Dave & Teds Most Excellent Adventures 2013

[lookerjdc]

Would you believe, once again, our dog-bone windshield support bracket broke again:banghead::cus: Ive got it apart in the garage once again, instead of out ryding:chill:

that sucks.... you and Teddy must be going insane:banghead::banghead:

well, enjoy to free time, and duct tape it or something so you can get out for a short ryde today (weather permitting....)

or work on the friday/saturday adventures at Spyderfest sotry....

 

[CyncySpyder]

I Laughed Out Loud when I read that part about duct tape

that sucks.... you and Teddy must be going insane:banghead::banghead: well, enjoy to free time, and duct tape it or something so you can get out for a short ryde today (weather permitting....) or work on the friday/saturday adventures at Spyderfest sotry....

:shocked: Sad thing is, and I hate to admit it, but that's exactly what I did :yikes: Used duct tape to hold the pieces together from side to side stress and then a hose clamp for verticle stability :shocked: Told ya, my head is a messed up place:shocked:

I know from personal experience from our last episode of this happening that the hose clamp, once properly fitted will do the trick, but this one broke closer to the bottom, and not a smooth break, so I needed extra side to side support, and without having any extra space in that area, DUCT TAPE TO THE RESCUE Tho the dog-bone part is now completed, and since I had to tear the top of the dash apart to do it, and we got some more mod parts sent to us from doc, I decided to go ahead and properly mount Teddy's new LED Tube Light along the top of the dash as well and I'm not finished with that part yet, so we haven't been able to try out our temporary fix to see if it will actually work or not :dontknow: But Teddy's keep'n his paws crossed ray:ray:

 

[CyncySpyder]

Think its time to get the NHTSA involved, cause BRP needs to get a better solution

Dave sorry to hear the problem with the dog-bone whindshield support bracket- like yours mine broke for the 2nd time awaiting to see if BRP Will replace mine under warranty - Spyder is over 3 yrs old but the bracket was replaced under warranty last Jan 2012 by dealer
Will you pursue a claim with BRP or see if you can come up with a repair
If you do take the assembly apart to remove the middle bracket any chance you could post pictures as this maybe what I have to end up doing
Just wish someone had come up with a better solution to the cast bone dog leg - I suspect there are several dog bone leg brackets out there with faults which will later develop into a full failure - Hopefully not whist the Spyder is being ridden at speed on a highway

Eddie, I'm starting to think WE (all of us with this issue) should probably report this to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) or I'm sure in your case, that you have a similar gavernment watchdog there in the UK:dontknow:

But this IS a safety issue, and BRPs fix is to just replace the entire assembly using the very same parts :yikes:
Where's the logic in that :dontknow:

I stopped by and checked out my buddies 2010 RT-S, that also had his dog-bone replaced last year cause I showed him where it was cracked, and I had him run the windshield up and down so I could look at his real well. While his still has no noticeable cracks, when raised all the way up, and I got down under in front of it, I could clearly see two pot-marks on the dog-bone where when you have the shield all the way lowered, it looks like it is down so far, its rubbing against the mounting hardware. I can see this causing more stress on that dog-bone, if one were to ryde with the shield all the way down, then every little bump in the road would just be amplified even more.

I'm waiting til 9am this morning to call the shop and see what the Service Manager has to tell me. Being a 2011, we're now out of the factory 2 year warranty, but we do have the 3 year extended warranty, so I'm hoping he's going to tell me that they'll cover it again, minus the $50 deductableray: But even with that, if they just replace it with the same casting, what's the point :banghead:

I did do a temporary fix as I did last year, using a hose-clamp but also had to use duct-tape cause this one didn't break cleanly. I do have pics and once I get home from work today, I'll send you a PM with the pics and notations of what your seeing

 

[Farmbanker]

I'm sure using cast is cheaper than getting a CNC made stainless piece but given the safety issue, it seems that perhaps BRP should consider this.

