The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[McRuss]

Just over 1,000 miles on it now and....

The Good:
Plenty of power, simple, light, fun, inexpensive (relatively), easy to customize, lots of options

The Bad:
Susectible to wind, rough roads, pot holes
Poor owner's manual (if you don't know how to ride a MC, take a class); written in Canadian (flame away but it's true!)
Rally rear fender (yes it looks cool but it throws all the dirt from the highway onto the area beneath the seat/on the drive shaft area and hard to keep clean
Hard to clean; so many nooks and crannies

The Ugly:
Fit and finish of the plastic panels. My friend and I each bought a Rally and the Front Facia does not quite latch on the left side on either one. He thinks his was broken during assembly, I think it is just poor/cheap method of attaching. Other panels do not all line up quite right.
Panel fastening (and this is one reason a Ryker costs 1/2 or less than the least expensive Spyder); the trim panels are about the only screws on the body and they use locktite and square nuts that turn in the plastic 'channels' that are supposed to keep them from turning.
:cus:

All that being said, I LIKE my Rally! It is a blast to ride, even better now that I've added BajaRon's sway bar. Would I do it again? In a heart beat! But I am seriously considering changing out the Rally rear fender for a 'standard Ace' model. About $80 I think. Would like to hear from 900 owners about the way their fenders keep that area cleaner.
:chat:

 

[4 MARIE]

not considering a Ryker, but if I was the Rally would be it.
Love the idea of a little more ground clearance. and I thank you for the review. Most of it was no big surprise.
especially the fun factor

 

[BajaRon]

Just over 1,000 miles on it now and....

The Good:
Plenty of power, simple, light, fun, inexpensive (relatively), easy to customize, lots of options

The Bad:
Susectible to wind, rough roads, pot holes
Poor owner's manual (if you don't know how to ride a MC, take a class); written in Canadian (flame away but it's true!)
Rally rear fender (yes it looks cool but it throws all the dirt from the highway onto the area beneath the seat/on the drive shaft area and hard to keep clean
Hard to clean; so many nooks and crannies

The Ugly:
Fit and finish of the plastic panels. My friend and I each bought a Rally and the Front Facia does not quite latch on the left side on either one. He thinks his was broken during assembly, I think it is just poor/cheap method of attaching. Other panels do not all line up quite right.
Panel fastening (and this is one reason a Ryker costs 1/2 or less than the least expensive Spyder); the trim panels are about the only screws on the body and they use locktite and square nuts that turn in the plastic 'channels' that are supposed to keep them from turning.
:cus:

All that being said, I LIKE my Rally! It is a blast to ride, even better now that I've added BajaRon's sway bar. Would I do it again? In a heart beat! But I am seriously considering changing out the Rally rear fender for a 'standard Ace' model. About $80 I think. Would like to hear from 900 owners about the way their fenders keep that area cleaner.
:chat:

I would agree with your assessment with maybe a few alterations (JMHO)

Positives are spot on. My Ryker Rally is a blast to ride. A different ride than my 998 GS. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I don't find it particularly hard to clean for a motorcycle. Most motorcycles take a bit more effort because of 'Nooks and Crannies'. The Ryker isn't any more trouble than my 2008 GS or my M109R.

Negatives. I'd add a few. First, storage. But I can't complain. I knew about this lack going in. Still, it seems with a bit of effort, a little more storage could be had without breaking the bank.

Fuel gauge. This may be specific to me. But I can add nearly 3 gallons to the tank when it still shows completely full. I can get 5.5 gallons into an empty tank. Showing full being 2.8 gallons down seems a bit ridiculous. From full to 1/2 goes fairly quickly. And 1/2 to zero gets me about 40 miles. I am getting about 35 MPG now. So 1/2 tank on the gauge represents just a bit over 1 gallon. I would like to see a more accurate reporting from this fairly important gauge.

Tire balance. Again, could be just me. But my 1st set of front tires were like riding a washing machine with a bowling ball in it on spin cycle. My dealership had the tires spun balanced by a local tire shop and things got a lot better. It is almost smooth between about 50 and 65 mph. But anything outside of this is not good at all. This is not a Ryker problem. Personally, I think it is a Kenda problem.

I do not feel that I suffer from the 'Fit and Finish' issues you describe. Though I have heard this complaint enough to think I may just not care about this as much as others do. I've had the hood and fascia off numerous times without any problem. For what the Ryker is. I think things fit well enough. The parking brake lever is a bit of a joke. But it works.

The drive shaft swing arm definitely gets a lot of 'Stuff' from the rear tire. Not sure, yet, what I want to do about that.

Do it again!? In a heart beat! Awesome machine and great price. It's not the ride for everyone (what is?). But if you think it will fill the bill. I'd go for it. Bang for the Buck factor is high for the Ryker.

