Miles

The so-called "officer" in this case was WRONG. The bike rider should have asked to have a supervisor brought to the scene, and should have filed a complaint against the "officer" for rear-ending his bike. I have no problem with the bike passing the cop on the right, as he was in a legal lane of traffic, and his lane was moving slightly faster than the left lane. There is nothing in the books, in any state, that says you cannot pass a police vehicle while in the right lane of a four lane road. As far as the bike swerving slightly to the right, and then back to the left, while in his same lane, that is something that everyone of us has done at some time, because of going too slow, and a need to balance the bike in slow motion, while moving with traffic. Yes, he was close to the white/fog line. But the cop "assumed" incorrectly that the bike was pulling over...out of his lane, so the cop made the incorrect move to move over from the left lane to the right lane, directly behind the bike, and then when the bike...still in his lane, decided to give that white Nissan Altima a little room to get in...that was the car that was flashing it's blinker to move from the left lane to the right lane, the bike rider was trying to be curteous and let the white car in. Thta is when the cop rear-ended the bike. If the bike had not let the white car in, that Bad-Cop could have easily pulled the bike over for not yielding to traffic, and allowing the white car room to pull into his lane. Unfortunately this cop may have gotten away with it, this time. I would hope that a supervisor would view this video and have a hard talk with this bad cop. When any vehicle gets rear-ended, there is a 93.14159 % chance that the car in the back is at fault. This time, the cop was at fault, and he did what he could to blame the bike rider.

Careful Dan, some people might take that as a fun challenge. Dingy's bike may be able to do 120 in 3rd, which is faster than my RSMTD will do in 5th, but...I have no doubt that my RSMTD can make it from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine in less time than anyone's 1st gen bike can...

So......here is what we have decided to do. We found a company in the Portland, OR. area that rents these Can Am Spyders, and we are going to rent a couple of them for 24 hours, and then decide if we can eliminate them from our list...or if they are still on our list...of must have vehicles. If we spend 600 miles on them, return them within 24 hours, and get a good feeling for them, then we "may" buy one or two. It "may" work for my wife, but not work for me, and then we can decide. Remember, she rides her own, so just because it doesn't work for me, doesn't mean she won't get one.

While most people want to raise the rear end of their bikes, to ...level...it out, I have to agree that when I lowered the rear end of my '06 RSMTD, it felt a lot better. In stock "seat" mode, there was not reaslly a problem. But I had a Russell Day-Long saddle made for me, and the Russell seat adds almost 2 inches to the height of a stock seat. Once the Russell seat was on, it was unpleasant to stop...so I just kept riding forever, never putting my feet down:rotf:. Finally, I too added the Baron's lowering kit, got it from a fellow member of this forum, and I like what it did to the bike. I did relacate the rear brake caliper, no problem there. Once I put a LOT more miles on this change-over...I may in fact lower the front end...but at this moment, I am happy with how it rides.

For many years I would RIDE my bike from the Seattle area down to Daytona, for Bike Week, and for the Annual IronButt Association Pizza Party. In the IBA...it would be a sin to trailer or truck your bike to any event, especially one in Florida. Well, it would bug the heck out of me to see pickup after pickup, towing trailer after trailer, or all brands of bikes to Bike Week...and 90 % of these rigs had FLORIDA license plates on their trailers and pickups. I can NOT understand that. Are they all so lame that they actually have to trailer their bike...from Florida to Florida...so that their precious machine does not get a single bug on the chrome, or so that it has as few of miles as possible on it, when they trade it in when it hits one year old???? And these are the wannabees that insist on being called a BIKER. Yes, 90 % of the bikes in trailers were H-D's...the ones I could see, or the trailers with H-D labels on them, but I also saw every other brand too. Lame A&& no good for nothing wannabees.

So, does that mean you are using a Radial tire in the front, and a Bias Belt tire on the rear ????????????? Personally, I too have looked into this combo of wheels, using a Stratoliner 18" wheel on the front, and I even ordered one, but...I would not use a radial on the front, and a bial belt on the rear.

Brian, I may be in the same boat, when it comes to liking them, wanting to buy one or two of them, but in the long run, finding out enough info that dissuades me from making the purchase. I have been to the forums for Spyders. I do know all about the problems with the new 2013 models...alignments and ball joints. My biggest concern was the decision of an auto or manual. At this moment, the bloom may be off the rose.

You guys are all a bunch of poopy heads...oh yes I did !

Thanks, but...that is not going to tell me what I want to know, unless they alloow me to test ride the Spyder for 100,000 miles. I want to know if there are any inherent problems that Spyder owners have had with either trans. I have read the Spyder forums, but I want to hear from people on this forum, that own a Spyder. I have done the test ride, but I need more info.

