Sypder's Handling

[BajaRon]

I was out with a group of experienced rider this past SUnday for a nice Father's day ride. I am still a little timid on my Spyder so I had a hard time keeping up wth them on the narrow curves. But then again these guys were going at a pretty good clip doubling or nearly doubling the speed limit. It was a good ride for sure and since I got the wider bike, I am bringing up the rear.

Narrow curves are actually an advantage for the Spyder. 2 Wheels can use a wider road to take some of the angle out (start wide, apex and then drift wide coming out). Of course a Spyder can do this too but not nearly as much because of our width.

Squeezing those 2 wheeled guys hurts them much more than it does the Spyder.

As your skill level increases you'll be able to give them something to think about.

I rode a real windy road behind my brother on his FJR. It was a road he was very familiar with and I'd never ridden. Plus, I'd just put the swaybar on and was not sure how much I could push my Spyder. I could have done better.

My brother is a good rider and I cannot say for sure that he was trying to leave me behind as he's not that kind of guy. But I was right on his tail and later he said it worried him seeing all that front end so close behind him in his mirrors. There were a couple of washouts on curves and he had to slow down because the sand was a problem for him.

Of course, I didn't care about the sand at all but I had to slow to keep from hitting him. When we got back he asked me how well my Spyder would stop if needed! :yikes:

 

[Raptor]

It's amazing how you can change the way the Spyder turns. Just recently I was workin out on some twisties up in a place they call the 4 corners. I had my line picked out, started to execute and then I hit a bump that threw me wide. Bad news! :yikes:

I didn't even think about it; I just changed my body positioning, pushed back on the bars which made me kind of sit back on it, which in turn gave me more rear bite, and gave a good inside pull. It basically slid the back a little and dove the front end which made the correction to the line. It was like a split second! And right after apex, I grabbed some extra throttle and powered out. I have no idea how I did that, but I went with what the bike was feeling like and it worked out.

Now we must take into account this thing has a great traction control device and such, so I am not that good; the bike helped ALOT!!

 

[spydrn]

Thanks for all the good input. Now I just need to sell one of my other toys to make room in the garage and try one of these out.
My only concern is that these seem pretty touch and will need a good dealer near by. The best for me is in Denver (RPM) and about an hour and 15 mins away so that sucks
Hope I can ride this summer and sell either of my toys and get a spyder to joy the ride

I take it since you are only 1hr away from Denver you live in the Springs. There is a dealer located there. Colorado great outdoors..Dont know if have any 2010-11 models yet. I am currently out of the country right now and I havent seen my Spyder in 2 months now..Good luck on you search..

 

[Questions]

Hey Thanks for Serving

I was in the Army from 1973 - 1976 and appreciate the military men and women who serve these days.
I am in Europe right now for work and return next week and need to go up to Denver to test ride one of these. I guess you either get a good or spyder from all the comments on hear and I talked to RPM and they sound responsive to helping out with potential issues.
It sounds like these Spyders cant handle really well. I was hoping more of the kinks were cleared up by now but not sure that is the case.
But hell they still sound fun as hell to ride!:clap:

 

[bone crusher]

I was in the Army from 1973 - 1976 and appreciate the military men and women who serve these days.
I am in Europe right now for work and return next week and need to go up to Denver to test ride one of these. I guess you either get a good or spyder from all the comments on hear and I talked to RPM and they sound responsive to helping out with potential issues.
It sounds like these Spyders cant handle really well. I was hoping more of the kinks were cleared up by now but not sure that is the case.
But hell they still sound fun as hell to ride!:clap:

'Can't handle realy well'??? Hardly....these bikes handle great!

 

[BajaRon]

I was in the Army from 1973 - 1976 and appreciate the military men and women who serve these days.
I am in Europe right now for work and return next week and need to go up to Denver to test ride one of these. I guess you either get a good or spyder from all the comments on hear and I talked to RPM and they sound responsive to helping out with potential issues.
It sounds like these Spyders cant handle really well. I was hoping more of the kinks were cleared up by now but not sure that is the case.
But hell they still sound fun as hell to ride!:clap:

Some owners have had more than their share of issues but taken as a whole, the Spyder is reliable and getting better all the time.

Like anything else, there are no guarantees but chances are high that you'll be fine. Some people spend more time worrying about potential problems than they do actually having anything go wrong.

Me, I worry when it breaks and ride like crazy the rest of the time (which is nearly all the time).

