impact, as we have new tires all around & also BajaRon's new Anti-Sway Bar (my bet) but its really like we have a totally different machine, especially in the curves. Going up the hill to Devou Park is totally twisty & as soon as we started, I started to lean a little but quickly found it wasn't necessary, as Teds Mutilated Sled stayed flat with no wandering to speak of, How Sweet!!!

On a different topic, I think I have to rewire the LCD of the Teddy-Cam, as I used the disconnected fuel gauge as its power source using Posi-Taps, same way I did our first one. When I turn the key the power comes on to the LCD & camera & Teddy's cheery face shows clear as day. But once I actually start the Spyder, the LCD goes blank for some reason & I'm not sure why? Thinking maybe this new screen requires more power than what that gauge wire provides, but then it seems logical that it would blow the fuse, which it doesn't, fires back up every time I turn the key, goes blank every time I start tho. Any ideas out there?

[Doc - Riverside]

I agree with Roger. Orange/red wire is good for power as it is coming off the main relay. You need a separate ground wire to the frame. Did your digital fuel guage go wacky after you started it up? Coolant temp will also be effected.

[CyncySpyder]

Thats a good thought my friend, using red for power & black for ground. Only thing with your theory tho, is this is the same way we powered & grounded the previous display without issue. I don't have the power consumption rates for the new display readily available, but I'm guessing that it is more than our previous model & this may be causing the issue upon starting. I have yet to put the sled completely back together for this very purpose. Looks like I just need to go ahead and run the wires back to the new fuse block we installed & I'm thinking that should correct any issues, at least that's what i'm hoping

[CyncySpyder]

So Teddy is not so opposed to joining me in the garage once again, now that we've teased ourselves with two seperate test rydes, he knows theirs a chance we might actually be heading out to go for a ryde. But alas, yesterday was a day of maddening frustration for me, and Teddy could tell I was learning my limits of just how much frustration I can take.

Was sent home early again, out of parts to run and I have a ton stocked up, so I took the added free time and headed to the garage to rerout the wiring for the Teddy-Cam system. It would power on and display the image from the camera just fine with the turn of the key, but then I'd loose everything as soon as I started the bike. Not sure why this happened this way, since I had hooked up the new system exactly the same as the old one, which had worked just fine being hooked into the power and ground from the disconnected fuel gauge using Posi-Taps.

Roger and Doc, I just tapped into the power and ground wire, and left the actual gauge connection disconnected, so this left the Spyders system not sensing that the gauge was connected, thereby it had no effect on the digital gauges that popped up on the Spyders LCD, so they were always rock steady in their display as far as I've witnessed.

But since I have a new fuse block installed, I figured it best to just bite the bullet and rewire everything to it, thereby leaving the Spyders electrical system out of the equation,for the most part, all except for the battery of course. So, I ended up adding a red and a black wire, all the way from the new LCD all the way back tocthe new fuse block, which I located under the panel of the Left side passenger grad handle, pretty close to the battery. First, before fishing everything thru, I mocked it all up and tested it, with the key on, we got power and a picture, YAY!!!SUCCESS!!! Now for the moment of truth, hit the started and Teds Red Sled roars to life, and YAY, we still have power and a picture, WOO HOO!!! If I could sing, this is where I would have broke out in song.

[eddieshep999]

If I could sing, this is where I would have broke out in song.

Ok its time we suggested some song titles you may have come up with


Mine is - THE POWER OF LOVE

Now wait for others to come up with their choices