Parking in public...

[CyncySpyder]

It happens WAY MORE than you may think - Use or get a travel cover

A few months back, I rode Teds Red Sled to my Physical Therapy appointment shortly after having back surgery. I was able to park his Spyder up front where I could see it from the second floor of the PTs building while doing my therapy. After a couple of minutes, along comes a guy with (I'm assuming) his young daughter, guessing 6 or 7 years old. They both stop as soon as they get to Teds Red Sled and I see the guy whip out his camera phone and start snap'n pics, which at first just brought a smile to my face. I didn't think anything negative, til I see the man shiftily look around, then all of a sudden he picks his daughter up and places her on the drivers seat and continues snapping pics.

Worried, I stopped my therapy & told my trainer there was an "emergency" that I needed to attend to & that I would be right back. Mind you now, I had just had back surgery, so I couldn't run, but gingerly made my way out to the Spyder, only to find them gone, but they had left me a present. Apparently, the little girl had a problem getting off the byke and she stood up on the seat, leaving a tiny little shoe print right next to the seam where the crotch part comes together with the rest of the seat, along with this :yikes:

 

[KCPete]

To help keep kids off when unattended, I invested $50-60 in a Gorilla alarm, and had it set to 'warn' first with a chirp or two. It seems to help a lot to keep folks off. We were at a little sidewalk bench outside a Panera a few weeks ago, and watched as someone was looking pretty closely at ours. They grabbed the grip as it to get a feel for it when the alarm chirped - i thought for a minute he was going to wet his pants when he jumped!:roflblack: No harm, no foul, and he went on his way looking to see if anyone saw him jump!

 

[spyderraven]

A few months back, I rode Teds Red Sled to my Physical Therapy appointment shortly after having back surgery. I was able to park his Spyder up front where I could see it from the second floor of the PTs building while doing my therapy. After a couple of minutes, along comes a guy with (I'm assuming) his young daughter, guessing 6 or 7 years old. They both stop as soon as they get to Teds Red Sled and I see the guy whip out his camera phone and start snap'n pics, which at first just brought a smile to my face. I didn't think anything negative, til I see the man shiftily look around, then all of a sudden he picks his daughter up and places her on the drivers seat and continues snapping pics.

Worried, I stopped my therapy & told my trainer there was an "emergency" that I needed to attend to & that I would be right back. Mind you now, I had just had back surgery, so I couldn't run, but gingerly made my way out to the Spyder, only to find them gone, but they had left me a present. Apparently, the little girl had a problem getting off the byke and she stood up on the seat, leaving a tiny little shoe print right next to the seam where the crotch part comes together with the rest of the seat, along with this :yikes:View attachment 50082

^^^^^ this one hundred times over..... it is not only the lack of respect but the lack of integrity also, Had the guy waited and approached you with an appology and money for the damages it would not change the fact that it happend but maybe he would have learned not to do that and displayed some integrity but instead what we have is a guy teaching his daughter to do what you want when you want regardless of the fact of property and to top it off he teaches her if you do mess something up that is not yours just walk away and if no one sees you your fine.

 

[chickridin]

A few months back, I rode Teds Red Sled to my Physical Therapy appointment shortly after having back surgery. I was able to park his Spyder up front where I could see it from the second floor of the PTs building while doing my therapy. After a couple of minutes, along comes a guy with (I'm assuming) his young daughter, guessing 6 or 7 years old. They both stop as soon as they get to Teds Red Sled and I see the guy whip out his camera phone and start snap'n pics, which at first just brought a smile to my face. I didn't think anything negative, til I see the man shiftily look around, then all of a sudden he picks his daughter up and places her on the drivers seat and continues snapping pics.

Worried, I stopped my therapy & told my trainer there was an "emergency" that I needed to attend to & that I would be right back. Mind you now, I had just had back surgery, so I couldn't run, but gingerly made my way out to the Spyder, only to find them gone, but they had left me a present. Apparently, the little girl had a problem getting off the byke and she stood up on the seat, leaving a tiny little shoe print right next to the seam where the crotch part comes together with the rest of the seat, along with this :yikes:View attachment 50082

OMG!! What an :cus:I!! would have been running around the parking lot hunting that sucker down! Then I would hog tie his a$$ to something while waiting for the police to come! People sure do have nerve!!

 

[Bob Denman]

You can't solve all of the problems in the World... The best that you can hope for is to not be outside when it starts raining frogs... :shocked:

:hunNow what the HELL did he mean by that??)

