Wanting A Passenger's Perspective

[MikeT]

Don't know if this rates as the strangest question asked here; but its gotta be close. I'm asking this because of the statement "If Moma Ain't Happy....." Here's a brief background:
1. Rode touring H-Ds from '96 to '06 ( RK, Ultra, SERG2). Had a NDE in a group ride in 7/99 on the Ultra. We continued to ride; but swore off large group rides.
2. In '03 traded Ultra in on a '02 GL1800 because wife says "I think we should go to a trike". By this time we have evolved to solo riders 95% time.
3. In '06 had '02 GW converted to conventional trike(Champion). Bad install=bad experience (long story). In '09 I sold my remaining H-D and traded the Champion trike for an '09 Hannigan Trike.
4. I've developed signifigant osteoarthritis at the base of my left thumb making clutching an issue. Wanting to delay surgery, I have decided that to keep riding to go to a SE5 RT-S or Limited.
My concern is will my wife feel that she's back on a 2 wheeler? (she's not the least bit interested in piloting her own scoot).
I don't know if there are any passengers here who have made the conversion from a 2-wheels in the back trike to a touring Spyder; but I'd sure like to hear from you.
Thanks for helping me and the Mrses out
Mike

 

[MouthPiece]

I'll simply echo what my wife, a full time passenger, has said to me. Prior rides were two wheels, H.D., Wing, etc.

"Honey this is the best ride I've ever rode on with you." "Honey this 2013 RT-S is so so much smoother than what your 2010 RT-S was. "Honey, although you didn't know it, I fell asleep on the back a couple of times when riding to spyderfest". She did clarify that it wasn't sleeping for long.

There have been other accolades she's given to our spyder(S) versus two wheels. I just can't remember all of them, and this response would be too long.

Chris

 

[jthornton]

We have a 2009 GL1800 and a 2012 RT-S. The first time my wife rode the RT-S she didn't like it at all and did everything she could to not get on the RT-S. The problems were weak sway bar, tire pressure too low, shock preload too low. All those added up to a "I'm getting launched off at each corner" feeling for the passenger (who sits up higher than the driver).

I replaced the factory sway bar with a BajaRon sway bar and the handling and over steer improved a huge amount. Next I fiddled with the tires till I found my happy pressure in the front tires. I finally got the wife back on and we went for a careful ride. "That's much better" she said. I added the shock relocation kit just before SpyderFest and the highway handling improved more. At SpyderFest I stood in line to get Elka Stage 1 Plus shocks installed on the front. These improved the handling even more. I now feel like the Spyder handles like it should and my wife is indifferent about which bike to take now. It's like "We took the Honda last time lets take the Spyder this time" now when I ask which one she wants to ride.

Get a TEST RIDE and don't drive like Mario A. in the curves the first time out of the chute.

JT

 

[denviola]

We went from HD Ultra Classic (2 wheels and later with a Voyager kit) to the RT. My wife tells all our friends how much more comfortable the RT is as a passenger. She even pilots the RT occasionally, and loves it.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Take her for a test drive on one so she will know exactly how it feels. I hope she loves it.

 

[Bob Ledford]

It Is Not a ???

She rode with me on three GWs. Then we were off bikes from 1996 to 2011 when we switched to a 2011 Spyder RTL . She has found the ride on the Spyder to difficult. bear in mind I am translating her words from memory. One thing is she gets more wind on the RTL then the GW. She as every good two passenger learns is not a leaner and refuses to break that habit and become a leaner. So as a result she hangs on for dear life in the corners. If I have told her once I have repeated myself two thousand times, lean with me it helps.

But she likes the Spyder for its other qualities like you don't have to worry about falling over, the sound, the stability the way it starts and she can drive it too.

Right now she has a leg muscle problem in that the big frontal muscles in the hip to knee area are getting weaker and are very evasive as to figuring out why. Done EMG's, an a MRI with another scheduled in June. They even found a brain in the brain scan ., :shemademe_smilie:

 

[MouthPiece]

PS to my post

I felt obliged to add this. My wife did not feel secure until I had armrests installed on both my spyders.

Chris

 

[spydercatjohn]

My wife loves the comfort and security of our 2013 RT SE5. The 2013 corrected some problems with earlier models. She has no problem with wind or corners. That said we also like the GW1800 trike, but it was not worth the extra $10,000 to us. Our 2013 was $24,800 OTD and $750 for the extended warranty.

 

[ARtraveler]

Let me tell my story about getting akspyderlady acclimated to the :spyder2:.

