shakin_jake
Member
Just picked this up (2020 Ryker Rally) March 14th. All I can say is, it's totally awesome!, especially when you have it in sport or Rally mode, at speed and turn the handlebars full circle on some dry leaves like she's sitting in. I've come to the conclusion, the short time I've ridden the Rykers, that they're 50% go cart & the other 50% is Ouija board. Yeah so I test rode all three of the Rykers back in April 2019. Prior to that I had ridden 3 different Spyders beginning about the time of my membership here (2011). I liked the Spyders and if I was going to do any cross country riding, a Spyder is what I would ride, top of the line, all the bells and whistles but currently my occupation leaves no time for that kind of riding. I have done two wheel cross country riding in the modern era, like back in Y2K when I finally ended up,with a 93' Honda ST1100 (rode a few newer models prior to settling on the 93'). In fact, I chalked up 70 K miles touring with that ST from 2001-2005. I love that kind of riding and one of those $30K Spyders set up for big miles would be my choice but I can't so I'm not
Getting back to this Ryker Rally. I'm so glad I finally pulled the trigger. I've only ridden her a little over 100 miles but I know she's the ride for me. I still have my 92' BMW R100GSPD but admittedly, she's up for sale. If I had my Druthers, I'd keep her but Mrs. Jake wants to see her gone and all you married guys with the ring through your nose (like me) knows, happy wife - happy life
I wanted to mention the dealer I bought this Rally from. I got her at CycleZone PowerSports in Topeka Kansas. I had perused threads on here about Can AM dealers others used for various and asundry reasons and after picking up the telephone (my iPhone 8+) and speaking with Aaron Fisher there, I knew they were worth driving 1200 one way miles to do business with. Aaron is low key, no pressure but a get r' done kind of guy, plus he made me a sweet deal I couldn't say no to and in case you're wondering how I got this Rally from Kansas back to north central Fla., I loaded her in my 14' (7' wide, 14' interior length) dump trailer I use on my farm, which I pull w/my 2010 F-250 diesel pick em' truck. No one else will tell you this but I'll say- I work my butt off and was happy to do a road trip to go and get this Rally. Took me 22 hours each way and I brought along my carpenter Nic to help with the driving. That said, he and I both agree that trip would have gone better with a third person to help with the driving but that's strictly our opinion
Speaking more to the Ryker Rally, some might wonder why I went with the Rally over the 600 or the 900 Aces...the Rally was what they had in stock. Truth be told, I could live with any of the 3vRyker models currently offered for sale in North America. BTW, there is another Ryker Rally for sale at CycleZone, at least there was when we left a week ago yesterday
Really though, when BRP dreamed up the Ryker series, they had riders like me in mind. I love the fact that this is basically a stripper motorcycle with a third wheel. It's not anything like a motorcycle side car rig. I say that as I bought a URAL Tourist new back in 2003, the model that came out with a Brembo hydraulic disc front brake. That was truly a one finger on the front brake lever able to stop that machine but it was still a handful to ride. That said, I could say the same thing about one of the three Spyders I did a demo on, a model that had no power steering, and after doing that demo (on the Spyder w/o power assist) I was one tired puppy. I don't feel like that after riding any of the Rykers,and why I say BRP had riders like me in mind when they came up with the concept for the Ryker. This Rally and the other two I rode, they're easy peasy to ride, steer, brake, on and on
So I'm looking forward to many smiles riding this Rally. She's been totally delightful up to this point and hopefully I'll get plenty of riding time in with this fun machine. No plans at this time to start adding accessories. Well, I'll likely rig some sort of throttle lock. I've had no problem bombing around the back roads with this machine but the one time I rode her 10 miles on our local slab (I-75), I had some awful cramps in my right hand for 10-15 minutes after getting off it. No kidding! The cramps were so bad I had to soak my right hand in warm to hot water to get much needed immediate relief, and I've never had that experience ever before. I can only guess the cramping came on due to the handle bar profile/dimensions, & the way I grabbed the bars while on the slab. When I first rode big miles on my current GS I had some slight hand fatigue issues but nothing like I had with this Ryker after riding slab. On that note, my GS was missing some parts associated with the OEM throttle lock I subsequently corrected by locating what I needed to bring the GS back up to spec, and now the OEM BMW throttle lock works as it should. Come to think of it, all this talk about the Ryker, I'm ready to go on a ride. No where in particular, I'm just gonna hop on it and vamps! See y'all later!!!
