Comments & notes from my longest Spyder-spin thus far

[Duffer]

Saturday morn was the big "Let's start a Puget Sound Spyder Chapter/Club" meet in Fife. I'll let the folks in the know comment on the specifics of that except to add that It's a done deal!

To start at the beginning... naw. Ya know what? Let's break with tradition and start at the end! The trusty 2013 RTS steed and I made it home safe & sound! Now, because we started at the exciting conclusion I can do that sci-fi thingy where we 'flash back' on the day's events! Like time travel, except less expensive

I had to work the grave shift Friday nite - Saturday morn. Using the way, way back machine, I actually had to work the grave Thursday nite also. Come home to sleep, get up at 2pm and pretend to enjoy my 2yo niece's b-day bash Sat afternoon

I had decided to not make the almost 2 hour trip down to Fife Sunday morn because:
1) I've never had our new Spyder on the freeway yet and
2) I'd been awake since 2pm the previous afternoon! but then! as if he was doing that mind-meld thingy, (thanx Ann!) Camano Steve jumped into action with an unsolicited offer to join he and his beautiful bride for a 7am rendezvous and cruise together down to Fife. With invites like that (and much more coffee) how could I refuse!

So I got home Sunday morn and suited up while 'Steed' warmed her unmentionables, when what do I see? Hmmmm, those front tires look kinda low. Keep in mind that Steed is only 2 weeks from the Lifestyle's stable and with nary 20 miles on her thus far SHOULD NOT have issues like this! Yup, each front tire accurately delivered to me with ...... 8psi each! Me, in my sleepless stupor, couldn't remember the S.L. recommended pressures so I just set them at max. 30psi. Yeah, I know. I'll fix it later. And off I go! a bit late but rolling on strong.

With the wind at my back and the traffic-lite gods waving me thru the wee hours of Stanwood (this never happens in the commuter-cage btw!) I just begin to roll on throttle the with open highway ahead when... A really nice buck, still in velvet, bounds up from the opposite side ditch! He parallels me for a couple bounds and then turns away, over the fence and across the freshly mown alfalfa field. Now, here's an interesting thing about perspective. The average Joe or Joan would have hammered the brakes, moved away from said bounding obstacle and then white-knuckled the rest of this country ride until the adrenalin finally wore off. Me? Being the hunter/outdoorsman that I pretend to be, I see this deer and think, "Wow! What a dandy buck! That guy is gonna be a BIG Blacktail come this Fall!" "Biggest buck I've seen this year!" It took a couple more seconds before, "Hey dummy! That could have been REALLY disasterous!" oops. Also I will add, "Duh"

I made it to the Rendezvous point to.... an empty gas station! Don't panic. You're only 2 minutes late. Check your phone. Oh good. They are even later! So I fueled up and piddled premium into Steed. A bit more. click. and a bit more. click. stupid pump. click. that looks as full as I can get it. click. gurgle. or not. dribble. click. repeat. You get the idea. Filled up just as far as my patience would allow.

Full disclosure: My ability to remember names is about equal to Einstein's ability to down Jello shooters. Orange ones. With cheap vodka.

Fast forward 15 minutes and the 4 of us (Mr & Ms Camano Steve plus dude from Bellingham who's not Randy) (see disclosure. insert apology) are whooshing our way southward. What a beautiful sunny morn! A little fog in the air. Hey look, there's one of those hang-glider/sail kite thingys! All is well. Even the approaching downtown Seattle city doesn't dampen my mood. Don't get me started on Seattle. Cruising under the bridges and thru the tunnels that are afforded us by the Expressway takes on new meaning while Spydering! and then a slight miscalculation. a short tour of downtown Seattle. and BACK ON SOUTH I-5! (we'll skip those details)

Now it's about 8:15ish and traffic begins... to.... annoy. welcome to Seattle.

to be continued.....

ps: the ride was also punctuated by, "look, a cop" "and another. and another" "ooo, speed trap!" Our Staters were busy this morn too.

