Hot & Uncomfortable Spyders

[Studybaker Bob]

Well, it's been many moons since we have been on spyderlovers.com, but after seeing Seth O's burned up legs from his 2008 Can Am Spyder, I figure I had better drop my 2 cents in!!!Some of you may remember I've had a lot of trouble with my early 2008 can-am spyder, se5, the spyder from hell!! First let me make it clear that we really love our spyder, because it is really cool, but we also hate the thing! It's an electrical & mechanical nightmare! We have owned it since the end of May, 2009. With it having so much electrical & mechanical trouble & being in the shop so much, when we're out finally riding & loving the way cool machine, it did not register that our butts were aching, aching & that the top of my feet were hot and burning up & in great pain because we were out having a good time! The last straw for us was our dream vacation to Sedona, Prescott & Grand Canyon on our beloved spyder. We had planned 3 days there, 1800 miles, 600 a day, no problem. The first gas stop, about 150 miles, our butts ached so bad we could not stand to sit on the seat & my feet had blisters on the tops of them, very painful! Ended up taking 5 days to get to Sedona. The spyder went into limp mode, 45 mph & DPS flashing in the instrument panel. We had to have the spyder dealership in Prescott Valley pick it up & hall it off. It's still there, over a week now, we had to rent a car to get home. I've been thinking of trading it in, & have been looking at a few 2 wheelers & taking it in the shorts because we owe more on it than it is worth. That was ok because we had planned on keeping it forever. It has about 10,000miles on it, love it when it runs good, but it's a real pain in the butt - litterally! How many of you-all out there are having butt & hot foot problems? Seth O's legs should be a wake up call for all of us. I already know lots of you are having the same electrical & mechanical troubles I have! Friends have sugested we look into the lemon laws? Any one out there have any ideas on that? I Must say that our service manager Pete Hoff at Tousley Motorsport & Carlo at Can Am have been trying real hard to fix it for us, but it's still a nightmare! Any ideas & god luck to all. Seth, take care of those burned legs & we'll keep in touch. Studybaker Bob.

 

[bjt]

A lot of us have had butt soreness. That's why dltang and I got Russell to rebuild our stock seats into something that is great for long distance riding. Others found their solution in the BRP comfort seat, Corbin or some type of seat pad (Airhawk, BeadRider, gel pad, sheepskin, etc.) to go on top of the stock seat.

I've never had a problem with the Spyder burning my feet. If I do feel heat building on my boots / shoes (lately, I've been riding a lot in my generic Crocs), I move my feet back on the footpegs to give a bit more distance from the radiator. Even then, I don't think the heat I feel is strong enough to blister my feet.

 

[Tilty]

The stock seat went on mine in the first month. the BRP comfort seat is nice.

As for feat burning never had an issue there. Have them check for an exhaust leak that might be puping out under the machine instead of the exhaust.

Or you said it was a early 08 i think, make sure that the radiator wind reflector is in place

Hope this helps

 

[Firefly]

Please keep in mind pertaining to SethO's burning problem:

1. He had all the panels removed.
2. He can't feel his legs.


I've never felt the heat to be that hot, maybe you need to have it checked out-- Y gaskets perhaps bad. You're not wearing shorts are you?

As far as the seat goes--- the stock Spyder seat sucks.

I love my Corbin!

Sorry for all your troubles-- hope you can get them fixed.

 

[bikeguy]

Sorry to hear of all your problems. Hope you can get them fixed soon and remain members of the Spyder community. You didn't mention what kind of boots/shoes you were wearing when you blistered your feet. Most of my previous street bikes have been BMW boxer twins so I'm used to heat on my feet and I've always worn substantial boots when riding. A good pair of insulated boots might just cure the hotfoot problem.

Cotton

 

[stormtrooper]

Only 800 miles on bike and never a heat issue on feet or legs yet. I wore shorts with sneakers and jeans with boots no problems.I only feel hot air on leg with shorts at a stop light when fan comes on but not a issue that I have to move my leg.

 

[bjt]

Please keep in mind pertaining to SethO's burning problem:

1. He had all the panels removed.
2. He can't feel his legs.


I've never felt the heat to be that hot, maybe you need to have it checked out-- Y gaskets perhaps bad. You're not wearing shorts are you?

As far as the seat goes--- the stock Spyder seat sucks.

I love my Corbin!

Sorry for all your troubles-- hope you can get them fixed.

3. Strapping his legs down may hold them closer to the heat than most people's normal riding stance.

 

[pauly1]

SpyderDeb had complained about heat on the first long trip we took over a year ago. She complained, I foo-foo'd the complaint. Then I looked at the burned/blown-out Y-gaskets: it was literally so hot that it melted the radio coax and the aftermarket slit sheath I had put over the brake light wire for one of her add-ons. Needless to say, I pay more attention to her complaints.

Bottom line for you: check the gaskets for the Y-section of the exhaust. The failure mode is to blow exhaust gas vertically, with the one on the left side closer to body (the rider's and the byke's) parts.

