first real ride

[Cirhere]

I went on a 400 mile drive yesterday granted I only have about 700 miles time in seat but yesterday the bike shifted or darted back and forth did not ride straight it wore me out
any suggestions other than handlebar grip I think I did alright in that regard
2020 RTL original tires 17 psi in front

 

[BajaRon]

Typical experience, especially if you are coming off of 2 wheels. There are several factors which contribute to this. And it is largely unintended rider input. The key is exactly the opposite of what most people do. And that is to relax. You got worn out because you are tensing up and attempting to force your Spyder to 'Go Straight'. Which exacerbates the problem. Concentrate on relaxing your grip, then your wrists, then your forearms, shoulders, etc. If the Spyder twitches left or right, DO NOT attempt to correct for this. It's just the nature of having a narrow wheelbase running over in uneven surface. The Spyder may 'Hunt'. But let it. Because it will self correct. But when you try to correct for the unintended movement. And the Spyder is also making correction. It ends up being over-correction, which you then have to correct for.

You want to isolate the handlebars from any body movement. When you do this, you'll find that the Spyder is not twitchy or uncontrollable. Instead, it is simply very responsive to any input to the handlebars. It took me about 600 miles to learn this. Some take less, some take more. But if you hang in there, you'll be glad you did.

 

[ARtraveler]

Twitchy ride feel for new riders is very common. Ron gives good advice above. Don't over-control. :bowdown:

 

[Peter Aawen]

:agree: . And look out WAAAAAaaaayyy ahead to plan where you want to be on the road as far ahead as you can see; then scan back to the front of the Spyder plotting your path all the way; and repeat - often & repeatedly!

You should always be scanning with your eyes, don't look at something you want to avoid, cos that'll almost guarantee that you'll hit it! :banghead: Instead, look at where you want to go! Much of the 'over-correcting' going on is due to that 'trying to force it to go straight' that Ron mentions above, and we should all know by now that never works! :bdh: And the bulk of the rest is because you are most likely focussing waaayyy to close in to the front of the machine, trying to avoid bumps or whatever as you run over them... . So look up, look waaayy ahead, and relax - your hands, wrists, fore-arms, & shoulders. Let your shoulders relax & drop; keep your elbows soft & loosely in; keep your hands & wrists gentle & relaxed on the controls, and then gently guide your Spyder where you want it to go rather than forcibly steering it! :lecturef_smilie:

On a Spyder/Ryker, you've got twice the wheels up front that most other motorcycles have, so there is going to be at least that much extra 'road surface feedback', which as a ryder you'll hafta learn to pretty much ignore so that you don't tense up while trying to respond to each & every twitch, and instead, just get on with relaxing & safely guiding your Spyder/Ryker along your pre-planned path - that path you are looking waaay ahead for & revising/reviewing all the time as you continually scan with your eyes and avoid fixating on the very things you don't want to hit! Practice, relax, get some ryde time in, and you'll eventually get there! :thumbup:

Then just Ryde More, and Worry Less! hyea:

 

[Snoking1127]

What they said, and 17 PSI in the front tires seems low for OEM Kendas. I just rest my hands on top of the handle bars and run on CC most of the time on the open road.

 

[pegasus1300]

Or to paraphtase a little for new riders since this is what they must do" Practice more worry less"

 

[Saluda]

Starting off with a too long ride ?

 

[Snoking1127]

What they said, and 17 PSI in the front tires seems low for OEM Kendas. I just rest my hands on top of the handle bars and run on CC most of the time on the open road.

On the open road you guide it along vs steering!

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Typical experience, especially if you are coming off of 2 wheels. There are several factors which contribute to this. And it is largely unintended rider input. The key is exactly the opposite of what most people do. And that is to relax. You got worn out because you are tensing up and attempting to force your Spyder to 'Go Straight'. Which exacerbates the problem. Concentrate on relaxing your grip, then your wrists, then your forearms, shoulders, etc. If the Spyder twitches left or right, DO NOT attempt to correct for this. It's just the nature of having a narrow wheelbase running over in uneven surface. The Spyder may 'Hunt'. But let it. Because it will self correct. But when you try to correct for the unintended movement. And the Spyder is also making correction. It ends up being over-correction, which you then have to correct for.

You want to isolate the handlebars from any body movement. When you do this, you'll find that the Spyder is not twitchy or uncontrollable. Instead, it is simply very responsive to any input to the handlebars. It took me about 600 miles to learn this. Some take less, some take more. But if you hang in there, you'll be glad you did.

:agree: ... and let me these make sure your front tires have the same PSI or very very close to it .... and in the beginning I would try 19-20 for the front ..... good luck and :welcome: ......... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Bartender]

I agree with all the comments above. The comments by the OP echo my exact impressions when I went from two to three wheels this early spring. In fact I was seriously considering selling the Spyder and going back to two wheels. In early May I had LaMonster install the heavy duty sway bar and do a lazer alignment. I thought that the change was amazing but maybe it was a combination of my getting used to guiding vs. steering and the mechanical changes. I just don't know the answer to that. I just know that now the Spyder feels like it is on a rail, corners unbelievably well and I am a happy camper. The dealer where I purchased the Spyder did not do lazer alignments and said he checked the alignment and it was spot on. That was wrong and at LaMonster's they changed the alignment. Just my thoughts but I'd recommend adding the heavy sway bar and a lazer alignment before I did anything else and put in some miles just getting used to the change.