Biuld quality

[MOSESS]

The finished build quality is at best very poor. I am losing bolts every trip and lock tight is in the tool rap. I find this very sad for a pricy machine . the frunk is crap and its locking system along with being flimsy. the seats is the same . Can Am do you hear me your building a crappy machine. Yes you got my funds and you don't care, had to get this off my chest. I am a little pissed at this development at this time...If I could take it back I would.....

[SpyderAnn01]

The adjustment of the seat and the trunk closing are things that your dealer should have tested and adjusted during setup. What do they say about it?

[Bob Denman]

You did spell, "Build" incorrectly, in your Title to the thread...
I guess that we ALL could use some improving; right?

Beyond that: I'm pretty happy with my 2014 RT-L.
Is it perfect? Nope!

One more thing: It is, "you're": not "your".

[JCWeatherman]

The finished build quality is at best very poor. I am losing bolts every trip and lock tight is in the tool rap. I find this very sad for a pricy machine . the frunk is crap and its locking system along with being flimsy. the seats is the same . Can Am do you hear me your building a crappy machine. Yes you got my funds and you don't care, had to get this off my chest. I am a little pissed at this development at this time...If I could take it back I would.....

Thanks for the rant, because I'm mobile today (Tap a Talk), I can't see what you ride. Did you just buy it? New our used? Model? Year? For the record, I'm 97 percent satisfied with my 2013 STL. There are a few things Can Am could have done better (beefier anti sway bar, better alignment, to name a couple), but all-in-all, it's a great ride.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Chupaca]

You may find your in the minority on this one...I have no complaints but then I have an RS which suffer less maladies. But all I ryde with have not had major issues. Adjusting things is part of owning one of these open air machines you manhandle down the back roads. Every vehicle I have owned has had something fall off of it..but hey you are having a tough time and I understand your rant...hope you have some better days ahead...

[Fatcycledaddy]

I am over all thrilled with my 2015 RTL. I did have the antenna fall off the first trip out with less than 3,000 miles on it. Can Am sent me an updated one with the lock tight pre-applied, 13,000 miles later it is still there.

If you purchased this new then the dealer should do a better job putting it together, if it is used, them whom ever had the plastic off last might not have put it back together as it should be. A lot of plastic has to come off for every service, most mods or farkels, and for many other reasons. The more it comes off and goes back on the less holding power the factory applied lock tight on the screws have.

I would be hard pressed to blame Can Am for these problems without more information.

[cuznjohn]

every thing has problems, i am happy with my 14 rt

[billybovine]

Last week there was thread ranting about how they use too much loctite. Can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time.

[rcturner]

The adjustment of the seat and the trunk closing are things that your dealer should have tested and adjusted during setup. What do they say about it?

Yes but, they shouldn't have to. It should be correct from the factory. This is a big reason my Harley UC found a new home.

[ARtraveler]

Sorry to hear of your unhappiness with the new . Most of the items you mentioned--should have been adjusted and checked at the dealer before delivery. Some dealers are better than others when setting up a new machine. If you have bolts and nuts falling off, I would suggest taking a half hour or so and doing a good check over--or--take it back to the dealer and let them give it a good "twice" over.

Let us know how this all works out for you. I for one, hope you become a happy owner.

[rwc]

You will be in the minority on this Spyder lovers site. I absolutely agree with you that the Can Am engineers attitude is that is good enough to get by.

[900Dave]

You would still be in the minority if this was not a Spyder Lovers site. The people I normally ride with are not on Spyder Lovers at all and they have none of the complaints mentioned above.
I am absolutely thrilled with my 2016 F3 Limited. 4500 miles in the first 2 months and no issues what so ever.

[JkRbbt]

OK, I will be the "minority". I understand his frustration. Don't get me wrong. I now have a 2015 F3-S that I truly enjoy, but had REALLY poor luck/satisfaction with a 2013 RTL and a 2014 RTS before I got here. The 2013 heat issues are well known and my 2014 only had 800 miles on it when it went back to the shop for the 3rd time with mystery overheating! I do love riding my F3, but I will concede one point, BRP could use a little upgrade on quality control! BTW, when I took my side panels off my F3 to install fog lights, I found screws that were barely threaded into the fasteners. I'd have never seen them if I had't removed the panels. I think that comes under QC! OK, ready for the flaming!

