Upgrades for comfort and ride handeling and trailer questions.

[Jared]

Well as the intro states I am hoping for some help on upgrades and a trailer. Last year I bought a hold over 2014 ST Limited there were 3 miles on the odometer when I left the show room. I have not done much to the machine, a new taller windshield and the fog lights.

The more I ride I realize how much I need a more comfortable seat I have seen a few different seats for sale and am considering the Ultimate Seats, wondering what opinions someone might have on the different seats out there.

I am planning on getting the highway pegs from Lamonster does anyone know of any others or should I look no further.

For the most part I have no problems with the ride but I want to know if the after market sway bar's really improve the ride or do they just give you more speed in the corners? Is it worth the money?

I am planning on buying a trailer. Is the freedom trailer that good over other trailers? From what I have priced out they are about 1,200 or 1,300 more than similar trailers I really like the freedom trailer but that much more for something that will get used a couple times a year. At the same time I still have 2 years of warranty left, and I believe other trailer void the warranty.

I also plan on buying an after market skid plate and adding some led's but there no real major questions except has anyone added led's behind the orange reflectors on the fender skirts?

hyea::clap::gaah::roflblack::bdh::bdh:

 

[Bfromla]

Dont let BRP fool you with the warranty statement on trailer options. FYI Its a sales tactic to only buy BRP. Few threads have more info on this if you search. Im sure the legal point will be made at some point orange reflectors on fenders? There are brake light & blinker kits to led the fender accordingly found on home page. & of course Spyderfest where you can see farkles other people have & get good first hand view/opinion if thats what you want or not.


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[ronrico]

Most of the ideas that you have mentioned have been done. The seat is a personal thing and you will get opinions about each brand of seat. I had an Ultimate seat on my 2011 and loved it. I had both red and yellow reflectors on the front fenders into lights along with the red reflector on the saddlebags. The sway bar is worth the price. Spyderpops makes a skid plate with led lights inset in the front edge. I would look at the companies listed on the home page and you will get ideas that are only limited by your wallet. Have fun with your spyder.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

WARRANTY & OTHER ANSWERS

Dont let BRP fool you with the warranty statement on trailer options. FYI Its a sales tactic to only buy BRP. Few threads have more info on this if you search. Im sure the legal point will be made at some point orange reflectors on fenders? There are brake light & blinker kits to led the fender accordingly found on home page. & of course Spyderfest where you can see farkles other people have & get good first hand view/opinion if thats what you want or not.


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:agree::agree::agree::agree:....WARRANTY...You are protected by the Moss-Magnusson Act - which prevents manufactures from forcing you to either use their services or by their products to maintain THE WARRANTY....Annnnnnd in my humble opinion the BRP trailers are way over-priced and OVER-WEIGHT......you can buy a great aluminum trl. to tow behind your Spyder for $ 1,500 or so that will hold 225lbs of stuff........put 225lbs of stuff in a BRP trailer and you are way over the weight limit.............good luck, ....Mike :thumbup:..........PS -- on the seat thing, asking someone how they like the fit of their seat, is like asking how do their shoes feel......If you don't try them/it on you won't know.....So wait a bit and in your travels check out what others have buy trying them............Spyder owners generally help other Spyder owners ....at least I do.........:yes:

 

[SpyderAnn01]

While the Freedom Trailer is nice, in my opinion the RT-622 trailer is nicer but there are many other options out there that are a lot less expensive. You can get an Aluma trailer for under $1,000 new. If you won't be using a trailer a lot it probably isn't worth you spending the big bucks on a BRP one.

 

[WA5VHU]

HF Tag-Along

Harbor Freight Tag-Along on-sale now for $380.00, take a 20% off coupon with you and it usually works, which will make it about $300.00 plus tax out the door. Replace the lights with the HF LED kit, repack the wheel bearings and you have money left over for lots of farkles.

When I painted mine I had a red Spyder.

 

[Jared]

Thank you all for your help. I will post a bit more in depth later, my lunch hour was way to busy today.

 

[ARtraveler]

:welcome: and :congrats: on the new :spyder2:

I have put BRP Comfort seats on my two current :spyder2::ani29:.
They give about a 2" setback and have a bit more padding than the OEM versions. I can now ride all day without issues.

Also have a lighted bumpskid on my 2014 and trunk lights on both the others.

Trailers and swaybars--no experience there. :thumbup:

 

[BajaRon]

Harbor Freight Tag-Along on-sale now for $380.00, take a 20% off coupon with you and it usually works, which will make it about $300.00 plus tax out the door. Replace the lights with the HF LED kit, repack the wheel bearings and you have money left over for lots of farkles.

