New member, not owner yet

[clueless]

I like them both (Harley and Spyder) ... I just cleaned the 2007 Harley Fatboy, topped off the air in the tires, took it out for a ride, and cracked the throttle on 103 cu in engine... there is nothing like the low end torque and the sound of the Harley engine.... add to that bored out to 103 cu in with Woods Cams and its just fun to cruise on for a change of pace.

We had the Spyder RT out Sunday for a ride 50 degree weather, bundled up and was fine... and have been riding the Spyder mostly due to new and getting the bugs out of it and finding any warranty issues.... now that 99% are fixed and new shocks its nice to just ride and enjoy... I feel comfortable taking it on long trips now that I found the lose ground and had all the other minor warranty issues fixed... Ready for the trip out for the festival next year!

so depends on mood but nice to have a choice between two wheels or three... plus hang out with HOG members for the Harley or also belong to a non-branded motorcycle club for the Spyder (again choice is good)

only downside of the Spyder is removing all the Tupperware is bothersome... to get at battery, etc... everything is under plastic...

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back On Topic .. just make sure they do the DPS recall on your new Spyder you got and any other service bulletins like the antenna fix so it doesn't fall off, and others you will find on the front page of this website that Lamont has listed for ya...

look at tire pressure... I run 19 in front and had the OEM shocks at max preload ... that helped alot...

also fix for tool strap ... do a search on here there is a thread for an O-Ring that works at Home Depot appliance section...

 

[SpyderDog65]

I'd get a 2011 they've worked some of the bugs off the new 2010 model

 

[Lamonster]

We took a long time HD riding buddy out this last week on a 70 mile, mild twisty jaunt. (Mild for East Tennessee anyway)

He is from Indiana and he didn't bring his Street Glide so he was stuck with a Spyder!

At first he was a bit all over the road in turns. He set up well but over corrected, then over corrected to correct the over correction.

It was very interesting riding behind him (he was riding MY SPYDER! :yikes Lamont's idea!

But I digress!

Anyway, our poor buddy was looking a bit stressed but honestly, he did better than I did on my first ride.

About 40 miles into the ride (after stopping for lunch and some excellent, sage advice... And Lamont gave him some advice too ), he began to relax and found he could trust the Spyder to go where he wanted it to. He backed off on the input which reduced his need to correct.

The last 15 miles he hardly ever applied brakes going into turns and was getting the hang of powering out. He had a BIG smile on his face at the end.

Who knows, maybe another parked HD... hyea:

It's funny how such a short ride was such a great ride. :thumbup:

 

[BajaRon]

It's funny how such a short ride was such a great ride. :thumbup:

Sometimes you go for quantity, sometimes it's just Quality. One of the best rides I've been on in a long time. Hated to turn into the driveway! hyea:

 

[JohnS_Rosamond]

Thanks

Thank you clueless for the heads up. I knew about the DPS and that has been done already. I don't have a radio, so no antenna. Yeah, when I got it home, I found the tool puch sitting on top of the reservoir. Truth is that I dont like the idea of the tool bag under the seat. I put it in the rear box. Funny thing! When I unrolled the tool pouch I found a spider ( spider in the spider, ha ha). I set the front tires at 20 (see how that goes) rear tire was low and the rear shock had zero (under the seat it says minimum pressure 10psi.) Who's the genius who put the air filler on the pulley side for the rear tire? Why there? I took off the body panels on the left side to look at the battery box, oil filter area, and front pulley. My belt looks like it's tracking all the way to the inside of the pulley, but I'm not concerned about that just yet. Found a rip in the welting of the rear seat, so called about that. All else seems pretty good.

 

[NancysToy]

Thank you clueless for the heads up. I knew about the DPS and that has been done already. I don't have a radio, so no antenna. Yeah, when I got it home, I found the tool puch sitting on top of the reservoir. Truth is that I dont like the idea of the tool bag under the seat. I put it in the rear box. Funny thing! When I unrolled the tool pouch I found a spider ( spider in the spider, ha ha). I set the front tires at 20 (see how that goes) rear tire was low and the rear shock had zero (under the seat it says minimum pressure 10psi.) Who's the genius who put the air filler on the pulley side for the rear tire? Why there? I took off the body panels on the left side to look at the battery box, oil filter area, and front pulley. My belt looks like it's tracking all the way to the inside of the pulley, but I'm not concerned about that just yet. Found a rip in the welting of the rear seat, so called about that. All else seems pretty good.

Check your rear suspension pressure again a couple of times. A lot of them leak down. There is a repair kit available to your dealer for the warranty repairs.

 

[- Tim -]

my impressions. For the first 3 miles, I seriously thought, "What kind of a twitchy suicide machine did I buy?" It darted from side to side and did not feel good at all.

Hey John,

I'm a new owner/rider too and my first impressions were just like what you described. What makes a complete difference here is weight into, or not into, the handlebars. The Spyder likes a light touch and I still have to remember to support my weight from my lower back and abdominals to keep from leaning into the handlebars. Put weight into the grips and you have the twitchy side to side routine and no straight line tracking, but keep your weight out of the handlebars and it's a whole different story... now your Spyder will track nice and straight, drive smoothly and handle the way you hoped it would. They say it's a common issue for us noobies to work through. Please check this out and report back, I think you'll be happy you did.

Tim

 

[JohnS_Rosamond]

Thanks Tim

Yeah, you're right. I did notice that the "light touch" idea works better. The Harley needs a heavy push to react quickly, but with the power steering of the Spyder, the light touch deal makes total sense. Thank you for the positive comments. I just need to put more time in the seat.