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Any suggestions on running Gravel and dirt roads on a Spyder?
- Thread starter Kestrel
- Start date
Dasmoetorhead
Active member
They're not designed to operate in those conditions (dirt and gravel roads). As far as scraping goes, I have a F3S and haven't encountered a situation that my F3s cannot navigate. There are lots and lots of ways to approach an obstacle that will cause this, so you have to be aware of that and identify them before committing your approach.
Welcome to the forum.
Welcome to the forum.
spyderdave
Member
If you're on gravel alot, I would suggest you invest in an "invisible belt guard", available thru LaMonster. It will (help) protect your drive belt from rocks and other junk. If you get gravel (of any size) between your belt and rear sprocket, you're gonna feel it! I've done it. And, if you ruin a drive belt, it's about $375.
Dirt & Gravel roads shouldn't be too much of an issue, just so long as you take care to avoid running your front wheels down in any dips & so dragging your Spyder's belly on the raised bit in the middle. There are Bumpskids & Alloy belly plates available to minimise damage if you do. Here in Oz, especially where I am, you really cannot avoid riding on dirt and gravel if you want to go anywhere but between major cities (and we don't have a heap of them!) so I've ridden many 10's of thousands of miles on my 2013 RT Spyder over dirt & gravel roads, altho not so much on the '2 wheel track' tracks that also abound. I don't avoid the dirt & gravel roads, but I do take a little more care, keep the speed down a little, and try to avoid hanging the tail on the loose gravel - and I DON'T have a 'missing belt guard' or any extra protection for the belt either, never had any issues with that, altho my RT's belt is just beginning to show signs of wear on the 'power edge' of the drive nubbins simply due to the milage it's done! I DO have an Alloy skid replacement from @noboot (a member here - that's his username) for the plastic skid tray that goes under the frunk, because it's much less obtrusive & far more beneficial to my riding than a Bumpskid - even the bitumen roads here get upset with those Bumpskids!
In my opinion, the issue with the Bumpskid units is that they are thick and they have a lip which sticks out around the edges of the bottom of the frunk, meaning that that while the do protect the belly of your Spyder if you only ever ride on smooth, sealed roads, they'll only make things worse on anything rougher &/or if you park nose first to close up against anything they can hit, cos you'll hit/hook it up on anything that's high enough to reach it; PLUS they're about 10mm thick too, so you lose at least that much off your ground clearance & more off your approach angle because of the protruding lip! I've seen a few of those that've done some damage to the frunk & underside of the Spyder because that lip has either plowed up/into things that the Spyder would've otherwise slid over the top of; or the lower ground clearance has meant there's been too much force applied on the fixing points underneath, and things have been bent - expensive things!
The Alloy skid plate is simply a stronger, marginally thicker (6-8mm) but much stronger and more durable, and only a slightly larger version of the OEM plastic skid tray, so they don't have a lip that sticks out around the bottom edge of the frunk; it replaces that OEM plastic tray entirely, and it doesn't reduce the ground clearance or approach angle at all! And it's clear from the marks on the underside of mine that it does take the occasional hit - hits that would've destroyed the OEM plastic tray and probably broken the bottom of the frunk box as well!!
Btw, you really DON'T want to go 'raising' the front suspension on these RT's too much either, as that messes with the caster, camber, and steering in ways that aren't kind to your tires &/or handling! Sure, you can improve/beef the front suspension up a little so that your Spyder maintains it's ride height better under load, but don't 'lift' it - not unless you do that with slightly larger rolling diameter tires or replacement 'A' arms that are cranked to keep your steering geometry aligned properly! Fitting slightly taller a/mkt tires (ie, anything BUT Kenda &/or any of their clones - Kanines, Arachnids, or even the latest XTS or whatever stuff) all round does a whole lot of other really good stuff for your Spyder too; so to me, it only makes sense to fit better & slightly taller tires and one of Noboot's Alloy Skid plates! Works for me, and I doubt there's too many Spyders around that've done close to the same sort of miles on dirt & gravel roads that mine has.
Drop him a DM & ask. I'm pretty sure he already sends his Billet Windscreen Arm Replacements to the States...
spyder crash
New member
Order a new Canyon, problem solved!
Gwolf
Well-known member
I live on a loose limerock road. Have to run 2 miles of the graded limerock fill every time I go in or out. F3-S is a bit low, but have not had any real problems after about 5 years of riding my own road and several other dirt roads in the area. I put an aftermarket skid plate under the front end shortly after buying it. Worst thing that has ever happened is every time the road grader scrapes the road, it rolls some larger size chunks of loose rock out onto the surface of the road and I have to run slow and dodge the biggest rocks for a few days until the big ones are pressed back down or rolled into the ditches.
