Impressions after DPS Recall...

[IWN2RYD]

Simple and short.... 2010 RT-S SE5 One up and two up ryding....

Husband- 6'2" 225lbs ish likes more spirited type ryding....

• The steering responds faster. Or what I will call "Micro". I experienced more car like steering abilities and that is a welcomed feel for me
• What I will "Lag" in the very beginning of the steering is almost gone
• fast left to right steering is closer to what I would call normal in responsiveness
• We live in a rainy area, so the roads all have "Crowns" in the middle. I used to always feel a need to push to the left more than I thought I should in order to keep the bike on the road where I wanted it. Now the steering responds more like a car (Easier to keep in my lane where I want it) and I am not using as much effort to keep it straight
• Big rigs had been a bit uneasy for me to deal with when the wind would start hitting the bike. Now the bike is more stable do to the steering being "Micro" controllable now vs more of a manhandling type steering before
• No change in the dead stop turning. Still needs the bike to be moving in order to not have to "Manhandle" it
• Major win for me.... To get to our home we have to come off a very busy street with a 40mph speed limit, down hill, turning right onto a street needing to do about 8-10mph to do it safely in most weather. Our bike would always fight us as far as steering onto this street to the point of always, with out fail, put us into granny and end up in the center yellow line. It did not matter how we took the turn. Now that same turn no longer has the "Stiffness" that the steering once had. I though it was because of the center of gravity moving so far forward forcing the transfer of the weight to go all to the left front tire resulting in a stress to the power-steering unit. We figured it was normal for this bike and simply needed to be aware of this for safe ryding. Well that is now gone. We can go into and out of that turn like a normal two wheeled bike does. This was the single most noticeable improvement we found. The rest are more of a nit-picky but welcomed experience.

Wife - 5'1" petite....

• Less fatigue allowing for longer more enjoyable ryding
• "Felt" easier to steer
• driving experience is now more like she "Thought" it would be like when we first purchased the bike
• Not much else of a difference

There you go... Keep in mind our driving area for this was from Enumclaw Washington to Seattle and about half way back. This included an AVG speed of about 41mph and a lot of curvy/hilly roads with about 10 miles on I-5. Anyway... our $.02

 

[bikeguy]

I agree with pretty much everything IWN2RYD says. I never had a problem with the original DPS unit, the new one is just better.

Cotton

 

[Dudley]

Simple and short.... 2010 RT-S SE5 One up and two up ryding....

Husband- 6'2" 225lbs ish likes more spirited type ryding....

• The steering responds faster. Or what I will call "Micro". I experienced more car like steering abilities and that is a welcomed feel for me
• What I will "Lag" in the very beginning of the steering is almost gone
• fast left to right steering is closer to what I would call normal in responsiveness
• We live in a rainy area, so the roads all have "Crowns" in the middle. I used to always feel a need to push to the left more than I thought I should in order to keep the bike on the road where I wanted it. Now the steering responds more like a car (Easier to keep in my lane where I want it) and I am not using as much effort to keep it straight
• Big rigs had been a bit uneasy for me to deal with when the wind would start hitting the bike. Now the bike is more stable do to the steering being "Micro" controllable now vs more of a manhandling type steering before
• No change in the dead stop turning. Still needs the bike to be moving in order to not have to "Manhandle" it
• Major win for me.... To get to our home we have to come off a very busy street with a 40mph speed limit, down hill, turning right onto a street needing to do about 8-10mph to do it safely in most weather. Our bike would always fight us as far as steering onto this street to the point of always, with out fail, put us into granny and end up in the center yellow line. It did not matter how we took the turn. Now that same turn no longer has the "Stiffness" that the steering once had. I though it was because of the center of gravity moving so far forward forcing the transfer of the weight to go all to the left front tire resulting in a stress to the power-steering unit. We figured it was normal for this bike and simply needed to be aware of this for safe ryding. Well that is now gone. We can go into and out of that turn like a normal two wheeled bike does. This was the single most noticeable improvement we found. The rest are more of a nit-picky but welcomed experience.

Wife - 5'1" petite....

