Dave & Teds Most Excellent Adventures 2013

[CyncySpyder]

We're still alive & kick'n

Not sure if its actually possible to gain 10 pounds over night, but I sure feel as if I have. That whole eating & sleeping thing is catching me or maybe its just me getting old & I'm not bouncing back like I used to. They say things with a persons body start changing after 40, metabolism slows, eyesight starts fading requiring many to need reading glasses etc........ and here I am at 42 & starting to feel it. Don't get me wrong, I know all to well this was self inflicted, & I think to many out there, I'm probably on the younger side of the Spyder'n demographic among Teddy's fans that follow along here, so please don't think I'm complaining, just stating my personal reality.

But you know what, see'n Teddy's bright smile'n tail wag'n face when I got home makes it all worth while. You could tell the pup understood that his sled was now rydeable & he wanted to ryde. With him resting the entire day while I was work'n, he was rare'n to go when I walked through that door yesterday. I stopped by Wendy's on the way home & picked up a large fry to share with him, cause I knew what I'd be up against & also knew until I got some sleep, I'd be worthless. So after I took him out to do his business (which he held the entire day:bowdown we went back in to the wonderful AC, I gave him his full dose of meds & then we shared the fries & he kept trying to get me to take him for a ryde, but like most dogs, he's easily distracted with his squeeky ball & can't resist a game of fetch. So we spent the next 45 minutes of me throwing & him spastically chasing his little tennis ball all around the condo, like you'd think his life depended upon it, and when he finally got his fill, he climbed right up on the couch with me and assumed his cuddle position for a much needed nap :clap:

Think we awoke right before sunset, around 7:30pm or so & I felt still drained but much better.

TBC .................. work work work:banghead:

 

[CyncySpyder]

Yesterdays recap

Let me backtrack just a bit. Yesterdays ryde home from work was a hot one & I just thought I'd share a couple of observations. Someone on here recently made a post about appreciating the Spyders Tupperware. I skimmed thru it & might have even commented, cant really recall right now, but yeah, after intermittantly ryding for the past couple of weeks without most of the tupperware, I noticed that the Temperature Reading on the LCD display, not the coolant temp. but the supposedly outside Ambient Air Temp that is read by the AAPTS (Ambient Air Pressure & Temperature Sensor) that just about everyone (myself included) complains that it is rarely ever correct & usually reads about 6-10 degrees higher than actual, well, ryding without the tupperware on, it does read pretty accurately and was usually spot on +/- 1 or 2 degrees compared to the Garmin GPS which is mounted on the dash top of Teds Red Sled. Without all the tupperware, I was actually able to visually locate & see that our AAPTS had been properly installed (Like I should doubt Len/Cowtown not to do a proper set-uppps but it has been posted many times in the past where dealers failed to unpackage the sensor from the factory position when their doing the machines initial set-up, and that has caused many issues with affected machines running rich or lean cause the sensor was always reading way too high of a temp. If your curious, on the RT it should be positioned on the right side of the frunk close to the suspension components/shock & should be nested inside a bit of mesh type of material. With the frunk tupperware back in place, our temp. was once again back to being about 6-10 degrees off from actual, which makes total sense, cause its housed inside the tupperware where engine heat builds up. So the 6-10 degree difference I believe would be expected & hopefully the engineers at BRP made allowances in the programming of the ECU or whatever componant that takes care of the engine fuel/air mix ratio.

With all that said, when I went to leave work yesterday, with the newly dressed sled sitting for 9 hours in the direct sunlight of the day in the parking lot, the Garmin was reading 88F degrees while the sled was reading 102F :yikes: which is a pretty big difference. The coolant was as usual at 5 bars on the digital gage, and I understand that sitting in the sun will build up heat under the tupperware, but I'm curious just what effect this actually does have on the engine and performance of the sled. Not that I could notice any difference than usual with performance or ryde, just curious tho, cause I can totally understand a 6-10 degree variance being negligeable, but it would seem that a 12-15 degree difference would be a bit more significant & I've read where the ECM is designed to be able to adjust its own settings up to a vaiance of about 20% & anything over that and one would need a fuel manager like many have gotten for changing the mapping due to varying mods like an exhaust.