Had a home built Harley Sportster trike,
without even a belt guard on it at all and lived on the same limerock road before buying the Spyder. Rode the Sportster without any belt guard from about 2001 until 2019 when I bought the Can Am. The belts on the Sportster lasted just as long as the people living on paved roads. The Sportster belts usually lasted around 50,000 and you should not expect much more from them.
Just ride a little slower on the rock roads and don't worry so much about it. The rocks will fly up if you run down the rock or gravel roads like a bat out of hell, but if you ride sensibly they won't be likely to do any damage.
Had a home built Harley Sportster trike,
without even a belt guard on it at all and lived on the same limerock road before buying the Spyder. Rode the Sportster without any belt guard from about 2001 until 2019 when I bought the Can Am. The belts on the Sportster lasted just as long as the people living on paved roads. The Sportster belts usually lasted around 50,000 and you should not expect much more from them.Just ride a little slower on the rock roads and don't worry so much about it. The rocks will fly up if you run down the rock or gravel roads like a bat out of hell, but if you ride sensibly they won't be likely to do any damage.
Dasmoetorhead
Active member
Good to know. I had my F3S on a wet (snow melt dirt/ gravel rd) and a bit steep, and I was in 1st gear. Made it up and down with a bit of effort. It's basically a 4x4 rd in the winter.
I'll never do that again. It took me FOREVER to clean it up afterwards.
I'm a road rider pretty much. I got all of that off road stuff done when I was younger and rode dirt bikes.
I'll never do that again. It took me FOREVER to clean it up afterwards.
I'm a road rider pretty much. I got all of that off road stuff done when I was younger and rode dirt bikes.
The short answer is "no". Stay out of the gravel. I lost a belt from a gravel detour where traffic was rerouted due to construction reasons. A dam rock punched a hole in the side of my belt. later I installed a belt guard I bought from Mr. Gadget but there are still no guarantees it won't happen again. It's an easy install. 3 self taping screws. And it's aluminum so you can tweak it by hand to make a custom fit because there's very little room up in there. A 1/2" room on either side would be a lot of room. Mine's been on for thousands of miles with zero issues. By the way, because of the factory welds on the spyder's frame, I had to use tin snips on the guard to get a good solid fit before the final installation. Not a big deal.
Good luck.
https://customspyderworks.com/product/inspector-gadgets-drive-belt-stone-guard-for-spyder-st/
Good luck.
https://customspyderworks.com/product/inspector-gadgets-drive-belt-stone-guard-for-spyder-st/
Last edited:
noboot
Member
We have stopped making the Alloy Skid Plates due to the lack of demand.
And they work so well, too! 
PistonBlown
Active member
I've do a lot of gravel riding on my F3L and previously my RS.
I ended up making my own aluminium bash-plate for the RS but I've not bothered yet with the F3.
I used to find with the RS the pointed nose made it hard to see the road directly in front of the Spyder and the bars didn't suit standing. The F3 with its squarer front end is easier in that respect and I fitted drag bars which means I can easily stand up on the pegs (well footboards) to give myself better visibility for the challenging sections. Being able to stand is probably the main trick so you can see what the fronts heading for.
I'll often try and ride with one front wheel on the 'raise' made by other vehicles if I can, though that can mean having the other front on the edge of the road which isn't always great.
When fording streams I do stop first and check/remove rocks to make things easier, and normally work out a plan so I hit the entry and exit at an angle and then swing around straight to help prevent bottoming out.
Bridges without a middle section have been the biggest issue I've had on New Zealand tracks but that's another story
Oh and I carry this with me after having to dig the RS out with my hands, but fortunately never had to use it with the F3...
I ended up making my own aluminium bash-plate for the RS but I've not bothered yet with the F3.
I used to find with the RS the pointed nose made it hard to see the road directly in front of the Spyder and the bars didn't suit standing. The F3 with its squarer front end is easier in that respect and I fitted drag bars which means I can easily stand up on the pegs (well footboards) to give myself better visibility for the challenging sections. Being able to stand is probably the main trick so you can see what the fronts heading for.
I'll often try and ride with one front wheel on the 'raise' made by other vehicles if I can, though that can mean having the other front on the edge of the road which isn't always great.
When fording streams I do stop first and check/remove rocks to make things easier, and normally work out a plan so I hit the entry and exit at an angle and then swing around straight to help prevent bottoming out.
Bridges without a middle section have been the biggest issue I've had on New Zealand tracks but that's another story
Oh and I carry this with me after having to dig the RS out with my hands, but fortunately never had to use it with the F3...
Little Blue
SpyderLovers Ambassador
If you have to ryde on Dirt or Gravel Roads you Need to go Slow. As others have Posted Definitely Not your Spyder Friend.
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