• Less fatigue allowing for longer more enjoyable ryding
• "Felt" easier to steer
• driving experience is now more like she "Thought" it would be like when we first purchased the bike
• Not much else of a difference

There you go... Keep in mind our driving area for this was from Enumclaw Washington to Seattle and about half way back. This included an AVG speed of about 41mph and a lot of curvy/hilly roads with about 10 miles on I-5. Anyway... our $.02

Thanks for a great write up and understanding that the 2G DPS will take a bit of relearning in riding the Spyder. That's what I posted when I got our DPS installed. If anyone expects the Spyder to steer as it used to, it will not. And I agree and also stated that our Spyder now responds like a car. Thank you for stating that also. Maybe with enough of us posting the better differences in the new DPS, others will know what to expect and will not be as negative about the new feel.

 

[IWN2RYD]

Thank you for your replies. In my attempt to not write a novel on this I failed to offer my "Perception" on this.

I would say in the past I was having to "Think" a lot about how I was steering and be proactive with the steering for a positive experience with the Bike. TO me I do not see that as a negative at all, just how it is. Still a pleasure to drive and love it.

For example... When on group rydes I think I was more mentally exhausted at the end than physically form this. If I stopped for very long paying attention to where my bike was in the needs of the road, I had to correct more often than say in a two wheeled bike ever needed.

However with the new DPS unit my experience is more like "Ryding" than "Driving"./ What I mean is simply this.....

My muscle impulses feel the road and respond with the steering now. Where before I had to use my eyes and think more, now I feel that I am actually developing a muscle memory allowing my arms to feel more and make the necessary adjustment to keep my bike where I want it. Just like when on two or four wheels!

Of course this is just my way of trying to explain it. Having this new DPS has shown me what I was experiencing with the old DPS. I never would have even noticed without great attention to detail had the new DPS not been an improvement to the scale it is for my driving style in our bike. And I was perfectly happy with the previous DPS... :spyder2:

My only word of caution would be this. No it does not make the bike a new completely different bike. But IMHO what it does do is improve on areas that this bike needs to respond more like a car does. Not the draggy three wheeled feeling we did have. :dontknow: I say this because it has two tires up front on the road that react somewhat interdependently of each other while at the same time working in unison, just like a car. :thumbup:

When I have explained the ryding experience of this RT to folks that have walked up and asked and are two wheeled experienced... One of the things I express is this.... "If you removed the handlebar off the bike and put a steering wheel on it, your brain would adjust faster and relate to how the bike responds more accurately"... How little did I know that this statement is closer to the truth now than it was then pps:

 

[VaughnCat]

Glad to hear you're happy with the new DPS. The RS had the DPS changed out yesterday, and Vaughn rode it home last night after work. He said the steering was more responsive and it handled great on the freeway and city streets.

We're going to pick up the RT at the dealers after work today, so I'll get to drive one of them back and can check out the new units then.:2excited:

Cool stuff!

Cat:doorag:

 

[3wheeldemon]

I appreciate your comments. I was going to skip the recall (ain't broke....) but now I will do it.

Thanks

 

[Dudley]

I appreciate your comments. I was going to skip the recall (ain't broke....) but now I will do it.

Thanks

You're gonna love it. I suggest relearning your Spyder control again. It's not a difficult thing, but well worth your while so you can enjoy it more.

 

[Saluda]

Appreciate all your comments, on the waiting list now.

 

[New Sharon Spyder]

Wow, after all the talk of some good some bad recall expirences I almost say leave it alone. I know some have had some real big issues with steering but, I have owened two Spyders and both have been fine. I had my 2010 RT SM5 out last night for a trip and I feel it is driving better as I get more miles on it. I have just about 5,000 miles on this bike and I had 08 SM5 with 6,000 miles on it . Both seem to run better as the miles rack up. The RT goes great now and I would hate to change that.
Good luck to the folks who are having problems and hope this gets them on the road and a smile back on their face.

 

[canam9]

Nice write up!

Good to hear. Thank you.:ani29:

 

[IWN2RYD]

Good stuff folks thanks for your replies :thumbup:

 

[phillipbj]

Had mine done yesterday and am very happy with the result. In the tight turns here at SitS the bike now holds it's line around the curves without any shake or back and forth movement that I had before. Love it.

 

[PCBeachBum]

Thanks for the information. I've heard the negatives and positives on the new DPS and got an email from a friend who went to SitS and Lamonts BBQ, to hold off til after Thunder Beach to have it done.

