Bajaron Sway Bar on 2020 RT

[CentralCoastCA]

Hubby installed Bajaron’s sway bar and Heim links on my 2020 RTL today. It was windy, drizzly weather out here in California, perfect for a test ride on the farm roads. We ride these roads regularly so I could feel the difference immediately. Bajaron’s sway bar definitely has less “dancing” over the pot holes surface, steering is tighter and front end feels more road planted in the twisty turns. Wind was between 15-25 mph with sideway gusts for 15 miles. Rode through the windy conditions in a mix of wide sweeps, hard turns and straightaways, hardly feeling the gusts.

My first farkle and IMHO, well worth it :thumbup:

 

[bikerbillone]

Thanks for the first report on the 2020 Bajaron sway bar, was wondering if there was an improvement. I have to ride mine some more to figure it out. Was it a difficult install?

 

[ThreeWheels]

How high do you have to lift the Spyder to install the new bar ?

 

[BajaRon]

How high do you have to lift the Spyder to install the new bar ?

You still have to get 18" to 22" of lift, depending on how you do it. If you leave the rear wheel on the ground it not only helps stabilize the Spyder, But you need less overall lift because the bar comes out at 90 degrees to the frame. So if the frame is at an angle, you don't need as much lift. Also, you can do 95% of the job with the Spyder at a much lower height. You only need the extra lift to take the bar out and put the new bar in. Which is about a 5 minute job. Before and after this step, you don't need the additional lift.

The 2020 RT is, by far, the easiest bar install of any RT year model. This is because the new 2020 RT is much more along the lines of the F3 (which is also the easiest bar install of any year model).

 

[CentralCoastCA]

Thanks for the first report on the 2020 Baharon sway bar, was wondering if there was an improvement. I have to ride mine some more to figure it out. Was it a difficult install?

My hubby is a long time motorcycle wrench turner, and he said this job was not that difficult and a little easier than when he put it on my ‘14 RT.

 

[MRH]

Can I use the bar I bought for my 2014 RT-S on a 2020 RTL?

 

[BajaRon]

Can I use the bar I bought for my 2014 RT-S on a 2020 RTL?

Yes. Same bar kit. Different install steps (much less work - Less to take off and put back on). But don't tell anyone! It's hard on sales!

You will be impressed!

 

[Revalden]

You still have to get 18" to 22" of lift, depending on how you do it. If you leave the rear wheel on the ground it not only helps stabilize the Spyder, But you need less overall lift because the bar comes out at 90 degrees to the frame. So if the frame is at an angle, you don't need as much lift. Also, you can do 95% of the job with the Spyder at a much lower height. You only need the extra lift to take the bar out and put the new bar in. Which is about a 5 minute job. Before and after this step, you don't need the additional lift.

The 2020 RT is, by far, the easiest bar install of any RT year model. This is because the new 2020 RT is much more along the lines of the F3 (which is also the easiest bar install of any year model).

BR, do the 2020s have adjustable shock springs? I put your Spring Adjusters on my '15 and they make a big difference. Will your Adjusters work on a '20?

 

[MRH]

Thanks for the info on the sway bar.

Do you know if the shocks are also the same?

 

[BajaRon]

BR, do the 2020s have adjustable shock springs? I put your Spring Adjusters on my '15 and they make a big difference. Will your Adjusters work on a '20?

It appears that the front shocks are basically the same as previous models. The model I looked at had fixed, non-adjustable shocks. It is likely that my shock adjusters will also work with the 2020 RT non-adjustable shocks. I do need to verify that.

 

[KX5062]

I did the install and Ron is correct, it is easier than previous years (I put one on my old 2014 RT and my 2008 GS). I removed the three plastic splash guards underneath, but I really didn't need to, but it does give easier access to the bolts. Otherwise, you just jack it up and switch them out.

I got mine up about 19" in the air and that was about the minimum height required. I had a little trouble getting the new plastic brackets wedged in between the frame rails, but it wasn't crazy hard, just fiddly.

Upon crawling underneath the bike and removing some of the splash guards I got a pretty good look around, and to me it looks like the design is more of an F3 up front grafted onto the RT swingarm. The swingarms are very different, otherwise it looks like an F3 hybrid.

The front shocks being the main reason for taking a good look around.

 

[stebrock]

So BRP upgraded the 2020 swaybar but kept the plastic links.
So my question is what resulted in your improvement? If you had only replaced the links would you be seeing the same difference? For me if I change anything I think I would try the links first?
If you're only changing the links how much ground clearance do you need?

