alignment spec.

[DrewNJ]

It should never "go out of alignment ". If you hit something hard enough to throw the alignment off then you better start looking for damage.

Don't over think it. It's not a guarded secret as there is no perfect setup that fits all. Weight plays a HUGE part of it. Figure most people can be as much as +/- 50% from one setup to another.


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[PMK]

I get ALL that ^^ guys, but the fact is that somewhere in the design process someone HAD to consider Camber, Caster, 'A' arm lengths, arcs of movement, the optimal torque & pre-loads for all the bushes & bolts & power steering sector arms & a bunch more stuff to do with suspension & steering geometry & design - & as shown by MurphyBrown & others, it would be REALLY handy if that person/s let the rest of the world in on the secret of what all that stuff SHOULD BE so all those parameters could be checked when things aren't working or steering right!!

The fact that they aren't meant to be readily adjustable doesn't mean they will always stay exactly where they were put/set in the factory, & it seems no-one has ever questioned IF the factory actually got it right in the first place anyway..... which is odd, seeing that we all know there are just a few other things that don't necessarily leave the factory/ hit the road exactly the way they should?! And that's not even considering all the variations & movements that can/will occur on the road, what with different loads, different sized riders, different road profiles & surfaces - I'd bet that many of the steering & handling issues people express concern about can be traced back to 'inconsistencies' in alignment in the way their bikes left the factory & quite probably how all those 'other' but extremely important alignment specs & parameters have changed since....

But none of us can check that our front wheel & steering gear alignment is actually what it should be cos that seems to be a closely guarded secret at BRP that many riders just ignore as maybe being a part of their steering/handling problems because 'it's not readily adjustable so the manufacturer must've done it right in the first place & nothing I've done since could possibly make that change in any way'

:banghead::banghead:

I'd REALLY like to know what BRP suggests the full wheel alignment specs & steering angles, pre-loads etc are MEANT to be so I can make an informed decision about 'fixing' any of the supposed or otherwise handling &/or steering issues my Spyder may or may not exhibit now or at some time in the future, as I know that just general use on the road may well change any &/or all of them at some time....

What BRP decides is up to them. Probably easiest to measure your machine and note the values for castor and camber.

I had designed new suspension components that would allow full adjustment. Just never bothered with making them yet and may not. The more I ride the RTs, and consider the Spyder design in general, overall it is pretty forgiving and not burdened with high horsepower or incredible brakes to challenge the chassis.

As a general idea, I would like to see our machine run -1 degree on camber per side, but suspect it is closer to 0. Not sure where the castor angle is currently, but it is not bad and with a single rear tire, I doubt you want a lot of jacking effect as you run through the corner.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

PK

 

[Peter Aawen]

Nope Drew, they won't just 'go out of alignment', but I can assure you from many years of experience being paid to test drive vehicles of all types to determine what actually works (& being considered pretty good at working out what's wrong too) just 'everyday driving' does & will cause changes to just about every setting & parameter you can think of that's involved in your steering & suspension, wheel alignment etc - & just like there is no one perfect setting for everybody, there is no such thing as a 'set & forget' wheel alignment! If you actually use your Spyder it will move away from whatever the 'factory settings' are & even move away from what it was set at when the bike was new.... & it'd be nice to know if those 2 happen to bear any resemblance to each other?!

So I'd just like to know what the 'as new' settings are (or were) & what BRP meant them to be; cos I'm pretty sure that there will be very few Spyders out there that have been ridden much that are still actually at those settings any more!!

PMK, I'm leaning more & more towards thinking that BRP may have just aimed for all the Zero's, which might be OK if that's how each Spyder actually ended up; but even just eyeballing the new bikes in a few dealers showrooms suggests that there is a fairly significant variation between individual bikes & that there is little effort put into even trying to get them close to a standard setting. :shocked:

 

[DrewNJ]

Thank you for your resume. Not needed and don't care, but thanks anyway....[emoji57]
Your really over thinking the alignment on the spyder....good luck in your quest for those secret specs that don't mean anything in the real world.

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