Sent from Galaxy S3 via Tapatalk

 

[CyncySpyder]

This may get interesting ..... keeping my fingers crossed

Just got off the phone with the new Service Manager and explained everything & he's thinking it should be covered, so I asked him to go ahead and order it and let me know when they can get us in for the repair, but was told that he has to see the problem first to open a warranty claim to have it covered and he can order the parts. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I explained to him that I just rigged it all up with a hose-clamp and duct-tape so that we could continue to ryde, and that in order for him to actually see the broken part, I'd have to undo everything I just did to make the byke rideable :banghead: Understanding this is just BRP protocol, I asked if a picture would be acceptable? He gave me his email address and said to send them and he'd give it a try, but if they say no, then he'll have to see it before he can open the claim and order the replacement parts :gaah: Which I understand, he's just doing his job:helpsmilie:

I inquired if he was aware of any new replacement parts for the dog-bone, and he checked with others and stated that it appears from the parts numbers to be the same one as the one that keeps breaking :banghead:

So I sent him 3 pics showing the broken dog-bone casting, but I'm thinking BRP may have issues in approving it, cause it doesn't look stock, since I had painted all the grey metal castings including the dog-bone a flat-black so they'd disappear into the dash cover :banghead:

Now we wait opcorn: and see what happens ray:

 

[SpyderWolf]

Wishing you the best in having it covered by warranty.

 

[jat4736]

:shocked: Sad thing is, and I hate to admit it, but that's exactly what I did :yikes: Used duct tape to hold the pieces together from side to side stress and then a hose clamp for verticle stability :shocked: Told ya, my head is a messed up place:shocked:

I know from personal experience from our last episode of this happening that the hose clamp, once properly fitted will do the trick, but this one broke closer to the bottom, and not a smooth break, so I needed extra side to side support, and without having any extra space in that area, DUCT TAPE TO THE RESCUE Tho the dog-bone part is now completed, and since I had to tear the top of the dash apart to do it, and we got some more mod parts sent to us from doc, I decided to go ahead and properly mount Teddy's new LED Tube Light along the top of the dash as well and I'm not finished with that part yet, so we haven't been able to try out our temporary fix to see if it will actually work or not :dontknow: But Teddy's keep'n his paws crossed ray:ray:

I know purple duct tape with black spyders works really good.

 

[CyncySpyder]

SpyderFest2013 The NEW Adventure-Chap 21-Thursday-Registered, Now What?

So we made our way to the Registration table, and I wasn't sure how it all would work, so I told my little story of winning Lens contest and he said he was taking care of our registration, and sure enough :yes:Wham Bham Thank You Mamm:yes: we had our two bags of Registratration Goodies along with a name tag for myself and Teddy too :clap:

After that, we went back to Teddy Schmooze'n and pose'n for his fans, and me talk'n with so many great and wonderful people from all over the country:bowdown: I tell ya, I've never been part of any group, club or organization where just about everyone you meet is a real quality person :firstplace::bowdown:

It just amazes me, that since May of 2010 (date we first aquired our 2010 RT-S) that we have yet to meet that one :cus:hole that's in every group :sour: You know what I'm talking about:lecturef_smilie: and I'm sure we have plenty and maybe it has something to do with Teddy being so likeable and loveable, but we have personally not yet met one person at any of the Spyder Events that was negative in any type of way :clap: towards us :thumbup:

Now I can't say the same for the general public:chill: like the one time last year, when on a whim, Teddy & I kinda snuck in to the campground area of the Mid-Ohio Moto Days hoping to by chance run into Scotty who was there as a judge, and as we were walking around the campgrounds looking for him, one of the Harley Bikers that was camping there with his buddies saw Teddy walking with me, and he just had to make a comment :lecturef_smilie: Something to the effect of,
"That there is a damn shame! You know that dog has a conscience don't you? And you go doing sh:cus:t like that to the poor little fella, you should be ashamed of yourself and he should turn around and bite you right on the :cus:ss, cause you deserve it."
Ummmm..... :shocked:WoW:shocked:, ok:yikes:

