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1330 Triple vs 998 Twin

Happy

after reading all of these posts I am glad I made the decision to keep my 2012 RT for a while longer.

I had an '11 RT SM and went to a '12 RT Ltd with plans to go to a '14 RT. The lack of attractive color selections held me back and the '15's colors were not any better.

the engine/transmission combo still has me interested in a 1330 RT but I'll wait until they can get some color combos that rival the Harley's before I make a move.
 
:agree: But it's more than just color choices. Other than the new engine and transmission (and floor boards), the design of the RT has not really changed all that much since they were first introduced in 2010 - six model years ago. As was mentioned in another recent thread, it is time, I think, for some major design updates on the RT. That's what may get me to buy a new one. :thumbup:
 
after reading all of these posts I am glad I made the decision to keep my 2012 RT for a while longer.

I had an '11 RT SM and went to a '12 RT Ltd with plans to go to a '14 RT. The lack of attractive color selections held me back and the '15's colors were not any better.

the engine/transmission combo still has me interested in a 1330 RT but I'll wait until they can get some color combos that rival the Harley's before I make a move.




Just curious. Have you actually ridden a 1330? I would never go back to the 998 after riding the 1330. Just the transmission alone is worth it. No more being stuck between gears with in town riding. And at highway speeds on the 998 the 5th gear was not friendly. No acceleration when needed.
 
Just curious. Have you actually ridden a 1330? I would never go back to the 998 after riding the 1330. Just the transmission alone is worth it. No more being stuck between gears with in town riding. And at highway speeds on the 998 the 5th gear was not friendly. No acceleration when needed.
I have. And personally I'll stick with the 998. But then again I've never liked the se transmissions either. Thanks.

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Just curious. Have you actually ridden a 1330? I would never go back to the 998 after riding the 1330. Just the transmission alone is worth it. No more being stuck between gears with in town riding. And at highway speeds on the 998 the 5th gear was not friendly. No acceleration when needed.
I have ridden spyders with the 1330 engine on 4 or 5 occasions, now. As I said above, while the SE6 transmission is indeed better, I wouldn't trade up for that reason alone. I have not experienced the problems you mentioned with my 2013 RT with either slower in-town riding, or on the interstate.

But for anyone with enough spare cash to trade up to a 1330, I'd say "Go for it". There are some nice improvements for sure. For anyone who's on a budget, and already has a 998, l'd say there's nothing wrong with holding onto it for a while longer. Spyders do seem to get better with every new model year.
 
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Just curious. Have you actually ridden a 1330? I would never go back to the 998 after riding the 1330. QUOTE]

Don't be so quick to dismiss the 998s... After all; they "lit the fires", for an awful lot of us! :thumbup:
Would I go back? No :shocked:... but not because I didn't love them; I just love the new bike more. :D
 
I currently have one of each. I do prefer the 1330, but still ride the 998 weekly to make sure all is well for akspyderlady.
 
;) What will you do, when she finds out that you've been holding out on her??? :yikes:
:joke::joke::joke::joke::joke: :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:
 
;) What will you do, when she finds out that you've been holding out on her??? :yikes:
:joke::joke::joke::joke::joke: :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

Don't know why, but she has not even had the desire to drive or ride on the 1330. :yes:

Has 2300 more miles on her 998 this season. Now at 19,000 and counting.
 
Just curious. Have you actually ridden a 1330? I would never go back to the 998 after riding the 1330. Just the transmission alone is worth it. No more being stuck between gears with in town riding. And at highway speeds on the 998 the 5th gear was not friendly. No acceleration when needed.


Yes, I drove a '14 for about 2-1/2 hours when the first demo hit my dealer's showroom. I liked the smoothness of the transmission but the engine seemed to be a bit 'Goldwingy' for me.... very quiet and lots of low end torque. I never did get it into sixth gear other than just to see if there was something else past fifth.

