[ttharley]

hi all

I am not quite a spyder owner yet have to take the money and my bike in tomorrow .................... Can anyone give me a good points and bad point review on them please ............. its a rt se 5 model ......... looks great on youtube ........... have been motorcycles rider for year mostly Harley Davidsons ....

 

[Bob Denman]

Welcome to our slice of the pie!
It ain't a Harley... It'll be completely different and you'll swear that you've just made the biggest mistake of your life... until you get used to it!

They feel more like an ATV or snowmobile going down the road... The SE 5 tranny is pretty neat and does most of the work for you!

give it a good try... you'll love it!

 

[Hokiev]

I agree. I am a new RT LTD Spyder rider of 2 weeks. The dealer did not have any demos so I bought "blind".
After the first 20-50 miles I thought I made a mistake. Adjusted the spring tension based on suggestions on the forum to 5 and set tire pressure to 18-30 and made a big difference. (Dealers should mention that to new riders)

Now that I have a few hundred miles I am starting to get a "feel" for the ride.
Defiantly different than my BMW LT.

The transmission is great and makes riding a breeze.

Handling the turns and dealing with the poor turn signal (keep having to look to see why it has not turned off on partial turns. Have discovered if I just push REAL HARD in the center, solves the problem. (it would keep going from left to right. When I pushed gently) and trying to keep and eye on proper lane position because of the wide wheel base has taken a little longer than I thought it would.

But I am really taking a liking to the ride and can't wait until I have several hundred miles.
Got caught in a heavy rain storm a short while ago and was very apprehensive about riding on the wet road but the VSS seamed to handle everything ok.

Bite the bullet and be patient until you get a hang of the

 

[CanAmMick]

Handling the turns and dealing with the poor turn signal (keep having to look to see why it has not turned off on partial turns. Have discovered if I just push REAL HARD in the center, solves the problem. (it would keep going from left to right. When I pushed gently) and trying to keep and eye on proper lane position because of the wide wheel base has taken a little longer than I thought it would.

I thought I was the only one having that problem!!

I have my shocks set to 5, but still don't like the way it feels. How much of a difference does it make if you go up to 25 or 30 psi???

 

[ZWolf-2011]

New Owner RT-S Limited

Well here I am thinking I was having issues with the turn signal switch! I really do not like that switch at all, I too go from side to side with it when trying to turn it off. My other two bikes (Ducati ST4 & Suzuki Burgman) worked as they should, never a problem.

I so far had 1 day to drive it, and now it is back in the shop, my gas mileage is running at 11-13 mpg and I can smell gas after parking it. The dealer is telling me that the engine is tight right now and it will get better, but my goodness, I am looking for a gas station every 50 miles right now.

Taking corners with this is just like driving a 4 wheeler, and not a bike. I really do not get the feeling I am riding a bike any more and I think I am going to miss the bikes since I traded them both in for the Spyder.

Another thing I have noticed was the super heat that comes from the radiator on the right side, leaves my right foot really hot. My girlfriend who rode on the back was also complaining about how hot her leg got from touching the cargo compartment and the heat from the radiator. That nigh, her right leg was red like a mild sun burn. I am not 100% sure if it was just the sun or the bike that did it, it was a warm day that day, just touching thee 100 degree mark.

Allan

 

[Hokiev]

Having 18 in fronts and 30 in rear seemed to help. But not sure if it was the shock on 5 or a combination.

 

[cyclekat]

Yup, count me in the group having trouble with the "self-cancelling turn signals" too! I figured since I've only had it a few days that I needed to turn harder to tell the computer I'd completed a turn. It definitely takes some getting used to turning after I spent 20+ years on 2 wheels, and it isn't as fast off the mark as my former bike was. However, I really like the SE 5 transmission since I no longer have a cramp in my clutch hand, and I really like the cargo space and the comfy passenger seat because it means I don't have to beg someone to go biking with me, the stereo system is decent, and most importantly--it is not what everybody else has!

 

[sassapnts]

Push the turn signal straight down from the top, not side to side, to cancel it.

The poor gas mileage along with the smell of gasoline is concerning, and the extremely hot tank sounds like a real problem. Could be the gasket isn't sealed? There's a thread around here about a diagnosis made on a bike with a really hot gas tank, I think it was a blown gasket. If yours is new, perhaps they didn't tighten it down properly. Have it looked at as soon as you can; there's also a thread around here about a bike that caught on fire.