New owner questions!

[Brew crew]

Hi all! Have several questions for you all! First off, when I was driving it home from the dealership, had pieces of thin foam flying out of it the whole way! Was this because the dealer didn't prep the bike properly and didn't remove all the packing?? Should I be taking the panels all off and checking "under the hood" so to speak?

Secondly, now this may seem silly question - but remember, we are newbies - have never had the privilege of ever owning a motorcycle at all before - It seem to just radiate heat!!! My feet are so toasty at the end of a ride. Now, I know that the engine gives off heat, but have talked to a couple of the guys here at work who have Harleys and they haven't seem to have that big of a problem. Maybe I just have temperature sensitive feet? :roflblack: I have noticed that the temperature gauge (which I thought was for the "outside temperature" seems to run 10-20 degrees higher than what the actual temperature is. Just want to make sure I don't mess my new baby up! I know I have more questions, but those are the two biggies right now. Thanks for your help!

Michele

 

[Bob Denman]

Welcome aboard! :2thumbs:
The foam... Your dealer should have been doing his "due diligence" when prepping the bike for you a bit more thoroughly.
Hot feet? A lot of folks here complain about how toasty their toes get... Proper footgear should make it more than bearable. :thumbup:
The thermometer... reads the temperature from in under the Tupperware; it's always going to read on the warm side... :gaah:
Don't be bashful aobut asking stuff; it's what we're all here for! hyea:

 

[boborgera]

Hi all! Have several questions for you all! First off, when I was driving it home from the dealership, had pieces of thin foam flying out of it the whole way! Was this because the dealer didn't prep the bike properly and didn't remove all the packing?? Should I be taking the panels all off and checking "under the hood" so to speak?

Secondly, now this may seem silly question - but remember, we are newbies - have never had the privilege of ever owning a motorcycle at all before - It seem to just radiate heat!!! My feet are so toasty at the end of a ride. Now, I know that the engine gives off heat, but have talked to a couple of the guys here at work who have Harleys and they haven't seem to have that big of a problem. Maybe I just have temperature sensitive feet? :roflblack: I have noticed that the temperature gauge (which I thought was for the "outside temperature" seems to run 10-20 degrees higher than what the actual temperature is. Just want to make sure I don't mess my new baby up! I know I have more questions, but those are the two biggies right now. Thanks for your help!

Michele

The temp sending unit might not have been taken off the frame and install in the right spot during dealer set up. That was a common dealer over site early on with the set up.,
The heat is normal, nature of the enclosed engine, [panels]
Flying foam.:dontknow:
:dontknow:

 

[bullant12]

:welcome: You have come to the right place to answer your questions!

Foam: Sounds like your dealer did not remove all the foam. How many miles does the machine have? If you drove off the dealer with less than 5 miles, you might want to go back and tell them to do a EXTENSIVE pre-delivery inspection. If you search here, there are some dealers that did not setup the :spyder2: correctly and error codes have popped. Good rule of thumb (and according to notes) a good 10-15 mile ride to get all the demons out should be a good pre-delivery.

As the heat and temperature gauge goes, yes, it reads a little higher than normal. I think of it as heat index :doorag: But if you feel heat from the right side of the :spyder2:, you might look for alternatives such as Spyderpops and ISCI to help out.

But the best answer to all your questions (now and later) is to search the forums for the related topic you are looking for!!:2thumbs:

 

[SpyderAnn01]

:welcome: there are a couple of options available that will help reduce the heat from the right side. ISCI makes a FanCan and Spyderpops has a few items also. Look at the home page where all of the supporting vendors are listed.

 

[harrypottar]

:congrats::welcome:

Ask what ever question you have we will all try and help.

The ambiant temperature read out is always on the hight side but yours seems a little higher than normal.

The spyder runs hot, nature of the beast, I wear riding boot and do not suffer from hot foot.

However with out testing your spyder it hard for anyone to say if its the normal hot or over the top hot. The only reason I say this is the foam.

If you have flying foam, what other foam an or packaging/shipping materials where not removed. You spyder might be hotter than normal due to airflow blockage.

I would return to your dealer, express your concerns, mention the flying foam.

A) have one of their techs take it for a ride and see if its the normal heat.

B) have them pull the panels and double check their prep work.

Be polite with your dealer (I'm sure you will :thumbup you need to form a good relationship.

harry

 

[Huntindawg1962]

hehe - if you think the spyder is hot on the foot - someday you should sit on a big harley at a stop sign

 

[MarkLawson]

The Spyder has generated hot foot complaints since day-1, especially on the right side. SpyderPops makes several products intended to address this. I have added them to both our '08 GS & '10 RT. I believe they have helped.

Good luck & welcome to SpyderLovers!

 

[ARtraveler]

:welcome:

 

[Tazzel]

If you had done research you would know that heat on the legs and feet is one of the top complaints about the Spyder. There are some after market products that will help but if someone could actually solve the problem entirely, they would be a very rich person. My Spyder was not prepped at all at purchase. There was mud, bugs, tape so I know it was never washed.