When we met up two years ago, May 3, 2011, she checked me out (in spite of the fact that I owned a motorcycle and a :ani29: at the time). No way, no how, was she going to ride on one of those things. Period. She had ridden on a two wheeler many years ago and had a very scarry experience.

Longer story short, after a couple weeks, I coaxed her to climb aboard the passenger seat of the :spyder2: and I would take her around the neighborhood. I live on a quiet road off the beaten path. A car an hour goes by my place. I drove at between 5 to 10 mph, being very careful to not create any g forces when making the three right turns to get back to my place. This was about a one mile loop. When we got back, I asked her if she would like to try it again. Answer: Yes. We did and got back to my house.

Now that I had her bravery up, I asked her if I could take her on the Birchwood Loop. This is a road that circles through my neighborhood with spurs off it that go to other side roads like mine. It is six miles or so in length, and has a gazillion curves, several marked 15 mph. I did the ride the same way as the intro. This time, 15 to 20 mph and being very careful not to generate any g forces on the curves. At the end of the Birchwood loop, she had a smile on her face.

Now that I had her bravery up, I asked her if I could go out on the Glen Highway (65 mph and two lanes each way. This connects the North with the South exit of Birchwood Loop. I told her she would feel the acceleration as we went on the ramp to get our entry speed up for the Glen. She was impressed and the wow factor kicked in. It was a little scarry for her the first time, but she was willing to ride the loop plus the highway two more times that day. When we finally pulled into the driveway, she had a big smile on her face.

Bottom Line: After that, she was willing to ride on the :spyder2: anywhere. She put 10,000 seat miles on my 2010 that first summer (2011). At the end of the season I encouraged her to try driving the :ani29:. She put a couple hundred driving miles on it.

Season 2012: She drove another 1000 miles or so on my 2010 and I followed along on my Vulcan. Hip issues forced me to trade in the Vulcan on our new 2011 :spyder2:. akspyderlady put 5000 miles on the new :spyder2: before we ended the season.

2013: Fifteen hundred miles so far this season. Going for another 5000 + or so.

 

[CJ/johnnyg]

Ok a point of view from a someone that rode behind her hubby for over 33 yrs on Honda, Valkyrie, HD. When we wanted to go to three wheels we tried a friends Honda trike, valkyrie trike and I didn't like how they rode. We decided we were going to trike out our HD we took a trial run on the two wheels first, well after riding in the mountains and on back roads stop and go kind of riding (caves cove) It kept shutting off because it got to hot (air cool) so we didn't. We decided to go with the spyder RT SE5. Best decision we ever made. I have to say also I have fallen asleep a couple of times. After a year of riding behind him he suggested I try riding it myself. Needless to say I got my licence and he rode behind me on the way home from spyderfest for 100 miles and he fell a sleep. Now I have my own and we have more fun riding together on separate :spyder2:, But if I was to ride behind him again it would be on a RT.

 

[NancysToy]

..... They even found a brain in the brain scan. .....

:roflblack: They found one in Nancy's recent scan, too. Go figure!

 

[rcturner]

My wife will gladly tell anyone who wants to listen that our RT Limited rides better than any of our Goldwings or our Ultra Classic by a lot. She also feels that the wind protection is much better than on our Goldwings and somewhat better than our Ultra Classic. She liked our other bikes but, at this point would not want to go back to any of our previous two wheelers.

 

[MikeT]

My wife will gladly tell anyone who wants to listen that our RT Limited rides better than any of our Goldwings or our Ultra Classic by a lot. She liked our other bikes but, at this point would not want to go back to any of our previous two wheelers.

My wife's feeling edzacary, now that we've been on 3-wheels for 6 years. Now it's a matter of moving the 2-wheels to the front and single wheel to the back. From what I've read here, a spyderRT is like my 1st Trike(Champion). You have to experiment with shock settings, tire pressures and the air suspension(height adjuster) to get the purrfect ride. These all change with the amount of load(solo, 2-up, and loaded for travel)
Mike

 

[Ga Blue Knight]

From my wife's point of view the standard hand rests on the RT were very tiring for her to hold on to, much to vertical and close to her sides. I got armrests installed (Diamond R) and that is much better she is more relaxed and comfortable now. She really enjoys sitting higher on the RT so she can see more of the countryside than she could on the Harley two up. Also as we get older she feels safer on three wheels.

 

[MikeT]

as we get older she feels safer on three wheels.

True that