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A Spyder Engineering Comment

Dragonrider

Dragonrider

New member
One of my beefs about the Spyder was its belt drive - I don't know about the Flatlanders, or Easterners, but out here, we have LOTS of gravel roads, and in the Summer, a large number of our connector roads are "chip sealed" - which is simply thick oil and gravel chips, and is considered "paving" out here.

Gravel roads ate two belts and one rear sprocket - one on each of my Spyders. The addition of the Spyder Pops guard did help, until we hit 14 miles of chip seal on our tour last year. We had two Spyders, plus belt driven Hardleys, and only the Spyders turned into rock grinders - and that occurred BIG TIME!

Fortunately, neither Spyder suffered catastrophic damage, as we were hundreds of miles from the nearest Spyder dealer, but it did entail a lot of time under the bike, digging rock chips out of the drive sprockets.

Those of you who are looking forward to visiting the West, late in the Summer riding season - be advised. Traveling above 20 mph on new chip seal will (1) drive you nuts, and (2) will probably cost you a belt and/or drive sprocket.

Just FYI BRP - but it's something that will continue to keep me away from the BRP showroom floor.
 
Belts; while not the perfect power delivery system, are very efficient, very light, and require the least maintnenance.
BRP had to make a choice..
And so have you... ;) :thumbup:
 
I'm sure the belt can be protected more than it is... But it would be custom as there's not a big market for it.

But if someone were to design a real nice shroud that really covered it up good BRP might take notice and just incorporate something like it in future designs.

Thanks for the info tho. I haven't had any rock related issues in my travels, but I try to avoid gravel or even chip sealed roads for more than the shortest of distances.

Now I know to avoid them even more!
 
Bob Denman said:
Belts; while not the perfect power delivery system, are very efficient, very light, and require the least maintnenance.
BRP had to make a choice..
And so have you... ;) :thumbup:
Click to expand...

:agree: x 2 ;):thumbup:

And this, coming from someone who has replaced three belts do to rock damage.
 
Last edited:
You can't imagine what it was like having to drive 14 miles with your $25,000 toy sounding like something out of Starbucks.... Whither a decent FULL guard, or shaft drive, it needs to be addressed in something that expensive. As I said, the Hardleys never had the problem.
 
Bob Denman said:
Belts; while not the perfect power delivery system, are very efficient, very light, and require the least maintnenance.
BRP had to make a choice..
And so have you... ;) :thumbup:
Click to expand...

This has been a rehashed subject here many times they should have protected the belt much better ,everyone has a bunch of reasons to argue against a shaft if you had ever had a shaft the advantages are plain easier tire change no belt alignment or tension no rocks stranding you with a broken belt no worn sprockets the weight argument is not a big deal after all the attitude on here is if you dont have a rt instead of an rs you need to upgrade well there is a 200 lbs saving right there, the main problem with the belt on the spyder is that the sprocket is almost as big as the tire and if you pull off the road into soft gravel your belt is running in gravel ,there is no excuse for no gaurd on the inside of the belt, but it is what it is ride on and enjoy
 
Harley problem

Dragonrider said:
You can't imagine what it was like having to drive 14 miles with your $25,000 toy sounding like something out of Starbucks.... Whither a decent FULL guard, or shaft drive, it needs to be addressed in something that expensive. As I said, the Hardleys never had the problem.
Click to expand...

One of my Harleys with belt drive broke the belt from a rock that put a hole in it.
 
The last two streetbikes I had were shafties... They were nice; just rather unspectacular wehn they'd jack you up and down as you either applied or reduced power.
 
I have some of each. They each have plusses and minuses. I have no preference, but I understand why some do. The Spyder isn't meant to go off road in deep gravel or sand so I can't speak to that, but fresh chip sealed roads are a nemisis for the beast. I have picked up stones myself...no matter how slowly I rode, and with Spyderpops belt guard in place. There may be an engineering answer, but maybe not a practical one. I don't thing it is shaft drive, where the Spyder is concerned. Even BMW had some problems in that area. The best answer seems to be aware, check the belt and sprockets immediately if a vibration develops, and avoid gravel and chip-sealed roads when you can. The other alternative is to choose something else to ride. Like every machine ever made, the Spyder is not for everyone.
 
Just over three years ago we were on a ride and my wife was on her 2010 RT while I was on my just-acquired 2011 RT. The GPS told us to get off the main road and we ended up on a very neat two lane twisty that abruptly ended into a one lane gravel road.

We pressed on and rode for about for or five miles until the gravel became pretty loose and the rear wheels started to break away often. We turned around and headed back to pavement but by then we both had funny grinding noises coming from the rear end. I took a flat head screwdriver and cleaned out the ridges in the belts as best I could and we headed homeward.

My wife's Spyder was fine but I had a piece of rock lodged in mine that eventually ground itself to dust but not before putting a hole in the belt. It held together under very careful acceleration until I got to the dealer. Putting a new belt on a Spyder with less than a thousand miles was a good early lesson for us.

We do not venture near unpaved (or shot and chip) roads ever!
 