 

[BajaRon]

So BRP upgraded the 2020 swaybar but kept the plastic links.
So my question is what resulted in your improvement? If you had only replaced the links would you be seeing the same difference? For me if I change anything I think I would try the links first?
If you're only changing the links how much ground clearance do you need?

The fact that BRP is using the same plastic link set on their new 'Upgraded' sway bar pretty much says it all. My bar kits break those links. Of course, putting non-stretching/compressing links on any sway bar will improve function. But you'll only get a small percentage of the improvement that you get with a full bar kit upgrade.

Riders that have installed the BajaRon Sway Bar on their 2020 RT report a great deal of improvement. I have not had time to test the 2020 RT Sway Bar against the earlier versions. But the preliminary information from riders Seat-of-the-Pants is that they cannot really tell any difference.

The new 2020 RT has a lower center of gravity and that will help. But I suspect that the sway bar itself is not significantly stiffer than the previous models.

 

[PW2013STL]

Ron,

The BRP rep that I took my test ride with told me that the sway bar was NOT changed. That the suspension layout was changed resulting in improved performance therefore no need to change the sway bar.

I do not know if this info is correct - only passing on what I was told.

 

[KX5062]

Ron,

The BRP rep that I took my test ride with told me that the sway bar was NOT changed. That the suspension layout was changed resulting in improved performance therefore no need to change the sway bar.

I do not know if this info is correct - only passing on what I was told.

I believe this is correct information, from my observations.

I compared the Ron bar next to the BRP original and the Ron bar is slightly thicker in diameter. I didn't use a caliper, but if I had to take an educated guess I would say less than a millimeter. However, that doesn't factor in the tensile strength of the steel and other spring properties.

 

[will]

Thanks for the information, my sway bar for the 2020 Spyder RT Limited is ordered. I look forward to seeing if there is a difference.

 

[MakoShark2]

You still have to get 18" to 22" of lift, depending on how you do it. If you leave the rear wheel on the ground it not only helps stabilize the Spyder, But you need less overall lift because the bar comes out at 90 degrees to the frame. So if the frame is at an angle, you don't need as much lift. Also, you can do 95% of the job with the Spyder at a much lower height. You only need the extra lift to take the bar out and put the new bar in. Which is about a 5 minute job. Before and after this step, you don't need the additional lift.

The 2020 RT is, by far, the easiest bar install of any RT year model. This is because the new 2020 RT is much more along the lines of the F3 (which is also the easiest bar install of any year model).

Would lifting the wheels of F3-S to 18" (rear wheel on the floor) be enough to swap the bars?
I think I can get some ramps with jacks that can lift the wheels up to that height.

Thanks.

 

[BajaRon]

Thanks for the information, my sway bar for the 2020 Spyder RT Limited is ordered. I look forward to seeing if there is a difference.

I have 3 customers that have installed my bar kit on their 2020 RT. All 3 have said there is a great deal of improvement. Their feedback is that they do not think the 2020 RT stock sway bar is any different than the bar that came on earlier RT models that they have owned. I am getting one of the BRP 2020 RT bars in and I will test it against the earlier RT bars. If it is any stiffer, it does not appear that there is enough difference to matter.

 

[AdmiralS]

We installed the Baja Ron bar this week on our 2020 RTL. This is our first Spyder, so still adjusting to how it handles and behaves.

We put about 500 miles on the machine before deciding to install the new bar. 1-up was comfortable, but you could feel the "wishy washy" feeling around tight corners at speed. It was very noticeable 2-up.

I did the install myself 2 days ago. It took about an hour, and was very straight forward with Rons excellent instructions. Used an ATV jack to get the machine up about 17" on some 8x8's and 2x6's to remove the covers and undo everything. Then jacked up again with 3 2x10s to get the extra clearance to remove the old bar and insert the new. Overall very straight forward.

Have since put about 100 miles on the new bar. 1-up and can confirm a noticeable difference. Both at low speed and higher speed. Like everyone says, wheels feel more planted and the machine just grips the road through the curves. Will be 2-up this weekend and see how much of a difference we notice there.

 

[ThreeWheels]

My calibrated ass with the first 150 miles tells me that the 2020 RTL suspension out of the box handles as well as my 2014 did with the RonBar.
Out of my 150 miles, I have 100 miles single and 50 miles two up. I'm still breaking the engine in, so I'm not riding very aggressively.
Right now, I'm inclined to leave things alone for another 1000 miles or so to make a more accurate determination.
I'll definitely upgrade the links.
The jury is out on upgrading the bar.