Replacing the front tires the factory puts on Spyders with quality car tires improves the handling dramatically, in every way. Changing those front tires was very easy, as it is with car wheels. Changing a Spyder's rear tire is muuch more arduous and involved. As my two Portland grandkids and a 12 year old great grandson discovered.
Yesterday, Saturday, those three came to our house to get a hands on lesson on one of the toughest - if not THE toughest - maintenance tasks a Spyder has to offer up. Changing the rear tire. Instruction involved proper use of tools (hand and power), lifting the bike, and the how-to of rear wheel removal and replacement. Since the drive belt needed to be removed, removal and inspecton for wear of the front drive belt pulley was tossed in there too. Also shown them, was the organizing of the pieces as they are removed, so that they go back on in proper order and on the correct side of the wheel.
The removed wheel and the new tire were placed in the grandson's van and we went off to have a tire shop do the exchange. There are two major tire stores near us and neither wanted anything to do with it. A search on a cell phone found an independent auto repir shop nearby. On the phone, he admitted he has never done a motorcycle wheel, but he'd give it a try for $20. That's super cheap! He tried, he succeeded, he didn't want any money. He got money and more than he quoted. Any Spyder owner who has a wheel and furnished tire to bring into a shop will tell you how difficult to impossible it is to find a shop that will mount it. Extremely few Spyder dealer shops will not do it, unless you are buying an OEM tire from them. This exercise was to get away from the insufficient OEM tire, even though it has only 8,000 miles on it and lots of tread remaining. I'll be giving it to some local Spyder owner in exchange for a bag of one of Portland's better coffees.
The old tire and the wheel with a new tire were back in the van. Lunch time! 24 Taco Bell tacos sated the appetites of the four workers and their den mother - my wife - and it was back to the garage to reverse the process and put my new Harbor Freight ICON Split Beam torque wrench to work for the first time. And oh, how sweet is that wrench. It wasn't cheap, but when you consider what I'd pay the dealer's shop to do the job, the cost of the wrench is a mere fraction of that. And it's mine for the rest of my life.
And that's why I had the kids so involved. Our Spyder is to bcome their Spyder when the time comes. It will remain in the family and they are solidly for that. Inasmuch as a Spyder is very unique to any vehicle extant, they need to know how to do the maintenance and and a lot more. A legacy, a legend, a memorial and a helluva fun bike all in one. With all I've have done to make it better, there is more of me in that Spyder than any jar can hold. Makes me happy.
The day was capped with dinner at the groups' favorite Italian restaurant. It doesn't get any better. In my book anyway.
Ours is a red, black and chrome 2017 F3 Limited. Bought new in 2/2019. The avatar is my first bike back in 1952, a Simplex Servi-Cycle. Photo taken at the Barber Museum.
5 people and 24 tacos got 'er done
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