We've eleminated the OEM Airbox & resonator and haven't seen a need for a fuel manager yet, cause the performance of Teds Sled still seems just as good as ever, which to be honest, with all that I've done to this machine, much of it trial & error, really shocks the living hell outta me. Everytime I get into all that twisted mess of wiring in the engine bay, I'm like :shocked: ummmmm ok ..... Thank god for having the repair manual or I never would touch this thing :bowdown:

Anyways, back to my observations. With the tupperware back on, I didn't have to worry about keeping my feet spread far out on the foot pegs & it was comfortable, tho a bit warm to keep them closer in, even right up against the tupperware. Without the tupperware tho, I would have surely burned my ankles/legs from the exhaust being so close to where we position our feet, ankles & legs. Once you do this you learn very quickly to keep your legs away from the sides. But hey, it really wasn't that big of a deal, and to be honest, over the past 2+ years with Teds Red Sled, I'd say, for one reason or another, we've ridden it a good 20-30% of the now over 40 thousand miles without most of the tupperware on it. That said, the tupperware has it place & for better or worse, for safety sake, we need it unless a total redesign was to be initiated.

My ryde home last night and again to work this morning however, with all the tupperware back on, and I did notice that the seat was rather warm. Wish I noticed that more when winter ryding, and while I'm sure its the same, just not as noticeable on those freezing rydes as it is in the 80s & 90s.

I'll post more observations in a few, gotta go earn my paycheck ...............

 

[CyncySpyder]

Anticipation is building along with the excitement of hitting the Open Road

I can hardly wait, 7 days from today, at this very time, I'll be leaving work as I'm only going to be working a half-day and taking the rest as a personal day, and I'll be heading home to get Teddy, his Red Sled & his Dog-House-On-Wheels and we'll be setting out on our long awaited trip back to New York for the Inaugural SpyderQuest Event :clap::joke::yes: Hard to believe its been a year since Spyders In The Adirondacks (SITA) & we've been there for the past 2 years hyea: so this will be our 3rd trip to New York

 

[d.o.spyder-rts]

Good luck and God speed on your trip. Wish I was able to go. Lake George is about 2 hours from my home town of Cobleskill. Dale

 

[CyncySpyder]

There's just no substitute for Spyder Therapy- Teddy's last name aint Jones

With the sled back together (for the most part) I'm starting to get back into the habbit of ryding daily back & forth to work and using Teds Red Sled as our daily driver once again :clap:

Monday was the first day in over a month that I had ridden to work, and even tho I hadn't had any sleep from the marathon rebuild that took place on Sunday & into Monday, it felt really good to be back in the saddle and even tho I was dead to the world, I was still in a good mood.

That is, until ........................

I've been having major issues with the Laser Welder in my department & we were finally able to borrow one of the Laser Crew Techs so he could help troubleshoot and fix the issue & I've worked with ****** in the past and he's a good guy to work with. I've said it on here before, but I'm not really what I would consider a social person and at work, I pretty much stay to myself.

With having no family or friends (except my best friend) working here, I really enjoyed the aninimity of my first 10 yearsof most ppl here not knowing who I was & I pretty much stayed under the radar ....................................

That is until I got our first Spyder back in May of 2010 & then it seemed everyone at the Plant (1600+ ppl) knew who I was :joke: & total strangers would come up & start talking to me about the byke :chat: Just like most of you have come to deal with the same situation every time you stop for gas :joke::dg1:So much for flying under the radar when one owns a Spyder :duh: ..................................:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack: Just aint happen'n :lecturef_smilie:

Anyways, we traded the 2010 Black RT-S for Teds Red Sled in April of 2011 & one of my fellow co-workers really liked it allot & questioned me intently about it. A couple of weeks later, I'm pulling into the MotoCycle Parking lot here at work & my eyes about popped outta my head, cause there sat a Brand New Pearl White Limited RT-S where I usually parked :shocked: WTF?!?!?!?

Who the :cus: is this & why'd they decide to take my usual parking spot :dontknow::lecturef_smilie: but that initial shock was soon replaced by ....... Oh Cool, another Spyder ...... WOOT!!! :clap:After a few days of missing each other, we finally met and talked & I found out it was the same guy that had been asking all the questions a few weeks earlier. He said he liked the Viper Red but he wanted the Top-Of-The-Line model & decided to go with the Pearl White. He's in Skilled Trades so he makes considerably more than I & is often working as much OT as he wants ....... unlike me, as I usually don't have that option at all. But whatever, I'm not a jealous type of person & I was just happy to see another Spyder in the lot & if it made him happy, then good for him.

Well, lets just say this newer Spyder Owner really likes attention (hence the reason for buying a Spyder) so he had anything & everything he could add to the byke added, like chrome horns, LEDs all around etc etc....... Still, my thought was, good for you, as long as it makes you happy :clap: that should be all that matters & that's generally how I live my life.

I've never been one to play the game of 'Keeping Up With Jones's' & to be honest, until get'n bit'n by the Spyder bug, had always lived a life well within my means. As most of you already know however, the Spyder aint cheap to buy nor to mantain, especially if you use it as a daily driver & ryde 20K+ miles a year, the maintenance costs really add up quickly.

