Kingsqueak
New member
Been curious about a Spyder for a bit and found a dealer willing to set a demo up in position 5 with a long reach bar so I could get a full feel for it. I went out alone for about an hour and a half, mixed heavy traffic, county roads with sweepers and a decent highway run as well. A nice rounded impression run i think.
My want from the Spyder is a two up capable, day tripper I can ride around for 8 hrs and not feel like I ran a marathon at the end.
I'm pretty tall, 6'5" and 280, so the fit was a critical first question. In position 5 with footboards, it was pretty awesome I have to say. Very comfortable, I could have just kept going for sure.
I've ridden bikes on and off for years, currently ride a KTM 690 Enduro R. The Spyder is a couch by comparison.
Wind protection at my height, very good for torso so it takes the fatigue out of 80+ highway running. My helmet is in the wind, which for the mid 80s temps today was nice. Mixed riding, the stock T shield is o.k. I'd probably swap a big F4 as a winter or long haul shield. The stock is a bit noisy, but I was riding without ear plugs to test it and it's not that bad.
Power was great, plenty for me and I'm sure two up as well. Motor is nice and smooth at highway speeds. I did find the belt vibe resonance points and it came into the footboards at its worst, but changing revs makes it go away. It's wayyy less vibration than the thumpers I'm used to riding.
The SE6 is a no brainer. Really impressed me. This bike is meant to be a long haul lazy rider for me and it was so nice in the heavy bumper to bumper to just relax and let it happen. Much less fatigue in the heat than my bike is with stop and start. Responds really well when pushing into corners and drives right out.
I had the inside wheel lifting on the on/off ramps, when pushing hard, still felt very controlled. I could see myself going full Elka at some point to get to the edge with it. I could do nearly bike speeds (hanging off a bit), I was surprised.
Cool that just plugging in my iPhone to the USB just worked for music. Handy for music and nav and the stereo is loud enough to hear. Plugs of course sound better.
My biggest nitpick is that I'd like a higher end suspension feel, but that'd be an easy fix with Elkas all around. Frankly I push vehicles farther than most so realize that I also want to re-suspend my Forester XT as well.
I want one. Any philanthropic types want to buy me one?
I don't think I'm ready to cough up the cash quite yet, but I think a Spyder will wind up as bike 2 next to the KTM at some point.
Really glad I checked one out.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
My want from the Spyder is a two up capable, day tripper I can ride around for 8 hrs and not feel like I ran a marathon at the end.
I'm pretty tall, 6'5" and 280, so the fit was a critical first question. In position 5 with footboards, it was pretty awesome I have to say. Very comfortable, I could have just kept going for sure.
I've ridden bikes on and off for years, currently ride a KTM 690 Enduro R. The Spyder is a couch by comparison.
Wind protection at my height, very good for torso so it takes the fatigue out of 80+ highway running. My helmet is in the wind, which for the mid 80s temps today was nice. Mixed riding, the stock T shield is o.k. I'd probably swap a big F4 as a winter or long haul shield. The stock is a bit noisy, but I was riding without ear plugs to test it and it's not that bad.
Power was great, plenty for me and I'm sure two up as well. Motor is nice and smooth at highway speeds. I did find the belt vibe resonance points and it came into the footboards at its worst, but changing revs makes it go away. It's wayyy less vibration than the thumpers I'm used to riding.
The SE6 is a no brainer. Really impressed me. This bike is meant to be a long haul lazy rider for me and it was so nice in the heavy bumper to bumper to just relax and let it happen. Much less fatigue in the heat than my bike is with stop and start. Responds really well when pushing into corners and drives right out.
I had the inside wheel lifting on the on/off ramps, when pushing hard, still felt very controlled. I could see myself going full Elka at some point to get to the edge with it. I could do nearly bike speeds (hanging off a bit), I was surprised.
Cool that just plugging in my iPhone to the USB just worked for music. Handy for music and nav and the stereo is loud enough to hear. Plugs of course sound better.
My biggest nitpick is that I'd like a higher end suspension feel, but that'd be an easy fix with Elkas all around. Frankly I push vehicles farther than most so realize that I also want to re-suspend my Forester XT as well.
I want one. Any philanthropic types want to buy me one?
I don't think I'm ready to cough up the cash quite yet, but I think a Spyder will wind up as bike 2 next to the KTM at some point.
Really glad I checked one out.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
