Nice way to spend a weekend

[PistonBlown]

2928km (1819 miles) in 46hrs 58mins, around 300km of which was on gravel tracks. Knocked off a few more firsts for a Spyder including Nevis Road. Who needs an adventure bike when you have an RS

 

[Peter Aawen]

Looks like you got a good weekend for it too! :thumbup:

hyea:

 

[Harrison55]

let us know how your belts look after the ride.

 

[ARtraveler]

Nice ride. :thumbup:

 

[RICZ]

Nice beer keg you got there. Which do you prefer, light (ugh) or dark (yeah)?

 

[Bfromla]

:yes: Been waiting to see your Aux tank :2thumbs: sadly have not installed mine as of yet& in shop currently anyhow:sour:opcorn: mind How did you plumb to main tank:dontknow: thx

 

[Greven]

Wow, that's quite a trip! Impressive stamina to ride that much in a weekend

 

[PistonBlown]

let us know how your belts look after the ride.

I do a lot of gravel road riding but have only had to replace my belt once in 8 years. That was after going over freshly laid chip and tar which was still hot so the tar stuck the stones to the tires and made them fly everywhere.

I've got a Spyderpops belt guard fitted - it has quite a few marks on it so it definitely does it job

 

[PistonBlown]

:yes: Been waiting to see your Aux tank :2thumbs: sadly have not installed mine as of yet& in shop currently anyhow:sour:opcorn: mind How did you plumb to main tank:dontknow: thx

The Aux tank is vented so the solution I came up with was to connect it to the vent pipe of the main tank (which normally goes to the Canister if you've not already bypassed that (I had)

The fuel line exit on my aux tank is in the middle of the tank so I mounted the tank on the std rack lid, drilled a hole the lid and then ran the pipe through there. With the standard rack tail unit there is a little void where I added a quick release coupling:

(Sorry not had a chance to clean the Spyder since the run)

Then ran the pipe down the right hand side of the spider - I had to drill a hole in the tail unit put there was already a hole in the frame further on which was just the right size to run a pipe through. The vent pipe on the main tank is also on the left at the top of the tank so it was very easy to connect to.

When I fill up I fill the main tank first, do the gas cap up, then fill the aux tank. The fuel feeds through from the aux tank directly into the main tank as you ride - this means your main tank becomes a massive reserve because I don't even think about fuel until the fuel gauge starts going down Because the main tank gas cap isn't vented it doesn't leak - though I have replaced mine with a Stant one because I didn't trust the Can-am one.

 

[PistonBlown]

Nice beer keg you got there. Which do you prefer, light (ugh) or dark (yeah)?

Oh I'm very fussy, has to be Belgium Trappist/abbey beers

 

[Peter Aawen]

I do a lot of gravel road riding but have only had to replace my belt once in 8 years. That was after going over freshly laid chip and tar which was still hot so the tar stuck the stones to the tires and made them fly everywhere......

Same here; while I don't really do the 'hard arse' miles that some do (& more power to them too! ) or ever actively avoid ryding on the dirt (hell, it can be so much fun that I've even been know to go looking for dirt & gravel to ryde on!! :clap: ) from the mileage/ryding info that many people post up here, it seems to me that I've likely done more miles OFF the sealed stuff than many Spyders have ever done ON the sealed stuff, only I don't have the extra/missing belt guard... . But I do check my belt & sprockets fairly regularly for stones/damage, and while I haven't had to replace a belt on my 2013 Spyder (yet! ) I hafta agree, it's the 'still sticky' recently laid chip seal stuff that's the worst for getting into things & sticking/creating issues if you don't keep clearing it off/out! :gaah:

There's lotsa machines out there running belts like ours that get ridden on & off the dirt with few if any belt issues, so ryding on reasonable unsealed roads with a little care, ie. 'normal' dirt/gravel roads, shouldn't ever be too much of an issue on your Spyder, while loose gravel marbles or sand over a firmer layer can even be a real blast!! hyea:

At the risk of repeating myself, when it comes to ryding your Spyder on dirt roads, don't be scared of it cos you think the belt will melt/shred if it gets any dust on it, they really are pretty robust things; and with a little care, you should comfortably
be able to Ride More, Worry Less! - Only do check your belt & sprockets for any embedded stones when you next have an opportunity/get home from that ryde! :thumbup:

 

[PistonBlown]

Wow, that's quite a trip! Impressive stamina to ride that much in a weekend

But I still haven't ridden a bike/Spyder in Sweden...yet. Hopefully will when I finally get a chance to one on my wish list rides: Gibraltar to Cabi Norte

 

[PistonBlown]

Ride More, Worry Less!

