Jim Haebe
New member
Hi all, I just wanted to say a few words about a trip a friend and I recently arrived home from. We planned this trip for about 8 months(we are both retired). Basically we circumnavigated the U.S. We visited the 4 most outer states. We did not get too technical on how far we ventured into each corner state, but we did go into each state and did not just stick our foot across the state line.
We left Las Cruces, New Mexico on June 2nd, and arrived home June 30th. Our plans were to be gone longer, but somehow I guess we did not do as much site seeing as we originally thought.
I ride a 2009 SM 5, basically stock except for handlebar mods, Corbin seat and some floor boards I hastily made. I also use a Chad windscreen, that has had some mods done to the adjustment mechanism to accomodate my size.
The Spyder ran great for over 9,000 miles. There were some minor issues, that I will discuss later. Went through some wicked heat, espercially crossing the desert out of Yuma, Arizona. Outside air temperature 108 f.
Engine temperature stayed right at 5 bars, an occasional excursion to 6, but by and large, cooling system worked great . Installed SpyderPops air dam before I left. I do not know if it helped, but it did not cause any problems either.
i am not saying the air dam was not helpful in the extreme heat, but as this was my first trip through the desert in the summer, I did not have a baseline to compare to. IMHO I think the air dam is useful and would not hesitate to install one on a new bike or recommend to people to use one on their machines. My buddy rode a 2010 Harley Nightster. No problems with his machine either. I would like to thank the staff at Hicklin Motorsports in Des Moines, Iowa for their help with replacing my front tires.
That is a story for later, no drama associated, just tired of typing.
Thanks again to Hicklin Motorsports for getting me back on the road quickly
and charging me very fairly for the work performed.
We left Las Cruces, New Mexico on June 2nd, and arrived home June 30th. Our plans were to be gone longer, but somehow I guess we did not do as much site seeing as we originally thought.
I ride a 2009 SM 5, basically stock except for handlebar mods, Corbin seat and some floor boards I hastily made. I also use a Chad windscreen, that has had some mods done to the adjustment mechanism to accomodate my size.
The Spyder ran great for over 9,000 miles. There were some minor issues, that I will discuss later. Went through some wicked heat, espercially crossing the desert out of Yuma, Arizona. Outside air temperature 108 f.
Engine temperature stayed right at 5 bars, an occasional excursion to 6, but by and large, cooling system worked great . Installed SpyderPops air dam before I left. I do not know if it helped, but it did not cause any problems either.
i am not saying the air dam was not helpful in the extreme heat, but as this was my first trip through the desert in the summer, I did not have a baseline to compare to. IMHO I think the air dam is useful and would not hesitate to install one on a new bike or recommend to people to use one on their machines. My buddy rode a 2010 Harley Nightster. No problems with his machine either. I would like to thank the staff at Hicklin Motorsports in Des Moines, Iowa for their help with replacing my front tires.
That is a story for later, no drama associated, just tired of typing.
Thanks again to Hicklin Motorsports for getting me back on the road quickly
and charging me very fairly for the work performed.
