Unstable ride feeling........

[Easy Rider]

I think you and I seem to follow the same threads and have the same concerns.

Have you tried increasing the air in the tires a bit over the basic recommendation ?
Or setting the rear suspension to "soft".....if you have that adjustment ?

My local shop is run by a bunch of morons. Ride Now SUCKS.

They refuse to install the hand brake lever for me so they get NONE of my business.
I'll be taking it to Brooksville next week for 3K service, alignment and brake lever.....hopefully.

 

[Easy Rider]

It makes me a little nervous and I have been on motorcycles my entire life.

How many Spyder miles do you have so far ?

I haven't been able to shake this niggling little feeling that some people might never feel comfortable on one.

 

[UtahPete]

How many Spyder miles do you have so far? I haven't been able to shake this niggling little feeling that some people might never feel comfortable on one.

:agree: Real enthusiasts just ride the frigging things and love every minute of it. There's a lot of wannabes in the ryding community, methinks.

 

[UtahPete]

I think the votes are about 100 to 1 against you.

I don't really give a crap. I know this is the best machine I've ever ridden and I ride the hell out of it without worrying about whether I should have done this or that to it.

 

[UtahPete]

Is this and event and where. I am having the same issues. I want to have a laser alignment done but no one around here does them. My closest laser alignment is about 4 hours from me. I spent some time yesterday trying to confirm this and can't find anyone who can do it. I am a school teacher and have time a couple of months from now. Mine is sometimes even treacherous at 70 MPH. It makes me a little nervous and I have been on motorcycles my entire life. I want to solve this problem. I am going to try some different tire pressures this weekend.

I have several Can Am Dealers around here with shops but none of them do laser alignment.

I have never had a laser alignment. I have 15,000 miles on my bike so far and I've had no issues with it whatsoever.

 

[daz]

I've ridden my (new to me) 2011 RT manual 3000 miles. It was unstable. It was scary at highway speeds. NO fun. It would dodge all over the road. I just had it aligned. It's a new bike. My wife noticed immediately from the passenger seat. Now it's like on rails.
I live in Ohio but have been in Florida for two months. Mike Loescher did the alignment in Edgewater Florida. He is the inventor of the laser system. So for me it was well worth the money. Maybe that explains why I'm the third owner of a bike that I bought with 1500 miles.
I guess some bikes come out of the factory aligned better than others.

 

[Easy Rider]

:agree: Real enthusiasts just ride the frigging things and love every minute of it. There's a lot of wannabes in the ryding community, methinks.

Not exactly sure what you mean by that.

Some people shouldn't be on the road at all.....no matter how many wheels.
Some "bike riders" never seem to figure out how to ride right on 2 wheels no matter how many miles they accomplish but that is a matter of not learning the proper techniques.......or being so dense that they don't know that there is a better way.

I don't think that anyone should force themselves to ride something that they aren't really comfortable on; doing that doesn't qualify you as an "enthusiast" in my book.

 

[JFD]

I totally agree

I don't really give a crap. I know this is the best machine I've ever ridden and I ride the hell out of it without worrying about whether I should have done this or that to it.

I'm with UtahPete. Especially about the tires.

I'm a retired Engineer and I get just a bit tired of people who are not engineers or if they are, didn't design Spyders for a living, saying that the Engineers who did design them don't know what they are doing or would put tires on them that are substandard. Everybody gets to state there opinion, but you don't get your own facts. I take this personally because the things I designed could kill you in a hurry or burn your house down if I didn't do it right and my electrical products were in and around millions of homes and companies.

My Spyder is bone stock and goes like a bat out of hell and handles just fine up to and over 100 mph. There is no question that over 100 mph it is not like a straight line bike because you don't have a single gyroscopic wheel in the front, but then you just have to be easy on the grip and make sure you have the thottle turned as far as it can go.

