I am a good person. I do not deserve to have my lovely Can Am vehicle sit in the garage, unusable.
Let me explain; I purchased the vehicle in July 2018, and it still has little over 4000 miles on it. Granted I am often away, but when I am here I hesitate to ride because I never know when the gears will freeze on me. Any gear, from first to fifth to reverse, when it happens there is no reason and no forewarning. Call the bed truck with the ramp. Back to the shop. When cooled down, all back to normal!
I would love to hear anyone else who has the same problem. I have had (on my dime, of course) the oil replaced twice, the battery replaced, the solenoids replaced, and any and all other tweaks done. I purchased (never again!) full coverage but was told the problem was transient until my coverage expired. Then $$$$ .
I have been accused of "doing something" to cause this. Those four thousand miles were added on rides where absolutely nothing untoward happened, and I enjoyed every mile. Same person riding!
It is in the shop now again. I have again suggested, as I did before the expensive "repairs" (per the BRP warranty bulletin from, coincidentally July 2018) that the entire left hand assembly and wiring needs to be replaced. Still waiting for a reply.
This dealership is, well, what it is. It is part of the Ride Now chain, in Texas. I have purchased five bikes from them and done all my Can Am maintenance there, mostly because in my city they are a monopoly for BRP. I would love to go elsewhere, but can't.
Any stories with hints as to the cause would be greatly appreciated. I am brokenhearted about this.
I am a good person. I do not deserve to have my lovely Can Am vehicle sit in the garage, unusable.
Let me explain; I purchased the vehicle in July 2018, and it still has little over 4000 miles on it. Granted I am often away, but when I am here I hesitate to ride because I never know when the gears will freeze on me. Any gear, from first to fifth to reverse, when it happens there is no reason and no forewarning. Call the bed truck with the ramp. Back to the shop. When cooled down, all back to normal!
I would love to hear anyone else who has the same problem. I have had (on my dime, of course) the oil replaced twice, the battery replaced, the solenoids replaced, and any and all other tweaks done. I purchased (never again!) full coverage but was told the problem was transient until my coverage expired. Then $$$$ .
I have been accused of "doing something" to cause this. Those four thousand miles were added on rides where absolutely nothing untoward happened, and I enjoyed every mile. Same person riding!
It is in the shop now again. I have again suggested, as I did before the expensive "repairs" (per the BRP warranty bulletin from, coincidentally July 2018) that the entire left hand assembly and wiring needs to be replaced. Still waiting for a reply.
This dealership is, well, what it is. It is part of the Ride Now chain, in Texas. I have purchased five bikes from them and done all my Can Am maintenance there, mostly because in my city they are a monopoly for BRP. I would love to go elsewhere, but can't.
Any stories with hints as to the cause would be greatly appreciated. I am brokenhearted about this.
... I'm guessing you have the ...SE transmission ??? .... IMHO " transmission locking up " sounds bizarre. I believe the 2018 spyders had a quite few with defective left side paddle controls ( when NEW ) .... " but was told the problem was TRANSIENT until my coverage EXPIRED " what exactly does THAT mean ... FOUR oil changes ... I think the main issue may be your DEALER ..... I hope when you bought the Spyder the OIL was correctly measured into the engine. ? When you shift ( up or down ) do you ROLL off the throttle ..... if so DON"T ... I have drag raced my 14 RT SE and it shifts perfectly at WOT .... good luck .... keep us informed .... Mike
By your description of the symptoms, I don't think I would blame the left switch pack. There is nothing in there that would cause this problem and then go away after cooling down. I believe that is the main clue; temperature. Has this dealer ever hooked the bike up to BUDS and done any thorough troubleshooting per the service manual? Using BUDS, there are very many things that are checked in the transmission. It can also recalibrate the clutch line pressures, etc.
... I'm guessing you have the ...SE transmission ??? .... IMHO " transmission locking up " sounds bizarre. I believe the 2018 spyders had a quite few with defective left side paddle controls ( when NEW ) .... " but was told the problem was TRANSIENT until my coverage EXPIRED " what exactly does THAT mean ... FOUR oil changes ... I think the main issue may be your DEALER ..... I hope when you bought the Spyder the OIL was correctly measured into the engine. ? When you shift ( up or down ) do you ROLL off the throttle ..... if so DON"T ... I have drag raced my 14 RT SE and it shifts perfectly at WOT .... good luck .... keep us informed .... Mike
Maybe I explained badly, the problem is that the impulse to change gears is not arriving at the transmission. As far as I know the transmission is just fine. It is obviously (what do I know?) an electrical problem.