Anyways, Teddy & I are struggling to make it on what we have, but we do what we have to do to make it, if that makes any sense. And lucky us, we seem to have found ourselves in the middle of an area of other Spyder Owners that really like playing the game of 'One Ups On Ya' if you've ever heard of that one. Kinda like the 'Jones's' but they can't just keep up with you, they've gotta be better & 'One Up Ya' :banghead:

Most of the mods I've done to Teds Red Sled have been for a good reason like safety, performance or comfort & not the type of mods that are done just for the sheer looks of it, not that there's anything wrong with those mods, just that we can't afford them, and to be honest, if we could afford them, we'd also probably have them. I mean Farkleosis is a real disease and its not easy to stop once you start ..... just like any other addiction out there :trike:

So anyways, back to our story. I'm working with ------- on the Laser & I guess he saw me pulling in the lot that morning with the Sled and he makes the comment to me,
"Saw you finally got the byke back together. Man, I saw -*-*-*- pulling in the lot one day last week around 5am & I swear, that thing was so lit up with lights...... WOW!!! Talking about an impressive sight! Never seen anything like that on the road before. No way in hell someone could miss you on a ryde like that! You should light your rig up like that ..... would really look good then."

My first thought was 'What an *zz!' But then, reality took over & I can't blame him for being honest, cause I've seen my co-workers Spyder lit up, & he's right....... definitely has the WOW factor :yikes: & if I could afford it, I'd probably do it too. So I openly admitted to him, that while it does look nice, there's just no way in h*ll I could afford all the lights like he's got, which he understood cause he knows I usually can't get any OT.

This isn't my co-workers Spyder, but his is lit up very similar to this one ....... which I do think looks ........ W O W !!! :firstplace:

I was browsing thru my SL photo albums & found this pic of my co-workers Spyder, not lit up but just sitting where I usually parked in the lot. Took this shot on our trip out of Cincy last hear & heading to SITA in UpState NY .... kinda fitting

 

[Netminder]

I hope your first thought was $%#* em!! I am not one for one upmanship! Whatever someone does to their bike, I am happy for them. Me personally I go for comfort and performance mods, but that is just me. Everyone needs to live within their means, and as long as you are happy and riding it is a good thing!! :thumbup::thumbup:Met you guys at SITA last year and wish we could talk again at spyderquest, but other engagements, maybe next year. Take care and hi to the Tedster!

 

[MrLooney]

Info about your SPYDER Rack

Hi Dave and Ted

I have read many of your posts here in SL and appreciate much of what you have.

I am very interested in your SPYDER Rack you have in the garage.
Could you please send me all the measurements? Width, Height, Depth, Length, Thickness.

Since my return to the states Aug 27th I have been thinking of what to do to earn an income at least part time. Seeing the need for SPYDER front tire wear problems, I thought the NEW LASER ALIGNMENT would be a great way to earn a little cash to help make ends meet.

I have ordered in the LASER ALIGNMENT tools and will be doing Mobil Alignments in the North West USA. But now this idea has sprung a leak and will be expanded to Minor service and replacement of shocks, sway bars, breaks and Oil changes which your rack will come in very handy to have a copy of.

Of course as soon as I get a little cash flow generated, I will be talking to Lamonster, our wonderful site commander and register for a spot on the front home page.

Would you please be so kind as to PM me those measurements?

 

[CyncySpyder]

Hi Dave and Ted

I have read many of your posts here in SL and appreciate much of what you have.

I am very interested in your SPYDER Rack you have in the garage.
Could you please send me all the measurements? Width, Height, Depth, Length, Thickness.

Since my return to the states Aug 27th I have been thinking of what to do to earn an income at least part time. Seeing the need for SPYDER front tire wear problems, I thought the NEW LASER ALIGNMENT would be a great way to earn a little cash to help make ends meet.

I have ordered in the LASER ALIGNMENT tools and will be doing Mobil Alignments in the North West USA. But now this idea has sprung a leak and will be expanded to Minor service and replacement of shocks, sway bars, breaks and Oil changes which your rack will come in very handy to have a copy of.

Of course as soon as I get a little cash flow generated, I will be talking to Lamonster, our wonderful site commander and register for a spot on the front home page.

Would you please be so kind as to PM me those measurements?