I got it tho, as Teddy was out of context so to speak, seeing as we couldn't sneak the Spyder in, so we were on foot walking, and no-one knew us there, so no-one understood that he had a Bright Red MowHawk and Pom Tail to match his Viper Red Spyder:spyder2: so I knew better than to argue or try to get the man (who was also a bit inhibriated) to understand, and I just nodded my head as we kept right on walking by this fellow with his buddy's kind of snickering at us :lecturef_smilie: There's a time and place for everything, and this just wasn't it :helpsmilie:

But yeah, we've never met anyone even close to that at any of the Spyder related events that we've gone to, and are glad and proud to be part of such a :firstplace:Great Organization :firstplace: As I usually tell ppl, its more like we are ALL extended family members here :clap:

So more shmooze'n and photo taking takes place and we end up heading back out to the Sled and Camper to show someone one of the many mods that we've done, when Low and Behold, we run right into Lamont who's out there at our camper seeing if he can figure out who's parked in the Deli's rear lot, cause they had recently opened and wanted to reclaim their parking lot for their customers:lecturef_smilie: and Lamont was trying to do what he could to help out. It was good to see him again, and he was like, "I shoulda known that was you :roflblack:" as we camped next to his wifes sewing cabin at last years Bar-B-Q and he commented how he liked our set-up, as we're pretty much self contained :thumbup: And he asked us to move our rig, so we didn't have to worry about the Deli having us towed or anything & we readily complied, as by this time, ppl had cleared out some and we were escorted to a nice open spot at the back of PitBulls parking lot and that just brought about the next deludge of onlookers for Teddy to start schmooze'n with :joke: I tell ya, where ever this pup goes, its a party :joke:

That's where we ran into Mike (BlueKnight911) again, that we had camped & partied with at last years SITA event in the Adirondacks of UpState New York :yes:GOOD TIMES:yes: even if we did get the camp counselors called on us every night we were there :lecturef_smilie: Hey, we never got kicked out at least :clap:

TBC ................................

 

[CyncySpyder]

SpyderFest2013 The NEW Adventure-Chap 21-Thursday-Registered, Now What=Continued

Mike was as happy to see Teddy & I as much as we were to see him. Only this time, "Oh Dave, you've gotta meet someone." which was his new Girlfriend that Teddy and I had been hearing so much about in different communications over the past months since our time together at SITA. So we got to meet his new GF and she got to meet and schmooze with The Tedster and we all quickly hit it off. So good to see Mike happy and she even rydes a Spyder herself, so she definitely got the :2thumbs: of approval:clap:

Then Mike was like, "Oh, you gotta come over here and see this." For those of you that don't know Mike, let me just say this, the man is one creative dude:thumbup: and he definitely didn't dissapoint with his newest creation. He had taken scrap metal bed frames, frabricated a bit here and there and ending up making a framework to easily carry a Spyder in the bed of a regular pick-up, without having to worry about the weight of having the tail-gate down :clap: Told ya, from scrap metal bed frames that folks have thrown out, and he creates this. Guess that 'ole saying of 'One mans trash is anothers treasure' really is true :bowdown:

At the same time, we also got to see SethO's new PitBull SpyderFest Edition ST and that thing was SWEET LOOK'n I believe Mike was actually going to give Seth his new travelling contraption for Seth's PickUp to carry his new Spyder on, but I think something happened where it wouldn't fit his bed deminsions or something like that, not really sure, but it sure was a nice gesture of Mike.