[Duffer]

We cruised on in to Fife uneventfully. All told, 12 brave souls. Not sure how many Spyders total but I popped this pic on my way out.

Nice folks all. Entertaining banter. Club successfully launched. Next meeting date set for August 16th. Lots and lots of advise on Steed! appreciated advice I will clarify. but I way fading fast. 2 hours of breakfast & business and I was back on the road. Walking to our rides I encounter my first ever gawker! After a short conversation about "How much do these things run?" and "What kind of mileage do they get" shouted over the thumping blare of the hip-hop being blasted from the S-15 Blazer parked next to us (welcome to Fife!) I'm suited up again and back on the road. Fueled up right there, (burned about half a tank southbound and a bit more on the return trip) hit the on-ramp and.... 11am sunny weekend traffic. Blech. Air temp hit 82 at one point. stop n go. stop n go. stop n sit. you get the idea.

Nothing eventful happened for the first hour of my 2 hour return trip so while I fast-forward thru the visual aspects of Seattle traffic I'll over-dub the 'Notes' part of this adventure:

Steed never got hot...... but I sure did!

1st, my unvented black leathers with chaps were fine in the cool of the morn but now I'm being broiled! Add to that the fact that there is absolutely no place short of sitting side-saddle in which I can position my right boot where it's not a baked potato! I'll be fixing THAT REAL SOON! and we're talking hiking boot over heavy sock with jeans under chaps.

2nd, This belt vibration thing is not acceptable. I kept Steed between 5500 and 7K when traffic permitted and as I would roll on the throttle there would arise a set of circumstances where it felt like I was riding the 'rumble-strip'! Either a blast of power or letting up would immediately stop this vibrato. It's annoying and I'll be fixing that too.

3rd, I'd noticed right away that the fuel map on this beast is surge-inducingly lean at light throttle. I chalked it up to "the ECU needs time to learn" but we'll see if it improves.

4th, laser alignment is in order. yes, I was warned that these beasts tend to wander on the open road but I can see where a less experienced rider could get unnerved by the floaty/drifty feeling of these machines at freeway speeds

The farther away from Seattle I get, the less oppressive the traffic. By Marysville things are humming right along again. and then my right hip starts to cramp. I did what I could until the Smokey Point rest area. Quick stop, stretch, and back on the road. By this point I'm really roasting so I hopped off the freeway to take the country farmland winder back home. Oh so much nicer! Got to do some twistys.... until I caught up with the tourists. putt, putt, putt. Oh well. I didn't need to be hot-rodding around in my stupor.

Fast forward some more and I get caught by a signal just a couple miles from home. open my face shield and hmmm..... smells like gasoline. Yup. gas smell too.

Made it home just fine in 2hrs 10mins ( I think we were about 1hr 40mins going down) and now about 215 miles on Steed. Right back where we started. I let Steed cool off in the driveway while I unsuited and such. No fuel dripping that I noticed but definitely gas smell! (at just under 1/2 tank for those who need to know) Backed her into the garage and boom, boom. out go the lights! Snnnnoooooorrrrrre.

What a day. What an adventure. What a great group of new friends!

[joet82]

Glad you made it home safe. you did look really out of it after letting the food coma set in a bit. haha

and congrats to my fellow Puget Sound Chapter members. WE GOT THE BALL ROLLING!

[Chupaca]

you all got it started...congrats..!! let the fun begin...now if you never adjusted the tire pressure this could be some of your problems in the handling. All in all sounds like a great trip seeing as many of the things you mention were out of your control...trafic, weather, idiots...you know..glad your home safe and can rest up....

[murphybrown]

Thank you soooo much for the "journey" that I could join without actually being there. I know some of those folks of which you speak and YEP they are top drawer and love the Spyder and Ryding...great combination!!!

[SpyderAnn01]

I"m glad I could be a matchmaker!

[PatGund]

It was nice to meet you!