My Spyder was just in for a 2nd new DPS in July and got it back in August and will take it in after Thunder Beach, next week. I was supposed to get a call this past week when the next new DPS came in but didn't and will now wait an extra week.

 

[Wheeler~]

I appreciate your comments. I was going to skip the recall (ain't broke....) but now I will do it.

Thanks

I wasn't going to have it done either, but after the positive comments, I'm going to have mine done too. Glad I saw this thread.

 

[IWN2RYD]

It has been a few weeks now since getting the DPS recall done on our RT-S. Thought it would be appropriate to drop a note in here...

Well we put a lot of miles on our RT this week. Kind of the last push before the "Official" rain season and a change in our routines (We do still ride all year).

Cannot say enough about how pleased we are with the DPS. One thing we are now working on is the air pressure in the front tires. We used to have them @ 17lbs and now we are @ 15lbs... Trying to find the happy medium between ryde-ability and drive-ability.

We did purchase an Anti Sway Bar, but figure since we are trading in the 2010 for a 2011... Might just wait and see how the new shock setup does on the 2011, and if the body roll is still to much to our liking install the ASB on the 2011...

The only complaint we have is the front suspension. My wife has far less fatigue with the new DPS, but after about 4 hours of our local roads and we are vibrated out... lol

We do realize our rough ryde is because we have the front springs cranked to the #4 slot (Second stiffest setting) but the drive-ability in our area creates the need to sacrifice the ryde-ability... :doorag:

 

[Mad Matt]

DPS Recall Done

Just got both my RT and RS back from the dealer, both DPS recalls done.

I never had any issues with the DPS on either Spyder, my only complaint was the overactive steering and body roll, mostly on the RT.

I am very pleased with the new steering on both. They appear to have toned it down some, especially in a straight line at highway speeds. It's a more relaxing ride now, in both cases.

This upgrade, along with the sway bar and the ELKA shocks have made a HUGE improvement in the RT steering/handling. It's a much more enjoyable ride now.

Matt

 

[Firefly]

I think there's only been one 'bad' review of the new DPS. The rest have been very positive. Those who think their Spyder is fine, or have never had a 'problem' really need to get this done too --- you'll wonder how you ever tolerated the previous steering.....it really is THAT much better.

 

[Some Guy]

My Spyder got the DPS recall done yesterday...I'm in the "loving it" camp. I sure wish I would have done it before SITS!!! I never had any problems with my original DPS and I really like the upgrade...heck...I think I'll ryde to HELL this weekend!!! (Hell, MI) Lots of great twisties on that route. :thumbup:

If any other Michigan Spyder Ryders want to meet up...well...of course!!!..but we should start another thread...and make sure it's set up to ignore Canadians, or we'll end up with SyderSteve (formally Qstick7)!!! :roflblack: :roflblack: :roflblack:

 

[SpyderSteve]

My Spyder got the DPS recall done yesterday...I'm in the "loving it" camp. I sure wish I would have done it before SITS!!! I never had any problems with my original DPS and I really like the upgrade...heck...I think I'll ryde to HELL this weekend!!! (Hell, MI) Lots of great twisties on that route. :thumbup:

If any other Michigan Spyder Ryders want to meet up...well...of course!!!..but we should start another thread...and make sure it's set up to ignore Canadians, or we'll end up with SyderSteve (formally Qstick7)!!! :roflblack: :roflblack: :roflblack:

Your lucky it's our thanksgiving weekend and i have to do the family thing [make up for going to sits]:gaah: Or i would join y'all, And it's SpyderSteve not SyderSteve :lecturef_smilie::spyder:

 

[Star Cruiser]

My Spyder got the DPS recall done yesterday...I'm in the "loving it" camp. I sure wish I would have done it before SITS!!! I never had any problems with my original DPS and I really like the upgrade...heck...I think I'll ryde to HELL this weekend!!! (Hell, MI) Lots of great twisties on that route. :thumbup:

If any other Michigan Spyder Ryders want to meet up...well...of course!!!..but we should start another thread...and make sure it's set up to ignore Canadians, or we'll end up with SyderSteve (formally Qstick7)!!! :roflblack: :roflblack: :roflblack:

Getting mine done tomorrow, wasn't broke - but by the sounds of it - It will be fixed better than it was. I'll report back after the Thanksgiving weekend (yeah we get it a month early up here!)
Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian Friends