Anyways, Teddy was in high demand while we were at PitBulls, and once we got back inside, I allowed Teddy to get comfortable, as Len had a Nice Shiny Brand New 2012 Viper Red RT-S sitting smack dab in the middle of the show room, so I let Teddy sit on the back seat just like he was at home on his Spyder. And wouldn't you know it, Teddy really knows how to draw a crowd. Teddy & I actually got to step in for the overwhelmed PitCrew sales dept. and we got to be salesmen for a couple of hours. A few people, that were there looking around and had no clue who we were, actually thought we worked there and began asking all kinds of questions, so I did as most of us do, and politely answered them the best I could. The only question I couldn't answer, was "OK, so bottom line, how much is this gonna cost me?" to which then, I admitted that I actually didn't work there, and wasn't sure of the actual price, and that's where I saw Len running around and was able to grab him and have him answer that question :bowdown: Funny thing is, this replicated at least 3 more times, where I had to actually ask the PitCrew for the colored brochures to hand out to inquisitive customers, and had to have them get out more of their PitBull Stickers with their business phone numbers on them so ppl could call back for an appointment and set-up test rydes. I'm just guessing here, but I'd say Teddy did his best to at least sell one unit, and got two more that were very very interested :clap: I joked with Len if Teddy was get'n commision on his sales :roflblack: and he said all the treats the pup could eat :bbq: & Teddy was a :clap:Happy Camper:clap:

We met so many wonderful ppl there, like this one guy (forgive me, I forgot his name) that had a German Shepard in training to be a Service Dog. At first, he didn't bring him inside PitBulls showroom, but he was immediately drawn to Teddy and we began talking about all the issues Teddy has, like his food allergies etc..... and that's when he asked me if I had heard of this special kind of treat, that is made from nothing but chicken, which I had not. He asks me to follow him out to his vehicle, and Teddy and I got to meet his very sweet German Shepard and he shared some of his training treats with me. I was surprised I hadn't heard of them, but as he said, it was nothing but Freeze Dried Chicken in little bits, but made for great treats which Teddy eagerly devoured :bbq::clap:hyea::bowdown:

TBC............... work work work

 

[CyncySpyder]

WoW! I do believe Teddy & I got snubbed yesterday

As stated many times, I'm not an overly social person at all, but when it comes to Spyders, well, they sort of have a way of MAKING you SOCIAL and I've grown accustomed to it over the past few years.

Well, Spyders in the Northern Kentucky area are still a rarity, much more so than our breathren acrossed the bridge, as they seem to be multiplying quite well in Ohio. Guess alot of that has to do with dealer location, as we now have none in Northern KY and the closest is either 45 minutes north of us in Middletown Ohio or an hour south in Lexington KY, but none here in the Northern KY area.

Well, Teddy & I were out on a ryde yesterday to visit my brothers that live out in the country, and low and behold, while on the highway heading out their way, we pass a yellow RS heading in the opposite direction. Ahhh yes, its her. You see, I've been told of this lady with a yellow sport model Spyder from numerous ppl over the past couple of years, whenever we'd stop at any of the local places out that way, as with most country areas, ppl know ppl and the Spyder kind of sticks out, so its pretty easy to remember who has one. One time while out that way, we stopped at WalMart and the sales associate that was helping us locate something for Teds Red Sled proceeded to tell me about this very same lady that he goes to the same church with, that has a yellow "3 wheeler" as he put it. When I asked him to tell her about SpyderLovers and our local Cincy Spyder Ryders group, he commented he didn't think she'd be interested. She's sort of a loner type, don't really ryde with others much.

Hmmmmmm, ok. Well, seeing this yellow RS coming the other direction brought a HUGE Grin on my face and I practically stood up on the pegs to make sure she could see me, and I gave a BIG WAVE up in the air. I could see her smile and she waved back, but being on a highway doing 55 and in opposite directions, it only lasted a second or two. I watched in my mirrors to see if she may stop and turn around, but she just kept on going, so we did as well. I had seen her another time, but never caught up to her, so this was the first chance that I know of, that she could definitely see us. But she just wasn't interested, or was too busy going somewhere to stop, so I just let it go.