I like the sound the V-twin makes at five to six grand and if I wanted to hear that sound on a 1330, I'd be in a whole lot of trouble.

I have never had a problem being stuck between gears on my V-twin in town.... second gear works just fine around 30-45 mph and third gear is fine all the way up to 55 or more. At highway speeds I have lots of acceleration in fourth gear all the way up into the 70's until I hit fifth.

Based on your comments I'd say you were lugging the engine on your 998.;)
 
Yep - Wife has the 1330 SE6

I currently have one of each. I do prefer the 1330, but still ride the 998 weekly to make sure all is well for akspyderlady.

:agree: I enjoy both the SM5 RT and the SE6 and when it was time to trade up, the Harley RK was the odd man out. I just like to ride, and a well maintained dependable ride with low maintenance is my priority as the years go by. I've enjoyed every bike we've had, but those that get to bed down in the garage the longest provide the most miles of smiles and least loss of time/money on upkeep. It was time for a change one weekend last September when I had to chose between riding on back the RT or staying home and working on the HD. Got to see some wonderful foliage:yes:

The 2011 RT has the lead right now and still has a spot in the stable, but I imagine the 15 RT will overtake her in a couple of years. The 07 Shadow Aero had the longest and best service record, but times and tastes change and for us right now the RT's are what we are supporting.
 
Just curious. Have you actually ridden a 1330? I would never go back to the 998 after riding the 1330. Just the transmission alone is worth it. No more being stuck between gears with in town riding. And at highway speeds on the 998 the 5th gear was not friendly. No acceleration when needed.
So how is the 1330 when it comes to passing semis on the Interstate? If you're going 70 to 75 can you kick it in the rear and get up to 90 or 95 in short order in either 5th or 6th? That scenario is where I find the the 998 seriously deficient. For me, the 998 from the standpoint of mpg at 75 to 80 and lack of top end acceleration keep it from being a top performing Interstate highway motorcycle. For non-Interstate highway riding my 2013 RT is a grand machine, as good as they come.

Before anyone bashes me for riding up 90 mph keep in mind that the Interstates in the West have speed limits up to 80 mph with truck limits up to 70 mph. You don't want to loligag around a semi so to quickly get around a semi that's moving at 70 to 75 you have to kick it up to 85 to 90. Headwinds are a killer on the 998. On my way home from SF in Southern Idaho the headwind was so strong that in 4th gear, wide open throttle, there were times I could not exceed 72 mph.
 
Your machine was either having mechanical issues or you were seriously way over loaded. I can go from 70 to 100 on my RS in 5th with nothing more than a blip of the wrist. No need to downshift as your already turning 5k+ at those speeds. That's right where the motor makes its best power.

Also, the RT has the aerodynamics of an RV.

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Talking about fully-loaded RTs right now...
That would be about like comparing lap times in a pool, between you in your speedo... and me wearing a snowmobile suit! :yikes:
 
In the process of maximising performance on 2015 RT-S

I started the process of dialing in my 1330 Ace motor. I'm trying to get Maximum passing performance for a two lane highway situation where you really need all you can get to safely and quickly pass. I have dialed in dozens of racing bikes in my 40 year cycle racing career. In talking with Blue Knight, ( the guy who won the drags @ spyder fest this year with a 1330 motor) I concurred the stock air box is the first starting point. I have a local 1/4 mile where I do my testing, I do not watch times but focus on speeds at the finish line.
1. All stock I get 90 mph ish at my test location.

2. All Stock, Modifying the air box with 15 specific 1/2 holes for extra intake air. The bike now lays down about 5 feet of rubber and finished 92 to 93 mph. This seems mostly from the faster hit and rubber burning off the line.