[Pampurrs]

I was told by a saleperson at RideNow, that a great deal of final assembly is done at the dealership when the new Spyders arrive. I'm not sure how much is done at the dealership, but if this is true, the dealer could be to blame for much of these problems.

Pam

[SPYD3R]

I was told by a saleperson at RideNow, that a great deal of final assembly is done at the dealership when the new Spyders arrive. I'm not sure how much is done at the dealership, but if this is true, the dealer could be to blame for much of these problems.

Pam

Pammy;
i watched my F3 from 'uncrating' to 'ride-off'....
they strip the packaging, mount the front wheels, assemble the front fenders, mount the *windshield, *optional lights (*if you get them) and that's about it....
oh, they did check the fluids and psi in the tires... started it up, rode it around the block, and came back and handed me the keys....
SPYD3R

[Pampurrs]

Pammy;
i watched my F3 from 'uncrating' to 'ride-off'....
they strip the packaging, mount the front wheels, assemble the front fenders, mount the *windshield, *optional lights (*if you get them) and that's about it....
oh, they did check the fluids and psi in the tires... started it up, rode it around the block, and came back and handed me the keys....
SPYD3R

I guess that's what they were trying to charge me a $2,500 "assembly fee" for.

Pam

[SpyderAnn01]

I guess that's what they were trying to charge me a $2,500 "assembly fee" for.

Pam

There is a bit more assembly done on the RT than was described on the F3 so you may only have been overcharged by $2,000 or so.

[rcturner]

I think that comes under QC! OK, ready for the flaming!

This is not poor QC. It is poor assembly line processing and/or poor assembly (either is usually a management issue). Quality is determined by comparing the quality that management expects from their product assembly lines to what they actually get. If management only expects 75% of the fasteners to be tight and 80% are, they have excellent quality. A Pinto can easily exceed a Lincoln in quality simply because of management expectations. Low expectations usually pays off in low customer satisfaction also. That is a totally different problem and, depending on customer tolerance, will bite them in the shorts and eliminate them from the competative market. Usually for good.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

BRP could use a little upgrade on quality control! BTW, when I took my side panels off my F3 to install fog lights, I found screws that were barely threaded into the fasteners. I'd have never seen them if I had't removed the panels. I think that comes under QC! OK, ready for the flaming!

This is not poor QC. It is poor assembly line processing and/or poor assembly (either is usually a management issue). Quality is determined by comparing the quality that management expects from their product assembly lines to what they actually get. If management only expects 75% of the fasteners to be tight and 80% are, they have excellent quality. A Pinto can easily exceed a Lincoln in quality simply because of management expectations. Low expectations usually pays off in low customer satisfaction also. That is a totally different problem and, depending on customer tolerance, will bite them in the shorts and eliminate them from the competative market. Usually for good.

Rc has it pretty much correct, IMO. However, the poor assembly is covered by the Quality Assurance (QA) program which prescribes what is expected of each assembly line worker. The traditional QC program is nothing more than an inspection system, and I have always characterized the QC inspector as simply a historian. He/she records the history of the upline assembly workers. I have always defined QA as the system that answers the question, "How do we know what are we supposed to do, and how do we know how well we have done it?" I don't believe BRP understands this as well as they should. One example of an inadequate QA system is the user and service manuals. There are thousands of examples where the nomenclature for a part changes from year to year. The organization of the parts manual changes from year to year. Nomenclature for a part is different in the service manual text vs the parts list vs the owner's manual. The lack of attention to documentation consistency is a clear indicator, IMO, that BRP just doesn't understand QA.