Teddy & I wish you luck in your future Spyder endeavors :thumbup: and I replied to your PM. One thing of note, you mentioned 'MOBILE' & this work rack isn't what I would consider to be an easy thing when it comes to mobility. The length and weight make transport somewhat prohibitive & there's the need for the front to be securely mounted to a base, like we mounted it to our back wall. If mobility isn't an issue, then you should have what you need in the PM I sent you & if you require further info, just let me know. dav~

 

[CyncySpyder]

Teddy took a ryde over to Newport to visit the 9/11 Memorial & World Peace Bell

Here's a link to our album with 29 pics in total of the World Peace Bell & 9/11 Memorial located in our neighboring city of Newport KY,
also right across the river from downtown Cincy.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/album.php?albumid=3062


One of Teddy's fans approached us as I was snap'n these pics & asked if I'd like for her to take our pic so I could actually be in the shot also, so here's the rare pic with both of us, tho you can barely see Teddy standing tall.


It was a very sobering day to say the least, but much of my sadness was relieved by the 4 different people throughout the day, that actually told us these words from their very mouths, all from just getting to see & spend a few brief moments with Teddy.
"You know what? Thank You, You Just Made My Day."

I don't think I'll EVER tire of hearing that :bowdown: I just wish everyone in America felt the SAME WAY for our Service Men/Women & First Responders who put their lives on the line EVERY SINGLE DAY so that WE ALL may live our lives as we see fit :bowdown:



​

 

[Mrs Gruff]

To our vets and first responders

Dave,
That was the nicest and most heartfelt comment and I commend you for making such kind comments on a public forum. Best wishes to you and Teddy.:clap:

 

[Netminder]

Very well said!!:clap::thumbup:

 

[CyncySpyder]

Hooked up Teddy's Dog-House-On-Wheels for a test ryde & cleaning

I'm such a lucky guy to have Teddy in my life & that he is so understanding & forgiving:bowdown: of my foolishness pps: Sometimes, I truly think its a miracle that I've made it as far as I have in life thus far.

As an example, last night, I had Teds Red Sled up on the work rack doing some pre-trip maintenance, and when I was finished, I figured we'd hook up our camper and take it for a test ryde over to the car wash & get it all cleaned up for our SpyderQuest trip. As I've commented before, there's not much room from the top of the Sled to the ceiling fan when the sled is on the work rack, and its only about 3 inches from the top of Teddy's Sun Canopy. When I finished the maintenance, & with Teddy sitting up high atop his perch, I began to raise the rear wheel/ramp so I could fold up its leg brace to get it out of the way so I could lower the back end of the Sled back down to the garage floor, and I didn't realize just how high I had raised it until I heard a loud WHACK!:yikes: & I looked up & I had raised it just high enough that the top of his sun canopy came into contact with the ceiling fan :shocked: and yup....... shattered the shield right down the center :cus: Teddy was fine, but the look of fear on his face said all that needed to be said :lecturef_smilie: I immediately pushed the down button on the electric hoist and was able to get the leg brace folded out of the way, but it was too late and the damage had been done. Even tho I didn't really care for our latest version of his Sun Canopy cause it was so narrow, it did work for the most part at providing shade for the little guy, which is extemely important on sunny days in the 80s & 90s :banghead: Stupid Mistake :banghead:

So now, I've got to scramble and get to work on his built in carrier that I had been putting off, just cause I don't know exactly the best way to go about it, but have little choice now & will start to work on it later tonight. Gotta have something finished by Tuesday afternoon, cause I wouldn't think of making an almost 2000 mile trip without the little guy having some type of protection from the sun.

After our initial shock of that happening, we went ahead and put the hitch back on the sled, making sure this time to use liberal amounts of silicone grease to make sure we don't get rust issues that made taking it off last winter a 4 man job. Live'n & Learn'n ...... right Everything lined up well & slid & locked into place just fine. Hooked the camper up & headed to the car wash to give it a nice bath. Was such a nice evening, with a Canadian cool front over taking the Cincy area weather & by the time we finished washing, the temps were comfortable in the high 70s so we decided to take a nice little road trip along the Ohio River & we headed out to New Richmond where we stopped & I took a few pics of Teddy along the water front and his sled & camper as well. Here's the link of the rest of those pics, for those of you who care to see
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/album.php?albumid=3068

 

[OldCowboy]

A day without Teddy is like a day without sunshine.

 

[jat4736]

Puppy cute

I'm such a lucky guy to have Teddy in my life & that he is so understanding & forgiving:bowdown: of my foolishness pps: Sometimes, I truly think its a miracle that I've made it as far as I have in life thus far.