I will echo what Howard just said. I cross the border into Canada several times a year, on ridesd, and I always find a very small border crossing to do it. I have crossed many times, and it is a breeze. Most really small crossing are a 1 minute wait, or no wait at all. Avoid the big crossings, and...see some nicer sights.

I need some opinions. I want to ask first: Does anyone on this forum actually own a CanAm Spyder????? Second: For those that do actually own one, do you own a RT-S, with the SE5 or SM5 transmissions?????? I am trying to decide between the auto trans or the manual trans, and want opinions from those that actually do own one of these. Please...please...if you do not own a CanAm Spyder, please do not respond to this post. So, CanAm Spyder owners, give me your opinions, auto trans or manual trans. I am leaning towards the auto trans, but want to know if anyone has experienced a problem with their aut trans. Yes, I still have many 2 wheeled motorcycles, so I am not giving that up. Yes, I have ridden a CanAm Spyder RT-S, with the SE5 trans, and that is what I used the most during last weekends Sidecar/Trike class. So, hit me...

If there is a Michaels store in your area, or close by, go buy them there. http://www.michaels.com/

Mike, after reading your post about the above listed gloves, it "forced me" to go outside to my motorcycle garage, and retrieve a pair of gloves I have been using for a long time. I have nothing good or bad to say about the gloves you posted above...other than...personally I would not want the hard carbon fiber looking guards on the knuckle areas, as it would not allow me to flex and grasp with the freedom I am used to. Those glove may be great, but I don't know. What I want to share with you is the info on the waterproof gloves that I use. Since most of my bikes have heated grips on them, I usually am not using heat gloves, although I do own two brand new pairs of Gerbings heated gloves. I will use those heated gloves sometime this year, but until then...and for many years in the past, I have been using a pair of: Cycloak...waterproof gloves, that have the name...Gore-Tex embroidered on the index finger of each glove, and the name...Kevlar embroidered on the wrist strap that is a velcro-enclosure for the wrist. Like you, I have tried many pairs of gloves over the years. I have spent a lot of $$$$ on gloves, only to find that they do not work. This pair...WORKS. After many, many, many years of riding many, many, many miles, these waterproof gloves are still 100 % waterproof, and are very comfortable. They are not too bulky, allow you to have good grip feel, are easy to get on or off, and I would buy another pair in a second...if I had the need to. See if you can find these in a search. I will try too, and post back here if I can find them. I don't even know if they still make them, but they are real good, and...most likely well under $ 100.00. Here is a pair of the exact gloves listed on e-bay, for $ 22.00 : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cycloak-GT-Pro-Glove-Small-/280420400526 Here is another listing for them, on another vendor site, with size selection:http://www.priceleap.com/compare-prices/Cycloak_GT_Pro_Gloves--4863210

Plumberman, if you want to offer that guage kit to others as a sale item, I would stand in line to buy one. That looks good, and on a RSTD, we would not have to worry about the handlebars hitting it, as our bars are wider at the base. I know this is on the RSV, but it should also fit a RSTD, eh ???????

I will echo wat Steve just said. I have pulled a Bushtec (my first one) back in 1989, when I bought it from Bill Bushling, the original owner and builder of the Bushtec trailers, before he sold the company to John Preston. I pulled that Turbo+2 trailer behind a bike on the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, at over 140 mph, and the bikes that were filming this event said that the faster I went, the trailer would actually lower itself, due to the rear spoiler. I believe that I have pulled the 2 Bushtec trailers I have owned probably more than 100,000 miles in all, and I would buy another one in a heart-beat...if I wanted another trailer. With a Bushtec trailer...you do in fact get what you pay for.

OR...if you want to spend over 5 grand for one, buy a Bushtec trailer. http://www.bushtec.com/Articles.asp?ID=161

Brian, since the seller is a member of this forum, you may want to offer him more than the asking price...just sayin'.

AHA...Brian, now you divulge much more info. If we had this same info on your first post, it might have helped. So, the current owner is a member of this forum. Tell us who and we will all track them down and...oh...I don't know what...make them buy Big Tom Ice Cream for the next year. And, now we know the current owner has every service record., and that HE is a long time rider, and experienced rider...all these things make a difference. Sounds like a good deal, so buy the bike !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don, I will take 15 of them. They will make nice hand-out gifts for any riders attending the Great Pacific Northwest Meet & Eat, April 27th.