Here is one possible scenario I will speculatively offer. I would expect the fasteners are mostly driven in with automatic drivers that are programmed to stop at the correct torque. If someone grabbed a driver that was set for a lighter torque, or the torque was incorrectly set on his driver, and didn't have the experience or knowledge to notice that the torque was wrong, they could be happily driving screw after screw all day and not know they were (pardon the pun) screwing up. Young people today are not being taught to think, or how to troubleshoot. So often they simply take a tool and use it without the foggiest idea of how to truly know if it is operating correctly.

[AY4B]

Im pretty Happy camper aside from the alingment, a few $5 screws missing on the body panels , a missing spring on the exhaust of the primary muffler, but who needs all those extras, just ryde! (But make sure you take plenty of oil with you.)

[Fatcycledaddy]

Im pretty Happy camper aside from the alingment, a few $5 screws missing on the body panels , a missing spring on the exhaust of the primary muffler, but who needs all those extras, just ryde! (But make sure you take plenty of oil with you.)

Do the 998's use oil? I have never had to add oil to my 1330. Right at 9,000 miles on this change after the trip and it is still not down at all.

[Jim&Teresa]

Do the 998's use oil? I have never had to add oil to my 1330. Right at 9,000 miles on this change after the trip and it is still not down at all.

This thread is about the quality of the bike. Well, Spyders are developing like any other piece of equipment and getting refined.

We are VERY happy with both Spyders we have had.

The first Spyder was a 2012 RT Limited - NO issues, very dependable, (it did use some oil and I carried a quart with me during long trips). We traded it in on our 2014 RT Limited.

The 2014 RT Limited is AWESOME with the 1330 triple and 6 speed trans. I really like the lower RPM's for cruising and the quiet ride.

As far as quality, I think that both of these machines are a very good quality. We also own a Gold Wing which has been around for over 40 years. It's a fine machine, but if I wanted to get really critical, I could probably find a few items on it that I would like improved as well.

Overall, we have over 36,000 "trouble free" miles combined on Spyders. Over 28,000 miles on our 2014 RT Limited - it's been a very good machine! NEVER had to add any oil to this machine - runs great !!!!

We are happy with these bikes and plan on enjoying them - let's ride and enjoy! Mechanical and electrical items can and will fail....handle it at that time - don't worry, be happy!

[Bob Denman]

[rcturner]

Rc has it pretty much correct, IMO. However, the poor assembly is covered by the Quality Assurance (QA) program which prescribes what is expected of each assembly line worker. The traditional QC program is nothing more than an inspection system, and I have always characterized the QC inspector as simply a historian. He/she records the history of the upline assembly workers. I have always defined QA as the system that answers the question, "How do we know what are we supposed to do, and how do we know how well we have done it?" I don't believe BRP understands this as well as they should. One example of an inadequate QA system is the user and service manuals. There are thousands of examples where the nomenclature for a part changes from year to year. The organization of the parts manual changes from year to year. Nomenclature for a part is different in the service manual text vs the parts list vs the owner's manual. The lack of attention to documentation consistency is a clear indicator, IMO, that BRP just doesn't understand QA.

Here is one possible scenario I will speculatively offer. I would expect the fasteners are mostly driven in with automatic drivers that are programmed to stop at the correct torque. If someone grabbed a driver that was set for a lighter torque, or the torque was incorrectly set on his driver, and didn't have the experience or knowledge to notice that the torque was wrong, they could be happily driving screw after screw all day and not know they were (pardon the pun) screwing up. Young people today are not being taught to think, or how to troubleshoot. So often they simply take a tool and use it without the foggiest idea of how to truly know if it is operating correctly.

with the above completely. QA is a management issue that defines the requirements. QC is the the method that checks to see if the QA requirements are being met. After 40 years of dealing with QA and QC, I feel that QC is pretty much worthless. The problem however, is seldom the people. The problem is almost always at a much higher level.

[Dan McNally]

I had some issues with my 2013 RT Limited - most were heat related, and BRP finally fixed them. I'd get on it right now and ride anywhere in the country with no concern whether I'd get there or not - in fact, on Saturday, I'm leaving for a three-day weekend of ryding all day, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

If something breaks, I'll worry about it, then - but not before!

I love this machine - it has provided the most fun I've had as an old man!