 

[IWN2RYD]

I was in the Army from 1973 - 1976 and appreciate the military men and women who serve these days.
I am in Europe right now for work and return next week and need to go up to Denver to test ride one of these. I guess you either get a good or spyder from all the comments on hear and I talked to RPM and they sound responsive to helping out with potential issues.
It sounds like these Spyders cant handle really well. I was hoping more of the kinks were cleared up by now but not sure that is the case.
But hell they still sound fun as hell to ride!:clap:

If you stumbled across my thread during your readings... It is IMHO a very rare case. Every once in a while 10-15 folks out of thousands can and do fall into the cracks. And of course, among those are the ones that seem to have more than the normal issues.

We are about 95% certain we have a bad bike. We are also 100% certain we will end up very happy Spyder owners.

I will also say this. Even just yesterday at my business, groups of people collected around our bike on three different occasions. Heck even a UPS driver did an about face in the street and came into our parking lot to take a look. He was talking with us for about 20 minutes. And we all know the rest of his day was catchup city :roflblack:.

With every conversation I have, it is always positive. I do not mention my issues at all. Simply because this is a special well designed ryde, and I know our bike is the exception to the norm. So why spread bad will to potential buyers :dontknow:. I know of three other owners in my local area ryding RT's that have had one issue to none. Their experience is one reason for my thinking...

One thing to note. If you go into the "Ride" thinking the Spyder will drive like a car, this will help. If you go into the "Ride" thinking it will be like a two wheel bike, your going to be fighting it more.

I really messed up at first thinking it was a three wheeled motorcycle. After reading a lot of posts suggesting folks "Relax" their grip... It was smooth sailing from there... :thumbup:

For example (And I do not recommend this at all)... I can now drive our spyder with two fingers on the HWY (I do not... Just testing my bikes tracking on the HWY). It takes so little to make the bike track where I want it to. Compared to the first few hundred miles (Muscle memory and my brain thinking "Motorcycle") I was putting the Superman grip on the handlebars and felt I had no power-steering and no true control of the bike. It would wonder all over the place, steer to quick, or badly slow in cornering... All my fault. Not the Spyders...

Good luck with your search and ryde!!

 

[Raptor]

Well, here is some hard truth - This machine is flawed. It is a wonderful concept, a great design, GREAT fun to ride, but the engineering in certain aspects of the production process has not been worked out yet.

The electronics in particular are a bit suspect. I bought my RS-S June 1, and already I have had a no-start condition, a defective clutch, and now just today the Check DPS light is on. A steering issue. I am hopeful that these things will work themselve out, but I am starting to wonder what I got myself into...

 

[BajaRon]

Well, here is some hard truth - This machine is flawed. It is a wonderful concept, a great design, GREAT fun to ride, but the engineering in certain aspects of the production process has not been worked out yet.

The electronics in particular are a bit suspect. I bought my RS-S June 1, and already I have had a no-start condition, a defective clutch, and now just today the Check DPS light is on. A steering issue. I am hopeful that these things will work themselve out, but I am starting to wonder what I got myself into...

I humbly sumit that a more accurate statement would be that 'Your machine is flawed'. That might be much closer to 'The hard truth'.

To say all Spyders are flawed and suffer from engineering that has not been worked out yet is not proven out statisticaly or anectotally.

Now if you are saying the Spyder is not perfect and could use some improvement then I would agree. This could be said for every machine ever made.

To say the electronics are suspect on a machine that is virtually controlled electronically is certainly painting with a very broad brush. I have not had any electronic problems with my Spyder in 17,000 miles and I think you'll find the great majority of Spyder owners have had the same experience.

Not trying to minimize your issues. I understand your frustration. And you may very well have a bad apple. This is definitly not good and needs to be addressed.

But just as you would not accept a blanket statement that all Spyders are perfect from an owner that has never had a problem, and who knows others who have never had a problem; neither is it reasonable that your blanket statement based on your 1 Spyder and a relatively few other Spyder owners having serious issues makes the Spyder a problematic or unreliable machine.

I hope all of your current issues get worked out to your satisfaction and you can get back to enjoying an overall extremely well engineered and manufactured machine that could (like every other machine) use some improvements.

 

[NancysToy]

I humbly sumit that a more accurate statement would be that 'Your machine is flawed'. That might be much closer to 'The hard truth'./QUOTE]
:agree: My machine has had more difficulties than most...if not any RT. The problems continue to accumulate, too. Even at this, I feel my RTS is an exception. If I can't condemn the breed, why should others with only a problem or two? The clutch problem on SEs is universal, hence the recall. Other issues applly only to a machine or a handful of machines. That means the breed is not flawed, just those particular machines. I am truly sorry for your difficulties...and also for your lack of tolerance. I am not trying to belittle your problems, and they are certainly discouraging...mine have been! Your machine can be fixed, though. It is an inconvenience, but it is not the end of the world. I hope you are back on the road real soon.