 

[schnauzermom]

hehe - if you think the spyder is hot on the foot - someday you should sit on a big harley at a stop sign

Got that right!!! Rode Harley's since 2003. Was kind of worried about all the posts about how hot the RT gets as we were getting ready to leave on 2 week trip in HOT weather. But, as one poster said, if you've ridden a Harley, you'll be fine. And so I was.

 

[donec]

:congrats: Michele, and :welcome:. What Type Spyder are you riding an how about some pics?

 

[NancysToy]

If foam had started flying out of my new Spyder, I'd have turned around and taken it straight back. Too late for that, but I would call the dealer immediatly and ask them to come and pick it up. Something could be very wrong! You have no idea what else they may have forgotten...like tightening the lugnuts, for instance. As was said, the packing materials could get in the radiator or oil cooler, get in cables or controls, etc. The dealer needs to put their best tech on taking this apart, cleaning it up, and putting it back together correctly. If you call the dealership, ask to speak to the owner, not some flunky service advisor, technician, or the janitor. As was said, be nice, show your concern, and quietly insist that the situation is totally unacceptable (and possibly unsafe). Ask what they are going to do to correct it, and if necessary, suggest that they come out with their trailer ASAP. Sorry for the rough start, but a good dealer will rise to the occasion and make ammends quickly and apologetically. We're keeping our fingers crossed for you.

 

[d.o.spyder-rts]

:welcome:and :congrats: on your spyder purchase. I agree with NancysToy . Dale

 

[Brew crew]

Thanks all for the info and welcome. We have a white pearl RT Limited (pictures will come soon - so far only have one of me on it when we picked it up!) One of our friends have nicknamed it the White Knight! LOL!!

The weird thing was, as I was driving the foam was coming out in little pieces and I thought it was something weird happening with my peripheral vision and the lines on the road! :yikes: I was so concentrating on my driving and traffic, it wasn't until we were almost home and I was able to ask my husband when we stopped for gas for his car if it was just my imagination. He said he noticed something too.... Ok, so maybe not the smartest thing to have ignored it. As to the the dealer prep - we are questioning that - there was only about 6 miles on it before we when we took delivery. We are going to take everyone's advice and call the dealership tomorrow - I had already been contemplating doing that, but had been hesitating because we have had some major family things going on. I am concerned that there may be some sort of blockage as it seems to be running hotter than it had been. I have been wearing leather shoes with heavy soles since we haven't found boots yet - have worn them when I've ridden on friends Harleys and haven't had any problems. And we don't have any modifications made to it yet, so my feet are on the installed factory foot pegs. The major heat is from the right side. We currently have a little over 300 miles on it.

Will be reading more of the forums as I can - read some last night, sorry if some of my questions have already been answered- since we don't know anyone else (yet) who owns a :spyder2: took the quick route and posted the questions! Looking forward to learning more, making new friends and riding lots!!

Michele

 

[harrypottar]

Glad you found this place, it the best place for finding anything about spydering.

Don't be afraid to ask, we where all new at some point, I'm still new myself.

Hopefully your dealer will take care of you and re-prep your spyder, otherwise it will always be in the back of your mind.

Fingers crossed let us know how it turns out

Harry

 

[Sting]

I have been real impressed with the posts I have read. I too am a newcomer not only to a Spyder but to the motorcycle world itself so I know I am going to rely on you guys for 411 when I need it.

 

[juliantrost]

All I can say is "I wish I joined this forum before buying the Spyder". 5 weeks owning it and I have been doing it all wrong till now. Thanks for this thread and thanks for all suggestions. I do have a question on battery charger, which I did buy, but haven't yet opened. How do you connect it? I figured red wire goes to the covered red thing on battery, but where does the black wire connects to? Thanks in advance.

 

[boborgera]

All I can say is "I wish I joined this forum before buying the Spyder". 5 weeks owning it and I have been doing it all wrong till now. Thanks for this thread and thanks for all suggestions. I do have a question on battery charger, which I did buy, but haven't yet opened. How do you connect it? I figured red wire goes to the covered red thing on battery, but where does the black wire connects to? Thanks in advance.

I hope you got a battery tender/maintainer 1.5 amp for motorcycles., And not a regular battery charger for cars..opcorn:

 

[Schnauzer]

All I can say is "I wish I joined this forum before buying the Spyder". 5 weeks owning it and I have been doing it all wrong till now. Thanks for this thread and thanks for all suggestions. I do have a question on battery charger, which I did buy, but haven't yet opened. How do you connect it? I figured red wire goes to the covered red thing on battery, but where does the black wire connects to? Thanks in advance.

Under the seat opposite the red thingy:roflblack:. you'll find a heavy black wire that is probably connected to the edge of the gas tank. Follow it to where you can connect your charger. I hope you are talking about a Battery tender and not a full blown battery charger. If so, you will over charge the battery and shorten it's lifespam. This in turn will get costly real quick..