 

[bikeguy]

It's the most natural thing in the world for kids to want to touch something they admire and to sit on it if they can. When my boys were small and we went to bike shows or car shows, the rule was that they kept their hands in their pockets when they were near enough to touch one. Since I was setting the example, that's where I kept my hands, too. But parents who are not bike people or car people don't think about that because they don't have the same respect for vehicles that we do.

I usually invite adults who are interested to sit on my RT if I have time. I will invite any kid to sit on it who wants to as long as they don't have candy or such all over their hands. But I would be upset if I found anyone, kid or adult, sitting on it without permission. It's not so much that I'm afraid of it being damaged (with 27,000 miles it's not pristine any more). It's simply that such behavior is rude and mannerless. As others have said, I wasn't raised that way.

Cotton

 

[jmcbow]

People, especially kids, will sit on a parked Spyder because it looks stable, friendly, and inviting, unlike a motorcycle on a kickstand. Often the curiosity of both children and adults overcomes their common sense and they'll be compelled to jump on for a minute just to see what it feels like to be so fortunate to ride one. The vast majority mean no harm and do it out of admiration of the Spyder. Although they momentarily lacked the common sense not to touch someone else's property they truly meant no harm and don't deserve to be yelled at or threatened (or worse) if you catch them. C'mon folks were all Spyder ambassadors.

Because the Spyder looks so inviting all owners should be fully aware that it's human nature for others to be very tempted to sit on it. Don't you remember the first time you saw a Spyder? So if you don't want this to happen you need to take some action to prevent it beforehand. I think the best solution is the inexpensive and very easy to use Nelson-Rigg half cover. In my experience it completely resolves the problem. It takes less than a minute to put on or take off and it stuffs easily in the trunk taking little space. There are other solutions such as alarms or just a sign.

If you find someone sitting on your Spyder you're as much to blame as them because you knew it could happen and you could have easily prevented it. If you then proceed to tear them a new one then you're the one far more out of line. Violence, physical or verbal is never the right solution.

Sorry, but that's just justifying bad behavior. There are many things in this world that are coveted by others, being impulsive and rude isn't an excuse for not respecting something that doesn't belong to you. I'm more than down with being an ambassador to someone who is respectful, and have spent time answering questions and even handing out the informational cards from BRP to interested parties. Yes, kids will be kids and do dumb things, but an adult should know better. You can get your point across to someone, child or adult, without being confrontational or vulgar. Usually, the tone of you voice and the look on your face is all it takes.:lecturef_smilie:

 

[d.o.spyder-rts]

People, especially kids, will sit on a parked Spyder because it looks stable, friendly, and inviting, unlike a motorcycle on a kickstand. Often the curiosity of both children and adults overcomes their common sense and they'll be compelled to jump on for a minute just to see what it feels like to be so fortunate to ride one. The vast majority mean no harm and do it out of admiration of the Spyder. Although they momentarily lacked the common sense not to touch someone else's property they truly meant no harm and don't deserve to be yelled at or threatened (or worse) if you catch them. C'mon folks were all Spyder ambassadors.

Because the Spyder looks so inviting all owners should be fully aware that it's human nature for others to be very tempted to sit on it. Don't you remember the first time you saw a Spyder? So if you don't want this to happen you need to take some action to prevent it beforehand. I think the best solution is the inexpensive and very easy to use Nelson-Rigg half cover. In my experience it completely resolves the problem. It takes less than a minute to put on or take off and it stuffs easily in the trunk taking little space. There are other solutions such as alarms or just a sign.

If you find someone sitting on your Spyder you're as much to blame as them because you knew it could happen and you could have easily prevented it. If you then proceed to tear them a new one then you're the one far more out of line. Violence, physical or verbal is never the right solution.

I agree with most of what you have said except, I'm as much to blame as them. Whatever happened to personal responsibility and the respect for another persons property? I can't control what another individual may or may not do. The only way to prevent someone from sitting on your spyder is either not to have ridden it in the first place (sort of defeats the purpose of riding) or not leave it unattended. A cover will help, but it doesn't stop someone from removing the cover. Dale

 

[bmwlarry]

@bluestratos

How much and how difficult is the Gorrilla Alarm? That sounds like something I may want to look into!