Teddy & I stopped by the AJ Jolly Park where they have camping and a nice big lake and we drove thru the area right before sun set, and it was just beautiful, then we started to head back home. Decided to stop out that way and pick up dinner to bring back with us and was thinking about Wendy's and when we get to their parking lot, their sits that yellow "Three Wheeler" right there in the Wendy's parking lot, along with a '2 wheeler' right next to it. Hmmmmmm................ I gotta meet this lady and just say hi. So I figured we'd go thru the drive thru & get our dinner to take home, and sit out in the lot by her "3 wheeler" and wait for the lady to come out & I could introduce ourselves :clap:

UGH..... TBC .................... work work work

 

[CyncySpyder]

WoW! I do believe Teddy & I got snubbed yesterday -Continued

Well, we get to the first window to pay, and the kid taking the money was like "Dude, that's the most Awesome thing I've EVER Seen! Is that his real hair?" referring to Teddy's Red MowHawk. This is replicated numerous times just about everywhere we stop, and Teddy has gotten used to it, and now even plays it up to get him a Teddy Treat, like a French Fry or Chicken Nugget, hell he's not picky as long as its edible :roflblack: So he'll stand at attention and he'll pose and even start Hi5'n the air if he thinks they have a fry waiting for him, and most ppl will pull out their cell phones to grab a quick pic and odds are, Teddy will win, and I'll give him a hand, and when they ask if its ok to take a pic, I'll jokingly tell them that he doesn't usually work for free, and that he'll only pose for a treat, like a fry and sure enough, there gone and right back with a fry in their hand :clap:

So while this is taking place, I notice the female ryder of the RS and her male companion on the 2 wheeler come out of the side door and they proceed to mount up, without even batting an eye our way. But I know she had to see us there. I mean, Teds Red Sled, especially with his sun canopy covering the back is a pretty visible sight :shocked: Worried they'd take off quickly, I kinda pressed the kid to finish taking the pic so we could go, and he did & we proceeded to the next window, where BOOM!!! The ENTIRE rest of the crew was all hundled around that one little window, at least 6 of them and most of them with their cell phones out and snapping away as we pulled to a stop. I couldn't help but laugh :roflblack: at the sight. I mean, it was a Poperotzii (sp?) reception befitting Brad and Angelia on the red carpet :shocked::doorag:

As I had feared tho, the lady RS ryder already had her helmet on and was backing out and not a wave or anything from her. I thought about honking the horn, but figured if she wanted to meet us, she'd wait, if not, she obviously had better things to do and wasn't interested, so I didn't. Sure enough, her buddy on the 2 wheeler goes by us and I wave to him and he waved back, but she even went out the other exit totally avoiding us, or at least that's the way it seemed No wave, no smile, nothing from her but avoidance

I was saddened, but figured maybe once again, she was in a hurry and had to be somewhere, so I didn't let it bother me. We finally got our food and I put it away in the frunk, and Teddy satisfied all of his new fans with Hi5's and letting them take pics, and we said our good byes.

As I pulled out of their lot, and start to get back on the highway, I see the yellow RS and her 2 wheel buddy slowly cruising thru the parking lot of the shopping mall that was just along the Wendys, just mose'n on down obviously in no hurry at all :sour: WOW, guess she just doesn't care to meet a fellow Spyder Ryder :dontknow: Its ok, I just feel bad for her, cause it really is her loss, cause I know how much joy just meeting Teddy in person brings to so many ppl just about anywhere we go. But I rationalize that maybe she really is a loner, and maybe she doesn't like dogs and just wants to be left alone :lecturef_smilie: So be it ......... but her loss

 

[lookerjdc]

hey, its gonna happen every now and then, and as you said, its their loss, not yours......

 

[MIPS22]

:hun: You had me hooked, was waiting for the happy ending .... Her loss, my hubby would have very bruised as ribs if he didn't stop to meet you and Ted., pity we live down under, maybe one day .... I'm a big fan....love :read: about your adventures. So :clap: and hugs for Ted.
opcorn: Ready for more.

 

[OJ UK]

Just thinkin' that the Harley guy may have been her old man.....and jealous with it, hence she made like you didn't exist.
But like most things, you'll probably get a chance to meet and chat to her some day.

