Freebird

I was pleasantly surprised when I added the Spyder onto my motorcycle policy. I not only added the Spyder but also added Eileen as an additional driver. My total premium increase was $18.44 per year. Adding the Spyder restored my "multi-bike" discount. So now my total annual cost (RSV and Spyder) is $94.44 per year.

Last Sunday was the first time I've had mine out this year. Did 186 miles which is my total for the season. Haven't given up on getting it out a few more times but life is just busy right now. Still have no plans of selling it at this time. Always hopeful that things will slow down a bit before next summer.

The standard Road Glide starts at $21,299. Not sure if the standard or the special would be the best comparison. Would have to go into further investigative mode I guess.

The volts and amps are directly related. Given the same resistance, more volts means more amps. So if the regulator is allowing 17 volts to get pushed through then the amps will be higher also.

Yep, the RSTD version of the Venture and their answer to the very popular Harley Street Glide.

It's an auction folks. When you bid, it only increases in an amount to exceed the previous bid. Then it will automatically increase your bid up to the max amount that you submitted. People have to bid against each other to get the prices up.

Did you check the voltage with the bike running? It sure sounds like a bad regulator.

Yes, there was probably enough cable. Maybe I'll do that the next time I have the seat off. To be honest, didn't even think about it. Not too concerned but your way would be better.

As promised, here are some pictures that show you where the SpeedoDRD installs. I had the SpeedoHealer on the '99 and it installed the same way. I'm not going into detail regarding the actual programming because I can't show you any better than what SpeedoDRD does on their website. I'll provide links to their instructions at the end of this though. First of all, simple remove the left side cover. You only need to remove the one screw where you see my allen wrench. The front one is a dummy. Remember that because that front one is what you need if you don't know to put blue locktite on your shifter. When you lose that screw on the highway, This front "dummy" screw will replace it. Anyway, remove the screw and then just pull straight out on the cover to pop it out of the rubber grommets on the front. Once you have removed the cover. This is what you will see. The white triangular connector is what you want. Simply depress the little tab and unplug the two halves. This is what you should see now. Now just plug the two connectors from the SpeedoDRD or your Speedohealer into those separated connectors. In this picture, you can see the small white button just above the white tag with the model number on it. That is the button that you will press to do the programming. That's all there is to it. Follow the instructions at these two links to learn how to find your speedometer error and then how to program the device. This is a job that literally ANYBODY can do. Don't worry about it. Just do it if you want to correct your speedometer. I used the GPS method to determine my error. You could also use mile markers and a stop watch if you wanted to. If you don't have a GPS, you can download an app for most any smartphone that will give you a pretty accurate speed reading. Here is what the SpeedoDRD says about it. "A GPS device is usually the best method, make sure the device has good signal strength, and you are traveling at least 55mph or 60mph (or 100kph) as displayed on your GPS, you'll want to hold the speed completely steady at least 5 to 10 seconds, so that both the vehicle speedometer and GPS is at a steady reading, then use those readings for your calculations. Also, another thing to remember is that most vehicle speedometers usually only give whole number readouts, as well as most GPS devices, thus when your GPS or vehicle speedometer reads 55mph, you could be traveling 55.0mph or 55.9mph, when calculating your error percentage at multiple speeds remember to take this into consideration, this situation as well as possible GPS accuracies, may very well account for any suspected speedometer dis-linearity." Once you have determined your indicated speed and the GPS speed, you can use this link to their online error calculator. When you do this, it will give instructions at the bottom for exactly how to program the unit. It literally takes about 5 minutes to install this thing. It takes longer to go for the ride and determine your error. http://www.12oclocklabs.com/sdrd_calc.htm

Well, that tells us that the error is not consistent between bikes. I haven't installed mine yet but did check the error yesterday on our ride. I checked it multiple times and made sure that my speed was stabilized each time. I set the bike's speed at 60 MPH and my Garmin GPS showed that I was actually running 56 MPH. That means that my error is -6.7%. This is on my 2005 RSV. I don't remember exactly but I know that my '99 was somewhere around 8%. This means that each person is going to have to figure the error on their particular bike. Something else that could affect this to a small extent is different tires. Not all tires are the same OD. I'm running Dunlop E3's right now.

Was a great ride. We went south a bit and had lunch in Coshocton, OH. Left here about 10:00 this morning and pulled back in around 8:00 tonight. Walked around for a bit after lunch and then started meandering back toward home. Of course we DID stop for Ice Cream. Ended up being a 186 mile day and the weather was almost perfect. Just a bit cool at times but I didn't even take a jacket with me so it wasn't bad. Eileen did great. She is still a little tentative in the twisties but getting better all the time. This was the first time the RSV has been out of the garage this year. It ran great as did the Spyder. All in all, a very good day. We were accompanied by our good friends Paul and Julie, (Motive here on the forum) and another couple who ride an Indian Chief and aren't members here.

Today we will find out if she can keep up. Actually, this will also be my first ride of the season. By the way, I STILL haven't ridden the Spyder. I'll give it a try sooner or later.

