Is It OK to Make 500 km On the First Day With a Brand-New 2023 Can-Am RT Limited?

[Mikey]

Are you hanging on for dear life or got super-heated grips? Good for you, don't let any moss grow under those tires!!

 

[AndysF3S]

Good to hear that you had a great ride but the blisters are more likely from gripping the grips much toooo tightly. Take the time to learn to relax your grip and open and close your hands every few minutes to prevent cramping and blisters.

 

[Cobranut]

Good to hear that you had a great ride but the blisters are more likely from gripping the grips much toooo tightly. Take the time to learn to relax your grip and open and close your hands every few minutes to prevent cramping and blisters.

Agreed.
I also added the foam grip covers from SlingMods. The cushion and larger diameter helped a lot on longer rides.

 

[Peteoz]

Just as an aside, I had to ride 300kms from my dealer to home with both my new ‘16 F3 and my new ‘21 RT, with the only possible route being on a freeway. Sure, I varied the speed as much as I could, but that wasn’t much. I had zero issues with motor or transmission in the following years.
I am not suggesting anyone run their Spyder in this way, it was simply that it was unavoidable for me. This is more to let new riders know that it is unlikely you will have issues if you are forced to ride home on the freeway

Pete

 

[esky]

If you don't mind, here's some funny stuff: Yesterday was my wife’s very first ride ever (!) First, she said I should have bought this bike years ago, "instead of just swapping them every few years" She asked me to take her to a store for some quick shopping, and in the parking lot, she asked me if I had an alarm for "this expensive machine." I told her it’s pretty pricey, and guess what? She said, "No, no, for such an expensive machine, you have to install an alarm!" Guys, looks like I’m going to be taking advantage of buying accessories! And she loved the ride so much that I’m seriously starting to wonder if I made a mistake hyping this bike to her. Looks like I might be losing my freedom!

 

[esky]

Took my two-wheeler for a Safety inspection and back today (selling it) and wow, I really missed those sharp cornering turns! That’s something you just don’t get with a three-wheeler. But honestly, riding the Can-Am Spyder feels like stepping into a whole new dimension of motorcycling. It’s a completely different world, and just as thrilling in its own way. As much as I’ve loved two wheels, I know now, there’s no going back.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Took my two-wheeler for a Safety inspection and back today (selling it) and wow, I really missed those sharp cornering turns! That’s something you just don’t get with a three-wheeler. But honestly, riding the Can-Am Spyder feels like stepping into a whole new dimension of motorcycling. It’s a completely different world, and just as thrilling in its own way. As much as I’ve loved two wheels, I know now, there’s no going back.

View attachment 249457

If you are able to move around on your Spyder enough, take the time to practice, and learn how to move your body weight to enhance the Spyder's unmatched stability and cornering capability while smoothly inputting the necessary control input, you'll find that you can out corner just about anything else at speeds up to 80 mph, especially in the tight, twisty stuff with short straights.

 

[Cobranut]

If you are able to move around on your Spyder enough, take the time to practice, and learn how to move your body weight to enhance the Spyder's unmatched stability and cornering capability while smoothly inputting the necessary control input, you'll find that you can out corner just about anything else at speeds up to 80 mph, especially in the tight, twisty stuff with short straights.

That's not been my experience.
My F3S will lift a front wheel at much lower speeds than I can take the same corner in my cars.
Trying to push any harder and the nanny kicks in and cuts power.

 

[Peter Aawen]

That's not been my experience.
My F3S will lift a front wheel at much lower speeds than I can take the same corner in my cars.
Trying to push any harder and the nanny kicks in and cuts power.

That'll probably be because you aren't moving your weight around sufficiently in order to counteract the forces that prompt the Nanny intervention (if your behind is remaining in the one spot on the seat all the time, then that one's a certainty!); maybe it's because you're not being smooth enough in your control input; &/or because you're not picking the right lines to keep it all tidy.

When it comes to picking the right line, if you haven't heard of it already, look up and start practicing 'Late Apexing' (there's one link below) but once you're doing that fairly well most of the time, then just as I was taught and I've since found, both personally and in the majority of those I've helped to come to grips with their Spyders & riding fast but smoothly, that if you use those Nanny interventions as signals (and I still get them, just nowhere near as often as before - but not yet as infrequently as some of the many better ryders out there! ) to tell you that you've just done something that you could've done better, it usually doesn't take too long to start building your speed, improving your cornering speed and stability, and basically realising the inherent stability and cornering advantages that these Reverse Trikes bring to riding.

