And yet another one....

[Roadster Renovations]

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Posted on FB.

[Bfromla]

Please clue in the clueless

[Tazzel]

Looks like another belt tensioner fail?

[d.o.spyder-rts]

That was my guess. Dale

[Habib]

Is that on a BRP factory part? If so I'll be removing mine, that's just poorly engineered and to cheap to work. I should have known better.

[Chupaca]

Now that one is way past rattley or noisey....Think they need to look a bit deeper into their product cause if it's gonna shread the belt they will have serious problems....

[Roadster Renovations]

Yes. Carry zip ties if you have one. Either RT or F3 failing now.

[Kwalsh]

So for those of us who don't know, is that a factory tensioner or an aftermarket add on??

Is this such a common problem that we should know about this?

[Highwayman2013]

So for those of us who don't know, is that a factory tensioner or an aftermarket add on??

Is this such a common problem that we should know about this?

It is one you buy from BRP for the F3.

[Roadster Renovations]

So for those of us who don't know, is that a factory tensioner or an aftermarket add on??

Is this such a common problem that we should know about this?

OEM add on have been failing for a bit. Looks as though since the ryding is increasing they are failing more frequently.

[Bob Denman]

Get yourself one of Doc's: the double-bearing setup is a whole lot stronger!

[bmccaffrey]

SMOOTHSPYDER TESTED AND PROVEN

[Roadster Renovations]

I published this comparison video 4 months ago. Some of you may have not seen it.

[Av8er]

I am assuming this will eat up the belt when it goes?
Pisses me off you spend good money on this crap that doesn't last.
This is good news for you Doc. Thanks for the heads up, you will be getting another order shortly from me.

[Firefly]

OEM add on have been failing for a bit. Looks as though since the ryding is increasing they are failing more frequently.

While on our trip to Valcourt and back, WackyDan had his start 'chirping' so we zip-tied it up. Mine has become louder after around 5,000 miles on it.
I'm also questioning if some of my vibration problems have been due to the BRP tensioner.
Right now what happens is my ride starts out smooth. Then after running at 75 mph for a few hours I pull over for a gas stop.. maybe a 15 minute break. When I start back out I have vibrations for a few miles and then they go away. The sound of the tensioner seems to change as well. My guess is it's been heating up and cooling off and possibly dragging on the belt causing worse vibrations, then it heats up and starts spinning better and thus the vibrations end.

I've ordered one of your kits and will install as soon as I get it.

I was a bit skeptical that these would fail so soon and thought for $40 to just replace them every 30,000 miles or so... so no big deal. Well, after seeing the damage done to Marks and others having failures while on the road... I can no longer support running the stock BRP tensioner. They will fail.. and fail rapidly with potential damage.

Glad you took the time to come up with a fix to their fix......

[WackyDan]

Yup... Mine has only 4300 miles on it since I installed the tensioner... and we zip tied it up as the roller was wobbly. I was getting some strange chirping noise but more importantly I was starting to feel some vibration again.

Mark Baker (might be the picture at the top of this post) had his fail after 6000 miles and the bolt ate partially through his belt.

Seems to be getting a ground swell now that some miles are being put on. Going to order yours and see how it goes. I don't mind these being a wear item, but they should last longer than 4300 miles.

[Roadster Renovations]

I am assuming this will eat up the belt when it goes?
Pisses me off you spend good money on this crap that doesn't last.
This is good news for you Doc. Thanks for the heads up, you will be getting another order shortly from me.

Never good news when a $35 dollar "fix" kills a $500 belt. If they would let me, I could help them come with a better kit than that. (oh, that's right, I'm not a real engineer and just working out of a small garage and not part of a multi million dollar corporation) (irony mode off)

[Bob Denman]

Doc,
Is this what you were thinking; as you were typing?


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[Bfromla]

That was my guess. Dale

Mine too however thankfully not needing one on my unaffected ST i had to ask to be sure. Doubt it would do much in my area anyway sooo many bumps & roadkill the belt would not get a chance to build hermonic vibrations.

[Roadster Renovations]

Doc,
Is this what you were thinking; as you were typing?


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As always, Bob, exactly spot on!

[rick_w]

Never good news when a $35 dollar "fix" kills a $500 belt. If they would let me, I could help them come with a better kit than that. (oh, that's right, I'm not a real engineer and just working out of a small garage and not part of a multi million dollar corporation) (irony mode off)

That happens with a few companies, they do not want to listen to people who use the products.
We just had an issue with the new Grand Pet Palace and having some serious conversations with Kuryakyn.

[Bob Denman]

As always, Bob, exactly spot on!

Yo'd be surprised at how many times I want to play that card!

[Pat Clark]

Ok, that's enough. I have one on order from the dealer. On the phone cancelling it as we speak.

Pat

[BajaRon]

I refrained from saying anything when these were introduced because I hoped I was wrong and the anticipations were understandably high. Secondly, other than wanting everyone to enjoy their Spyder as much as possible, I have no dog in this race. But I have to say I was very skeptical about the BRP belt tensioner from the beginning.

The belt tensioner takes a great deal of stress and frankly, a good beating with every mile you ride. It never rests. The price point (in my opinion) was way too low for a quality belt tensioner. I was hoping that BRP was simply operating at, or near zero profit on this product to help Spyder customers resolve a problem that (maybe) should have been addressed at the assembly line stage.

But as I heard more about the materials and dimensions of the tensioner, I was thinking that these just could not last.

Not all aftermarket products are priced to make a killing for the seller. Sometimes it just takes a fair amount of money to make a quality, reliable and well designed product that will serve the buyer for a long time. The process to bring this kind of product to market is much more difficult than most imagine. I know it surprised me.

I am sorry that the failure rate on these belt tensioners is rising. Maybe BRP will go back to the drawing board and come back with a better product. Until then, it may well prove to be a better strategy to pay the money and go with aftermarket products.

[T-Mac]

Never good news when a $35 dollar "fix" kills a $500 belt. If they would let me, I could help them come with a better kit than that. (oh, that's right, I'm not a real engineer and just working out of a small garage and not part of a multi million dollar corporation) (irony mode off)