Brian, the answers you get on this one are going to range all over the odometer...from the 80k on it, to 500k or more. There are sooooooo many subjective things that make a differwence when it comes to the life of an engine, and the entire motorcycle. In a direct answer to your question...with the condition that we..."assume" the bike is well cared for and maintained...you can probably expect a couple 100k (200,000 miles) out of it, or more. But, again, sooooo many factors determine whether it will last forever, or break down tomorrow. Does the previous owner (PO) have any records to show to you ? Any receipts, any service repair orders, etc. ? And, it depends on what a person means by...well cared for and maintained. There are some very good techs and mechanics on this forum that can get many, many, many miles out of a bike, if they bought it brand new, and if they maintained it themselves over the next 500,000 miles. And...there are some members of this forum that cannot change their own oil on the bike, and choose not to, so they leave it up to the shops to maintain their bikes. Be careful of what you buy, ask a member of this forum that lives close to you, to assist in checking out the bike, and once it is in your hands, change every fluid on the bike...on day # 1. Oh, did I forget to add...to some of us, that 80,000 miles represents one year of riding.

I think a lot of it has to do with what kind of trailer is being towed behind the bike. Unfortunetly, you did not tell us what kind of trailer you might be towing/pulling. In the past, I have owned and pulled two different Bushtec Turbo+2 trailers, and they are fantastic to pull behind a bike. I have also pulled a very large tent/camping trailer, that was soooooo heavy, that eventually I returned it to the manufacturer in Spearfish, DS., and they gave me all of my money back. Big difference between cargo trailer, and camping/tent trailer. Tongue weight is a big deal when loading a trailer. Then we get into tires size on the trailer, etc. But, to answer your immediate question...the RSV should be fine for towing a motorcycle trailer.

You are right, I do agree with what they had to say. These were good instructors....even if they do ride trikes and sidecar rigs I did learn a lot from them.

Okay, ya'all, I have completed the State mandated sidecar/trike class, and now have the certificate to turn in to the Dept. of Licensing, so that I can change my drivers license to allow me to ride anything made. At the start of class, there were a total of 12 of us students. There were 4 women riders, and 8 men riders. By the end of the first day, one of the women dropped out, saying it was just too much for her right now. At the start of the second day, with 11 students left, we had classroom again in the AM, and riding skills again in the afternoon. After the morning classroom education, we had what they gloriously call...a Celebration of Knowledge...meaning a written test. After the riding skills education in the afternoon, we had another Celebration of Knowledge...a riding skills test. There were some people that did not pass the written test, but were allowed to take the riding skills test, so that "if" they passed that, then could come back and simply take the written test again, hoping to pass it the second time. Of the 11 people that took the written test...8 people passed it. At the start of the riding skills test...there was only 10 of us, as one more of the women dropped out. Of those 10 people that were left to take the riding skills test...2 of the men riders were dropped out, due to failure to properly complete the riding skills test. Now we were down to 8 people left. One of the guys dropped out by the instructors was an older guy with his own personal HD trike. After all the education for two days, and written test and riding skills test were done by the end of the 2nd day, there were only 6 people that received their certificates for having passed both tests. 1 woman and 5 men. BTW, that 1 woman had never ridden a motorcycle or sidecar rig or trike before...ever. She had snowmobile experience, and is a flight attendent for Alaska Airlines, but she worked hard to learn what she needed to , and she did damn well. Of the 100 points available for the written test, and 100 points available for the riding skills test, for a total of 200 points, I scored a total of 194 points, for a total of 97% average. I have to say...I learned a LOT. The instructors were very good, two of the three instructors knew me, or knew of me, and we had a good time. Riding a sidecar rig is much harder than I ever thought it would be. The trike is a little easier, depending on model. We also had two Can Am Spyders...an RS, and an RTs, and they were a BLAST to ride around the course. The last riding skill test we had to do was to "fly the chair" in a full circle around a ring of cones, without putting the chair back down before the circle was completed. Once the skill was learned, I did a full 1 and a half circle with the chair flying. I opened my mind...kept my mouth partly shut:whistling:...and assisted other students as much as I could. There was great harmony and friendship amongst all student riders, and we all supported one another. I learned a LOT...or did I already say that? Yes I did, and it was worth repeating. As of NOW...the sidecar rig that I had a deposit on with Champion is going to be put on hold, and my wife and I are looking at getting at least one...maybe two...new Spyder RT's. It was all worth the experience to me. I have suggested that my wife take the same class, even though she already has the endorsement for 3 wheelers (grandfathered in by an error at Dept. of Licensing) So, that's all folks...

No progress, as I have changed my mind as to what to do with this '06 RSMTD. I have other plans now. Thanks for following up on this though,

Personally, I think this is a very bad idea.