I don't roll off the throttle when accelerating, but I do like to fly off from a stop with rapid shifting, and I love to downshift. I was told to make it scream before changing gears, but I am sensitive to driving slowly (less than 60) at 7000 rpms!!
Only two complete fluids changes, not four.
Who knows if it was given to me in perfect shape? It worked fine for almost a year before the trouble presented.
Having purchased full coverage (extra, including any kind of trouble) for two years, I was told the problem was just a glitch. They were fully aware of the problem, but couldn't make it misbehave at their shop. Meanwhile my coverage expired and afterwards I was told a series of possible remedies involving out of (my) pocket expense. Who's the fool? I went for it.
Now? Fingers crossed, but if they give it back and it won't shift again guess I will have to trade it in...some other dealer, obviously.
Thanks for responding!
What's BUDS? I will rag on them about it for sure, but I need to understand what it is so I don't embarrass myself...Assuming it is a computerized diagnostic?
It sounds to me like your left handle controls have gone bad. This is not uncommon for a 2018 F3 or RT. On my F3L it started to fail when it was a about a year old. BRP issued a TSB Warranty notice about this and had mine replaced free of charge. Sorry I cannot find the TSB number right now. Maybe someone else can find it. It should start with an 18-. Your dealer should be able to find it. Depending on what it says it may be covered. If not a request could be put it in to cover it under good will.
Maybe I explained badly, the problem is that the impulse to change gears is not arriving at the transmission. As far as I know the transmission is just fine. It is obviously (what do I know?) an electrical problem.
I don't roll off the throttle when accelerating, but I do like to fly off from a stop with rapid shifting, and I love to downshift. I was told to make it scream before changing gears, but I am sensitive to driving slowly (less than 60) at 7000 rpms!!
Only two complete fluids changes, not four.
Who knows if it was given to me in perfect shape? It worked fine for almost a year before the trouble presented.
Having purchased full coverage (extra, including any kind of trouble) for two years, I was told the problem was just a glitch. They were fully aware of the problem, but couldn't make it misbehave at their shop. Meanwhile my coverage expired and afterwards I was told a series of possible remedies involving out of (my) pocket expense. Who's the fool? I went for it.
Now? Fingers crossed, but if they give it back and it won't shift again guess I will have to trade it in...some other dealer, obviously.
Thanks for responding!
Sorry about the " FOUR " oil changes - my error ....However TWO " FLUID " changes in 4000mi. is in-sane .... and you have the same engine I have ( the 1330 cc triple cyl.) The engine is not a normally driven at HIGHER RPM's ... it is more like a Harley ie. low revs with lots of Grunt ( torque )... I normally drive in the 3000 rpm range and not many keep up with me in the " twistie's "..... And I think your biggest problem is your DEALER ... HE / They think they can take advantage of you .... Read your owners manual ... if you don't have one google it on-line ..... BillyBovine is one of the smartest people on the forum ..... and where in Texas are you, lots folks from Texas on this Forum and could provide some in person assistance ...... Mike
I never know when the gears will freeze on me. Any gear, from first to fifth to reverse
When did this issue begin, miles and date?
When you push the shift paddle, is there any change in the console display (1-5, R)?
When you push the shift paddle, do you hear any noise from the gearbox solenoids?
When cooled down, all back to normal!
Is the issue affected by ambient air temperature or engine coolant temperature?
Or by cooled down, do you really mean not a specific temperature but rather after a period time riding with everything warmed up the issue occurs?
Granted I am often away
How many days are you away between rides?
What preparations do you make for away times (eg, storage protection, battery tender, etc).
the solenoids replaced
Which, specifically, solenoids were replaced?
I have again suggested, as I did before the expensive "repairs" that the entire left hand assembly and wiring needs to be replaced.
Sadly, this is the most likely cause of your problem. It's sad for two reasons. First, the assembly is expensive to buy and expensive to install. Second, the back order time seems to be at least four months.
2014 Can-Am Spyder RT-S SE6 Freeway Commuter Pod
2016 Royal Enfield Classic 500 Fair-Weather Mountain Bike
Well Sandral, that Warranty Bulletin applies to your situation. Crazy why they didn't address that first. Should be done at no charge to you. Read for yourself. ( give it a few seconds) Too bad you can't use another dealer. Good Luck.
F4 Customs SWCV, Ultimate, Lidlox, Adjustable Side Vents, Leather Like Grips, SS Grills, Centramatic, Garmin XT2, BajaRon Original Sway Bar w/ Lamonster links, P238
As Billybovine mentioned, see attached Service Bulletin 2018-5, sorry for the poor quality of the poster.
My shifter paddle was replaced under warranty back in 2018, while the problems seems to have been mostly with downshifting, some like myself have had problems with upshifting.
From what you said here, you seem to have problems both up and downshifting.
Two other users on here currently have the same issue and according to them the required part is back ordered till June.
Yes, thank you. That was what I gave the manager who handed it back to me saying, "This is just a TSB notice, not a recall notice." Hmmm. So I am hoping that they will see that this was an ongoing problem, with a FIX IT directive, that occurred while I was still under warrantee. Hope is always good...I really do not want to get lawyers involved. But all that work I had done to try and fix the problem? They should have told me FIRST about this notice and fixed it. ($%#&&*@) Thank you for your input!
Thank you for this info. I am gone a lot, for months, but I have my sons who put the Spyder through the motions for battery, etc. If it cost me $1400 how many solenoids is that? Don't know. The problem is obviously electronic in nature. No change on the display, and no "ker-thunk" when the gear engages. Because it doesn't engage. Sometimes after turning it off, and waiting a bit, it will do reverse and neutral. But that's it. In this case the R and N are on the display. Anyway, thank you so much for the information, every little bit helps!
Sadly, this is the most likely cause of your problem. It's sad for two reasons. First, the assembly is expensive to buy and expensive to install. Second, the back order time seems to be at least four months.
I've been waiting for mine since last Oct. Newest "estimated" arrival date is July, if true or accurate, that's nine months.
Greg Kamer
"It's better to be not riding and wishing you were than be riding and wishing you weren't."
USAF, 20 years, retired
Sheriff's Office, 23 years, retired
BUDS is a computer system used by (good) shop tech/mechanics to diagnose problems of the bike. The bikes have a bunch of computers that record a multitude of events, including even the RPM's you change gears at.
Another idea, and maybe others with chime in, is BRP used to have a direct line customers could call for problems and they would start a "case" and contact your dealer to help resolve problems. Does anyone know if this still exists?
Two Wheelers from 1963-2011
Three Wheelers:
2011 RT(Red)
2014 RT(white)
2016 F3T(red)
2022 RT current ride(silver)
__________________
2016 Slingshot
2018 Vanderhall
2019 Slingshot
Oh Lordy. Wonder if I can order one and keep it around just in case?? (If they are too slow) Is there a seller such as Rockauto or something similar for BRP stuff?
Oh Lordy. Wonder if I can order one and keep it around just in case?? (If they are too slow) Is there a seller such as Rockauto or something similar for BRP stuff?
You probably could just Google the part number and get a list of places that offer it. The part # for an 2018 Spyder RT Limited is 710006574. That's what I did.
Greg Kamer
"It's better to be not riding and wishing you were than be riding and wishing you weren't."
USAF, 20 years, retired
Sheriff's Office, 23 years, retired
I ordered one from Cheap Cycle Parts 11 days ago, got it today for what its worth. Took one hour to install. They showed 4 in stock when I ordered it.
That is wonderful! Looking at the site, I cannot find the appropriate diagram that seems to correspond to the left hand electronic assembly for shifting, signals, etc. Can you help me out? What exactly will I order from them? When I look for the handlebar electrical assembly it only gives me 2019, nothing for 2018. My Can Am is an F3-T. Not an RT LTD.
Would the switch housing be the same? I know plenty of stuff, but not this stuff... Appreciate the help.
2018 F3-T shifting disaster
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Sandral
... I'm guessing you have the ...SE transmission ??? .... IMHO " transmission locking up " sounds bizarre. I believe the 2018 spyders had a quite few with defective left side paddle controls ( when NEW ) .... " but was told the problem was TRANSIENT until my coverage EXPIRED " what exactly does THAT mean ... FOUR oil changes 
Some questions
Appreciate the help.
