• There were many reasons for the change of the site software, the biggest was security. The age of the old software also meant no server updates for certain programs. There are many benefits to the new software, one of the biggest is the mobile functionality. Ill fix up some stuff in the coming days, we'll also try to get some of the old addons back or the data imported back into the site like the garage. To create a thread or to reply with a post is basically the same as it was in the prior software. The default style of the site is light colored, but i temporarily added a darker colored style, to change you can find a link at the bottom of the site.

What did you do to your Spyder today?

I took a little trip up Highway 9 from Lake Stevens to Lake McMurray, turned to the West and headed to Shelter Bay in La Connor to visit one of the other three friends who turn 82 this year. I was first back in June, friend Dick was second in July, and this friend Jim is the youngest, with an October birthday. Highway 9 is a favorite bike ride in this area, to the point that the State has signs warning other drivers about bike traffic. Vroom Vroom.
 
Today it was 104°F when we had to go out. The air was very smokey too.

It was 98°F in the garage. Took 4 wheels instead. It also has a cabin filter for pulling smoke from the air.

Got back at 8:30 PM. It was still around 100°F outside.
 
Went for a short ride around the bay and then to the Samoa Peninsula, and then across the Samoa bridge, and back. The county has been widening and resurfacing a road I like to ride daily. It's now complete and very nice blacktop. Bicycle lanes on both sides as well now. I also ride a bicycle and this is a great improvement.
 
Letting the Spyder take a break for a couple of weeks. Got a trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky coming up 8/20-23. Taking the BMW as a practice run for my trip out West next May. Funny thing is that I took the K1600 in for an oil change, filter, rear end gear oil, had the brakes checked, fluids flushed and changed, and a full inspection of all aspects of the bike. Total cost was about $350. That is about the cost of a simple oil change on the Spyder. I was afraid that the maintenance cost on the BMW would be extreme, but it seems that the Can Am is a lot more expensive to maintain.
 
Letting the Spyder take a break for a couple of weeks. Got a trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky coming up 8/20-23. Taking the BMW as a practice run for my trip out West next May. Funny thing is that I took the K1600 in for an oil change, filter, rear end gear oil, had the brakes checked, fluids flushed and changed, and a full inspection of all aspects of the bike. Total cost was about $350. That is about the cost of a simple oil change on the Spyder. I was afraid that the maintenance cost on the BMW would be extreme, but it seems that the Can Am is a lot more expensive to maintain.
Oil changes cost more on a Spyder partly because the oil change subsequent oil level checks are more complex as it is a dry sump engine.

The oil level has to be checked under certain circumstances to ensure the level is correct when the engine has the right amount of oil in it and the rest is in the oil reservoir tank.

It’s a dry sump engine to reduce the height of the engine and hence lower the center of gravity. This also gives it a larger oil volume allowing the engine to go longer distances between oil changes for the original semi synthetic oil it was designed around.

Whether all this justifies the price, who knows, but having had BMW twins and fours in the past, your service bill was remarkably low to compared to those I had for similar work on mine. My bill for that would have been over double that for the same thing. Brake fluid flush alone would have been what you paid.
 
On Sunday, I finally got the Givi v58 top case lights installed. What a process that was. The install was simple, getting to the correct lighting solution, however, that took a lot of research, but in the end, it paid off.

To make a long story short, if you are thinking of buying Admore Universal Lights for your Can-Am bike, don't. They do not work. After 2 months of trying to get them to work, and numerous emails that Admore did not respond to, I cut my losses ($150 for the lights) and went another route.

I ended up going with the True Mods 8" light strip that has brake, running/tail, and amber turn signals. I had to do some modifications to the light strip itself, as it was not intended to be mounted under a lens, but it was a simple mod. Basically, just removing a little silicone that protects the lights from the elements. I used a 12 pin quick disconnect cable and wired all the wires to their own circuit on a BP41-265 Show Chrome wire harness and connected it to the OEM harness under the passenger seat. It came out pretty good, and I got what I wanted, more lights.

Yesterday, I added Pierre's arrow blinkers that mount behind the front speaker grills on my '21 RT. They're awesome. Because I already had his mirror lights, I asked him if I could just tap into the ground and power from the harness I use for them, and he said yes. That saved me from having to remove the front fenders and tap into that blinker light there. Quick and easy install that I recommend others do.

I will be adding them to the wife's '22 RT today.
 
Oil changes cost more on a Spyder partly because the oil change subsequent oil level checks are more complex as it is a dry sump engine.

The oil level has to be checked under certain circumstances to ensure the level is correct when the engine has the right amount of oil in it and the rest is in the oil reservoir tank.

It’s a dry sump engine to reduce the height of the engine and hence lower the center of gravity. This also gives it a larger oil volume allowing the engine to go longer distances between oil changes for the original semi synthetic oil it was designed around.

Whether all this justifies the price, who knows, but having had BMW twins and fours in the past, your service bill was remarkably low to compared to those I had for similar work on mine. My bill for that would have been over double that for the same thing. Brake fluid flush alone would have been what you paid.
Yep, I have a certified BMW mechanic who works independently. But he actually does all the maintenance on the Hwy Patrol, Sheriff, and Police Departments here in the area of NC. He is the most knowledgeable person I have ever come across on these. Without him, I doubt I would own a BMW. My next service will be the plugs and a valve check. He said that out of the hundreds of thousands of miles on these, none have ever needed adjusting. But since you will be in there for the plugs, he could do the valve adjustment (check) too. As for the oil check procedure, a lot of bikes have the dry sump oil system. The worst one to check oil on is the Suzuki Boulevard M109. If you wait one minute too late during the process, the reading can be off.
 
Yep, I have a certified BMW mechanic who works independently. But he actually does all the maintenance on the Hwy Patrol, Sheriff, and Police Departments here in the area of NC. He is the most knowledgeable person I have ever come across on these. Without him, I doubt I would own a BMW. My next service will be the plugs and a valve check. He said that out of the hundreds of thousands of miles on these, none have ever needed adjusting. But since you will be in there for the plugs, he could do the valve adjustment (check) too. As for the oil check procedure, a lot of bikes have the dry sump oil system. The worst one to check oil on is the Suzuki Boulevard M109. If you wait one minute too late during the process, the reading can be off.
You just need the same for your Spyder.
 
Did some country road riding today, and just chilled. I discovered that the idiots in the cars are still just as distracted (cellphones) as they were yesterday.
Sad that society hasn't caught up to the fact that you are just as impaired using a phone while driving as you are driving under the influence. The only difference is the impairment stops when the phone is put down.
 
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