As an example, last night, I had Teds Red Sled up on the work rack doing some pre-trip maintenance, and when I was finished, I figured we'd hook up our camper and take it for a test ryde over to the car wash & get it all cleaned up for our SpyderQuest trip. As I've commented before, there's not much room from the top of the Sled to the ceiling fan when the sled is on the work rack, and its only about 3 inches from the top of Teddy's Sun Canopy. When I finished the maintenance, & with Teddy sitting up high atop his perch, I began to raise the rear wheel/ramp so I could fold up its leg brace to get it out of the way so I could lower the back end of the Sled back down to the garage floor, and I didn't realize just how high I had raised it until I heard a loud WHACK!:yikes: & I looked up & I had raised it just high enough that the top of his sun canopy came into contact with the ceiling fan :shocked: and yup....... shattered the shield right down the center :cus: Teddy was fine, but the look of fear on his face said all that needed to be said :lecturef_smilie: I immediately pushed the down button on the electric hoist and was able to get the leg brace folded out of the way, but it was too late and the damage had been done. Even tho I didn't really care for our latest version of his Sun Canopy cause it was so narrow, it did work for the most part at providing shade for the little guy, which is extemely important on sunny days in the 80s & 90s :banghead: Stupid Mistake :banghead:

So now, I've got to scramble and get to work on his built in carrier that I had been putting off, just cause I don't know exactly the best way to go about it, but have little choice now & will start to work on it later tonight. Gotta have something finished by Tuesday afternoon, cause I wouldn't think of making an almost 2000 mile trip without the little guy having some type of protection from the sun.

After our initial shock of that happening, we went ahead and put the hitch back on the sled, making sure this time to use liberal amounts of silicone grease to make sure we don't get rust issues that made taking it off last winter a 4 man job. Live'n & Learn'n ...... right Everything lined up well & slid & locked into place just fine. Hooked the camper up & headed to the car wash to give it a nice bath. Was such a nice evening, with a Canadian cool front over taking the Cincy area weather & by the time we finished washing, the temps were comfortable in the high 70s so we decided to take a nice little road trip along the Ohio River & we headed out to New Richmond where we stopped & I took a few pics of Teddy along the water front and his sled & camper as well. Here's the link of the rest of those pics, for those of you who care to see
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/album.php?albumid=3068

Dave, thought I let you know my two year old granddaughter thinks Teddy is cute. My granddaughter is a natural red head.

 

[MrLooney]

Mobile

Teddy & I wish you luck in your future Spyder endeavors :thumbup: and I replied to your PM. One thing of note, you mentioned 'MOBILE' & this work rack isn't what I would consider to be an easy thing when it comes to mobility. The length and weight make transport somewhat prohibitive & there's the need for the front to be securely mounted to a base, like we mounted it to our back wall. If mobility isn't an issue, then you should have what you need in the PM I sent you & if you require further info, just let me know. dav~

Dave

You're right about the size and weight of a rack like yours. It would exceed the limits of our Spyders. The rack would be stationary in a shop.

I greatly appreciate the information you provide to me Dave :2thumbs: Thanks

 

[CyncySpyder]

Always down to the wire .... but there's nothing new there

For those of you that may be newer to the SpyderLovers Forum, this site is free to all of us thanks to the generous offerings from the site sponsors found on the Home Page that are all Vendors of one form or another & they ALL offer various Mods & Farkles for our Rydes. One of those Vendors is a Fellow that goes by the screen name/handle of BajaRon, whom Teddy & I are fortunate to know personally and have met on a few different times at various Spyder Events & get-togethers over the past few years. You may have likely heard of Ron from all the wonderful comments made about his Sway-Bars, Links, many other custom products he offers for our Spyders or you may have heard about his Legendary Customer Service :firstplace: which I (along with Teddy of course) have personally found to be 2nd to none :firstplace: So here's our tale from this past weekend opcorn:


We had been dealing with a few issues with Teds Red Sled, and I couldn't really afford to take it to the shop to have the needed work done, otherwise we wouldn't be able to afford going on our SpyderQuest Trip to New York, which we should be leaving for in a little over 24 hours now. So that meant I needed to dig out the repair manual and enlist my best friend & also my brother to assist Teddy & I in trying to solve our Sleds issues on our own. I'm sure I've said it before, but I also can't forget all the great information and assistance that we get right here on SpyderLovers.com from all of our fellow members, by listing there issues & the remidies it took to cure them :bowdown: this site is definitely worth its weight in gold :firstplace:

Our first issue was an Engine Fault Code P1030 I believe, which was for the front S02 Sensor which I came to find out is just the Oxygen Sensor. Mind you now, before the Spyder, I had personally NEVER worked on ANY vehicle in my life, never did an oil change, nor changed a headlight even in any car or truck that I ever owned. I've lemented about my childhood & how I wish my father was there for me to teach me all those things, but that just didn't happen & I never personally took an interest in mechanical things, so it just never happened. No since crying over mis-spent youth, as there's nothing a person can do about it. But with our Spyder Addiction, and then all my OT getting cut at work, I've found myself between a rock and a hard place. Can't afford to keep the Spyder cause of the high cost of maintenance, but then, Teddy & I being addicted to ryding, we couldn't continue our lives as we've become accustomed due to not having our Spyder Therapy. So no real choice but to learn as we go, and with the HELP of many Members of this very Forum, friends and family, we've learned to do as much of our own maintenance as possible, saving us thousands of dollars in maintenance and repair costs & allowing us to continue feeding our addiction ...... and in the process, allowing Teddy to do what he does best .......... and Making so many Peoples Days, just by seeing the lil guy on the back of his Sled hyea:

