Guzzi
New member
Took Delivery of the new RT-SE5 on June 11th. Put on 550 miles and had the Dealer service the RT for my trip to Indiana and back. Wanted to see how it does, after coming off my 07 Goldwing. Following is IMHO of the RT. Left at Midnight, June 19th, rode to Opilika, AL and stopped at Motel next day for some sleep. Handling was "rock and roll" and pitch at highway speeds especially around semi's, but OK, I'm still getting used to it, even after riding one of my Guzzi sidecar rigs for 100,000 miles. Very similar handling. Woke up at 8PM and decided that, based on the forum, ELKA shocks were in order, for my style of riding. What to do? I'm in Alabama, and I knew that Cowtown would be my best bet to get a set of shocks. Of course they are closed at that time of night, so based on some input from the forum, I decided to go ahead and take a chance and go on to Cowtown and take my chances the next AM. Rode all night up thru Al, Miss, thru Memphis and onto I55 up thru Arkansas, into MO. 1300 + miles on the RT now, and time to really see what it is made of. Stopped at Sykeston, Mo, and phoned cowtown at 8:30 AM, about a set of new ELKA's. Sorry we're all sold out, but expect more any day. Drats!! Oh well I had a nice detour to my destination in Indiana. Since opening it up at Interstate speeds; 70-78 mph, I noticed the harmonic vibration coming from the drive belt. What a PITA!!! Ok, will try and find a dealer in Indiana and have the belt adjusted, and see what happens. On to Terre Haute, In for a family reunion. Arrived in Terre Haute on Wed eve, got up and looked for a Dealer close by. Phoned the dealer in Evansville, and checked if they had Elkas, and could service the RT. Rude folks, said NO, and they could not possibly get to the RT until the next week! Phoned Flatout Power Sports in Martinsville, In. Curt, the service manager, said to bring it over the next AM and they would get right on it, although they had no ELKAS. By this time the handling had not improved and something needed to be done! I had settled down and at slower speeds the RT was doing ok; at least not scaring me so much! Next AM I was setting at Flatout Power Sports when they opened. Told Curt that I wanted an oil change to full synthetic; change the front shocks from 3 to #5 position; check the belt tension for the severe intermittant vibration between 5000-6000 RPM (71-78 mph). Just the speeds I ride on Interstates! These folks done a great job of servicing the bike, setting up the suspension and tire pressures to help with the handling! (#5 on shocks, 15psi front, 28 psi rear and #4 on rear shock. Also, had them install the factory HID light kit, which was on sale. Great improvement all around. Went riding with my buddies the next AM (friday). Had gone about 20 miles, stopped for gas, and got a "Parking brake fault" on the screen!!?? What happened? Phoned Curt at Flatout and he said if it wasn't locked up in park to get it to him ASAP. 67 miles, be there in an hour! Parking brake pully cracked! Flatout repaired it and re-adjusted the HID lights promptly. Ready to leave and the "parking brake fault" still on. Reset computer, then took the plastic back off, and the switch was also bad! No switch in stock, but the brake was working, and curt said I should be ok back to Florida. Gave me the switch part numbe,r and I called my local dealer, and asked him if they had one or could get one on order; would be back next week. Ok, good to go; went to the family reunion on Sunday (june 24th) and then left for Florida. Rode down to Clarksville, Tn, and spent the night. Still vibrating at Interstate speeds (PITA), but as long as I ran 78 + it was almost gone. If I tried to run at 70-71, I got blown off the highway by all the idiots! Next day rode on to Cartersville, Ga. Stopped by Extreme Propulsion, the local Can-Am spyder dealer. What great folks!! They had just put on a brand new set of Elka stage 1R shocks on their demo! Said they'd gladly take them off and put on my RT! Even gave me a special price deal!! What a difference the shocks make to the RT! It now handles much better than with the stock setup. Left for Home and ran down thru south Georgia right into the waiting arms of Tropical Storm Debbie!!**!! What a ride! US441 just into Florida was closed due to water, and up to that point I had to go thru several sections of highway that had 2-3 inches of water running across the highway. Detoured into White Springs, with no letup in the rain. Absolutely pouring down. Will the RT hydroplane? Can a duck swim? YES, you WILL slow down considerably when it is raining hard, or find yourself off the road! Heavy rain and wind for the next 100 miles, and finally ran out of the rain about 60 miles from Home (New Smyrna Beach, Fl). For the last 45 miles on I95 the wind was 25-35 mph gusts, but at least the sun was shining. At Interstate speeds in such a situation, it was a handfull, Elkas or not, etc etc. I did make it home in one piece, and have a much better understanding of my $28,000.00 Purchase! 2700 miles trip; worst fuel 25.82 mpg; best fuel 32.89 mpg; average for trip 28.77 mpg. Being and engineer and business owner by profession, a couple of observations: BRP has some unfinished engineering to do with the belt harmonic vibration issue! This is unacceptable for any vehicle in production to have a vibration like this, at any speed. Maybe you'al think it is not to bad, however BRP knows there is a problem and at this point has chosen NOT to address the issue, at least to our knowledge. To me it's a huge letdown, as I do a lot of Interstate travel. If I were on the backroads at under 70 mph, this would not be an issue. Lets hope they do not leave us stranded with this problem. The handling leaves something to be desired, as the RT comes from the factory, and owners should NOT have to resort to purchasing aftermarket shocks or idler tensioners, to help with the problems. All of this "in my humble opinion" based on my 50 years of riding motorcycle, and sidecar rigs, and with over 400,000 miles ridden. Otherwise, I am, at this point, not sure that my decision to let go of my Goldwing was correct. I really like the concept of the Spyders, and place my faith in BRP to do the right thing and cure the issues they have allowed to get thru production. GUZZI
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