Meanwhile, Raptor, check to see that all your relays are properly seated. Could erase the DPS and no-start issues.

 

[krb1945]

I suspect some of the the steering sensitivity and premature component failures are due to the front alignment. If the nanny is always having to compensate for a minor or major alignment problem something is going to wear out sooner.

If you spyder seems overly sensitive in the steering department check your alignment. There is a post on this site explaining how and what the numbers are. Ken krb1945

 

[TexasTripod]

Tight corners

Don't expect to do any real hard acceleration out of a tight corner, the nanny system just wont allow it. I used to race three-wheelers back in the eighties and I still have a Kawasaki Tecate so I know how to hang off but the Spyder will just go into stutter mode until the handlebars are straight.

 

[BajaRon]

Don't expect to do any real hard acceleration out of a tight corner, the nanny system just wont allow it. I used to race three-wheelers back in the eighties and I still have a Kawasaki Tecate so I know how to hang off but the Spyder will just go into stutter mode until the handlebars are straight.

It's true, you can't hammer the Spyder in the turns like you want to. But in the end it probably has saved more than a few hospital visits.

If you get smooth, and I mean really smooth, you can push very hard without waking the nanny. And the heavy duty sway bar helps. But once you get her attention you're pretty much done in that curve.

But don't dispare! There are plenty more twisties to practice on. There have been times when I've gotten in the grove on a windy road and didn't even know I had a nanny. That is a real good feeling.

 

[Raptor]

I humbly sumit that a more accurate statement would be that 'Your machine is flawed'. That might be much closer to 'The hard truth'.

To say all Spyders are flawed and suffer from engineering that has not been worked out yet is not proven out statisticaly or anectotally.

Now if you are saying the Spyder is not perfect and could use some improvement then I would agree. This could be said for every machine ever made.

To say the electronics are suspect on a machine that is virtually controlled electronically is certainly painting with a very broad brush. I have not had any electronic problems with my Spyder in 17,000 miles and I think you'll find the great majority of Spyder owners have had the same experience.

Not trying to minimize your issues. I understand your frustration. And you may very well have a bad apple. This is definitly not good and needs to be addressed.

But just as you would not accept a blanket statement that all Spyders are perfect from an owner that has never had a problem, and who knows others who have never had a problem; neither is it reasonable that your blanket statement based on your 1 Spyder and a relatively few other Spyder owners having serious issues makes the Spyder a problematic or unreliable machine.

I hope all of your current issues get worked out to your satisfaction and you can get back to enjoying an overall extremely well engineered and manufactured machine that could (like every other machine) use some improvements.

Come on, man. With all do respect, read the boards. It's not "my machine". There are more ticked off people out here than anyone wants to see or admit to. I was at CycleGear just today and the guy at the counter said that there is someone else who just got a RS-S like mine and it's already in the shop with electronics issues, including the DPS issue. Hasn't even had it 5 days. further, the problems are common in nature and repeatable, which makes it all the more troubling. And BRP Support (or lack thereof) is the most troubling aspect of all. I think that is the biggest source of my frustration, really.

Having said that, please believe me when I say that I absolutely LOVE my Spyder and am determined to keep working with it untill all issues are resolved. I am NOT condeming the breed. I AM saying they have much work to do to improve reliability. I am optimistic that it will all work out, but I am just taken back by these types of problems in a brand new macine. I just hope BRP is actually looking, listening and working on fixes.

 

[Questions]

Decisions

This has been good advice and I will review and test ride to make a final decision, still have my Harley so summer riding is still here and see if the Spyder is right for me.
It is interesting that a company that makes outdoor type vehicles is having problems getting this right. Isn't this engine the one they already use in other outdoor vehicles they make?
:chat:

 

[Raptor]

This has been good advice and I will review and test ride to make a final decision, still have my Harley so summer riding is still here and see if the Spyder is right for me.
It is interesting that a company that makes outdoor type vehicles is having problems getting this right. Isn't this engine the one they already use in other outdoor vehicles they make?
:chat:

Rick, I think that is a wise move. Talk to your dealer; ask the hard questions. And most of all, RIDE ONE. A few times. Once you get on a Spyder, you will find out very quickly whether or not this machine is right for you. I think you are going to love it. I have written about some very real and very frustrating issues that many have experienced; It would be irresponsible not to. It is not the engine though; the engine is SOLID! It seems to be more the electronics and other sub-systems that are of issue. And yes, BRP support could be a lot better.

but you cannot let this scare you off. Even though I am having these problems, I have no regrets about buying mine. I love it I'm sure everything will get resolved. Here is where finding a GOOD dealer is critical. Good luck!