First Ride-Or there are no straight roads in the Rockies

[spydersense]

Trailered my brand new 15 RTL home Saturday in the pouring rain, on Sunday took a short trip to fill her up with gas. Love the ride, very comfortable but managing the curves is tricky. And as my title said, there are no straight roads in the Rockies. So I have read everything here, read the owners manual, watched the videos. But would appreciate any suggestions you all have to make the learning curve (no pun) a little shorter.

The last time I was on a Spyder was 4 years ago and this new engine is awesome in the mountains. If I could just get someone to straighten the roads.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[missouriboy]

Bring 'er on down to the Rio Grande Valley, where the roads are so straight they will bore you to tears.

Otherwise, rack up about 500-1000 myles on her and you'll get the hang of it just fine. And too, there's always the Laser Alignment option, if you can find one.
Welcome to the menagerie! :yes:

 

[Chupaca]

Let's see....

The fastest way to get ahold of the spyders handling is going relaxed and slow. Especially the grip. these machines are great with many controls built in like vss (vehicle stability system) the dps (dynamic power steering) and abs. The dps is the one you have to give a chance to . It senses your nervousness and tries to correct for it making the handling squirrely. :agree: with more miles you will see and speed will build up after that. Congrats on the new ryde...:2thumbs:

 

[eagleeye299]

What fun are straight roads?:thumbup::thumbup:

 

[BajaRon]

Cars are for straight roads. Spyders are for Twisties! That's where the Real Fun is.

As mentioned, do not try to stiff arm the Spyder. It will just make things worse.

Loosen your hand grip pressure.
Relax your wrists.
Relax your forearms.
Relax your upper arms and shoulders.

You want to isolate the handlebars from any body movement what-so-ever. Think of your shoulders on down to your hands as rubber isolators. The slightest input from you, intended or not, will get an instant reaction from the Spyder. In the beginning it makes the Spyder seem twitchy. Once you get the hang of it you'll appreciate it as 'Responsive'.

Getting a good Laser Alignment is a good first step to taming the Twisties!

You're going to love your Spyder. Just give it a chance!

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Cars are for straight roads. Spyders are for Twisties! That's where the Real Fun is.

As mentioned, do not try to stiff arm the Spyder. It will just make things worse.

Loosen your hand grip pressure.
Relax your wrists.
Relax your forearms.
Relax your upper arms and shoulders.

You want to isolate the handlebars from any body movement what-so-ever. Think of your shoulders on down to your hands as rubber isolators. The slightest input from you, intended or not, will get an instant reaction from the Spyder. In the beginning it makes the Spyder seem twitchy. Once you get the hang of it you'll appreciate it as 'Responsive'.

Getting a good Laser Alignment is a good first step to taming the Twisties!

You're going to love your Spyder. Just give it a chance!

Ah! Good advice most of the time, but...... I was going to mention in my trip posting that on curvey roads of the Rockies there ain't no hanging onto the handlebars like there is an egg between your palm and the grip! You need a relaxed but sure grip or you might go over the edge!

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[ARtraveler]

:congrats: on your new :spyder2:.

I usually have a thing I post when such questions come up. Baja Ron has you covered this time. After 500 - 1000 miles, I believe your issues will be solved. :yes:

 

[BajaRon]

Ah! Good advice most of the time, but...... I was going to mention in my trip posting that on curvey roads of the Rockies there ain't no hanging onto the handlebars like there is an egg between your palm and the grip! You need a relaxed but sure grip or you might go over the edge!

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

True, but most have a grip that will crush a walnut! At least in the beginning!

 

[clinard]

The thing that helped me the most, after I learned to relax the grip, in curves was to tuck the knee on the inside of the curve IN and push on the peg on the outside of the curve. Tucking the knee in leans the body slightly to the inside of the turn and helps lock you in. For a while it is "THINK tuck in push off"...After a while you get used to it and realize you are doing it but not thinking about doing it. I felt like i was going to slide off any time I hit a curve. After getting this down I can now hang with the others....well I don't ride with "Crotch Rockets guys"

HTH

 

[Peter Aawen]

^^ Wot they said!! Clinards point about tucking the inside knee IN is a good start & it gets even better once you start pushing with the outside footage well; but if you really want to bring it all together you need to also practice PULLING on the inside handle bar instead of pushing the outside bar away - doing all that helps you and the Spyder get your weight transfer right so that you lose that squirrelly feeling, let the nanny keep on sleeping, and as you get better at it, you can begin to take the corners faster & with more & more control!! :thumbup:

But if you don't want to ride the twisties faster just sit up, relax everything, slow down, get all your braking done BEFORE you even start to enter the turn, & very gently (remember those 'eggshells'!!) add just a touch of power as you smoothly guide the Spyder thru the corner. You can really ride these things as gently or as spiritedly as you want, but the faster you go the more you hafta move your body around & think about what your weight is doing to the Spyder dynamics, or think about where your 'pushing' on the steering h/bars will be transferring your weight to instead of pulling & getting it inside the CoG & down low....

Whatever way you choose to ride, Enjoy!! :thumbup: