PeacefulBen
05-05-2014, 04:37 PM
On Tuesday, April 29th, while on the way to Springfield, Missouri for SpyderFest 2014, I noticed our 2010 Spyder RT (with trailer), did not seem to have the pulling power, that it normally had. I made sure it was in the “with trailer mode” and continued on. Traveling through East Arkansas is pretty flat. Not many hills along the way. A few small hills as we got closer to Springfield. We made it to the hotel without incident, checked in and got ready to enjoy the upcoming five days!
:yes:
On Thursday night, we went out to the Ozark Dragstrip where the Spyders were invited to drag race. Having taken third place last year in the “Spyder with Trailer class” (I know, there were only three entries, lol), I decided to have some fun with my traveling buddy, Rudy Doyle.
We raced about 5~6 times, with me losing each time. Our 2010 Spyder RT just did not seem to want to get up and go…… (That was my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)
:(
When we left the drag strip that night, the bike was running "okay", but along Highway 60, on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a redlight. When we took off, the rpms went up, but the bike did not go. Made sure it was in gear, and tried again, Only to get up to about 30 mph, with the engine at around 7000 rpm.
NOT GOOD! Transmission or clutch problem? No error messages....yet. Hmmmm..... The little voice in my head telling me I burnt the clutch up drag racing.
Time to panic!!!!….How will we get home? How will I get it fixed? How long will it take to fix? What will this cost me? How will we get it back to the hotel? Or to Pitbull Powersports? Or Lamonster Garage? Its dark out here. Who will see us and stop to help?
:gaah:
I was about to hit the kill switch and roll to the shoulder, when three Spyders pulled up in front of and behind me with flashers on. We all pulled off to a safe location, and discussed possibilities.
:chat:
Oil level? It was good. Leaks under bike? None. Strange odors? None. Removed the key and walked away from the bike for a while. Still no good. What now? Since we had not yet seen any error messages, we decided to try to make it back to the hotel. We had only travelled about 500 yards when the check engine light began to come and go, and the big screen showed CHECK TRANSMISSION. We again pulled to a safe location, and started making phone calls. First one to Rickylen Damouth. He'll know what to do.....He suggested we take it to the BRP tent at the Fairgrounds the next morning.
Well...., we waited for my friend Rudy to bring his 16’ trailer to load up our Spyder. Then a phone call to Erick DelToro. He dropped what he was doing, and rode out to pick up our CanAm trailer. And we finally got back to the hotel after midnight.:(
The next morning, I was at the fairgrounds by 9:00am, and found the BRP technician truck and tent. As embarrassing as it was, I explainedthe situation,;) including the fact that I had been drag racing just a few hours before it broke down. The rep told me they would check it out and get it fixed for me. Now, I’m thinking “this will take the rest of the week”. So…I asked him how long will I wait before they knew what was wrong with it? He says to check back in 20 minutes. So I got a cup of coffee, walked around Vendor Village, so much there to see, and headed back to the BRP tent. They already had the bike broken down and were replacing the clutch! WOW! These guys are good! I watched for awhile and found the tech that was working on my bike to be one of the best I’ve ever seen! He treated my bike like it was his own, taking special care as he re-assembled the custom painted panels! In less than three hours, I was on the bike headed back to the hotel…. with a new clutch!
:clap:At times, BRP has caught a lot of grief from Spyder riders about a lot of things. BUT….these tech guys are awesome! :clap:
:pray:We give thanks to our Lord that this happened at SpyderFest, among 1000 friends and family, and not on the trip back home!:pray:
We also want to say a special "thank you" to RickyLen Damouth, Lamonster, Erick and Leira DelToro, Rudy and Jan Doyle, JR and Christie Doyle, Noah Doyle, the Spyder Riders who stopped to help and then stayed with us, and last but not least......the BRP service rep and the BRP Technician! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!
On a Special Note: I have now officially retired from drag racing!
:yes:
On Thursday night, we went out to the Ozark Dragstrip where the Spyders were invited to drag race. Having taken third place last year in the “Spyder with Trailer class” (I know, there were only three entries, lol), I decided to have some fun with my traveling buddy, Rudy Doyle.
We raced about 5~6 times, with me losing each time. Our 2010 Spyder RT just did not seem to want to get up and go…… (That was my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)
:(
When we left the drag strip that night, the bike was running "okay", but along Highway 60, on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a redlight. When we took off, the rpms went up, but the bike did not go. Made sure it was in gear, and tried again, Only to get up to about 30 mph, with the engine at around 7000 rpm.
NOT GOOD! Transmission or clutch problem? No error messages....yet. Hmmmm..... The little voice in my head telling me I burnt the clutch up drag racing.
Time to panic!!!!….How will we get home? How will I get it fixed? How long will it take to fix? What will this cost me? How will we get it back to the hotel? Or to Pitbull Powersports? Or Lamonster Garage? Its dark out here. Who will see us and stop to help?
:gaah:
I was about to hit the kill switch and roll to the shoulder, when three Spyders pulled up in front of and behind me with flashers on. We all pulled off to a safe location, and discussed possibilities.
:chat:
Oil level? It was good. Leaks under bike? None. Strange odors? None. Removed the key and walked away from the bike for a while. Still no good. What now? Since we had not yet seen any error messages, we decided to try to make it back to the hotel. We had only travelled about 500 yards when the check engine light began to come and go, and the big screen showed CHECK TRANSMISSION. We again pulled to a safe location, and started making phone calls. First one to Rickylen Damouth. He'll know what to do.....He suggested we take it to the BRP tent at the Fairgrounds the next morning.
Well...., we waited for my friend Rudy to bring his 16’ trailer to load up our Spyder. Then a phone call to Erick DelToro. He dropped what he was doing, and rode out to pick up our CanAm trailer. And we finally got back to the hotel after midnight.:(
The next morning, I was at the fairgrounds by 9:00am, and found the BRP technician truck and tent. As embarrassing as it was, I explainedthe situation,;) including the fact that I had been drag racing just a few hours before it broke down. The rep told me they would check it out and get it fixed for me. Now, I’m thinking “this will take the rest of the week”. So…I asked him how long will I wait before they knew what was wrong with it? He says to check back in 20 minutes. So I got a cup of coffee, walked around Vendor Village, so much there to see, and headed back to the BRP tent. They already had the bike broken down and were replacing the clutch! WOW! These guys are good! I watched for awhile and found the tech that was working on my bike to be one of the best I’ve ever seen! He treated my bike like it was his own, taking special care as he re-assembled the custom painted panels! In less than three hours, I was on the bike headed back to the hotel…. with a new clutch!
:clap:At times, BRP has caught a lot of grief from Spyder riders about a lot of things. BUT….these tech guys are awesome! :clap:
:pray:We give thanks to our Lord that this happened at SpyderFest, among 1000 friends and family, and not on the trip back home!:pray:
We also want to say a special "thank you" to RickyLen Damouth, Lamonster, Erick and Leira DelToro, Rudy and Jan Doyle, JR and Christie Doyle, Noah Doyle, the Spyder Riders who stopped to help and then stayed with us, and last but not least......the BRP service rep and the BRP Technician! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!
On a Special Note: I have now officially retired from drag racing!