So anyways, I had no clue what an Oxygen Sensor was and pulled up the code in the repair manual, stripped the sled (which I can say I'm a pro at now) and found where it was located. Being chicken to tear into the unknown by myself, I called my much more mechanically inclined brother and humble asked for his assistance & he readily took up the challenge of actually being my Big Brother that I never had as a child, but since we're now much older, and he's not nearly as hot-headed as he was in his youth, we can now get along without putting one another in the hospital ..... like in our youth.

WoW, I just realized, add another Kudos for the Spyder, as its actually brought my brother & I a little closer together :clap::bowdown: So he came over and helped me fish thru the innards of Teds Red Sled and we decided to see if the Oxygen Sensor really was bad or not. In the repair manual, it has all the Fault Codes Listed, and I saw that P1030 was for the front 02 Sensor & P1036 was for the rear 02 Sensor, & looking in the parts diagram is showed both sensors as being listed with the same BRP product # so then I assumed that since they share the same product # it seemed logical that the front & rear 02 sensor were the same. If that truly is the case & we're getting the fault code for the front one being bad, then if we switch the front & the rear 02 Sensors, then our Fault Code should subsequently change as well. I ran this by my bro, and he agreed, it sounded logical, but reminded me, we're dealing with BRP & not everything done is logical :roflblack: True dat But we tried our little experiment & I'm proud to say, it worked just like I thought. We switched the 2 sensors & the fault code changed to the P1036 which was now for the rear S02 Sensor being faulty. I called our local dealer, which the Owner understands our financial situation & tries to help us out in any way he can & asked what he thought about our findings. He passed us on to the Service Manager which was surprised at what we did, but agreed, that if we switched the Sensors & then the Fault Code also switched, then in all likely hood, we just had a bad S02 Sensor & that it just needs to be replaced. So we ordered a new Sensor from them which cost right around $100. But can you imagine what it would have cost to also add in the labor for them to troubleshoot, disassemble, remove, install & reassemble Teds Red Sled??? :dontknow: I don't have that answer, but I'm sure we saved a good chunk of funds right there. After getting the sensor, we replaced it & the Dreaded Check Engine P1030/P1036 Fault Code went away ........................ :clap:

TBC ........................ :banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[CyncySpyder]

Down To The Wire, Continuation ..........................

So we were able to diagnose and replace the S02 Sensor on our own, leaving us now with the Dreaded BRAKE FAILURE WARNING LOW PRESSURE FAULT :yikes: I tell ya, its un-nerving to be ryding and see that Orange Screen of DEATH contstantly flashing at you. I'm sure most sane ppl would just pull over and park their rydes, but after much sluething, there wasn't anything wrong with the brakes that I could find. The Sled stopped as good as it always had, the pedal fealt firm as usual and the parking brake worked as it should. The Fault Code for this mallady was P1282 so I once again hit the Repair Manual for guidance. P1282 is Low Brake Pressure Fault & refers to the second sensor down on the right side middle right next to the foot brake. There are 2 sensors there, the top one being the Brake Light Sensor & then, under that one, there is the Low Brake Pressure Sensor which is tripped if the foot brake travels down to far, basically saying there's to much travel in the foot brake, so there must not be enough Pressure in the Braking System. The manual says to check all the brake lines for a possible leak, check the wiring, or it could be a bad sensor. Well, we checked all the lines, no leaks, checked the wiring connections, and they all looked good and solidly connected, so that didn't look like it would be the issue. Now I'll admit right here, being new to all things mechanical, I may be somewhat naive & adventureous, but even I know somewhat of my limits. When the manual tells me to get into electrical things that I'm totally clueless about, like checking the OHM reading between wiring connectors....... :shocked: I say UNCLE to that stuff, just over my head :shocked:

So I once again ask for my brothers assistance & he eagerly comes to our assistance. I think he really likes the Spyder, but the shear cost factor scares him silly, so he kind of lives vicariously through our adventures & likes to assist when he can. He came over last week and double checked everything the manual said to check, but he also draws the line at the electicals & wouldn't get into that part. He surmised after checking all the electrical connections, that they all appeared to be in good working order, so he doubted it would be with the wiring, but could easily be the actual Low Pressure Switch itself. We even tried draining as much of the brake system as we could and replacing with fresh Dot4 Brake Fluid, since we were right over 40 thousand miles, and we hadn't had the brake system flush done yet. But that didn't help this issue & the fault continued just the same as before.