 

[CyncySpyder]

SpyderFest2013 The NEW Adventure- We now interrupt our regular scheduled posting

***Just a quick heads up, I went back and updated our last post from Chap.21 Thusday about getting Registered, seeing Mike again and then Teddy selling some Spyders, so if you read it before I added the bulk of it, you may want to read thru it again to be caught up on our antics ***

***Also, please bare with us, as we're having technical difficulties with our Internet Service & I can't seem to get our home PC to pick up our wireless connection from our router, even tho every other device picks up the connection without an issue, but for some reason, our PC just doesn't see it, even after unplugging, resetting and all the other normal troubleshooting trials. I called for support, but since its over a year old, they want $30 to help correct the problem, and right now, that's just not in the budget. Heck, we had to stop ryding this weekend, cause our addiction is WAY OUT OF HAND :helpsmilie:I just checked, and we're filling up $20 a tank, every single day:helpsmilie: I'm gonna look into selling blood/plasma to try and keep up with this addiction :shocked: but I fear, at some point, somethings gonna give and I just don't know what that something is gonna be yet :banghead:

So yeah bare with us and we'll hopefully get things rolling again ray:

 

[CyncySpyder]

SpyderFest2013 The NEW Adventure-Chap 21-Thursday-Vendor Villiage

After a few more hours of Teddy schmooz'n with his fans at PitBulls Showroom and of course, doing his best to sell a few Spyders as well, Jesse catches back up with us and asks when we intend on head'n over to the Vendor Villiage, as there were some Farkles he wanted to see up close and in person. Since we still really didn't have a clue where anything else was located, we got with someone else that was headed that way and followed them out to Vendor Villiage

Thursday was the primo day of the entire event, as it was warm and sunny for the rest of that day, which as most of you know, can't be said of any of the other days but we took advantage of it what we could and made our little caravan down to Vendor Villiage, if memory serves me correctly, it was held in the parking lot of Duck Stadium. Not being from that area, I have no clue what kind of team the Ducks are, but I do know they have one heck of a stadium and a huge parking lot to match. I can't begin to tell you how many Vendors were there, but most of them that are SpyderLovers Sponsors I think were there, along with a few I'd never heard of even.

Like this one place, that did leathers and such, the lady even had a leather outfit done for a small dog, almost Teddy's size. I hadn't seen it yet, and walked up and half jokingly asked if she did anything for dogs, and she actually held up what she was working on, and low and behold, it was for a dog. We later came to find out, ElZorro's Mom had it commissiond for him, and we even got to meet them :clap:but imagine my surprise, at a Spyder Event, joking about Biker Leathers for a dog, and the lady holds up just that :bowdown: wow, I was impressed:clap:

The sun was blazing hot and I had to do my best to keep Teddy in the shade, being a black dog, he heats up really quickly in the direct sunlight :sour: and being in an open parking lot, made for a bit of a challenge to make sure the lil guy wasn't overheating. But I'm sure if you've been along with our adventures for any length of time, you can guess what happens next :dontknow: The Star is in the house and in demand :roflblack: We walk a few feet and get pulled one direction or the other, with fans requesting photo ops with the lil guy, and me trying to do my best to both, satisfy his fans, but also keep him as comfortable as possible and not get overheated :chill: which as stated, can be a challenge at times.

We actually got to meet ElZorro and his parents, tho he and Teddy didn't exactly 'hit it off' being different breeds (I believe ElZorro is a Chi) and Teddy a Pom, but hey, there both Spyder Ryde'n Pooches and even tho we gave the introduction a go, it didn't make for fast friends, and that's ok, not all dogs are going to get along :lecturef_smilie:

TBC .................. work work work

 

[CyncySpyder]

SpyderFest2013 The NEW Adventure-Chap 21-Thursday-Vendor Villiage ...Continued

Please forgive me, names I'm terrible with, but as I was saying, we got to meet ElZorro and his parents, and it was good to actually meet them in person and talk with another couple that actually rydes on a regular basis with their pooch as well. We've only had this opportunity one other time, at the 2011 SpyderFest & LadyBug Campground, we got to meet PadreSpyder & his wife & their Jack Russel which I'm thinking Jennie was her name. (if not, please forgive mepps and its always good to see how others go about the challenge of safely ryding with their best friends :clap: Just like Spyder ryding, you get share experiences of what works for you and what doesn't concerning something you have a vested pasion for :thumbup: Always a good time hyea:ElZorro's dad even came out to the back parking lot where we Parked Teds Red Sled so he could see our set-up, being admittidly a little over the top with the Teddy-Cam set-up and all, but its what it takes for me to feel comfortable, so I personally don't see it as over the top, just cautionary and needed, especially after our early episode where I thought I had killed the poor lil guy :shocked: Once bitten twice shy, right?

