SE5 Transmission Low Torq Howling

[markmendes]

Spyder Owners-

I hope you can help me/us. Last month I rented and SM5 and drove it about 300 miles over 2 days with my wife and loved the machine, albeit, very different from years of biking. My wife loved the stability and felt more secure. As a result she had a much better time on the bike and really wanted to spend time together doing this more often. Long story short, I bought her a new SE5 to share and ride. She liked the idea of the Semi-Auto trans so we decided to go for it.

We love the machine with one outstanding exception at about 500 miles of use. The transmission makes a howling noise when not in a torque situation that is really annoying at slower than cruising speeds like passing through a family neighborhood or a state park. It happens at lower RPM and you really hear it at 15-30 MPH, especially when you back off the throttle. When I first heard it I took the bike to the dealer and asked the tech to ride and listen – He indicated that its caused by the solenoids and they all do that. While I really like my experience at the dealer this does not seem plausible. This can not be – the blogs never talk about it and its just too annoying and interrupts the great riding experience for some-one else to not to talk about it. Especially the folks that own or have ridden one of each! I can operate either bike and actually enjoy the features of the SE5 but would not make this decision if I knew of the low torq howl – Can you help? It is really dampening my enthusiasm for otherwise great ownership experience.