When I was at the Valcourt Spyder Engineering facility las June, I spoke with the Chief Engineer. He had been talking with another Spyder owner who said he appreciated the computer keeping him out of trouble. He said, yes we started calling it the nanny as well. I spoke up and said, I make it a point to get at least one tire off the ground EVERY time I take it out. He smiled, pointed his finger at me and said, YOUR THE GUY! Then we both laughed.

 

[Highwayman2013]

Ride your bike at least to 3 k miles at your pace on roads that are not making any added stress before spending . I found it takes time to relax but they are very safe and fun.

He already has.

 

[Highwayman2013]

I have never had a laser alignment. I have 15,000 miles on my bike so far and I've had no issues with it whatsoever.

Both of ours were out. Our 2012 RT was way out, toe out on both front wheels. 2016 F3L was crabbing to the right.

 

[fjray]

Gotta jump in here. I spent a lot of money and time trying to make the 2015 RTL do what I thought it should. Aligned it myself and helped a lot. Laser aligned and helped a little more. Sway bar helped a little. Tried tire pressures all over the map which changed the feel but never made it good. Went with the popular car tires and tried all the pressure changes .
The conclusion I came to is you don't rIde a Spyder, you drive it and I didn't want to drive.
The spyder by design is never going to replicate a single track machine and will not be as stable because you have input from two tires in front. Don't get me wrong as it is a good machine but I drank the koolaide and it didn't work and sometimes we make the wrong choice. Those of you that like it don't need to tell others they are wrong or what they need to spend money on to make it right.
There is a seat for every butt and for some that like to ride rather than drive the tricycle just will never do. Enjoy your ride either way.

 

[RinconRyder]

I agree with you and the biggest part of the problem is coming off a lifetime of riding two-wheelers. My wife loves the Spyder but she didn't have anything to compare it with. I do and that is a huge difference.

 

[johnsimion]

I have never had a laser alignment. I have 15,000 miles on my bike so far and I've had no issues with it whatsoever.

I only have a few thousand miles but I feel the same. It took me about three miles to overcome the initial twitchiness. My "crap" Kenda tires seem to work just fine and I enjoy tossing the Spyder around turns fast enough to annoy the nanny, although I may change them when I enter Formula One. When I read this thread, I wonder WTH is wrong with me?!?

Actually I think some people are simply more sensitive to the feeling of the Spyder than others. Some also ride enough that they develop greater sensitivity. Also in every forum like this there are some who feel they know more than the engineers who designed the machine. Maybe they are wrong, maybe they are right, I don't know or care.

Many of these suggestions are for and from advanced folks who can fine tune it and actually tell the difference. Their suggestions are probably really good for THEM but irrelevant to beginners like me and Easy Rider who wouldn't know the difference. If the alignment and tire pressure are correct as intended by the factory and you still aren't comfortable, I'd say the problem is primarily in the Rider (no offense intended, we are all different). If so, I'd say to forget the other suggestions and get a different machine.

 

[UtahPete]

I only have a few thousand miles but I feel the same. It took me about three miles to overcome the initial twitchiness. My "crap" Kenda tires seem to work just fine and I enjoy tossing the Spyder around turns fast enough to annoy the nanny, although I may change them when I enter Formula One. When I read this thread, I wonder WTH is wrong with me?!?

Actually I think some people are simply more sensitive to the feeling of the Spyder than others. Some also ride enough that they develop greater sensitivity. Also in every forum like this there are some who feel they know more than the engineers who designed the machine. Maybe they are wrong, maybe they are right, I don't know or care.

Many of these suggestions are for and from advanced folks who can fine tune it and actually tell the difference. Their suggestions are probably really good for THEM but irrelevant to beginners like me and Easy Rider who wouldn't know the difference. If the alignment and tire pressure are correct as intended by the factory and you still aren't comfortable, I'd say the problem is primarily in the Rider (no offense intended, we are all different). If so, I'd say to forget the other suggestions and get a different machine.

