998 can am rt road trips

hi everyone, being on this forum for awhile,one cant help but get the notion that the rt with the 1330 upgrade is the only way to go anymore. when i picked up my rt recently, not knowing this situation, i purchased mine mainly because it has only 7000 miles on it and well taken care of. my wife and i want to go on some road trips which was the only reason getting a spyder rt. i would like to get some input from some of you that currently have an rt with the 998 motor that use it on road trips. do you feel it is road worthy? any input would be appreciated.

Last summer I drove mine from Northwest Angle, Angle Inlet, MN to Fort Meyers Florida in 2 days, then continued on for another few thousand miles that next week, worked great! My wife has rode on with me on trips to Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and points between and we're just newbies on the Spyder, many others have done much, much longer comfortably.

There's nothing wrong with a 998. Mine has 25,000 miles and can run all day.

So far, the Missus & I have done a few 5,000km road trips and one 10,000km road trip on our 2013 RT without any issues at all.... except maybe that we'da liked to've kept on going!! :shocked: And we've done a heap of shorter trips too, doing a few hundred kms at least on one weekend or so most months, and often racking up 2-2500km in a few weeks whenever we can, and so far, we've done it all without any Spyder troubles! :2thumbs:

For our 'big trip' next year we are planning another 'longish' trip, probably gonna cover around 10-12,000 km all up, but this time we're heading West across the Nullarbor thru the wide open spaces of Australia instead of into the more populated Eastern States - which means we'll be crossing a couple of thousand kms of pretty much NOTHING besides road, with no trees for a lot of it (hence the Latin name - Null-Arbor = No Trees! ;) ) and btw, there's not too many towns out there either, only about 5 service stations spaced fairly evenly along the way. We'll get to ryde what's been called the 'Longest stretch of road with NO corners in the World' too! Oh, and we'll be doing the World's longest Golf Course along the way - maybe we'll even do it in reverse on the way back! :roflblack:

I bought my 2013 RT Ltd with a degree of consideration for avoiding ending up as an 'un-paid crash test dummy' for BRP re their then 'new' 1330 ACE Triple cylinder motor, and after having done quite a few miles on the road, test tracks, & skid pans ryding both V-twin & 1330 powered Spyders, I am just SOO GLAD that I stuck with the already proven, peppier, & more 'alive' V-Twin! Sure, the 1330 triples have scads of down low torque & they do sorta eventually get moving once you wring them out, and I'm sure that for some they might press all the necessary buttons & be a fantastic ryde, but just like Many GS/RS ryders who feel their Spyders are more exciting to ryde than any RT, we feel our lighter & peppier V-twin engined RT is much more exciting than it's bigger but lazier engined cousins! At least to me (& my Missus) the 1330 powered Spyders just aren't anywhere near as exciting or as much fun to ryde as our lighter, revvier, & far more responsive V-twin engined machine! And since we've had an ECU Upgrade done by RotaxRacing, not only do we get EVEN BETTER performance than most when twisting that right wrist hard, but also when we are just laid back cruising the miles away, we get pretty close to the same range as the 1330's do too! :ohyea: (there's no denying that the V-twins DO use a bit more oil tho! :p )

Still rugercharger, I reckon you should just get out there & enjoy your Spyder, secure in the knowledge that (at least in the eyes of some of us! ;) ) you chose the 'sweet pick' out of the available engines for your RT Spyder! :thumbup: :ohyea: :yes:

Just Ride More, Worry Less!

Hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm is the 998 trip worthy. Mine has 53,000+ miles. Utah to San Diego and Southern Cal. Utah to Deadwood (twice).Utah to Montrose and southwestern Colorado. Utah to all over Utah. Utah to Yellowstone. Utah to Beartooth Pass (twice). Utah to Yuma. Utah to Sturgis(twice) etc., etc., etc. Dailly transportation to work for 4 years. National Park tour Southern Utah, Bryce Canyon (multiple times). Central Utah to St. George Utah ( multiple times). Major mode of transportation from April to November for 4.5 years. There is no doubt that the VTwin will do whatever you want it to do,you just have to do the oil changes a little more often, add a little oil, and stop a little more often for fuel. Not a big price to pay for a luxury tourer at a bargain price.

I live in the Kansas City area. I have been on trips to the Outer Banks of NC, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Breckenridge CO, rheBlack Hills of SD, and on to Phoenix, AZ. I have done basic service before a trip, such as oil change, tire change and/or brake service. Never a problem and I have a 2013 which suffers from a poor reputation due to heat issues five years ago. It runs so well I hesitate to buy newer and deal with problems the newer bikes may have (DESS). There is nothing inherently wrong with the 998 so get on the bike and ride.

I also have the same year as you a 2010:thumbup:

Had her since the begining January 29th, 2010 Love all the wonderful adventures she has sent us on.
Have had the privilege to put 60,000 plus miles on her. My dog Doolittle who was only 3 months old acquired approx 14K miles with me, and the trailer shared about equally the same, my wife not so much, maybe 1888 miles. It's all good.:cheers:


Bone Stock



First long trip to Lake Tahoe in 2010 with a group of 12 other west coast spyder riders


fixing the throttle body


Added/replaced some info on the dash

Was riding quite a bit in the begining, put 45K of those the first three years as I went to many events that were anywhere from 300, 600, 1200 to 2200 miles away. I love the high revving engine, don't let her lag.

