Weird Dealer Experience

[Woody]

Yesterday, I was shopping for my first Spyder and decided to visit a large dealer I had never been to before. I shall leave them anonymous here, just in case this was an anomaly. After a short while, I told the dealer salesman I had decided to buy a 2013 RT Ltd. but need to test drive one first, and asked about the license details, etc. He answered my questions and said "you can take one out after the pavement warms up for 10 or 15 minutes".

So, I left shortly thereafter and mentally crossed this dealer off the list.

[Bob Denman]

Ummm... How cold was it?
He might have been trying to say that he wanted the pavement to dry out a bit; the morning dew can spray all over a bike and make a mess that he'd rather avoid...

[boborgera]

Nothing wrong with that, Caution is in the best interest of the Dealer [liability]

[mjw930]

These are not all season tires, they don't work well at road temperatures below 40 degrees. They aren't as bad as pure summer tires and the traction and stability controls will basically save your ass but I think the dealer was erroring on the side of caution. I wouldn't be crossing him off my list so fast.

[Chupaca]

Lots to see in a large dealership, should have given him the 10/15 min's and seen what happened. Maybe give it another shot. They would not let me test ride one until I gave proof of ability to pay for one..

[Bob Denman]

[arntufun]

These are not all season tires, they don't work well at road temperatures below 40 degrees. They aren't as bad as pure summer tires and the traction and stability controls will basically save your ass but I think the dealer was erroring on the side of caution. I wouldn't be crossing him off my list so fast.

I'm not sure where you got this info from but, some people ride in those temps all the time with no issues. Come on up from the Florida sun and I'll show you these are pretty good cold weather tires.

[mrfats]

I'm not sure where you got this info from but, some people ride in those temps all the time with no issues. Come on up from the Florida sun and I'll show you these are pretty good cold weather tires.

And that's what I was thinkin too.

[JJW SpyderRider]

I'm not sure where you got this info from but, some people ride in those temps all the time with no issues. Come on up from the Florida sun and I'll show you these are pretty good cold weather tires.

I ride down to 15 as long as the road is dry. If there is some frost on the road I stay off until it warms up enough to dry off.

[harrypottar]

But you own your spyders and are used to them, a new spyder rider they have to look at the liability. There is a motorcycle dealer round the corner from me (not cam-am) , that do not allow test rides at all, I walked out but they're still in business.

On my test ride of the spyder the dealer came with me on another Sypder, when I brought my goldwing a while back the dealer just gave me the keys and said go have fun for a couple of hours.

I would hate to be a dealer and have to offer test rides to every Tom dick and harry that walks in, but to do business I guess you have too.

harry

[Woody]

I didn't so much care about not test driving yesterday as I was about only getting to test a $28K plus machine for 10-15 minutes.

Maybe he just got done watching the Jeff Gordon Camaro commercial.

[Huntindawg1962]

Lots to see in a large dealership, should have given him the 10/15 min's and seen what happened. Maybe give it another shot. They would not let me test ride one until I gave proof of ability to pay for one..

How does one prove the ability to pay? Flash an AMEX gold card or ??

[mjw930]

I'm not sure where you got this info from but, some people ride in those temps all the time with no issues. Come on up from the Florida sun and I'll show you these are pretty good cold weather tires.

I got this information by knowing about tire compounding technology from a previous life in the automotive industry. I've also spend more than my fair share of time in cold climates <brrrrrr>

The fact is that non winter rated tires have measurably less available grip at tread temperatures below 40 degrees and it falls off dramatically as the temperatures drop below freezing. Tires with an M&S rating, commonly called "All Season", have compounds who's performance fall off more gradually as they get colder then non all season tires. Winter tires are the best as they require very little temperature to provide a high coefficient of friction.

While the tires on the Spyder are not technically "summer" rated tires, simple physics dictates at lower temperatures their coefficient of friction is less. Does that mean you are going to go spinning wildly off the road when it's below 40 degrees, of course not. What it does mean is the uninitiated rider is going to experience things differently at these colder temps until the tires come up to temperature.

I'm sure those who ride at temps approaching freezing are perfectly happy with the performance of these tires since 95% of the time most riders never come close to approaching the limits of their tires. If you were to actually perform a test at various temperatures you would see quickly how your lap times increase and the temperature decreases but hey, we aren't racing so I suppose it's a moot point.

Like I said earlier, the dealer was probably operating with an abundance of caution, nothing more.

[Woody]

It was 40-45 and sunny yesterday about 3:00 when the dealer told me this. The roads were totally dry.

[Chupaca]

Lots to see in a large dealership, should have given him the 10/15 min's and seen what happened. Maybe give it another shot. They would not let me test ride one until I gave proof of ability to pay for one..

How does one prove the ability to pay? Flash an AMEX gold card or ??

They only allow you to charge 2000.00 so you have to fill out app and get approved. Or cash..!! And then you can't leave the parking lot...

[Huntindawg1962]

They only allow you to charge 2000.00 so you have to fill out app and get approved. Or cash..!! And then you can't leave the parking lot...

So you had to have a credit application check or have enough cash (basically complete a sale) before a test ride was made available?

[Captain Fin]

How does one prove the ability to pay? Flash an AMEX gold card or ??

I flash a smile with my gold teeth!

[cdavid]

Last year when I was shopping for the Spyder, I visited a couple of dealers in my area. The closest one offered test rides. I went back during the week, just after the shop opened up. I had to let them copy my drivers license, other than that no issues getting me out on the Demo Spyder. The sale guy walked me thru the Spyder's controls and operation. He suggested to go for a ride of 20 minutes or so. I came back after about 45 minutes. Had a big smile on my face. We talked some after the ride, got some numbers from him and left. The demo unit was an SE-5, I was sure I wanted the SM-5 before the test ride, however the test ride changed my mind. Three days later I came back and bought my RT-S SE-5.

[rcturner]

My dealer is in rural Minnesota so, that may have made a difference but, they gave me a short tutorial on how to run it, gave me the keys and said to go for a good ride. Then, when we returned they made me a very good offer for my trade, offered no interest and no payments for 6 months and sold me their new RT Limited off of the floor. I took it home that afternoon.

[SpydeRider2010]

go back and take a second shot at it.
caution is worth it, on a type of bike
you've ridden...

[Illinois Boy]

Yesterday, I was shopping for my first Spyder and decided to visit a large dealer I had never been to before. I shall leave them anonymous here, just in case this was an anomaly. After a short while, I told the dealer salesman I had decided to buy a 2013 RT Ltd. but need to test drive one first, and asked about the license details, etc. He answered my questions and said "you can take one out after the pavement warms up for 10 or 15 minutes".

So, I left shortly thereafter and mentally crossed this dealer off the list.

I am not really surprised that a dealer was only offering a 10-15 minute demo-ride. That is long enough for most to get a feel for what Spyder is.

If you felt after that ride you were going to be serious, and started talking hard-numbers, it would be my guess you could ask and receive permission to take it out again for a more serious ride...

A large dealer probably has a lot of people wanting to ride the machines with less than serious intentions of buying.

[bruiser]

I'd give them another chance too.
I still don't buy into the tire issue. Why would a company put tires that don't provide good traction on a vehicle sold in all types of operating environments worlwide?

[Illinois Boy]

I'd give them another chance too.
I still don't buy into the tire issue. Why would a company put tires that don't provide good traction on a vehicle sold in all types of operating environments worlwide?

First off, the OP might have been confused by some... He stated he would be allowed to take a 10-15 minute ride when the temps warmed up -- NOT that he had to wait 10-15 minutes to take a ride.

To your point; I am sure BRP believes there are not going to be too many people riding in temps at 40 and below consistently... And I am almost sure a majority of owners do not. Just a hunch...

And besides... you cannot have a tire that performs optimally at all temp-ranges. A compound to do that hasn't been developed yet.

So they use a tire that performs best in the temp-range they expect their product to be operated at most frequently. 40 and below starts to fall out of that range... I would think.

[sawtooth]

I would think BRP would provide warnings on the vehicle, in the manual, and verbals from the dealer if it were unsafe to ride at temps below 40. Law suits over matters less trivial than this issue pop up every day. I drive my car in temps below zero at times without all weather tires and have yet to have handeling problems.
Having said that give this dealer a second chance.

[Blue Star]

I have been on two demo rides where BRP brings demo bikes with them. On the first ride the route was only about 20 minutes, and the second would have been 15 had one of the bikes not broke down.