Being frustrated, I once again called our local dealer and asked for guidance & the Service Mananger told me that they have replaced a few of those Low Brake Pressure Switches in the past, & it was a rather common part that had to be replaced, so I thanked him for his advice & continued to mull over what to do. I went ahead and ordered the Low Brake Pressure Switch at a cost of around $40 & figured I'd once again enlist my brother in helping me to replace that switch, in the hopes that would cure our Fault Code.

After more checking on SpyderLovers, I noticed someone else reported having a similar problem with the same fault code & when they took their Spyder to their dealer, they were told that they needed new rear brake pads, that they were worn down so much, that they were causing the Low Pressure Fault I had never read or heard about this before, and wondered if this could possibly be our problem as well.

A little back story here is in order. At this years Owners Event, we burned up our front pads & rotors while doing a group ryde in the mountains while towing our camper. Just had so much slow ryding and stopping at almost every stop there was little we could do. Soon after returning from that trip, I PM'd Ron & ordered new front Rotors & pads & replaced them, and that corrected our turbulent braking, but the rears seemed to still be fine, so we didn't touch them, as I had the rear pads & rotor replaced at the shop last winter when we had the Parking Brake problem that caused issues & ruined our rotor, and that had only been about 20 thousand miles ago. So our fronts lasted right at 40 thousand, and probably would have lasted longer if we didn't have the issues we had in the mountains with towing our camper, but you live and you learn. So with the rears only having about 20 thousand miles on them, I didn't think they would be part of the issue, but after reading that post by another forum member, I decided to contact BajaRon once again & order the Rear Brake Pads & Rotor & also another Oil Change Kit along with Amsoil Oil.

Ron offers all kinds of stuff, not only for Spyders, but general MotorCycle Gear as well, like Helmets, Jackets, Rain Suits, pretty much anything you need for MotorCycling, the man carries it. So we PM'd back & forth a few times about what all exactly I needed, and he sent me the PayPal Invoice & we promptly paid it, and eagerly awaited the arrival. This was on Tuesday of last week, so I was hoping to get everything by Friday & was pleasantly surprised that the oil was at our place on Thursday, and the oil change kit was there on Friday, but still no brake pads or rotor :helpsmilie: Oh No, we still have that Low Pressure Fault and with no brakes we can't change them to see if that fixes our problem, and there's no way we can leave on Tuesday and head off on a 2 thousand plus mile trip to New York & back with having this Orange Screen of DEATH Glaring at us for the entire trip for a Low Brake Pressure Fault :yikes:

TBC ................................... :banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[CyncySpyder]

Down To The Wire, Conclusion ................................. almost

So I did something that I was surprised I had to do, but I sent Ron another PM inquiring about what was going on with the Brake Pads/Rotor. I say this, cause like most customers of Rons, we've become accustomed (spoiled) by his great service, and more often than not, when you order something from Ron, you usually get it within 2 or 3 days, and in the past 3 years of dealing with Ron, we've NEVER waited longer than 3 days for a product that he had in stock. So for me to even question him, made me feel like I was in the wrong almost, cause I knew I was spoiled by his Legendary Service, and if it were any other Vendor, I wouldn't even of thought of asking about where something I ordered was, when it was only 3 days later pps::lecturef_smilie:

Hope he doesn't mind me sharing this, but instead of hear-say, I'll just cut & paste our PMs & share them here with y'all. I'm sure if he does mind, he'll tell me & I'll edit & remove this. But just remember, every situation is unique & just because this was out experience, please don't expect your experience to be the same ....... you know what I mean ..........

[G'morning Ron,
The oil was delivered a couple of days ago & I got the engine filter/rings yesterday, but still no sign of the rear brake pad or the rotor. I can't believe I'm actually asking this, but do you have any ETA on them? I don't mean to sound ungrateful or pushy, but I have to do the rear brakes before heading out on our road-trip to SpyderQuest on Tuesday. Thanks Ron,
dav n teddy~]

[Ok, they are 'Looking Into It' which means something has gone wrong. I am over-nighting this to you today because we don't have time for them to figure this out. Worst case scenario is that you get 2 orders. But we can deal with that if it happens. I don't think it will because you should have had it long ago.
Don't ever feel like I'm going to be upset if you ask for details about your order. I'm not perfect and neither are the vendors I deal with. We all make mistakes. I'd much rather you question me early than have you go without your stuff. Plus, I don't want to upset Teddy with poor customer service!
Hope you can make this work by getting it tomorrow. I highly recommend using CRC brake disk quiet with your install. Not sure if we've gone around this bush before but just in case. You might want to pick some up at an autoparts store so you'll have it. Cheap insurance.]