So yeah, we got to talk for a while, and he also showed me his set-up for ElZorro on his new ST, but he confided, he wasn't really sure the ST was the right Spyder for him. Come to think of it, again, my memory sucks, but I think I read a post where he was trading his new ST for an RT, which of course in our opinion, with co-ryding with a pooch, is the only way to go :2thumbs: hey, just like your significant other, you want them to be comfortable and you need the additional storage space for all 'their' extras as well

TBC......... this dang work thing

 

[CyncySpyder]

I've started this post at least 10 times

But something about burning bridges keeps me from hitting the submit button, so this is whats left.

Never realized there would be such a conflict between the virtual world and the real world, but reality is, they do overlap. Whats said in one, can cause damage in the other. Confused yet :dontknow: that's ok, so am I :shocked:

 

[CyncySpyder]

SpyderFest2013 The NEW Adventure-Chap 21-Thursday-Vendor Villiage ...Continued again

So many ppl were there, it was good to see so many Spyders and their owners, all in awe of the offerings of the various vendors. I got to see some of the Vertika Tryke FloorBoards installed on a couple of different RTs in person, and I have to admit, they are really eye catching. They remind me of the floor boards that run along the bottom and from end to end of those high end conversion vans you see out on the highways.

In a past life, when I was married and lived in Florida, my wife and I took my mom on a cross-country road-trip from Tallahassee Florida to Phoenix Arizona (all to see a cat-show) in our Conversion Van that we owned back then, and this was back in 1999 I believe. I miss that van, it was nice with all the toys and most the comforts of home making a road-trip something that was more pleasurable than most would think. I remember we were taking I10 West all the way, started Texas at sunrise and was still in Texas as the sun was setting :sour: didn't care much for Texas rest-stops I mean, their bathroom stalls didn't even have doors on 'em:shocked: whats up with that :shocked::dontknow: Then we had finally made it to New Mexico and I thought it strange that everyone started pulling over and parking on both sides of the Interstate, I had never seen anything like it. Kind of like a scene out of one of those disaster movies really. Not knowing any better, I had kept going for a short while, till I finally gave in, stopped and asked someone why everyone was stopping. The guy yealled at me to "Pull it over & shut it down before it gets here!" "Before what gets here? What are you talking about?" I asked in a kind of now panicked voice. The guy just pointed behind us with eyes as wide as saucers and exclaimed, "The sandstorm you idiot!" :yikes: Like I should have known:lecturef_smilie: I just found out recently that in desert countries these are common place and are called Haboobs, or a wall of sand moving swifting across a wide area, usually miles wide and miles high. But at that time, being from Northern Kentucky and then Florida, I had never heard of, seen or experienced one, til that very moment. The guy yelled, "Shut it down! If sands gets in your engine, its toast! Just sit there, shut it off, roll all the windows up, close all the vents, and pray for the best" and he was gone, ducking back into the safety of his own vehicle. All three of us looked with our jaws agape, at a huge dark gray wall of living sand, getting ready to engulf us, not knowing what to expect. I didn't want Mom to worry, so I grabbed a VHS tape of some movie, and put it in the player & told her everything would be ok, and we could just watch a movie til it passed, but none of us actually watched the movie. We just sat there in awe of Mother Nature reminding us who is really in charge. Once the wall hit us, the entire van shook, and then you could here the constant tic tac tic of the pelting sand against the metal & fiberglass body, being assulted with a deluge of sand blasters. This lasted for only about 20 minutes, but it seemed like hours on end, and I feared what the paint job was going to look like once the onslaught was actually over Lucky for us, I had just washed and hand waxed the entire van before our trip, and I'm not sure if that helped or if it was just the fine grade of the sand, but once it was over and we got out to assess the damage, we couldn't see any signs of what just transpired :shocked: All three of us were a little in shock and awe of what we had just experienced :cheers: and were glad to have lived thru it, none worse for the ware