 

[murphybrown]

3000 miles...no heat issues...even when wearing shorts (shhhh you didn't see that.:yikes:..not wise, but too dang hot around town....do wear mesh pants when on hiway!!!)

 

[SethO]

bob I did not think of this until I talked with you, take the splash guards off if you have not, they will let the air channel down and not be as big of an issue.

my legs are in the same spot roughly and people do not think about when they get hot for a second they move their legs away and once it cools down its fine, Mine do not do that so it like a slow cooker, I have had heat spots on the same area before on long rides and but is the price you pay for riding in shorts. The reason I ride in shorts is mainly I work in them, if you sit on a foam pad for 11.5 hours you get skin break down or pressure spots like the ones I got when i just changed up my seat, pants keep more heat in so I did not wear them.

There are a laundry list of things that I NEVER thought of before I got hurt that I deal with everyday, there is not way to have people understand them, they are just handicrapp issues you have to adjust for.

The Floorboards would help as well but as a stock bike the thing should not be cooking someones foot.

 

[Firefly]

Good point on those splash guards----- I've had mine removed for a long time--- just to make oil changes easier.

 

[pjp623]

We're in Southern Pa 95+ temps and not wearing very much--no heat issues but runs like crap at low speeds. :yikes:

 

[BajaRon]

Heat is no worse (probabaly better) than most of the motorcycles I've owned.

Love the stock seat. Have done 1100+ miles in 1 day on it. Of course it wasn't as comfortable as my couch but then I don't sit on my couch that long at one time either....:yikes:

Are there better seats? Probably, but I'm good with the stock one so far.

 

[boborgera]

Heat is no worse (probabaly better) than most of the motorcycles I've owned

:agree:I think whats happening in most cases is, the Spyder tends to concentrate more heat on the right side then on the left side,
Instead of spreading it out.
The Spyder is not an equal opportunely foot burner :roflblack:

 

[wyliec]

Love the stock seat. Have done 1100+ miles in 1 day on it. Of course it wasn't as comfortable as my couch but then I don't sit on my couch that long at one time either....:yikes:

You can't be right. Fly says the stock seat sucks; so, it must suck.

By the way, I like the stock seat, too.

 

[bone crusher]

You can't be right. Fly says the stock seat sucks; so, it must suck.

By the way, I like the stock seat, too.

I liked the stock seat until I got the comfort seat...

 

[Studybaker Bob]

Hot & Uncomfortable Spyder

I would like to thank all of you for responding to my hot feet & sore butt complaint! I would like to clear up some thoughts. We have owned our 2008 spyder for 13 + months & have put on about 10,000 miles & that's with the spyder being in the shop more than we've had it to ride. We have put on many 150 - 250 mile days around our area & noticed that our butts were sore & our feet were hot, but hey, we're out having fun & the pain did not sink in. We have been riding m/c's most of our lives & have put in some serious miles. We always ride with proper m/c gear, levi pants, m/c jackets, gloves, helmets & riding boots. I've owned my walking/riding cowboy boots many years. Our dream trip to Sedona AZ was about 1900 miles one way. We planned 3 days, 600 miles per day. We made Wall, SD the first day, about 570 miles. Our butts were aching & we had to stopevery 100 miles to get the blood running back in our butts & legs & cool my feet off. We spent the night in Wall SD & discovered the blisters on top of my feet. Next morning we went to ace hardware & bought one of those insulated aluminum sun screens that you put in the car windshield. We cut it up and taped it to the front of my boots. 4 days later when we finally got to Sedona AZ, I had holes burnt into the tops of my feet. The DPS on the spyder went into limp mode again. The spyder dealer in Prescott Valley picked up our spyder & its still there 3 weeks later. We rented a car & drove home. I would guess the hot air coming out from under the body work & dumping out right on top of your feet is 200 to 260 degrees. 3 weeks before we left home, we took our spyder in for a complete service, everything new, rear tire, 2 new DPS's, checked & double checked everything! We would like to hear from anybody that has put high mileage "300 +" several days & their opinions? Does anybody have any experience or input on lemon laws? Know a good attorney? Hoping to get some info from my spyder brothers & sisters. Thanks & see ya. PS The heat from the stock muffler on the right side, melted the rubber heal of my wife's riding boot! Houston - we've got a problem! Oh ya, & we've riden hard tail all of our lives so we're not really big complainers.

 

[Firefly]

Sorry for all your problems Bob..... hate to hear of someone with that many issues.

I did my first 5,000 miles on the stock seat. Then put the Corbin on and am at 22,000 miles.

I'll stand by my statement--- the stock seat sucks.

 

[Capt John]

Definitely check the Y gaskets. As far as the seat. I sold my comfort seat and have a Russell on order. Getting back to the heat. Here is a pic of my right side. Notice when I changed the gaskets. There was no gasket there.
View attachment 7888

 

[bjt]

You can't be right. Fly says the stock seat sucks; so, it must suck.

By the way, I like the stock seat, too.

I agree with Firefly on this one. Getting rid of the stock seat was what enabled me to make long trips.