NancysToy said:
I have some of each. They each have plusses and minuses. I have no preference, but I understand why some do. The Spyder isn't meant to go off road in deep gravel or sand so I can't speak to that, but fresh chip sealed roads are a nemisis for the beast. I have picked up stones myself...no matter how slowly I rode, and with Spyderpops belt guard in place. There may be an engineering answer, but maybe not a practical one. I don't thing it is shaft drive, where the Spyder is concerned. Even BMW had some problems in that area. The best answer seems to be aware, check the belt and sprockets immediately if a vibration develops, and avoid gravel and chip-sealed roads when you can. The other alternative is to choose something else to ride. Like every machine ever made, the Spyder is not for everyone.
Click to expand...

:agree: and double "BING" as Bob Said. :yes:
 
Double Trouble said:
Just over three years ago we were on a ride and my wife was on her 2010 RT while I was on my just-acquired 2011 RT. The GPS told us to get off the main road and we ended up on a very neat two lane twisty that abruptly ended into a one lane gravel road.

We pressed on and rode for about for or five miles until the gravel became pretty loose and the rear wheels started to break away often. We turned around and headed back to pavement but by then we both had funny grinding noises coming from the rear end. I took a flat head screwdriver and cleaned out the ridges in the belts as best I could and we headed homeward.

My wife's Spyder was fine but I had a piece of rock lodged in mine that eventually ground itself to dust but not before putting a hole in the belt. It held together under very careful acceleration until I got to the dealer. Putting a new belt on a Spyder with less than a thousand miles was a good early lesson for us.

We do not venture near unpaved (or shot and chip) roads ever!
Click to expand...

If we did that, we could choose freeways - which are to be avoided whenever possible. There are some simply fantastic roads out here, all of which are chip sealed. We even use gravel in the winter on our streets - no one uses salt or other chemicals. So if you want to ride between November and April, there will be gravel on the roads.... Also, many of our roads have gravel sections included - and chip sealing is found even in the cities, throughout the Northwest. Perhaps that's why there are so few Spyder dealers out here??

My only point was that either BRP or the aftermarket needs to offer something better to protect that huge sprocket and $300 belt. Not riding is not an option.
 
Time will tell. Product change and marketing have been bunk mates for a long time.

And just to make sure I'm understood. Belt or shaft makes no difference to me. Like everything else, there are two sides to every fence. The only ones that end up with holes in their pants are those who sit on it.
 
Last edited:
It's rather disheartening for me to read about belt and gravel problems. I was just thinking the other day now with the 3 wheel security of the Spyder I can travel some of the mountain roads of Idaho. Sad to find out maybe I can't, or at least shouldn't.:(:(
 
Installed spyderpops gravel guard

WasWinger said:
It's rather disheartening for me to read about belt and gravel problems. I was just thinking the other day now with the 3 wheel security of the Spyder I can travel some of the mountain roads of Idaho. Sad to find out maybe I can't, or at least shouldn't.:(:(
Click to expand...
never had an issue..and many times I have found ms Spyder on chip seal and not by choice...never have had an issue. Based on my experience I will have Spyderpops fix up my new '14 before I head onto our roads. :thumbup:
 
Dragonrider said:
One of my beefs about the Spyder was its belt drive - I don't know about the Flatlanders, or Easterners, but out here, we have LOTS of gravel roads, and in the Summer, a large number of our connector roads are "chip sealed" - which is simply thick oil and gravel chips, and is considered "paving" out here.

Gravel roads ate two belts and one rear sprocket - one on each of my Spyders. The addition of the Spyder Pops guard did help, until we hit 14 miles of chip seal on our tour last year. We had two Spyders, plus belt driven Hardleys, and only the Spyders turned into rock grinders - and that occurred BIG TIME!

Fortunately, neither Spyder suffered catastrophic damage, as we were hundreds of miles from the nearest Spyder dealer, but it did entail a lot of time under the bike, digging rock chips out of the drive sprockets.

Those of you who are looking forward to visiting the West, late in the Summer riding season - be advised. Traveling above 20 mph on new chip seal will (1) drive you nuts, and (2) will probably cost you a belt and/or drive sprocket.

Just FYI BRP - but it's something that will continue to keep me away from the BRP showroom floor.
Click to expand...

it is here in Belgium is also a known problem ... Grevel / chips and belt .
especially nice quiet tourist roads.
a first ride was a road, came the problem immediately.
fortunately the belt without damage!
but it got me thinking ..... the belt problem solving in its entirety. on
vibration and possible damage chips .
so the idea was born to an adjustable belt tensioner that both problems can absorb .
on the one hand that the prescribed Newton pressure does not exceed 450Nm ..... "if the belt tensioner is mounted ."
This indicates that " no " more vibrations .

Now the chips / Grevel problem ...
The belt tension is adjusted to a constant 300Nm through the arrangement of the belt tensioner .
This would result that the belt is going to be flexible .......
example ::
constant pressure belt 300Nm , but a chip rotates about the gear ?
The belt tensioner gives flexibility ......
So ! The chips will be no sudden increase in Nm setting .... which leads back to damage to the belt or gear .

this way I solved it with great satisfaction ....
no more vibrations ! and driving on gravel roads is not so dangerous , though keep it at a moderate speed driving on these roads .

look for a previous thread that has been written about this homemade belt tensioner
 
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