Thinking about buying a Can Am - looking for advice??

[Peter Aawen]

Such wonderful information. I signed up for a Can Am riding class on the 25th and 26th of April. I think it will give me some good experience in a positive learning environment. I already have a Motorcycle endorsement on my license. Still, I think it will be a good experience for me. I've also learned that it's not a good idea to buy a 2013 model due to the heat issues. If I were to get serious about an older bike, it will become imperative for me to make sure there's a shop around here that will work on it. I think I probably could get along with a 998 rig, but I just don't want to have to do all the work on it. There was a time when I never took anything to the shop, but not anymore.

Don Williams a.k.a. librarian

There was a recall on the 2013 RT heat issues, and by now, most 2013's (and quite a few earlier and later models too ) have had that recall done - it involved removing the excessive sound deadening material from under the tupperware and adding two large air intakes, one on either side below the mirrors where other RT models usually have little clear 'mini-windscreen' style winglets to keep the rain off your knees!! Once you see a Spyder with those intakes fitted, it becomes an obvious and an easy way to tell if the Heat Recall has been done!

The reason that there was excessive heat collected under the tupperware so that the recall became essential was that the 2013 RT was meant to be released with the 1330 Triple engines, an engine that's wider rather than long, like the V-Twins are; but cos the 1330 motors weren't ready in time, BRP stuffed the V-Twin back into a hole and a bike with suspension & brakes that'd been upgraded to take the wider, heavier, torquier but lazier motors; all of which messed with the air flow around the engine & created a heat trap under the tupperware!!

BUT, that still means that apart from the (lazier but torquier motor) the 2013's got ALL the other upgrades, including frame improvements that made for better ride & handling; Brembo Brakes that massively improved the braking; and a heap more besides, effectively making the 2013 RT's with the Heat Recall work done, and in fact all the 2013+ V-Twin powered Spyders with the Heat Recall work done (the Heat Recall was a non-mandatory minor panel change on the other models, but you could still get RSS & ST V-Twins up until about 2016 ) arguably by far the pick of the V-Twins, and for many, especially those who appreciate the revvier, peppier, far more responsive and exciting when teamed with their better handling due to their lighter weight, the absolute best choice of Spyder's to own & ride!!

As for not getting parts, besides some obvious panel changes, not too much in the frame & driveline has changed since 2013, and there are a growing number of V-Twin powered Spyders out there with over 150,000 mainly trouble-free miles, some with well over 200,000 miles; many of them being those 2013+ models which have all the goodies intended for the 1330 release without the imposition of the lazier, less exciting to ride/operate 1330 motor!! Besides, given a little mechanical sympathy and some relatively easy to do basic maintenance, the V-Twin Rotax engine is pretty much indestructible!

So the 2013+ V-Twin powered Spyders are arguably the pick of the crop, and unless you're looking at buying a 'maintenance neglected' really high milage 2013+ V-Twin powered Spyder, or maybe one that's done too few miles (ie, anything less than an average of about 2-3000 miles per year, which means it's been spending a lot of time just sitting around & deteriorating! ) you will be fairly unlikely to have any engine issues, and many of other important parts are still in use or available elsewhere anyway!! AND there's a growing number of really competent Spyder Techs out there who are no longer working for & so fettered by BRP's slavish & pointless restrictions on what they can do &/or fit too, so with any luck, you won't even hafta do all the (relatively easy) general maintenance yourself either!!

Personally, I wouldn't discount ANY of the non-1330 models as a great, cost effective start for a newbie Spyder Ryder/owner; and by preference, I'd always go for one of the 2013 & on V-Twin Spyder models that's had the Heat Recall work done over any 1330 model anyway, simply cos the V-Twins have enough creature comforts without all the fragile & unnecessary digital crap & useless fripperies and they've got all the good mods & brakes etc; plus, BRP hasn't yet come up with a package that's sufficiently exciting or as much fun to ride that it stands any chance of enticing me away from my 2013 RT!! And to top it all off, you can get an ECU Upgrade that'll make any of the V-Twins more powerful and almost as economical as the 1330's too, all within the proven safety & reliability limits of the engine/trans as used in other platforms, with the exception that you will still be a little restricted in the ultimate potential range by the pre-1330's smaller gas tank, but then again, that smaller tank (20 useable litres vs 24 useable litres ) does help reduce the overall weight and adds even more to the V-Twin's 'get up and get outta here' fun & capability!

There's a lot going for any of the 2013 & on V-Twin Spyders, especially as a cost effective 'First Spyder'!

Just Sayin' And despite having done more miles than many owners on 1330 powered Spyders, I'm STILL enjoying the heck outta my 2013 RT so much that it'd take a helluva lot to drag me kicking and screaming off it and onto one of those lesser, lazier, & odd sounding 1330 powered models on a permanent basis!