Ryker dirt road and gravel

[Peter Aawen]

We have a lot of tracks here in Aus with that centre hump shown in your pic asp125, and unless the hump is massively high, it's usually not too hard to ryde my Spyder on them! Unlike many, I don't avoid dirt or gravel on my Spyder, & neither do I avoid tracks like those you show (unless the hump in the middle is waaayyy too high, but few are, cos most cars tend to 'shave them down' enough for me anyway! ) altho I have replaced the placcy undertray that the factory fits, not with a bumpskid tho, they are fairly thick & project beyond the leading edges of the tupperware, & in some circumstance (that we do tend to see here reasonably often) will work to reduce the RT's already fairly low approach angle, so I went for a locally available alloy skid plate instead (from the same bloke who makes the replacement billet windscreen arms, Noboot. :2thumbs: ) The alloy skid plate fits neatly under the tupperware & protects the entire underside of the frunk & the leading edge of the cross member behind that, all without compromising the approach angle of the Spyder at all. hyea:

Anyhoo, getting back to wheel placement.... The width of the front wheel track on my RT is a little less than that of most cars, so generally, if I line the inside of one front wheel up with one inside edge of the hump, my rear tire will track just on the other side of the hump, leaving the other front wheel to track on the other side of that wheel track, ie, just inside the outer edge of the same wheel track that the rear wheel is running in hard up against the edge of the hump. :clap:

So all it takes is a steady hand on the tiller & lining things up properly - you can even make that 'lining up' bit easier AND avoid the back jarring bumps that potholes can give you by standing up on the pegs/floorboards, which is something I can fairly readily do on my RT, but which may possibly be not quite so easy on an F3/Ryker due to the 'feet forward/sit on your tailbone/giving birth' ryding position! :shocked: But since Lamonster already makes a '3rd peg' for the F3's that you can use to stand up on, I think there might be a place in the future for something similar to go on the Rykers too! :thumbup: Bit harder to do, maybe, but where there's a requirement....

Oh, and so far I've managed to travel about 50k miles on my Spyder, with a fair bit of chip seal, gravel, & humped wheel track ryding included in that distance too, all without any issues with the belt! :thumbup:

 

[seaweed]

Wow you are brave

I think the biggest concern for current spyders off pavement is getting a rock in the belt and also the clearance. I regularly go up old fall river road in Rocky Mountain National Park during the summer months and at the beginning of the season, that's no problem but towards the end some of the ruts on the switchbacks cause concern and leave me happy I have the bump-skid in place.

The video clips of the Rykers have shown them drifting (which I've also done both off-road and sometimes unintentionally on the winter gravel covered paved roads around here). I'm thinking this might be one of the bigger draws for the demographics they're targeting. Maybe we'll see one or more of these in some future Fast and Furious movie

I do not think that I would go up the Fall River Road on my RT.:yikes:

 

[asp125]

Wattabout snow?

OK, so the Rally edition allows for loose surfaces. Wonder if that also means SNOW. One thing that I hate about the current Spyders is that the nanny basically makes snow riding an exercise in frustration. Curious if a set of snow tires on a Ryker would extend the riding season into winter, when air temps are bearable but there is snow/slush on the pavement.

 

[Fire34]

Why wouldn't the Have

Made the $30,000 spyders shaft drive? I was jst wondering that when I saw the specs on it, Thanks guys

Dave

 

[vondalyn]

I do not think that I would go up the Fall River Road on my RT.:yikes:

You're close to me -- come with me one of these days and I'll lead the way.

 

[Rob Rodriguez]

I've driven over Fall River road in a car. That is scarry as hell Just went over the paved Rocky Mountain Park road a couple weeks ago. Windy, VERY windy that day.

 

[Devious56]

I see the ryker is marketed to do a little off pavement....are we not suppose to be doing that with our F3s?? I ride dirt and gravel with no issues. Just wondering.

My feelings exactly. I tend to ride my RT where eer I want to go. I live on a dirt and gravel road, about 1/2 mile long, and didn't realize that I shouldn't be riding it there. I also live out in the country, so many of our toads are dirt or sand. 20,000 miles so far with no problems.

 

[vondalyn]

I've driven over Fall River road in a car. That is scarry as hell Just went over the paved Rocky Mountain Park road a couple weeks ago. Windy, VERY windy that day.

it's nearly always windy up top and there's a section that we call "the meat locker" because the winds coming up out of the valley with the glaciers is super cold. It's still one of the most beautiful places on earth and I go up there a lot. Easy for me since I live so close and get off work usually around 3, so I can go after work when it's less crowded.

 

[Rob Rodriguez]

it's nearly always windy up top and there's a section that we call "the meat locker" because the winds coming up out of the valley with the glaciers is super cold. It's still one of the most beautiful places on earth and I go up there a lot. Easy for me since I live so close and get off work usually around 3, so I can go after work when it's less crowded.

Yes, there is some road construction in the "meat locker" area when we were there I think. Had to wait about 10 minutes.......it was cold. I agree one of the most beautiful places anywhere. Love to go there. I've always wanted to live in Estes Park.

 

[PMK]

Waiting to see them do a jump on the Ryker. Guessing it will ressemble the Cadillac ranch style upon landing.

Seriously, whos kidding who. Dirt road worthy yes, dirt worthy out of the box. Nope, not even close.

 

[PMK]

Retro paint and graphics schemes for the Ryker Adventure trike.

 

[asp125]

Retro paint and graphics schemes for the Ryker Adventure trike.

Actually they already do. It's called Heritage White

 

[seaweed]

You're close to me -- come with me one of these days and I'll lead the way.

I have been up that road many times in various vehicles but a RT Spyder. Hmmmmm.

 

[vondalyn]

I have been up that road many times in various vehicles but a RT Spyder. Hmmmmm.

I did it on my RT for the 2 years that I owned it.

 

[Geep]

What about that exposed radiator, the first time two Rykers ride on a gravel road, one will have a hole in the rad.....?

 

[vondalyn]

On the longer BRP vid (different thread here on the Ryker forum), it looked like there was extra protection for the Rally edition. Other than that, you're probably on your own. When my hubby and I ride together on dirt/gravel roads he hangs way back because I'm usually leading and I do kick up rocks.

 

[ARtraveler]

I would take it with a grain of salt. Its your Ryker, its your money. :yes::yes:

 

[old Timer]

The after market is full of screens for the radiators on liquid cooled Motorcycles, ATV's and Side by Sides.

Of course............who likes to personalize their motorized toy. :thumbup:

 

[BryanSD]

Glad to hear that the experience hasn't been all bad riding a RT or F3 on gravel roads. I've been a little over-protective by avoiding the roads given that the Spyder's are belt driven.

 

[Triumphcycleman]

Ryker Off Road

I think the majority are correct the offroad means dirt road, fire road, etc.. not really offroad. That said, the CVT is definitely better in this environment than either the SE or SM for a number of reasons, not the least of which is less sensors to contaminate. The problems I have seen with excessive dirt and Spyders are TCM failures, VSS failures, bent ABS sensor wheels, failed ABS sensors, overheating power steering sensors, and stones in the belt. The stone eventually pokes a hole in the belt and then we change them to calm the fear of an impending failure.
From a technical standpoint, the Ryker really is much simpler. There just is a whole lot less going on electronically. That means a whole lot less to connect. Many of the issues which occur in a Spyder are either electrical/sensor or pure connectivity (plug) issues. Less is better in a rough environment. As proof, compare an ATV electronic diagram to a Spyder.

I see the ryker is marketed to do a little off pavement....are we not suppose to be doing that with our F3s?? I ride dirt and gravel with no issues. Just wondering.