Guess that's one of the things that draw many of us to the Spyder, as it represents that freedom of the unknown that the open road has to offer:clap:

WOW, I couldn't imagine going thru that on a Spyder, at least not without being in Full gear & hopefully a full face helmet. Man o man, I bet that would have hurt something fierce against bare skin :yikes:

TBC........................

 

[CyncySpyder]

SpyderFest2013 The NEW Adventure-Chap 21-Thursday-Vendor Villiage ...Continued again

Sorry for the distraction, enough about Haboobs, lets get back to our story. So yeah, saw the full Vertika FloorBoards along with their half boards, which honestly, I didn't even know they offered. That's one of the main reasons I think so many of us enjoy going to these types of events. We all get to actually see in person many of the wonderful mods that we may have been lusting for, for months, but without actually seeing in person, many of us dread putting out our hard earned dollars for something sight unseen and then just hoping that it works for us as well as we've been hoping. But you know what is even better than just seeing them in person? Talking with the owner or better yet, the guy that had to install them himself. And let me tell you, I found out allot about my obsession.

Seeing the full set on a guys RT-S that was just mounting up, Teddy & I just had to go over and talk with him about his experience with his Awesome looking floor-boards & he was very open and honest about his experience. He pointed to another RT-S that was also mounting up and explained that his was their half boards, and he installed them for his buddy along with installing his full set on his machine. He then confided, while he did really enjoy them in use, he wouldn't wish the installation experience on his worst enemy :shocked: I think he said it took something like a full 8 hrs just to install the half set and something like 12-16 hours to install the full set :sour: and if he had it to do over again, he'd go with another style altogether:lecturef_smilie: to him, it just wasn't worth all the PITA to get them installed correctly :banghead: Now mind you, I'm thinking rationally here, but like most things we do for the first time, we take longer and usually make a mistake or two, but like most things, with practice, it becomes easier and easier. But even with that being said, something like floorboards you should only have to install once, so that does make for something to think about with those. I mean, your already talking close to $1200 for the primed set, add on the cost of painting, and then if you had to pay a dealer 8-16 hours at close to $100/hour and DAMN !!! You're looking at close to $2500-$4000 just for one set of really nice looking floor-boards :shocked: Nice if you got that kinda cash to burn, and I don't know about you, but Teddy & I don't even have basic cable so I was really glad that I got to talk with that guy, cause that saved me a lot of grief of lusting after something I now know, we can never afford nojoke I can now spend my lust energy at least on something that maybe one day, we can actually afford :thumbup::clap: Yes, I may be a dreamer, but sometimes, even dreamers have to be realistic:lecturef_smilie: ya know

With that last disclaimer said, dreamers never stop dreaming, and wouldn't you know, when a dreamer is faced with adversity, they usually find ways to overcome said adversity. I've not gotten up the gumption just yet, but I've been doing my research and learning as much as I can, watching You-Tube videos and learning the Ins and Outs of 'How to FiberGlass' and one of these days, I may even get up that gumption enough to make a go at making our very own metal re-inforced fiberglass running-boards for Teds Red Sled :clap:

Hell, I didn't even know how to change the oil before owning our first 2010 Spyder and look where we are now :shocked: You'd think something as computer driven and complex as the Spyder is, I'd be running the other way, but instead, if we're not out ryding, I usually find myself out in the garage tearing into Teds Sled more and more every day, adding this modding that, making this just a little better Its a miracle this thing is still rydable with what all I've done to it. Without ALL of the help from YOU guys and gals tho, I know perfectly well none of it would be possible :bowdown: and Teddy and I probably wouldn't even be able to still be ryding, so for this,
:bowdown::firstplace:I THANK YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE :firstplace::bowdown:

TBC ...............................