Cryin' the blues.

[fulltimer]

Took off for our first ride in New Hampshire last Friday and got about 3 miles and the dash started screaming "low voltage." Pulled in to a gas station and shut it off as I needed gas anyway. Yup, you guessed it, dead as a tick when I tried to start it. Got a jump and headed home but only made it 3/4 of the way and it went dead. Walked home, got the truck, went back and pulled the battery. the sides were swollen and as it was 3 years old I just went and bought anew one. Installed same and rode the bike the rest of the way home. However, now the bad news. Put a voltmeter on the terminals and as wife raised the RPM, the voltage went down not up. Dead charging system. Checked every fuse I could find with a meter, not just visual. Took it in to the closest dealer today and crossing my fingers it is not a whole tear down and new stator.

[ARtraveler]

Sorry to hear of the woes. Please let us know when dealer gets it resolved.

[Bfromla]

Srz to hear hop turns out well & just a fluke. But may be good time to get :
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...ht=Rugged+geek

[Easy Rider]

Put a voltmeter on the terminals and as wife raised the RPM, the voltage went down not up. Dead charging system.

Not necessarily a good conclusion........without knowing what the actual voltages ARE.

Some modern charging systems will show a higher voltage at or near idle if the battery is fully charged.

[Chupaca]

Hard to tell about batteries. Mine is going on 6 years, drained it several times (not myself but the kids play on it and leave things on) and this weekend I went to start it and barely cranked then nothing. Got out the jumper unit only to find it was not charged hooked it up to my wifes mini and it would still not crank. Showed 12.5v ignition off but only 11.7v ignition on. Figured that's it new battery needed, one last try...hooked it up to my charger for a few hours and ...bam.!! Fired right up. Checked charging and alls good and we ryde on. Yuasa is a great battery used them in all my bikes... hope it will be only a connection problem or may be the rectifier...

[BoilerAnimal]

My wife and I were going to ride to Arthur, IL and eat at an Amish restaurant, then go over and do some riding in Indiana. We only got about forty miles and got the low voltage screen and a bunch of assorted warnings that go along with no juice in the battery.

Long story short, we got a new battery and all appeared good. After about another forty five miles with the new battery, the same thing! Got towed to dealer and they said the stator had went to ground.

Due to a foul up on their end they said that the part didn't get ordered when it was supposed to and that caused a two week delay. Got new stator installed, then they said it had wiped out the voltage regulator, as well. Another part to order and wait on. I'm calling them tomorrow to see if it is in. I called last week to make sure they got the part ordered after the last foul up and they assured me that it got ordered.

This started on July 8th and it's now officially August 1. The bright side is it should all be covered by the BEST warranty. The down side is we missed out on two fund raising rides we were going to do and missed out on over three weeks of riding. I'm going to see if they will wave the tow fee to make up for their foul up on ordering parts! Ought to hit them up for the deductible, as well!

[Easy Rider]

Fired right up. Checked charging and alls good and we ryde on. Yuasa is a great battery used them in all my bikes...

After a few rounds of complete discharge, even your Yuasa is probably somewhat damaged.
If it is over 4 years old, you probably should replace it........now.

[Easy Rider]

My wife and I were going to ride to Arthur, IL and eat at an Amish restaurant,

There used to be a really good BBQ joint on the main road going past Arthur (not downtown).

I miss some things about Illinois........but not very many.

[BoilerAnimal]

There used to be a really good BBQ joint on the main road going past Arthur (not downtown).

I miss some things about Illinois........but not very many.

In a few years or so we hope to be in a position to miss a few things as well!

We lived in Arizona in the eighties and I was talking to a guy at work. He asked where I was from and I told him Illinois. He shook his head and said, "Yep, that's a good place to be FROM" !

[Bob Denman]

I hope that we hear what happened to the charging system...

[fulltimer]

I hope that we hear what happened to the charging system...

It was the stator. And it's on order. Don't know if it arrived today or not but hope to be riding next week. I hope I don't have additional parts cooked.

I'll keep you posted.

[BoilerAnimal]

I hope you have better luck than we've had. After putting a new voltage regulator on, it still isn't charging correctly. They've been on the phone with Canada and checking lots of stuff out. Canada doesn't entertain the possibility of a new stator being bad and says it needs a new flywheel. I was there in person and talked to the service manager about it. I told him that I expected overnight shipping of the flywheel!

I told the service guy that I was trying very hard to be calm and that I didn't really blame them other than the screwup on the ordering but it is what it is. I also told him that I thought about boning up on my French but thought why waste my time. I'll just speak some Boilermaker to them and that I was pretty sure that they would get the meaning!

This is getting to the point of total unacceptability!

[hellridgeryder]

I hope you have better luck than we've had. After putting a new voltage regulator on, it still isn't charging correctly. They've been on the phone with Canada and checking lots of stuff out. Canada doesn't entertain the possibility of a new stator being bad and says it needs a new flywheel. I was there in person and talked to the service manager about it. I told him that I expected overnight shipping of the flywheel!

I told the service guy that I was trying very hard to be calm and that I didn't really blame them other than the screwup on the ordering but it is what it is. I also told him that I thought about boning up on my French but thought why waste my time. I'll just speak some Boilermaker to them and that I was pretty sure that they would get the meaning!