Everything went smoothly today. The couple that we bought it from lived in Waterford, MI. They were coming to visit their daughter in Port Clinton, OH this weekend so brought it down in an enclosed trailer. It was every bit as nice as he had described it. I can't even find a rock chip or even a tiny bit of rust anywhere on it. Even the underside and suspension looks like it just rolled out of the showroom. So we paid the man, Eileen fired it up and we headed home. It was only about a 40 mile ride from Port Clinton back to our house in Oberlin. She was nervous at first but as soon as we got on OH 2, she cranked it up and we ran about 65 MPH almost all the way home. About 10 miles from home, the rain hit and it rained hard almost all the rest of the way home. I started to get her to pull over and tell her that I would ride it on home but then thought, heck, she wanted a Spyder so if she wants to be a rider, the rain is part of that experience. At 57 degrees and hard rain, I expected to here a bit of complaining but when we stopped for gas about 4 miles from home, she was all smiles. So it is safely in the garage now and we plan to get out tomorrow and do a 2 - 4 hour ride. Yes, I'm going to FINALLY get my bike out of the garage. Really looking forward to it. So here are some pictures of her taking possession of her new ride and one of her running down OH 2 at about 60 MPH. Just from following her, it appeared to track straight and true and she said there was no twitching or pulling so it appears that the alignment is good. It had about 6250 miles on it when he picked it up and all the tires look like they have a LOT of miles left in them with no strange wear patterns. In fact, you can't see any wear at all. Here's another good thing. I just added it to my motorcycle insurance policy and because I now get the multi-bike discount again, adding the Spyder and Eileen as a driver on the policy, my yearly premium only went up $18.00. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Well, as I posted a couple of weeks ago, I've had no opportunity to ride at all this year. I have made a couple of recent additions to the bike though. Lower wind deflectors. I had the Yamaha crash bar mounted lower wind deflectors on the '99 but hadn't put them on the '05 yet. I finally broke down and did that a couple of weeks ago. I bought the Speedodrd calibration unit and it was delivered this week. Will get it installed this weekend and make sure that I take pictures of the process when I do. I had the Harley Davidson split vision mirrors on my Road Glide and liked them pretty well. The chrome peeled on one of them and I had replaced them with a new set. I still had the old set around here so bought the stem adapters and put them on the '05 RSV. I liked them on the RSV also but didn't like that they had some chromed peeled off and that they had Harley Davidson inscribed in the chrome. So I finally ran across the exact same mirror on Ebay but without the Harley Davidson inscription. They were also less than half the price of the Harley Davidson branded mirrors so at $53.00 delivered, I pulled the trigger on them. I didn't expect much in the way of quality but I was pleasantly surprised. THey are very nice. Heavy and the chrome looks great. Only time will tell how well they hold up.

No problem. It was not a big deal. Glad you have joined us.

Mine was delivered yesterday. Hopefully, will find time to install it this weekend.

We rode one for a day at the NY Rally one year. It was an RT with this same engine. She loved it but it didn't fit me that well with my long legs. She has wanted one ever since then. She probably drove it for a couple of hours that day. I'm not really worried about the engine. One that has already been through at 19,000 miles is a problem. I think there was more going on there. I've already been on Spyderlovers and see instances of many with a lot of trouble free miles. I guess you can get a bad one with any brand. If price had not been an issue, I would likely have looked for the 1300 but it would have cost a good deal more money to do that and she will be very happy with the 988. More power is never a bad thing but I wasn't disappointed with the performance of the 998 that we rode. Heck, I think they are rated just north of 100 HP anyway. I THINK we got a pretty good deal on this one. I was looking at the one in Wisconsin but it wasn't an RT and it was about a 7 hour drive one way. It also had some modifications that I would have been OK if I had done them but not knowing the previous owner, it always makes me wonder if it was ridden hard. For example, it had a Two Brothers Exhaust system on it. I prefer to buy things pretty stock and then make my own changes if needed. I found another one about 30 minutes from my house. It was a 2011 with only 840 miles. I made the guy an offer and didn't hear back from him until after I bought this one. He came back with a slightly higher price than my offer but it would still have been a good deal I think. It was black though and my wife REALLY wanted a white one. So, time will tell but I hope we made a good decision. I know she is really excited about it.

What have I DONE?????? We haven't even picked it up yet and Eileen is sending me all kinds of links to accessories. I may have created a MONSTER. She is going to found out how much all those accessories I bought for the RSV REALLY cost.

I would say that I would NEVER ride on the back...but I know that somewhere, there is photo evidence to the contrary.

Well, here's the final deal. I've reached an agreement on a different one. Unless something unravels between now and the weekend, we will pick it up Saturday or Sunday. This one is only an hour away. I agree that the larger engine would have been a better choice but I just don't have that kind of money to spend right now and I don't know how much she will end up riding it. If she really loves it, we can upgrade later. So I ended up buying a 2012. RT Limited. Pearl White , Low Miles 6,225 Luxury Version equipped with: Vehicle Stability System Cruise Control Semi-automatic Transmission GPS - Garmin Zumo 660 w touch screen & Bluetooth wireless Chrome Wheels Electric Windshield 4 Semi-Rigid Travel Bags & Travel Covers -Full & Partial

Here's another picture that better shows the bags. They appear to be OEM bags.

Thanks for the response Gary. Luckily, this one already has the hard bags, higher and wider windshield, Highway pegs. I've heard of vibration and alignment issues also but if that is a problem, I'll get Marcarl down here and feed him for a weekend to help me get it straightened out. I know that he went through some of that with his.

I agree with you about the riding position. I tried one and it was NOT for me. This is for the wife though and she really enjoyed the pretty long test ride that she took at the same time. I am almost as tall as you and it didn't work for me. She is only about 5'4 though.

Eileen wants a Spyder. I don't know how much she'll ride it so am looking at used. Though I would like to get the touring model, we can't spend that much money right now so are looking at the RS and GS models. I have found one that seems to be priced pretty good and has a handful of options on it. It is a 2010 Roadster RS-S SE5 with 14,000 miles. [h=1][/h]Is there anything specific with this model that I should be concerned about? How many miles are these Rotax engines good for before major maintenance is required? Is there anybody here near the Big Bend, WI area that could stop by and look at it for me? If I buy it, I may pick it up and trailer it home. What size trailer do these things require?

I haven't paid for a while. This is an entirely different thing though. I think I once paid for more space but now they are charging to LINK. Very overpriced.