 

[poli]

I LOVE my Rally rear fender, really shows off that rear tire good. And I don't know WHERE yall get the idea that it makes the swing arm dirty. I just went for a little ride this morning and checked and mine still looks clean!

 

[Sarge707]

Since the Roads are Now Dry the Rally rear fender is fine and I like the look. If you ride in the rain a Lot _Not so good?

 

[Dragracer]

I agree with the pros. except it's way too expensive to customise using Can Am parts. $300 for the max mount is ludicrous! $100 for the knee pads, ridiculous. $30.00 for the 3 wheel stick-on decals, please. Hopefully, the aftermarket accessories will be coming soon.

Cons, I agree the wind seems to blow me around a lot, but I don't have a problem with that. I agree the Rally fender is too short, and that's one of the reasons I bought the 900 ACE.

The fit and finish is good for this bike. My glove box doesn't fit flush as it should, but I and a heat gun will be fixing that concern.

I just installed the black Rally grill on my 900 ACE for a little extra protection. It was easy to install, and the plastic nose was easy to remove and reinstall. I am very happy with the purchase, and would do it again!

 

[BajaRon]

I LOVE my Rally rear fender, really shows off that rear tire good. And I don't know WHERE yall get the idea that it makes the swing arm dirty. I just went for a little ride this morning and checked and mine still looks clean!

View attachment 172372

'Clean' must have a different meaning for people in East Texas...:yikes:

 

[poli]

'Clean' must have a different meaning for people in East Texas...:yikes:

Nope, just having fun with my Rally. Still can't believe nobody uses it like I do. You don't know what you're missing riding dirt roads. It's not only peaceful but can be challenging. I'm all the time coming up on a washed out area that's a real challenge to get through or a mud hole you sit and think about for a minute and finally decide to try. This morning I started down a CR (Texas Country Road) and after a little ways looked down and my GPS said "Driving on Unpaved Road". It shortly went to just "Heading Southeast". Kept following it, bouncing along, until it come to a gate and I had to turn around. But it's great just seeing where these roads go. Sometimes they dead end and other times they come out somewhere that really surprises you on how! Yeah, my Rally gets dirty and muddy but you can't believe how much fun it was getting it that way! Try exploring some back roads, you will have a blast.

 

[McRuss]

I agree with BajaRon, I forgot what a joke the fuel gauge is! I put 156 miles on, running in Eco mode and it took 4.58 gallons. The bars were all gone, the little light was glowing (WHY is it not brighter?) and a message "Low Fuel" flashed across the screen. Apparently it still had about 1 gallon left; the Miles Till Empty said about 30 which is pretty close since I got 34 mpg on that tank. I'm running a tank now under Sport mode to see what it will do, driving similar roads and speeds as before.

As to fit and finish, my hood fits great but the 'nose fascia' does not latch on the left side; it will pop in but comes right back out when released. It doesn't hurt anything, just an annoyance. BUT again, this is a relatively inexpensive motorcycle, for better fit and finish, I guess I could have gone with another Yamaha!

And I stayed away from CanAm parts! My major 'customization' was with Plasti Dip and it gets the most comments from fellow travelers!

Well, I've ridden mine on a bunch of dirt roads, maybe that is why I complain about the cleaning issues. My FJR is much easier to clean; it is around the front end, steering, wheels, etc, that I have trouble. I don't use high pressure, maybe that is the problem.

 

[chris56]

I made a 1.500 miles trip to Italy last week - had a lot of rain .. mostly ECO-mode - only over the Alps I used the SPORT-Mode .. no Problem to get 180 miles with one tank - very intelligent system to see always how much you can ride till ist empty - but I think in my tank fits a little ? more than written in the manual ..??
I also love the design of the rear Rally-Fender, but you see how clean the FOX is after that "tour !!
I would cut my Fender on the back side, like in this BRP Picture, seems that was there first Version ..
3.900 miles - everything still runs perfect & (sorry) more "fun" than with my old GS and RT (39.000 miles) - would buy it once again !!

 

[KC61]

As far as plastic panels lining up, mine was the same way. Until I installed LED Headlights and had all those panels off and found they were never installed properly. The piece under the handlebar wasn't clipped into the Frunk properly. It all lines up perfect now and looks great.

 

[campermac]

As far as the cleaning goes, I take my Rally to the local car wash and hit it with their soap then rinse it off well. After I am done I ride it down the road to blow it off and when I get home I take my Cycle Dryer and finish getting into the nooks and crannies. If you don't have a cycle dryer a leaf blower works too.

 

[campermac]

I can't imagine a 1500 mile trip on a Ryker. That is what I have my Spyder RT Limited for.