The 2010's had mediocre shocks so I upgraded those, there was a night and day difference in doing twisties. Before I said wow, I am out of shape and exhausted and afterwards, like cutting butter, I could keep up with the RS spyders.

The other improvements were a back rest and floorboards or sometype of highway peg. This allows you to be locked in the seat and ryde more aggressively. With just the drivers pegs that came stock , for me I felt I was always trying to hug with my thighs and knees to stay situated in the drivers seat.



Heck we even brought our dog along with us.

The 998 motor has always been bullet proof except for the throttle body being replaced under warranty.
Check and see if this was done, however with so few miles, it may not be an issue for another 10K, or maybe they fixed it with a software update. Think it was caused because a fan would not kick in after the ride. ( but I am no expert, just what I have read and experienced here)


Floorboards make all the difference!

The 998 drinks a little more oil than usual, ( carry extra with you) ( it is easy to add, have someone show you how) the range is less than what you are probably use to. I am very heavy lead foot off the line so I would only get 20 miles to the gallon.In higher elevations I saw better. Ran out of gas 3 times.:p Any trips I take I carry extra fuel. The sensation of running out is immediate, like no power you only coast :yikes: There is a way to disconnect the analog gas gauge and then it reverts to a digital gauge on the dash, this was a little more accurate for me.


If you later add a trailer hitch and get a RT622 trailer you will be able to pack for longer extended trips. Do you have the Zumo 660 GPS, That is the best GPS I had encountered, better than what was in my Range Rover or Mercedes.



Wish you all the best, you have an excellent ride :2thumbs:

Oh, and yes she is road worthy!!

TicketBait

Although I moved away from the 998 ( had two ) to the 1330 triple …. :agree: with Peter Aawen, in the USA I believe " Monster Fuel " has done some work on the 998 ECU to up-grade it's performance..... It's not expensive and Really increases the level of power it has ….. do some homework, I think it would worth your time …… good luck …. Mike :ohyea:

While not as peppy as the 1330, the 998 is truly road worthy in every sense. I had two 998’s (an RS and an RT), with combined mileage of over 80K miles, from the prairie to the mountains all over the Country. It handled every mile, from almost non-existent roads to more congested, high speed expressways. I was never concerned the 998 wouldn’t handle the road ahead. Take a breath, calm the nerves ... ryde it ... and enjoy it.

Jump on that thing and don't look back!!!!:ohyea: The only thing I could think that you may need if your going cross country would be a quart of oil to maybe top her off now and then!! God yes, ride the feathers off that thing!! Ride more, worry less!!

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Originally Posted by rugercharger

hi everyone, being on this forum for awhile,one cant help but get the notion that the rt with the 1330 upgrade is the only way to go anymore. when i picked up my rt recently, not knowing this situation, i purchased mine mainly because it has only 7000 miles on it and well taken care of. my wife and i want to go on some road trips which was the only reason getting a spyder rt. i would like to get some input from some of you that currently have an rt with the 998 motor that use it on road trips. do you feel it is road worthy? any input would be appreciated.

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The key question is not if WE feel it is road worthy but if YOU think it is roadworthy. Any well maintained licensed vehicle is road worthy. If it is reliable and carries what you need then .... it is ready for a trip! Keep in mind that most gripes on the internet are from a few who have had a problem. The majority have no issues and thus you don't hear from them. Take information from forums with a grain of salt (including this response).

Stop worrying and have fun.

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Originally Posted by rugercharger

hi everyone, being on this forum for awhile,one cant help but get the notion that the rt with the 1330 upgrade is the only way to go anymore. when i picked up my rt recently, not knowing this situation, i purchased mine mainly because it has only 7000 miles on it and well taken care of. my wife and i want to go on some road trips which was the only reason getting a spyder rt. i would like to get some input from some of you that currently have an rt with the 998 motor that use it on road trips. do you feel it is road worthy? any input would be appreciated.

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Have no fear. The 998's are very road worthy and you can expect well over 100,000 miles, as a few on here will attest to. The 998's were the only engine from 08 through 13 and were on all the Spyders.

In 2014, BRP introduced the 1330/3. Yes, it was an improvement over the 998. It is now the main engine that has powered the fleet since 2014. We may be on the horizon for something different in 2021 or later?????????

I have one of each currently. A 2011 998, and a 2014 1330. Linda has put 33,000 miles on the 998 since 2012. We have not had any problems with it. The 998 is now on the trade in block because we have ordered a new F3. The next owner is going to get a fine machine.

We have had a total of four 998's. The combined mileage to date is 120,000.

RE: Yours. Older yes, a problem or should you be afraid of it? Heck no! At 7,000 miles, its just getting broke in. Enjoy your rides without any fear. :yes:

fill up with gas and get on and go!!! the 998 will do just fine for wherever you want to go. I've had two of them without any issues and several trips to the Blackhills of SD..
BIG F

I agree with the others. Though the 1330 is a nice upgrade. The 998 is no slouch and is a very reliable power-plant. Don't fret about another motor. Ride what you have and be happy! It's a great ride!

And remeber it is a "V" twin while the 1330 is not. :2thumbs: