WANTED..Tips for Better riding on a spyder

[pop49]

Hi all, Having had the spyder now for close to 3 months now, im now starting to get a fair bit of confidence in riding "her" fairly hard.
Lots of you good people have had yours a lot longer and go pretty hard.
How about putting down some tips on riding harder but safer, body position and that sort of thing..
Also do they race them yet in the states??
look forward to reading and trying out some of your ideas..:chat:

 

[groundeffect]

:congrats: on having your Spyder Ryding good for 3 months so far!

I'm hoping to purchase an RS spyder soon, maybe a 2010.

At this point, I guess the only think I can contribute is to suggest to follow the scheduled maintenance guide as it states, and don't miss your pre-ride checks either. Pre-ride checks can give you an idea of what could be wrong with your machine, if at all. Things like oil leaks, stains on the driveway or garage floor, or tire pressure decreasing quicker then expected, fluid levels (oil, coolant, brake fluid, etc...), can all provide clues to something that may be going wrong, and catching it quickly could help you stay safe and ryding longer.

This is a good thread.
Hope that helps.
Ryde safe!
Cheers.

 

[bone crusher]

Hi all, Having had the spyder now for close to 3 months now, im now starting to get a fair bit of confidence in riding "her" fairly hard.
Lots of you good people have had yours a lot longer and go pretty hard.
How about putting down some tips on riding harder but safer, body position and that sort of thing..
Also do they race them yet in the states??
look forward to reading and trying out some of your ideas..:chat:

Probably no point in racing...they don't go fast enough. Considering a hya can go 250 mph, our Spyders at 130 don't quite cut it...

As far as you wanting to ride harder and faster, you will have to add a lot of money to the bike to do so...start with a better air system, a better pipe, a juicebox, stability bar, etc...

As far as riding, in spite of what some say, lean into your turns, it's called physics, and it applies, whether you're on a two or three wheeler...

The Spyder is a lot of fun, whether you're racing or not...I don't ever intend on racing, but some performance mods are cool...

I'd start with safety first though...get Evan's (ESI's) lights and go from there...want to be as visible as possible before doing anything else...

 

[groundeffect]

Good point about lighting; if you don't have fog lights, they may be of use in the evenings, early mornings and night. From what I hear they work well and really increase viability.

Cheers.

 

[Lamonster]

welcome
I ride mine pretty hard and the best advice I can give you for going fast is know your limitations and the Spyders limitations. I try to run it right to the point where I know the nanny is going to kick in. Good suspension will help get you through the twisties much faster and if you don't have that a swaybar and adjusting up the front shocks will help.

 

[groundeffect]

Regarding body position/ body English - here is an answer to a question I asked about this last month:


http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=165427&postcount=7


Hope that helps.
Cheers.

 

[chris56]

make the front suspension a bit "harder" - look for some curves in your area with low traffic - and try following..
let the rear wheeel do what it wants - just concentrate on the fronts - look always to the end of the curves as far as possible - and force her
its hard work - you will feel each muscle in your arms (if you would do a longer pass-street)
needs some 100eds of miles (kilometers) - but you will find out also original she is fast !!!
chris (from the alps)

 

[bone crusher]

make the front suspension a bit "harder" - look for some curves in your area with low traffic - and try following..
let the rear wheeel do what it wants - just concentrate on the fronts - look always to the end of the curves as far as possible - and force her
its hard work - you will feel each muscle in your arms (if you would do a longer pass-street)
needs some 100eds of miles (kilometers) - but you will find out also original she is fast !!!
chris (from the alps)

What's the speed limit like out there for you? In the States, it's anywhere from 55-70 mph (as far as I know)...do you guys have any no speed roads like in Germany?

 

[mrb]

Good point about lighting; if you don't have fog lights, they may be of use in the evenings, early mornings and night. From what I hear they work well and really increase viability.

Cheers.

Australian Spyders come with all 4 lights (maybe thats why we pay $27k?). The ones in the position that you call foglights are the main beam headlights. The other two are then highbeam. I think the Euro models are similar.

 

[mrb]

What's the speed limit like out there for you? In the States, it's anywhere from 55-70 mph (as far as I know)...do you guys have any no speed roads like in Germany?

Most roads are 100 or 110kmph. It varies from state to state . The Northern Territory has some unlimited roads I believe but they are far from "autobahns" , just single lane, and you are likely to come across cattle (or water buffalo) on the road

 

[mrb]

How about putting down some tips on riding harder but safer, body position and that sort of thing..