:agree:

 

[Highwayman2013]

I agree with you and the biggest part of the problem is coming off a lifetime of riding two-wheelers. My wife loves the Spyder but she didn't have anything to compare it with. I do and that is a huge difference.

I ride two wheelers and a spyder and it doesn't bother me one bit. Each machine is separate, they ride and handle different. Once you wrap your head around that everything falls into place.

 

[Highwayman2013]

They are not crap. They do their job extremely well.

I've got over 20,000 miles on the Kendas. No problems yet. They will be replaced with Federal tires when the time comes.

 

[Highwayman2013]

Gotta jump in here. I spent a lot of money and time trying to make the 2015 RTL do what I thought it should. Aligned it myself and helped a lot. Laser aligned and helped a little more. Sway bar helped a little. Tried tire pressures all over the map which changed the feel but never made it good. Went with the popular car tires and tried all the pressure changes .
The conclusion I came to is you don't rIde a Spyder, you drive it and I didn't want to drive.
The spyder by design is never going to replicate a single track machine and will not be as stable because you have input from two tires in front. Don't get me wrong as it is a good machine but I drank the koolaide and it didn't work and sometimes we make the wrong choice. Those of you that like it don't need to tell others they are wrong or what they need to spend money on to make it right.
There is a seat for every butt and for some that like to ride rather than drive the tricycle just will never do. Enjoy your ride either way.

Or maybe he is $100 from liking his $30,000 ride.

 

[Jeffmal]

Gotta jump in here. I spent a lot of money and time trying to make the 2015 RTL do what I thought it should. Aligned it myself and helped a lot. Laser aligned and helped a little more. Sway bar helped a little. Tried tire pressures all over the map which changed the feel but never made it good. Went with the popular car tires and tried all the pressure changes .
The conclusion I came to is you don't rIde a Spyder, you drive it and I didn't want to drive.
The spyder by design is never going to replicate a single track machine and will not be as stable because you have input from two tires in front. Don't get me wrong as it is a good machine but I drank the koolaide and it didn't work and sometimes we make the wrong choice. Those of you that like it don't need to tell others they are wrong or what they need to spend money on to make it right.
There is a seat for every butt and for some that like to ride rather than drive the tricycle just will never do. Enjoy your ride either way.

I totally agree! Spot on...
You can definitely make it better for YOU, but it may never be perfect for YOU!!

 

[BajaRon]

The Spyder is one of the most stable motorcycle/trike platforms ever mass produced. Certainly much more stable than any motorcycle. It's just a matter of physics.

Then there is the subjective matter of 'Feeling'. Most, like me, created their own 'Unstable Feeling' early on. Then learned how to ride the Spyder and discovered that it is, in fact, an extremely stable machine.

Are there things that can make the Spyder more stable (as well as feel more stable)? Of course! And they have all been listed (sometimes more than once) in this thread.

Will it make everyone happy? Unfortunately, it seems not.

But the fact remains that the Spyder is extremely stable. Regardless of how anyone feels about it one way or the other.

It's too bad that not everyone can come to the place where they appreciate the amazing attributes of the Can-Am Spyder. But hopefully, there is something out there that will do it for you.

Happy Riding!

 

[UtahPete]

The Spyder is one of the most stable motorcycle/trike platforms ever mass produced. Certainly much more stable than any motorcycle. It's just a matter of physics. Then there is the subjective matter of 'Feeling'. Most, like me, created their own 'Unstable Feeling' early on. Then learned how to ride the Spyder and discovered that it is, in fact, an extremely stable machine. But the fact remains that the Spyder is extremely stable. Regardless of how anyone feels about it one way or the other. It's too bad that not everyone can come to the place where they appreciate the amazing attributes of the Can-Am Spyder. But hopefully, there is something out there that will do it for you.

:agree: That's why my wife and I both have Spyders. That's her on Cognac. She never drove a motorcycle before the Spyder.