Now that's a maxim to live by

 

[Bfromla]

The Aux tank is vented so the solution I came up with was to connect it to the vent pipe of the main tank (which normally goes to the Canister if you've not already bypassed that (I had)

The fuel line exit on my aux tank is in the middle of the tank so I mounted the tank on the std rack lid, drilled a hole the lid and then ran the pipe through there. With the standard rack tail unit there is a little void where I added a quick release coupling:

:2thumbs: Canister still connected on mine opcorn: & very similar tank /lid configuration on mine as well, unfortunately may have drilled mount brackets too large:sour:. Want quick connections , but yet to find proper way to tap into main tank safely. Plan is & have acquired an electric shut off valve & rocker switch for dash {keyed power , in case I forget valve has 8hour limit}. Really would like done just not getting there :dontknow::banghead:

 

[PistonBlown]

:2thumbs: Canister still connected on mine opcorn: & very similar tank /lid configuration on mine as well, unfortunately may have drilled mount brackets too large:sour:. Want quick connections , but yet to find proper way to tap into main tank safely. Plan is & have acquired an electric shut off valve & rocker switch for dash {keyed power , in case I forget valve has 8hour limit}. Really would like done just not getting there :dontknow::banghead:

Venting via the aux tank seems to work well. I have a safety valve and filter on the vent from the aux but it would have been possible to route it all the way back to the canister.

The other thing that wasn't visible in that photo is that I've got is a a second quick release coupling with a filter on it and a pipe that runs out the righthand side to the bottom of the Spyder, I can disconnect the aux tank and then connect this second vent pipe to the pipe from the main tank so it can still vent when the aux tank is disconnected/removed. Originally I was going to do this with a three way tap between the quick release and the main tank but this was easier to install at the time as I had the parts laying around.

 

[Nokesy]

But I still haven't ridden a bike/Spyder in Sweden...yet. Hopefully will when I finally get a chance to one on my wish list rides: Gibraltar to Cabi Norte

Not much different than riding most of Europe. Highways are very good, other roads can be better than a lot of other European roads as lane widths are good. The best is the coastal roads, just beautiful. Great people, fantastic food and hardly any money as they tap everything. Been there three times.

Now you have some great riding where you are from. I did the south island starting in Christchurch, fantastic city (I was there the year before the earthquake, that broke my heart) went across the alpine track to Greymouth then south, did all the local stops along the way to Queenstown and then back around to Christchurch before going to the north. Great roads and people. I have been to Australia six times but I really want to get back to New Zealand.

 

[PistonBlown]

Not much different than riding most of Europe. Highways are very good, other roads can be better than a lot of other European roads as lane widths are good. The best is the coastal roads, just beautiful. Great people, fantastic food and hardly any money as they tap everything. Been there three times.

For some reason never made it there even though I worked in Finland and have friends in Denmark, somehow missed the opportunity but I'm sure I'll get a chance one day.

Now you have some great riding where you are from. I did the south island starting in Christchurch, fantastic city (I was there the year before the earthquake, that broke my heart) went across the alpine track to Greymouth then south, did all the local stops along the way to Queenstown and then back around to Christchurch before going to the north. Great roads and people. I have been to Australia six times but I really want to get back to New Zealand.

But of course NZ has some of the best motorbike/Spyder roads in the world, particularly the South Island Christchurch is getting sorted but the soul is not completely healed yet.

Hopefully once all this Covid stuff is over we can all start doing those trips we've been thinking about

 

[spyder01]

Now thats a nice ride.