As I said earlier "If you are able to move around on your Spyder enough, take the time to practice, and learn how to move your body weight to enhance the Spyder's unmatched stability and cornering capability while smoothly inputting the necessary control input, you'll find that you can out corner just about anything else at speeds up to about 80 mph, especially in the tight, twisty stuff with short straights.

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1123578_learn-the-difference-between-early-traditional-and-late-apexes

Ps: Lifting a front wheel isn't necessarily an awful thing on a Reverse Trike (but lifting TWO wheels can be!!), just don't touch the brakes while you've got a wheel in the air, and ideally, you would've already moved your weight forward, in, and down toward the inside of the corner. The Nanny will only intervene if you touch your brakes and rapidly slow the wheel in the air, causing it to be rotating at a markedly different speed to the two grounded wheels; &/or if the yaw sensor detects that you are getting close to flipping, but these trikes can raise one wheel seriously high before that happens, and if the raised still wheel keeps spinning at a similar speed to the grounded wheels, you can use your weight transfer out juuuust a touch to make the lifted wheel stay up there for some 10's of metres without much issue; &/or if you've applied too much steering input too quickly - smooootttthhh ryding tends to avoid that.

 

[Cobranut]

That'll probably be because you aren't moving your weight around sufficiently in order to counteract the forces that prompt the Nanny intervention (if your behind is remaining in the one spot on the seat all the time, then that one's a certainty!); maybe it's because you're not being smooth enough in your control input; &/or because you're not picking the right lines to keep it all tidy.

When it comes to picking the right line, if you haven't heard of it already, look up and start practicing 'Late Apexing' (there's one link below) but once you're doing that fairly well most of the time, then just as I was taught and I've since found, both personally and in the majority of those I've helped to come to grips with their Spyders & riding fast but smoothly, that if you use those Nanny interventions as signals (and I still get them, just nowhere near as often as before - but not yet as infrequently as some of the many better ryders out there! ) to tell you that you've just done something that you could've done better, it usually doesn't take too long to start building your speed, improving your cornering speed and stability, and basically realising the inherent stability and cornering advantages that these Reverse Trikes bring to riding.

As I said earlier "If you are able to move around on your Spyder enough, take the time to practice, and learn how to move your body weight to enhance the Spyder's unmatched stability and cornering capability while smoothly inputting the necessary control input, you'll find that you can out corner just about anything else at speeds up to about 80 mph, especially in the tight, twisty stuff with short straights.

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1123578_learn-the-difference-between-early-traditional-and-late-apexes

Ps: Lifting a front wheel isn't necessarily an awful thing on a Reverse Trike (but lifting TWO wheels can be!!), just don't touch the brakes while you've got a wheel in the air, and ideally, you would've already moved your weight forward, in, and down toward the inside of the corner. The Nanny will only intervene if you touch your brakes and rapidly slow the wheel in the air, causing it to be rotating at a markedly different speed to the two grounded wheels; &/or if the yaw sensor detects that you are getting close to flipping, but these trikes can raise one wheel seriously high before that happens, and if the raised still wheel keeps spinning at a similar speed to the grounded wheels, you can use your weight transfer out juuuust a touch to make the lifted wheel stay up there for some 10's of metres without much issue; &/or if you've applied too much steering input too quickly - smooootttthhh ryding rends to avoid that.

Thanks for your input.
Being as I road raced cars for many years, and I'm building another racer as we speak, I know how to find the proper line through a corner, and am familiar with being smooth on the controls.
I do move around on the trike, but I'm not as agile as I was in my younger years, and not really into crawling around like a GP rider anymore.
Also, the wide bars and high steering forces required, not to mention those forces being backwards to a two wheeler, makes it even harder to shift weight like on a bike. There's also the fact that the trike itself weighs almost 900#, so my body weight can only do so much.

 

[pegasus1300]

John, We haven't seen you since last Sept, so you may never see this. I hope all is well with you and your Spyder. Thank you for giving us the end of your ride home. How did your further solo long distance go?

