In a time before Caller ID, if you wanted to talk to me, you would drop a dime, let the phone ring once ring once, then hang up and call back. If you forgot to use the secret decoder ring, you would be greater by me saying "MeanMoe's Pizza To Go.” I used this technique to ferret out the telemarketers. So, in honor of dear Mean Moby the Cat (my handle on several boards), here's my list of official modifications.
1 - BRP Comfort seat with gel insert. Purchased used but greatly appreciated as my 6ft frame was a bit cramped in the stock seat.
2 - Airhawk R seat pad. I purchased this before the comfort seat and the added height was nice but it did not address the knee bend. Added to the comfort seat, I'm in pretty good shape.
3 - Utopia Products backrest. I've raved about this backrest in other posts. My comfort seat is from a 2013 RT so I required the mounting bracket for that seat. Bob at Utopia responded to my inquiry and provided a solution where the backrest cover matches the 2014 color and stitching but uses the 2013 mount. The seat is covered by the Airhawk so I matched the backrests.
4 - Fuse adjustment to make trunk 12VDC plug active all the time. It will be used with my Battery Tender when the Spyder is not being ridden regularly.
5 - Gerbing's pig tail. Had to add about 3 ft of wiring to the pigtail to reach from the battery to the top of the gas tank. The pigtail had been installed on my BMW R1150GS, which has the battery just under the tank so the 18" pigtail was adequate. Will add a fuse block at a later point in time.
6 - Alternate GPS location. I purchased and installed the 45 degree RAM ball mount on the dash and wired up my Zumo 550 using info from this thread (insert link here). I like the location. It's within arms reach and within my normal scanning field of vision but the mount vibrates too much for my liking. I have it mounted using a Long arm and the 550 is a heavy GPS so there is quite the moment arm there. I'll look for a rubber block to use between the mount arm and the dash to dampen some of the vibration.
7 - SpyderLiter strobes. I paid to have SpyderLiter install two strobes on the back. I paid for the install so that I could watch the process of Tupperware removal. I have other lights that will be installed over the winter but I wanted to see the process before I committed to drilling holes in our spyders.
8 - Roadster Renovations RT Hinge Support Kit. having had problems with the hinges on other bikes, I could see that Doc's kit corrected a problem with the BRP design. My BMW and Kawasaki bags were easier it address (add some drilled and tapped strapping to the underside and superglue or JBWeld to address to cracked ABS). Installed by Doc at the Roadster Renovations booth in Robbinsville, NC during Spyders in the Smokies.
9 - Roadster Renovations spring stiffeners. I'm an aggressive ryder and the stock RT setup gives too much body roll for my liking. The spring stiffeners have removed enough roll that I'm going to delay the purchase of an upgraded anti-sway bar for a while. This is an easy upgrade and inexpensive upgrade.
10 - Lazer Alignment. Not a mod, per se, but it constitutes money spent to make the Spyder ride the way I want it to. My Spyder wasn't showing any signs of a mis-alignment but SWMBO's was. Outlaw Lazer Alignments has their trailer at The Hub in Robbinsville this week so I had both spyders aligned. SWMBO is very pleased. Her left was 1/4" out while the right was dead on. That answered the question of why she has had a problem with turns. Both of my wheels had a bit too much toe in. I would expect that the added toe in would cause uneven tire wear and would contribute to poor handling on wet surfaces. Money well spent.
More to come, as I have a box of take offs from my GS that have yet to be installed.
1 - BRP Comfort seat with gel insert. Purchased used but greatly appreciated as my 6ft frame was a bit cramped in the stock seat.
2 - Airhawk R seat pad. I purchased this before the comfort seat and the added height was nice but it did not address the knee bend. Added to the comfort seat, I'm in pretty good shape.
3 - Utopia Products backrest. I've raved about this backrest in other posts. My comfort seat is from a 2013 RT so I required the mounting bracket for that seat. Bob at Utopia responded to my inquiry and provided a solution where the backrest cover matches the 2014 color and stitching but uses the 2013 mount. The seat is covered by the Airhawk so I matched the backrests.
4 - Fuse adjustment to make trunk 12VDC plug active all the time. It will be used with my Battery Tender when the Spyder is not being ridden regularly.
5 - Gerbing's pig tail. Had to add about 3 ft of wiring to the pigtail to reach from the battery to the top of the gas tank. The pigtail had been installed on my BMW R1150GS, which has the battery just under the tank so the 18" pigtail was adequate. Will add a fuse block at a later point in time.
6 - Alternate GPS location. I purchased and installed the 45 degree RAM ball mount on the dash and wired up my Zumo 550 using info from this thread (insert link here). I like the location. It's within arms reach and within my normal scanning field of vision but the mount vibrates too much for my liking. I have it mounted using a Long arm and the 550 is a heavy GPS so there is quite the moment arm there. I'll look for a rubber block to use between the mount arm and the dash to dampen some of the vibration.
7 - SpyderLiter strobes. I paid to have SpyderLiter install two strobes on the back. I paid for the install so that I could watch the process of Tupperware removal. I have other lights that will be installed over the winter but I wanted to see the process before I committed to drilling holes in our spyders.
8 - Roadster Renovations RT Hinge Support Kit. having had problems with the hinges on other bikes, I could see that Doc's kit corrected a problem with the BRP design. My BMW and Kawasaki bags were easier it address (add some drilled and tapped strapping to the underside and superglue or JBWeld to address to cracked ABS). Installed by Doc at the Roadster Renovations booth in Robbinsville, NC during Spyders in the Smokies.
9 - Roadster Renovations spring stiffeners. I'm an aggressive ryder and the stock RT setup gives too much body roll for my liking. The spring stiffeners have removed enough roll that I'm going to delay the purchase of an upgraded anti-sway bar for a while. This is an easy upgrade and inexpensive upgrade.
10 - Lazer Alignment. Not a mod, per se, but it constitutes money spent to make the Spyder ride the way I want it to. My Spyder wasn't showing any signs of a mis-alignment but SWMBO's was. Outlaw Lazer Alignments has their trailer at The Hub in Robbinsville this week so I had both spyders aligned. SWMBO is very pleased. Her left was 1/4" out while the right was dead on. That answered the question of why she has had a problem with turns. Both of my wheels had a bit too much toe in. I would expect that the added toe in would cause uneven tire wear and would contribute to poor handling on wet surfaces. Money well spent.
More to come, as I have a box of take offs from my GS that have yet to be installed.
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