3. Adding the cat delete, air box mod, with the stock muffler lays down about 15 feet of rubber off the line. Almost too much traction loss as my best mph is a wash @ 93 mph.
Blocking my air box mod holes, cat delete, stock muffler. Almost no tire spin and basically back to stock times of 90 mph ish.
Step one conclusion, air box modification improves instant aceleration but only modest if any gains through mid range and top end.
PHASE TWO RESULTS.
4. Two Brothers pipe and cat delete. Total noise and nothing to show for it. No tire spin off the line. I called tech support @ two brothers. Their pipe is designed to run with the cat in place. They suggest I run it with the PX-1K power tip.

5. Two brothers pipe, air box mod with cat in place. Whole new animal. Power slightly up staring at 3k. Huge power gain from 4 to 6 K. Loss of power off the line and almost no tire spin. 96 to 97 mph. This is real step in the right direction. Quite down low and not too loud on top. When I block my air box mod holes I loose 2 mph. Shift the bike down to 4th or 3rd gear in the 40 to 50 mph range and I was stunned with the sound and passing performance improvements. Heads really turn at the new sound. Adding the PX-1K power tip is a wash for speeds but improves low end to the point of about 5 feeet of rubber off the line.

6. Two Brothers pipe, PX-1K power tip, CAT Delete, air box modification. This is the future for this bike when the market allows for addressing ECU timing restrictions and fuel management. It can still be fairly quite down low but gets a little loud for a touring bike on top. This set up really maximises the triple wail and verifies the 1330 Ace has great performance potential on tap down the road.

To throw fuel on the thread fire, here is my 2 cents on 998 & 1330 performance difference. If I was hard riding at the same time a stock 998 RT, which I have driven, and my current version of my 2015 RT-S modifications. I would practiaclly have to burn up the 998 in trying to keep up with myself. The difference is the stock 998 has an instant hit of a v-twin but nothing in terms of long pull accelleration to follow up with. The 1330 has less of an instant hit but I would expect it to pull a bike lenght or two in each gear. Granted four bike lenghts in the 1/4 mile doesn't seem like much, but in the real world on the road the 1330 maximises the performance difference into a real passing difference. Especially two up riding where it's torque would really rule over the 998.
 
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Talking about fully-loaded RTs right now...
That would be about like comparing lap times in a pool, between you in your speedo... and me wearing a snowmobile suit! :yikes:
I agree, the weight and aeros really handicap the RT.

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...Just like they do with me! :gaah:

But after a couple of 600-plus miles days; I'm ready for more! :thumbup:
How would YOU fare? :shocked: :D
 
I agree- RT has the Aerodynamics of an RV

Your machine was either having mechanical issues or you were seriously way over loaded. I can go from 70 to 100 on my RS in 5th with nothing more than a blip of the wrist. No need to downshift as your already turning 5k+ at those speeds. That's right where the motor makes its best power.

Also, the RT has the aerodynamics of an RV.

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I try not to bite off more than I can chew when passing.
Also agree that the best part of the "pull" on the 998 comes above 5000 RPM, and to be fair, I have no idea on others headwind and total load being pulled. All these things considered, I don't care for the interstate loaded with campers or big rigs and mainly just find my open space to cruise the secondary roads with my "sweet spot" being the sweet song of 5100 RPM and 67 MPH. If I wanted to make the interstate miles, the Road King would still have a home in the garage. Hoping to have the best riding ahead with some version of the 1330 platform and enjoying every mile on every ride.


I did get my evening adrenaline boost 2 nights ago when I pulled out to pass 2 pickup/camper units and wrapped to 7000 RPM before pulling back in.
Rest of the evening was back to the flow and open space:clap:

Oh, and the windshield DOWN position helps quite a bit with mileage and aerodynamics IMHO./
 
I did get my evening adrenaline boost 2 nights ago when I pulled out to pass 2 pickup/camper units and wrapped to 7000 RPM before pulling back in.
7000, that's all? I found out you don't need to worry about redlining the 998 at 9000 because Nanny won't let you. 8000+ rpm in 4th is about 80 mph! It's about 65 to 70 in 3rd.
 
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