When I painted mine I had a red Spyder.

I'm not trying to start a fight here. Just a personal observation and opinion.

I have pulled a lot of trailers (though never behind a motorcycle) so I don't really have a dog in this race. But little (small diameter) tires on a trailer have always given me trouble. Bumps, pot holes, etc., are magnified by small tires and I've never found them to track well. I know that motorcycle trailers carry a relatively small amount of weight. But personally, I'd feel a lot better with some larger (not necessarily wider) trailer tires.

 

[ARtraveler]

I'm not trying to start a fight here. Just a personal observation and opinion.

I have pulled a lot of trailers (though never behind a motorcycle) so I don't really have a dog in this race. But little (small diameter) tires on a trailer have always given me trouble. Bumps, pot holes, etc., are magnified by small tires and I've never found them to track well. I know that motorcycle trailers carry a relatively small amount of weight. But personally, I'd feel a lot better with some larger (not necessarily wider) trailer tires.

:agree: x 2. :bowdown::bowdown:

 

[WA5VHU]

I'm not trying to start a fight here. Just a personal observation and opinion.

I have pulled a lot of trailers (though never behind a motorcycle) so I don't really have a dog in this race. But little (small diameter) tires on a trailer have always given me trouble. Bumps, pot holes, etc., are magnified by small tires and I've never found them to track well. I know that motorcycle trailers carry a relatively small amount of weight. But personally, I'd feel a lot better with some larger (not necessarily wider) trailer tires.

Then I will. If you haven't had first-hand experience then you are just using your imagination. If you have had first-hand experience then please inform us with facts and details. Saying that something has "always given me trouble" tells us nothing. I find that ISIS "gives me trouble" but so far they haven't actually affected me personally. Yep, bumps, pot holes and such can be handled better by larger tires but that's all relative. With large enough tires on our Spyders and trailers we might not feel any road issues.

When I hit a pothole with my Spyder while pulling either of my small-wheeled trailers both me and the Spyder plus the trailer will take a bounce. So what? For a trailer that I pull a couple times a year for less than 1,000 miles per trip I have had zero problems with the tires that came on the trailer. Even empty, the trailer tracks so well that I don't know it is back there most of the time, at least until I start to back up, then the size of wheel isn't very important. I am not sure what you mean by not tracking well but I don't have any uneven wear on any of my small trailer tires. They both have a straight-thru axle and when viewed from behind on the highway both trailers go straight down the road with no unusual movements. Apparently the same can't be said for at least one of the Can-Am trailer owners who had tracking and premature tire wear problems.

Jared, if you are interested, I suggest you Google the HF trailers. Filter out the very old comments because, like so much of the Chinese stuff, the first HF trailer imports 10 or 15 years ago had some issues that were quickly resolved. Then filter out all the small wheel naysayers that immediately replaced their small wheels with larger ones before they took it out on the road or have never pulled a trailer with small wheels. They really don't personally know what they are imagining about.

My Combi-Camp camping trailer also has small tires, as do most of the campers designed to be pulled behind a motorcycle.

Here is another of my 8" tire rants:
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...r-market-trailer-2010-RTS&p=932924#post932924

 

[Jared]

Then I will. If you haven't had first-hand experience then you are just using your imagination. If you have had first-hand experience then please inform us with facts and details. Saying that something has "always given me trouble" tells us nothing. I find that ISIS "gives me trouble" but so far they haven't actually affected me personally. Yep, bumps, pot holes and such can be handled better by larger tires but that's all relative. With large enough tires on our Spyders and trailers we might not feel any road issues.

When I hit a pothole with my Spyder while pulling either of my small-wheeled trailers both me and the Spyder plus the trailer will take a bounce. So what? For a trailer that I pull a couple times a year for less than 1,000 miles per trip I have had zero problems with the tires that came on the trailer. Even empty, the trailer tracks so well that I don't know it is back there most of the time, at least until I start to back up, then the size of wheel isn't very important. I am not sure what you mean by not tracking well but I don't have any uneven wear on any of my small trailer tires. They both have a straight-thru axle and when viewed from behind on the highway both trailers go straight down the road with no unusual movements. Apparently the same can't be said for at least one of the Can-Am trailer owners who had tracking and premature tire wear problems.