Thanks in advance!
Larry

 

[zrc]

People, especially kids, will sit on a parked Spyder because it looks stable, friendly, and inviting, unlike a motorcycle on a kickstand. Often the curiosity of both children and adults overcomes their common sense and they'll be compelled to jump on for a minute just to see what it feels like to be so fortunate to ride one. The vast majority mean no harm and do it out of admiration of the Spyder. Although they momentarily lacked the common sense not to touch someone else's property they truly meant no harm and don't deserve to be yelled at or threatened (or worse) if you catch them. C'mon folks were all Spyder ambassadors.

Because the Spyder looks so inviting all owners should be fully aware that it's human nature for others to be very tempted to sit on it. Don't you remember the first time you saw a Spyder? So if you don't want this to happen you need to take some action to prevent it beforehand. I think the best solution is the inexpensive and very easy to use Nelson-Rigg half cover. In my experience it completely resolves the problem. It takes less than a minute to put on or take off and it stuffs easily in the trunk taking little space. There are other solutions such as alarms or just a sign.

If you find someone sitting on your Spyder you're as much to blame as them because you knew it could happen and you could have easily prevented it. If you then proceed to tear them a new one then you're the one far more out of line. Violence, physical or verbal is never the right solution.

So if you had a convertable Camaro and came out and someone had crawled over the side and was sitting in it, thats your fault? Odd, I think that its the issue of the people climbing on a bike. That isnt their property, I dont just climb into people's cars with the windows down or convertables with the top down, thinking to myself, "this will learn 'em".

I will respectfully disagree with your view point

 

[Huntindawg1962]

I am liking the gorilla alarm - especially the one with the pager - unless that pager becomes a "tether!"

 

[Firefly]

When in NYC last year with my HD buds we stopped at this upscale bar/club that was upstairs. Busy street but we found parking and paid a DJ at the street level bar to keep an eye on the bikes.

Had no problems .... Until we were back down to the bikes getting ready to leave.

Talking with various people on the street, etc.... I turned my back and before I know it some homeless crazy looking big black dude was sitting on my spyder. He was wide-eyed like a kid in a candy store. I didn't make a scene. He kept saying he wanted to take it around the block. Told him that wasn't going to happen.

We go to leave and I ask him to get off and then I start wondering where my little shorty helmet was.

You guessed it--- he was WEARING IT. Arggggggg!

I had no choice (since NY is a helmet state) other than to put it on. Damn head itches just thinking about it!

 

[donec]

To help keep kids off when unattended, I invested $50-60 in a Gorilla alarm, and had it set to 'warn' first with a chirp or two.

Where did you mount the alarm?

 

[schnauzermom]

Had to make sign

I saw a man and a hyperactive 3 or 4 yr old in our Harley shop. T he child was running all over the show room floor and climbing on new bikes. The father oblivious. When they went outside, a customer came in and told me the kid was climbing on my RT. I ran out and there were little dirt footprints all over my seat and scuff marks on my glove box!!! I saw them walking in the parking lot and called the father over to my bike. I showed him the scuff marks and advised him this was MY bike and the child should not be allowed to climb on other persons property. He apologized and left. I immediately went inside and made an 8x11 sign reading please do not climb or sit on and laminated it. I carry it with me and pull it out and place it on my seat when I go into work.

 

[Kratos]

Not Cool!

I'm getting angry just reading through this thread. The nerve of people to disrespect other's property.

Thanks for the heads up on this. I'll be more careful in where I park and covering the bike.

 

[harrypottar]

I would love to have more info on the alarm, not too worried if its stolen I have insurance for that.

However I would love an alarm to deter the casual on looker while it's unattended.

When I'm with the spyder I have no issues with anyone interested in the Spyder.

I just want to prevent some one from sitting on it or tampering with it, proximity alarm will do.

How complex are they to install?

harry

 

[wyliec]

I invested $50-60 in a Gorilla alarm, and had it set to 'warn' first with a chirp or two. !

I have the same alarm set to the most sensitive. But, mine takes a little more than a touch to activate it.

 

[Mr. Duece]

Here's one solution.

Now that's cool! :2thumbs:

 

[harrypottar]

I have the same alarm set to the most sensitive. But, mine takes a little more than a touch to activate it.

can you post a link, I found two. One for $125 and the other for $230 but neither mention proximity features

tia

harry

 

[wyliec]

can you post a link, I found two. One for $125 and the other for $230 but neither mention proximity features

tia

harry

Mine does not have a proximity feature. You have to actually touch the spyder.