[spyderman051]

So good to meet all.Some familar faces and some new!! .Welcome to Puget Sound Spyder Ryders of America!!!

[SpyderAnn01]

Duffer, you might want to ease up on the RPMs the 1330 motor likes low RPMs. Sounds like you could use some good vented clothing for your changing weather up there.

Also, Mrs. Steve Camano Island is Roslyn and could Bellingham, not Randy, be Can Am Sam? Thanks for the great recap of your ride and I hope you got some good sleep when you got home.

[Duffer]

Duffer, you might want to ease up on the RPMs the 1330 motor likes low RPMs. Sounds like you could use some good vented clothing for your changing weather up there.

Also, Mrs. Steve Camano Island is Roslyn and could Bellingham, not Randy, be Can Am Sam? Thanks for the great recap of your ride and I hope you got some good sleep when you got home.

Thanx for rubbing it in Ann! My memory issues that is

Steed is a new 2013! So 998, not 1330 btw

Time to start my wish list. I'll start with S.L. vendors of course but I'm open to suggestions!

1) Header wrap, hi-temp spray adhesive & foil-backed insulation: Looks like Amazon has better prices than Ebay
2) Cat bypass: who stocks these?
3) Vent plugs: Spyderpops
4) Laser align: guess I either gotta plan a road trip or wait until it comes to us again
5) cup holders: Been some recent write-ups on these but I'm thinkin', "what good is having a conveniently placed cup when wearing a full face helmet?
6) Vented riding gear! : We have a local 'Harley' consignment shop close by that supports a rider's charity. I'll check there first
7) Also have not picked up rain gear yet:
8) Sam (I think) had a really cool strobing brake light. I gotta get me one of those!:
9) Our helmets are set up for 'intercomms. Gotta get those up and running:
10) after our trip I realized I'd better figure a way to hook up my radar detector!
11) Sway bar! :
12) Might need a 2nd job!

[joet82]

1) Header wrap, hi-temp spray adhesive & foil-backed insulation: Looks like Amazon has better prices than Ebay
2) Cat bypass: who stocks these? Pitbull Powersports/Lamonster Garage
3) Vent plugs: Spyderpops
4) Laser align: guess I either gotta plan a road trip or wait until it comes to us again
5) cup holders: Been some recent write-ups on these but I'm thinkin', "what good is having a conveniently placed cup when wearing a full face helmet? No advantage...stop and take a butt break.
6) Vented riding gear! : We have a local 'Harley' consignment shop close by that supports a rider's charity. I'll check there first BILT makes the jacket i wear, and then I wear a vest over it, and when it gets really warm, I wear only the vest.
7) Also have not picked up rain gear yet: Again Bilt, or Frogg Toggs or First Gear
8) Sam (I think) had a really cool strobing brake light. I gotta get me one of those!:
9) Our helmets are set up for 'intercomms. Gotta get those up and running:
10) after our trip I realized I'd better figure a way to hook up my radar detector!
11) Sway bar! : BajaRon
12) Might need a 2nd job! not might...it's a requirement. lol

[cpdblegl]

Loved hearing about the return adventure... takes me back to my first trips on my 'steed'... The gas smell worries me, and hopefully will worry you enough to stop by your dealer and have him look at the "evaporation canister". If the heat from the exhaust manifold has compromised the canister, you will smell gas, and that may lead to a fire... be careful PLEASE!
Nice to meet all of you and look forward to being a member of the CHAPTER
Thanks to Steve (Mr. President ) and Joe (Biden??)

[joet82]

Loved hearing about the return adventure... takes me back to my first trips on my 'steed'... The gas smell worries me, and hopefully will worry you enough to stop by your dealer and have him look at the "evaporation canister". If the heat from the exhaust manifold has compromised the canister, you will smell gas, and that may lead to a fire... be careful PLEASE!
Nice to meet all of you and look forward to being a member of the CHAPTER
Thanks to Steve (Mr. President ) and Joe (Biden??)

Unlike Biden, I am not completely useless. :P