Jared, if you are interested, I suggest you Google the HF trailers. Filter out the very old comments because, like so much of the Chinese stuff, the first HF trailer imports 10 or 15 years ago had some issues that were quickly resolved. Then filter out all the small wheel naysayers that immediately replaced their small wheels with larger ones before they took it out on the road or have never pulled a trailer with small wheels. They really don't personally know what they are imagining about.

My Combi-Camp camping trailer also has small tires, as do most of the campers designed to be pulled behind a motorcycle.

Here is another of my 8" tire rants:
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...r-market-trailer-2010-RTS&p=932924#post932924

Please don't start a fight. I know where both of you are coming from, and just a guess here but I know a little bit more about pulling trailers than either of you. Because I did it as a career for around 18 years driving semi with almost 2 million miles of experience. Baja Ron is not wrong about smaller tires on a trailer they will be more prone to problems but they are carrying a lot less weight, which can be ok with a small tire. There are pros and cons to both setup's I did not even get a chance to check out the trailer's at HF but I will take a look. The thing that would make me nervous is that small tires like that are generally not made for long distance highway speeds, and yes even a couple hundred miles would be considered long distance.

 

[Jared]

Most of the ideas that you have mentioned have been done. The seat is a personal thing and you will get opinions about each brand of seat. I had an Ultimate seat on my 2011 and loved it. I had both red and yellow reflectors on the front fenders into lights along with the red reflector on the saddlebags. The sway bar is worth the price. Spyderpops makes a skid plate with led lights inset in the front edge. I would look at the companies listed on the home page and you will get ideas that are only limited by your wallet. Have fun with your spyder.

:welcome: and :congrats: on the new :spyder2:

I have put BRP Comfort seats on my two current :spyder2::ani29:.
They give about a 2" setback and have a bit more padding than the OEM versions. I can now ride all day without issues.

Also have a lighted bumpskid on my 2014 and trunk lights on both the others.

Trailers and swaybars--no experience there. :thumbup:

Thank you both for suggestions about the seat, I have gone back and forth about about them and still don't know what to do. I live in a fairly small town and I think only about 20 or 30 Spyder owners and I only know 1 or 2 so trying a different seat is out of the question without shelling out some cash. The only reason I really took the BRP seat out of the equation was the lack of a backrest.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

TRAILER TIRES

Please don't start a fight. I know where both of you are coming from, and just a guess here but I know a little bit more about pulling trailers than either of you. Because I did it as a career for around 18 years driving semi with almost 2 million miles of experience. Baja Ron is not wrong about smaller tires on a trailer they will be more prone to problems but they are carrying a lot less weight, which can be ok with a small tire. There are pros and cons to both setup's I did not even get a chance to check out the trailer's at HF but I will take a look. The thing that would make me nervous is that small tires like that are generally not made for long distance highway speeds, and yes even a couple hundred miles would be considered long distance.

....:lecturef_smilie:...To continue " not starting any fights :roflblack: "....I agree the bigger the wheel , the larger the tire will be, the better to handle potholes etc.......But how much are you willing to spend for this vs. does it matter......Smaller diameter tires can be had in 6 and 8 ply that will carry far more load than the Spyder can handle......and it's not the tire that determines the ride ....it's the suspension.............jmho.................Mike :thumbup:

 

[Bob Denman]

A larger wheel/tire combination is preferable for a couple of reasons; it's not worth fighting over... :shocked:
...And now: Mike mentioned suspensions also! :yikes: :roflblack:

Be happy with what you've got; be aware of it's limitations. :thumbup:

 

[iGot2Fly]

I would also recommend Ultimate Seats. I haven't tried the BRP comfort seat or Corbin, but I can say upgrading to the Ultimate seat made a huge difference! I can now ride over four hours and not get sore.

 

[saber504]

A larger wheel/tire combination is preferable for a couple of reasons; it's not worth fighting over... :shocked:
...And now: Mike mentioned suspensions also! :yikes: :roflblack:

Be happy with what you've got; be aware of it's limitations. :thumbup:

With small trailer tires spend more time on bearing maintenance. Proper grease and correct end play adjustment. Clean inspect and repack ? maybe yearly. Monitor the temperature of the bearing hub during a trip.

 

[Bfromla]

This may help some

For the trailer questions anyway
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?89461-RT-622-VS-Freedom-Trailer-Observations

 

[ksridsdale]

Hiway pegs

I am 5'10" riding a 2014 RTS using an ultimate seat, I bought the Hi way pegs from Lemonizer garage WASTE OF MONEY, could not stretch out my legs at all. Had to twist my body with my ass half off the seat to get the benefit