The best tip I was given (on a forum) was "think skiiing" - I dont ski BUT - in a right hand turn pull the right grip towards you (one person said "try to kiss the grip"), push down with the left foot to move your body to the right, lean into the turn and push into the Spyder with your right knee.:2thumbs:

That being said after 2 years or Spyder riding, tight corners still don't work well for me :gaah: (I do realise its me not the Spyder) and if there was a course locally (or interstate even) I could do that was for Spyder riders I would do it.

 

[bone crusher]

The best tip I was given (on a forum) was "think skiiing" - I dont ski BUT - in a right hand turn pull the right grip towards you (one person said "try to kiss the grip"), push down with the left foot to move your body to the right, lean into the turn and push into the Spyder with your right knee.:2thumbs:

That being said after 2 years or Spyder riding, tight corners still don't work well for me :gaah: (I do realise its me not the Spyder) and if there was a course locally (or interstate even) I could do that was for Spyder riders I would do it.

I'm a skier and I'll tell you that the Spyder and skis do work quite differently...in skiing, for a right turn, you do tend to pole right and basically carve around the pole. On the Spyder, with a right turn, you will pull the right handlebar as you control the left, this part is similar...however, you don't lean skiing like you do on a Spyder...(maybe I should try that sometime??)...I lean to the right and forward and push down on the footpegs, sometimes shifting my body, if need be. The bike can handle decent curves/turns at a good speed...you do want to be well-positioned for them though...some will say to kiss the right handlebar when you make a decent right turn...I don't go that far, but I do lean in quite a bit...the sharper the turn, the more you need to lean...

 

[mrb]

I'm a skier and I'll tell you that the Spyder and skis do work quite differently...in skiing, for a right turn, you do tend to pole right and basically carve around the pole. On the Spyder, with a right turn, you will pull the right handlebar as you control the left, this part is similar...however, you don't lean skiing like you do on a Spyder...

As I said I dont ski so I dont know but I think the person who told me that was referring to the way you move your legs, knee in etc?? Anyway it helped me at the time:dontknow:

 

[spydrn]

Hi all, Having had the spyder now for close to 3 months now, im now starting to get a fair bit of confidence in riding "her" fairly hard.
Lots of you good people have had yours a lot longer and go pretty hard.
How about putting down some tips on riding harder but safer, body position and that sort of thing..
Also do they race them yet in the states??
look forward to reading and trying out some of your ideas..:chat:

i

I know sometime is 2010 during the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. There are going to be a few spyders that are being sponsored in the race. From what the dealer told me a few months back BRP reps are supposed to be there.

 

[chris56]

What's the speed limit like out there for you? In the States, it's anywhere from 55-70 mph (as far as I know)...do you guys have any no speed roads like in Germany?

we do have a speed limit (80mph) on the carways .. most don`t care
to ride in the alps is not a question of speed limit - on a weekend there are 1000ends of bikes in the mountains .. so they wait to see (my) spyder and try to follow .. difference to a bike is:
you can brake/push in the middle of a curve (no biker would do that)
the same if the street is wet or durty
also my girl found out BY HERSELVE how to lean in a curve .. you do it automatically if a wheel is rising & thats happening on each curve if you drive a mountain road
there is no other vehicle which is "faster" downhill - an austrian car-magazin wrote after a spyder/sportcar test

 

[jgwoods]

Car and Drver did a mini roadtest on a Spyder a while back and they ran it on the skid pad- got only .65g which is worse than almost any automobile.
I don't find handling to be their strong suit, but that doesn't mean it is not fun to groove one in a corner.

Part of the problem for me is that I am very tall, heavy too, so I can make it want to tip sooner than most folks.
Half the time when I corner it feels great- like it might go into a slide if I pushed it, but no danger of a high side, other times, like when the road has a lot of camber, and you are going left, it feels like it wants to roll over- a little scary but the stability system does a nice job of keeping you out of trouble if you are reasonable in your driving.

The result is that I drive it a lot like my old Ford 428 - charge up to the corner, brake hard to get slow, go (somewhat) slow around the corner then nail it and use the excellent power to keep you speed average up. I don't think you can carry a lot of speed through a corner.

 

[retread]

Seems like every time someone asks about riding the Spyder, I put the same thing up; find a vacant or little used parking lot, cut a bunch of tennis balls in half, lay out a couse. Practice till you get comfortable, tighten it up, practice some more, you'll find out what you can do, and what the Spyder can do. Don't rush things, ryde safe.
By the way, IMHO, C&D didn't lean with the test they did, you gotta use body english to enjoy it.

john

 

[M2Wild]

Never ride faster than your angel can fly.

 

[truck 85]

Never ride faster than your angel can fly.

:agree::lecturef_smilie:

 

[the nicko]

:agree: