Vibration at 67-75 MPH on F3-S

[Liberty Vallance]

Tom - Thanks for the detailed response! That does not really describe what I am feeling. I need to take it to the dealer one of the days they are open and it is above freezing! Mine is very consistent. Starting at around 65 and most prevalent between 69-71 just rolling on the throttle causes a very noticeable vibration that lasts 1.5-3 seconds...I am hesitant to take it to the dealer because that means they need to test ride it and I don't want anyone riding my bike!

I know this is an old thread, I am very new just bought 2016 RT Limited 5 days ago. Noticed the vibration you mentioned right near the speeds you mentioned kinda freaking me out.
did you ever find anything out on how to stop it or was it something wrong and not just harmonic from the belt?

any help will be appreciated...

[rtlister]

It is the drive belt vibration. I had / have the same thing. There are a couple products on the market. Google Smooth Spyder (I think that's what it's called). Nearly all Spyders have this issue. You would think Can Am would have addressed it.

When I first got my Spyder and drove on the Interstate and experienced that vibration (starts around 67-70). I thought something was terribly wrong! There is a youtube video that shows the belt (Go Pro cam) vibration before and after...the Smooth Rider attachment.

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[PaladinLV]

Harley belts are TOO SHORT to cause a harmonic vibration.

AJ

Non of my three belt drives on my three Harley's ever did that Bob. Nor has any of my belt drives vibrated on my two Spiders. Belt is loose or not aligned properly is the culprit.

Jack

[btcherm]

Oh; but I HAVE...
I will say this for them: they have the best-made mirrors on the Planet...
If they weren't so good; the glass would pop out of them in a heartbeat!

[rtlister]

Watch these three short videos, each about the Spyder belt vibrations:

https://youtu.be/jQRHcKqlVUc

https://youtu.be/MbAu3S1-KRo

https://youtu.be/wxCtlCxfsqw

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[catfishyates]

New F3 owner as well. 3weeks now and 400 miles. Told dealer about vibration issue and they said YEP! It does that! Unbelievable that they don't have this problem fixed from the factory. A $20k bike should not have that issue. But what's worse is the dealer should just tell you up front that this is a characteristic of the bike.

[vondalyn]

so... usually I try not to get involved when this topic comes around again, but I've seen posts where folks have said that after X miles (3000 miles?) there was no more vibration so it seems to be a belt break-in issue? I do that in about a month, so maybe that's why I never noticed it.

[rtlister]

My 2014 RT Limited has over 19,000 miles. It still has the vibration that begins (depending on whether going up hill or down) approx 67-70 mph. It's always done it, including after an adjustment from one of the biggest (and best) Can Am dealerships in the country. I have heard of many other RT owners who have the same issue. And yes, the response that most get from Can Am is ..."that's the nature of the beast...don't worry about it".

At some point I am going to put the belt stabilizer on mine. :-)

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[ZENspyderman]

Non of my three belt drives on my three Harley's ever did that Bob. Nor has any of my belt drives vibrated on my two Spiders. Belt is loose or not aligned properly is the culprit.

Jack

I AGREE my harley NEVER did this. This is totally a BRP problem, same with Lazer alignment. GET with IT BRP.

Great Machine 2016 RT LTD but at 40,000.00 dollars BRP tune it up!!!!!.

[catfishyates]

so... usually I try not to get involved when this topic comes around again, but I've seen posts where folks have said that after X miles (3000 miles?) there was no more vibration so it seems to be a belt break-in issue? I do that in about a month, so maybe that's why I never noticed it.

That is good to hear. Hope it goes away on mine!

[Bruce B]

so... usually I try not to get involved when this topic comes around again, but I've seen posts where folks have said that after X miles (3000 miles?) there was no more vibration so it seems to be a belt break-in issue? I do that in about a month, so maybe that's why I never noticed it.

Don't believe all that you read on here that there is such a thing as (belt break-in issue) these are of carbon composite belts so you will get a minimum amount of stretch and after several thousand miles you can get wear on the teeth plus you can get holes punch throw it with stones, been there done that.

All Spyders from day one have had the same problem belt vibration and BRP have known about it but don't want to fix it as there are now several belt tensioners out there on the market so why would they waste there money fixing the problem, they don't care about your problems never have and never will care.

I put a lot of the blame on the dealers they know about the problem but do they ever tell a prospective buyer no way, all Spyders have belt vibration and when you go back to them they all check belt tension and in most cases tighten it more, when the best thing is to reduce the tension down to around 180lb and fit a Smooth Spyder belt tensioner end of problem believe me it works the best plus by doing that it reducers the tension on the front pulley which some are having problems with all mainly because of to belt much tension.

Now I have designed a belt stone guard setup for the 2015 F3 / S and have now fitted several of them with excellent results.

[T-Mac]

Everyone should take it to the dealer when they get enough complaints they will look into some kind of fix.if just a few complain they will say it's normal.

I have my excessive belt vibration documented repeatedly at my dealer & have brought it to BRP's attention.

While in communication with BRP, I've been given the "bla bla bla" normal, this is the way it is speil, but was informed my machine has been known to have the chassis crack due to "excessive belt vibration" & my dealer may warrant installing a bracket under my drivers' seat to prevent such breakage.

That is an admittance of a fault!!! And a pretty damn serious one, in my opinion.

So, instead of placing a damn band aid on a broken leg, why not fix the underlying issue by supplying us (owners) with a belt tensioner (damper) instead???

I'm already experiencing other vibration-related issues with my F3 that is less than 7 months old. It's already had the belt adjusted & while I have it in this Friday to have other issues addressed (due to the excessive vibration) I will have the belt adjusted again.

I was also informed that if I were to install an aftermarket belt tensioner (such as the one offered at smoothspyder.com) I will void my warranty. To me, that means BRP has given me two options on how to cope with my excessive vibration & they are take it or leave it.

While reading test ride articles in magazines, BRP states "we are aware of the belt vibration & are working on ways to correct this issue."

I believe they should be offering us all a free tensioner, at the very least.

This, by the way, is not my first "bike" nor is it my first belt drive. I can't count how many I've had. I'm fully aware of the length of the Spyder belt vs say, a Kawasaki, but you'd think that BRP would also be aware of the length & have designed SOMETHING to take up the slack. Gheesh, they've been at this now for a decade...