This is getting to the point of total unacceptability!

Just curious. Where was the dealer located? Are you back on the road yet?

[BoilerAnimal]

Peoria and still waiting!

[hellridgeryder]

I've not had anything done there. All mywork has been done by Andy in Decatur.

[BoilerAnimal]

We ended up buying dinner for my boy and his family at Cracker Barrel in Morton for helping us out. Rode from San Jose to Morton without any problems, then a couple of miles after leaving to come home, the Low Battery Voltage screen came on. Tried to make it to the dealer but it died right at the University exit on I-74 about six miles away.

I know you said you really like them at Decatur and, to be honest, they have treated us really well, aside from the ordering mixup. I hope that we come out of this happy overall. They don't stock parts like stators or flywheels, quite understandably. Lots of businesses practice JIT (just in time) inventory but when that's utilized, it's commonly in conjunction with EXPRESS shipping, not this three to seven day system!

[hellridgeryder]

Hope they get you fixed soon.

[youngers]

hello full timer , did you get you cycle up and going ?

[ISPYD]

In a few years or so we hope to be in a position to miss a few things as well!

We lived in Arizona in the eighties and I was talking to a guy at work. He asked where I was from and I told him Illinois. He shook his head and said, "Yep, that's a good place to be FROM" !

I moved from from the Charleston, IL area 22 years ago to live in surprise, AZ. I visit IL several times a year but agree, it is a good place to be from.

Hope you get your ryde fixed soon.

[fulltimer]

hello full timer , did you get you cycle up and going ?

Picked it up today and rode it 25 miles home without incident. Heading to the White mountains tomorrow to test it out. When I went to pick it up the service guy said "no charge. Your bike is still under warranty and that stator is covered." These guys have been a Can Am dealer for 14 years and that includes the ski doo and Can Am ATV's. The service guy said this is the first stator he has replaced on a Spyder. He has on snowmobiles but not Spyders. Wish us luck. New battery and new stator, should be ready to go.

[fulltimer]

Everything seem just fine. I haven't done a voltage check but all seems fine.

We have really been enjoying riding in Vermont and New Hampshire. Boy do I like this 998 in country like this. We have been doing Vermont and New Hampshire in 3rd and 4th gear. The gears are so "long" that they just fit the local roads here.

I am having another issue that I want to run by all of you but I will start another thread.

[Bruiser37]

I hope you have better luck than we've had. After putting a new voltage regulator on, it still isn't charging correctly. They've been on the phone with Canada and checking lots of stuff out. Canada doesn't entertain the possibility of a new stator being bad and says it needs a new flywheel. I was there in person and talked to the service manager about it. I told him that I expected overnight shipping of the flywheel!

I told the service guy that I was trying very hard to be calm and that I didn't really blame them other than the screwup on the ordering but it is what it is. I also told him that I thought about boning up on my French but thought why waste my time. I'll just speak some Boilermaker to them and that I was pretty sure that they would get the meaning!

This is getting to the point of total unacceptability!

Spyder service in majority of dealerships across USA sucks, all they know is how to change oil & filters... they take lessons from harley davidson service... excuses, excuses, all BS talk. The only true Spyder service tech knowledge comes from guys with experience on forums like Spyderlovers.

[BoilerAnimal]

Spyder service in majority of dealerships across USA sucks, all they know is how to change oil & filters... they take lessons from harley davidson service... excuses, excuses, all BS talk. The only true Spyder service tech knowledge comes from guys with experience on forums like Spyderlovers.

Well, we got our problem fixed and everything seems to be good. I can't say that it was the absolute best experience because of a couple of glitches of the human nature variety. Mistakes do happen. Add that to the fact that no dealers stock anything more than the very common, high selling items, which translates to, "It'll take 3-5 days to get that part as long as they have it in the US, if not maybe seven days". Of course these are business days, not calender days.

On discovering more bad parts needing replaced after installing a new part that means extra time. The extended warranty doesn't want to pay for any unnecessary parts, so it's one part at a time till it's fixed, unless it's obvious that several at once need replaced.

The best part was that it all got fixed at NO COST to us! World of Powersports in Peoria, IL, our dealer, didn't charge us for coming and getting our Spyder and us alongside the interstate or for the $50 deductible for the BEST warranty. I don't know how many others would have done that without being asked (I'm sure some would) but overall we are happy.

Here's a link to a post I put up about our experience: http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...-our-baby-back!

[jaherbst]

Hard to tell about batteries. Mine is going on 6 years, drained it several times (not myself but the kids play on it and leave things on) and this weekend I went to start it and barely cranked then nothing. Got out the jumper unit only to find it was not charged hooked it up to my wifes mini and it would still not crank. Showed 12.5v ignition off but only 11.7v ignition on. Figured that's it new battery needed, one last try...hooked it up to my charger for a few hours and ...bam.!! Fired right up. Checked charging and alls good and we ryde on. Yuasa is a great battery used them in all my bikes... hope it will be only a connection problem or may be the rectifier...

6 years is darn good for San Diego Gene. Changing mine out today after only 3 years. Pretty normal for everything around here. The heat kills batteries.

​(Would expect you to save Camille and I a seat at the RR rally again this year. )

​Jack