 

[esky]

Thank you for asking, Pegasus! I’m glad to be back
I’ve returned to work recently, but only very limited part-time hours, so I’ve been feeling a bit busy. (I retired year ago.)
I put a little over 10,000 km on the bike last season since I brought it home - definitely took full advantage of this toy! I did two long trips (in addition to the Iron Butt challenge - by the way, I still haven’t received my certificate from them; looks like the IBA volunteers are very busy ). I rode from Winnipeg to Calgary and back (solo) during the summer, plus a lot of local riding. I went to Calgary in one loop (1,331 km), stayed there for a week, and returned the same way. Each leg took about 12-13 hours, with one stop for breakfast and a couple of fuel stops. What a joy! I wasn’t even tired
That’s exactly what I miss right now - I hate winter
I did have some issues finding a reliable dealer to service my Spyder, but, finally I was lucky to find an amazing place locally here in Winnipeg. What a great group of guys! I’m really happy dealing with them: fair, helpful, and no charging for unnecessary “services,” unlike some other dealers - you know, when you come in for an oil change and suddenly get offered hundreds of dollars in extras. Very unpleasant experience elsewhere. But with FFUN East in Winnipeg, it’s completely different: clear communication and very professional service. I left them very positive feedback on Google.
During the season, I had a few minor issues: belt adjustment and some noises from the starter. Everything was taken care of by them. Even now, in the middle of winter, when I had an issue with the bike, they handled it beautifully.
The problem was an unusual one I parked the Spyder for winter in November in my uninsulated garage. When the temperature dropped to -17°C, I noticed a leak under the front of the bike. I took some photos and showed them to the guys before Christmas. They advised me to open the coolant reservoir - it turned out to be coolant leaking.
So even though not everything has been perfect with the bike, it’s really nice to feel that my expensive toy is in good hands!
For next season, I’ve already planned a few shorter trips (2–3 rides of about 600 km each), and I really (badly) want to ride to Los Angeles. The plan is to go through BC, ride down the US coast to LA, then head back via Chicago, re-enter Canada near Toronto, visit Niagara Falls, and return to Winnipeg.

I also “caught the bug” for towing! I wanted to build a tiny, lightweight, one-person camper. The idea was foam on an aluminum frame with “poor man’s fiberglass.” I even bought a lightweight 4×4 ft aluminum trailer (only 160 lb), hitch, harness - everything. But after calculating the expenses with AI - build cost, towing itself (higher fuel consumption, possible wear on the bike while towing, and most importantly, how many times per season I’d actually use it ), it became clear that using motels or hotels on trips during the years would be much, much, cheaper.
I understand that the joy and fun of using a camper on trips can’t really be calculated, but being on a fixed income, I have to compromise on some pleasures. So I sold the trailer. The wiring harness is still installed on the bike, but I didn’t even touch the hitch - it’s still wrapped in nylon.
Honestly, it was a pretty painful decision, and I still sometimes look at prices for lightweight trailers (I really like the idea), but…
And honestly, even though the towing capacity of our Spyders is defined by the manufacturer, I still feel it might be too much for the bike’s transmission. (Please don’t judge me too harshly for this statement .)

This is, in short, my beginner’s experience. I am truly in love with this bike!

The person who bought my two-wheeler from me, sometimes shares his excitement and joy, and I just smile when reading his messages - because I can’t even imagine myself riding a two-wheeler again.
Ride safe everyone who is still enjoying their rides - and hurry up, Spring!
Glad to talk to you again guys!

 

[greer]

Ugh, I hate to see drops under a bike. But from what I've read, the cold weather coolant leak is fairly common, due to the tendency for aluminum to shrink just a bit at lower temps. Thanks for the update @esky, I hope you'll soon be planning that ride to L.A.

Sarah

 

[BajaRon]

• Regarding electronics: When connecting devices (phone, helmet), setting things up in BRP Connect, etc., the bike is supposed to be on. Is it okay to keep the electrical power on for about 20 minutes without starting the engine? The question isn’t about the battery draining, but about whether anything like a relay (or anything similar) could get damaged if the engine isn’t started immediately?

Thank you in advance for your answers!

We do it at the shop all day long. Not a problem...