That was on Friday & we promptly recieved the pads & rotor around 5pm on Saturday :bowdown: I told ya folks, even with an issue, the man is Second to None :firstplace: when it comes to Customer Service :firstplace: I'm always amazed by him, cause this isn't unusual for him, this is just the way the man runs his business :bowdown: Wish the world had so many more like him in it :clap:

With the new Pads & Rotor in hand, I once again called my brother and asked if he could lend a hand, and he agreed to come over early on Sunday & see what we could get done. Now this was the first time doing the rear brakes, and we found them to be a bit more involved and complicated than the front brakes, but after a few hours of checking, reading and double checking things, we both agreed that the rear rotor still looked fine and we took a bit of sand paper to it just to make sure it was nice and clean for the new pads. Also, not replacing the rear Rotor meant we didn't have to deal with removing the rear wheel and all that jazz & possibly have to worry about the belt tension & alignement, so I knew it would not only save us hassle, but time as well.

I went ahead and had started on removing the exhaust before got there on Sunday morning, cause I also wanted to go ahead and paint the exhaust matt black, to match the rest of Teds Red Sled with the lower half being all blacked out. After he got there, we finshed removing the exhaust to allow better access to the rear brake components, & I'm glad we did. Not sure if you could actually replace the rear pads with having the exhaust in place, just not enough room to work in that area. Once we got the callipers pulled and the old pads out, we noticed something a bit odd.

TBC again, sorry ................. work work work ..................... :banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[arntufun]

Safe travels my friend...... See you soon !!!! :cheers:

 

[CyncySpyder]

Down To The Wire, Conclusion, almost again.....................

Originally when I read that post about the other SpyderLovers Low Brake Pressure Fault & the dealer telling him it was due to his rear brake pads, I had went out & visually checked the rear pads on Teds Red Sled & in all honesty, I thought they looked fine. BRP specs for the rear pads are 5mm new and the minumum being 1mm, which is close to nothing. I was able to measure the outter rear most part & it was right around 2.5mm, right in the middle, so at first, I thought surely this couldn't be our issue as well.

But to my surprise, after we removed the pads, we noticed that while I had measured the rear part correctly as they once again measured right around 2.4/2.5mm, the leading front edge of the pads were worn down to just above 1.5mm :shocked: still within BRPs specs, but that's a pretty big difference between the leading edge & the trailing edge of the pads, & I didn't totally understand how they could ware the way they did. My simple, mechanically untrained brain lead me to believe that the pads would all ware evenly throughout the pad, and that wasn't what we were seeing at all. My brother then explained how its not uncommon for the leading edge of brake pads to wear more or faster than the trailing edge & that since we had our issues with towing our 400 pound camper behind us in the mountains, and we had burned up our front pads & warped our front rotors, he really wasn't shocked to be witnessing what laid before us :sour: still didn't make me happy pps: tho.

Since the pads were so unevenly worn, it was a bear and a half to get the caliper to push in, and yes, I did remember to loosen the caps on the Fluid Resevour, but also not having the correct type/size of C-clamp didn't help much either, but it was a major ordeal to get the piston to push in enough to allow enough room for the new, full thickness pads to fit in there. Took us about an hour of strugle along with some judicious use of slang words, but with some creative measures, we finally got them on :bowdown: Once we got the pads replaced, we lubed the Parking Brake Cable & tightened it, made sure everything was put back the way it belongs with the rear brakes, and then .....................

I held my breath while I carefully hopped on top of Teds Red Sled, cause the ceiling fan was still on, and I had to keep my head crouched down a bit, or be beat by the blades, and we decided to see if that possibly did the trick, or did we need to continue on and actually remove the right side foot casting support and replace that Low Brake Pressure Sensor itself. When I turn the key on, we once again got the same Frig'n Code P1282 Low Brake Pressure Fault & at first, my heart sank ..... but then I remembered reading in the repair manual, that once you correct the problem for a Low Brake Pressure Fault, you have to manually reset the Fault Code by performing a certain sequence of events including turning the key off, waiting 30 seconds, turning it on, putting your foot on the brake pedal & listening for the first click, then pushing down hard until you hear the second click from the Low Pressure Switch, then shutting the machine off, waiting another 30 seconds & then turning it back on. After doing all this twice, guess what??? :dontknow:

TBC .................. work work work, only 8 more hours tho .......