UK Ryker owners - Is a Ryker Rally Suitable for UK's Potholed Roads?

[forkhandles]

Hi All,

First time posting and have been reading/researching the Can Am’s since being intrigued a week ago researching the Sea-Doo brand.

Having promised the folks I'd never get a motorbike, a Ryker/Spyder seems a happy alternative. I appreciate and am well aware they don’t mitigate risks, with CoachBob being a great wealth of info and advice.

Since I was a kid, I have only ridden on the back of a scrambler, and a short blast as a passenger on a cousin’s powerful road bike. I have many years cycling experience, noting cycling at 40mph is a totally different experience (squared rule) to a far heavier motorised and 2 front wheel unit.

As a newbie, common sense says a Ryker is the way to go, and having gone down the Rally rabbit hole, it seems to be the best option for some gravel such as beach/National Trust car parks.

Watching 1RLiz and her first outing, and my experience with cars and right foot braking, a Ryker seems ideal, with the Rally having the better adjustable shocks for 2 up (some time way in the future) while today I'd have storage on the back.

Watching canamgirluk on bumblebee it further convinced me… until I saw 1RLiz and canamgirluk both separately taking a Spyder out, with both commenting on how improved the ride was. Then seeing Stikflotes post about swapping to a Spyder, for the same reason of bad roads over here in the UK, then takes me down the Spyder rabbit hole, and being used to flappy paddle gearbox changes and right foot braking should be natural.

So I'm looking for UK owners to share their experience of the Ryker and tell me if it’s suitable for our rough UK roads (in places as rough as unpaved tracks!).

I realise I need to learn, and it’s going to take me time to pass 20mph, 40mph, 60mph, and first I need to get all the gear (I have a shopping list) before I even sit on one!

Thanks and looking forward to the journey!

 

[mecsw500]

I ride my late model Sea to Sky here in the US Mountain West. Some roads are like the freeways and the urban surface streets are smooth enough. Up in the mountain canyons where I often ride, the roads suffer from not being regularly maintained and they suffer from freezing water and snow plow damage, so it’s a different matter up there.

My Spyder copes admirably with the less than ideal road conditions.

Having been born in the UK and ridden motorcycles for all of my youth there, the one thing I would always recommend is a decent set of waterproofs. That’s waterproof gloves and boots designed for motorcycling. I always used waterproof outer wear. I really never trusted the supposedly waterproof textile riding jackets and trousers. In England, you never really need Gore-tex breathable waterproofs. Just decent, fully waterproof, over-suits.

There is nothing worse than cold, wet hands, wet feet, or worst of all, a cold wet crotch. You need proper waterproof outer gear that you put on over your regular gear that will withstand all day in the rain. When it’s sunny, just roll them up and stow them as they take up little room. It rarely rains here, but when it does, oh boy it does! Torrential doesn’t begin to describe it. I just don’t trust the textile “waterproof” gear, especially the trousers part.

Here in the US, BRP (Can Am) offers rider training for trikes. Despite only needing a motorcycle license to ride them in my State, I took the course anyway. This was the best thing I could have done to come to terms with reverse trike riding. You can never get too much rider training in my book.

Frankly, with the UK’s changeable weather, the full fairing of a Spyder RT will perhaps make riding more enjoyable by keeping the worst of the weather off.

 

[TheMariner]

"Got any O's ?".

Like just about everybody lately, we suffer from potholes & poorly maintained roads down here in Australia too. The advice you've been given is spot-on re: a 3-wheelers ability to handle dodgy paved roads, but I'd like to add one extra point....

On a conventional motorcycle, one wheel is straight behind the other so you only have 1 track to be affected by rough/potholed roads. In a car, you have 2 tracks, but in a 3-wheeler you have 3 because none of the wheels are inline. This means 3-wheelers tend to be more 'bouncy' because all the wheels are all in contact with different parts of the surface. It also makes dodging potholes, man hole covers etc. a bit more difficult. The Owners Manual suggests running over any bumps with the rear wheel (not the fronts) if possible, but unless you want to finish your ride 2" shorter than when you started... don't do that !. If you can, aim to pass over bumps/potholes with your footpegs so you miss both the front & rear wheels. If not, run a front wheel over it.

 

[nightfalcon]

I ride lots of pot holed rutted gravel roads. I've set up the suspension as best I can and added a steering stabilizer which makes hitting the pot hole less impactful. You will get better and better at dodging the said obstacles the more you ride. There is quite a bit of distance between the inside of the front wheel and the outside of the rear so it is possible to get past the small ones with some practice.

Have been thinking about taking mine to a suspension guru to see if they can work some magic... They did wonders for my closed cartridge forks on my old triumph tiger.