DESS Key code again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gmctech]

My buddy had a 2018 out for the weekend to test drive... guess what? it went back on a tow truck! 772 km on it, parked it overnight at a resort we were all staying at (20 some bikes) and the next morning CHECK KEY error.... needless to say he was spun off into a new dimension of pissed off, especially when the Honda guys, the Kawi guy (that's me) and the Harley guys were all able to finish our ride and his tester messed in the bed. In the very short future I will be offering (for a reasonable price) DESS deactivation to any and all that never want to experience this stupid UNFIXED engineering flaw; this deactivation will be good for all BRP products..... I'm an automotive Red Seal GM Grand Master Technician with SET (specialized electrical training/certification) so I'm pretty sure if I couldn't get it running nobody could... I even tried a redundant ground ESD/EMI drain wire to the casing of the ignition switch housing in case there was a static charge in the pickup coil all to no avail.

I do A LOT of work on local Spyders... I'm in no way shape or form crapping on them... I'm just pointing out the cold hard obvious truth... they're actually a great bike except for this potentially hazardous flaw. Imagine getting caught somewhere on your Spyder or quad and extreme weather is barrelling down on you, and you're not prepared for it or there's some other life-threatening situation rapidly deteriorating (like an angry bear hot on your heels) and you hop on your ride only to experience CHECK KEY.... funny that my bikes don't have any security like this, so I put on a simple $30 security systems and it is just as effective or actually even more effective than the DESS as my bike starts to scream bloody murder if you so much as look at it wrong and my security system cuts out the fuel injectors and spark; whereas a set of side cutters and your Spyder is quietly being pushed into a trailer and carted away even with DESS working. BRP REALLY needs to do as Ducati, Harley, and Indian do and provide a means for a quick PIN code input and you're up and running (but I guess that would take away from the thousands of dollars of so-called fixes they get to sell you outside of warranty) or give you the option as it's your property to damn well deactivate it!

Another one of my Spyder customers just spent $4500 getting this "fixed" on his Spyder that was 28 days outside of warranty, and guess what, he called up the other day saying he had the key error AGAIN (he had the DESS module, the ignition switch, and the cluster replaced by a dealer I've never dealt with in a different province). I know two Spyder owners who are now getting so fed up with this situation and water intrusion issues in fuse boxes etc. etc... that they are actively looking for really nice used GL1800 Goldwings and will be having me install the Sturgis R18 kit on them.... The dealer they bought their spyders from is AWESOME, FLAT OUT AWESOME, but BRP corporate are a bunch of arrogant jerks at best (well that's been our experience) .... end rant!

One last word of advice is if you experience the CHECK KEY error IT WILL LEAVE YOU STRANDED at some point.... the fiddling with the key, rapid ignition cycling, removing the ground for a period of time etc etc is all snake oil remedies and placebo effect... if your bike starts after one of those it's pure coincidence... we worked on this Spyder for well over an hour and tried everything short of sprinkling holy water on it and it still left on a flat deck.