What did you do to/with your Spyder today?

[Snoking1127]

I hit a German Shepherd on I-10 crossing from AZ to CA in 2024. I watched it go under the front of the trike with the right front tire delivering a mid body hit. The repair bill for the trike was 5535 bucks - not deer bucks, real money. Cost was higher because no Champagne tupperware was available, so the painting bill was high. Deductible was only $150, so I am ahead of the "game" for many years.

 

[Deanna777]

This afternoon I went for a ride, went out to dinner.

Deanna

 

[Dasmoetorhead]

Got a quick ride in before the rain. Supposed to be a soaker for a couple of days.

 

[mecsw500]

Trying to do a Mount Nebo Loop ride but there have been continuous thunderstorms in the mountains for the past week. It even rained a few times here in the valleys.

First it was a furnace, now it's thunderstorms. Hope to go on Thursday if the forecast holds.

 

[NHDad]

I added 3 wraps of Teflon tape around the oil filter housing cover. Pulled it tight so it stretches under the lip of the lid. Like a thin gasket. And torqued to 17ft lbs. But I read the torque wrench wrong so it's about 20ft lbs. . I've got about 100mi so far with no leak... Yet.

All this is after, 1. finding the leak, removing the cap, cleaning and relubing the o-rings and re-assembling. Leaked again. 2. Off to the dealer who put on a new o-ring. That held for a day then leaked. So fingers crossed...

Best,
Steve

-

 

[ollicat]

I've ridden my Spyder only about 3600 miles, so I'm still learning to ride it. Tonight's lesson: if I want some zippy acceleration, 4000 RPM is not going to cut it.

I was riding on a divided highway, about 60 mph in 6th gear. A doofus cage driver in front of me was behaving unpredictably, so I decided to take my first chance and zip around him to leave him in my mirrors. The chance came, and I downshifted to 4th gear and pinned the throttle open, expecting to feel a nice kick in the butt and the pretty quick arrival of 80 mph on the speedo.

Nope. Didn't happen. The tach climbed slowly from about 4000 RPM and I managed to get past the cager, but not the way I wanted or imagined.

My point of reference here is my BMW R1150RT which I've been riding for about 8 years. On that bike, dropping to 4th gear and going WOT causes me to quickly become just a memory to the driver I'm passing.

Afterwards I did experiment some with acceleration at various engine speeds. It seems like 5500 RPM is where the fun stuff begins to happen. Lesson learned.

Do you have a throttle adjustor of some type like Pedal Commander? That might help a bit

 

[RogerC60]

Do you have a throttle adjustor of some type like Pedal Commander? That might help a bit

No, I've not installed one of those. My understanding is that it essentially reduces the ratio of throttle twist to throttle signal given to the ECU. Wouldn't WOT be unaffected by this? If my throttle signal is calling for greater than 100%, the ECU is still going to only give me 100%. I didn't just gradually open the throttle; I rapidly snapped it all the way to the stop.

 

[mecsw500]

No, I've not installed one of those. My understanding is that it essentially reduces the ratio of throttle twist to throttle signal given to the ECU. Wouldn't WOT be unaffected by this? If my throttle signal is calling for greater than 100%, the ECU is still going to only give me 100%. I didn't just gradually open the throttle; I rapidly snapped it all the way to the stop.

Peak torque is at 5,000 rpm and peak power just over 7,000 rpm on the Spyder.

You have to consider power to weight ratio too. The BMW probably produces approximately the same level of power but weighs at least 300 pounds less. That's a lot of extra weight.

The Spyder is not as zippy as the BMW even when wound out. The Spyder looks aerodynamic, but likely isn't compared with the wind tunnel tested BMW. The BMW will wind quickly way past 100 mph, the Spyder will get there but a fair bit more slowly. Having owned a BMW R1100RS and a BMW R1200GS I can say for sure they are a fair bit quicker than the Spyder at the upper mid range and top end.

Third gear would likely have given you at least some of the performance you desired.

 

[Dasmoetorhead]

If you were in 4th gear and your RPM's were at 4000, you should have shot out like a slingshot. My F3S does.

 

[mecsw500]

If you were in 4th gear and your RPM's were at 4000, you should have shot out like a slingshot. My F3S does.

I think my 26 S2S is geared about 10% higher final drive than an F3S in the US. If we are both doing 60 mph in 6th gear, like the OP, you are pulling 10% or more revs than I am, so I may need to go a gear further down to get into the power band to pass something for the same speed. You're also probably at least 100lbs lighter than I am too, which is quite a bit extra weight I'm carrying, and that's just the bike.