Rolling in Neutral down my driveway

[SpyderPolly]

Just got the 500 mile oil change at dealer... What a rip-off. Will do rest from here at a quarter of the price on my own. Anyway, came back and all is good. I had some lunch and said time now for a ride. So I thought.... try rolling down our 700 foot steep driveway in neutral==NEUTRAL. Well at about 8-9 mph the SE6 trans on my 2017 F3 Limited went into reverse and stopped me quick enough and killed the engine . I am only assuming this is built in to SAVE A RUNAWAY SPYDER FROM DEATH!!.... Have not asked the dealer yet, but it only makes sense as to what happened. I will not roll down my driveway neutral from here on. Is this a normal thing?? I'll assume it is. Has anyone had this happen?? All new at the Spyder. First one for me. Just loving it so far... Just joined this site. Thanks..Polly

[jnt]

Wow. That would be @#%!! surprising, if not dangerous!

Will be watching this post to see what the knowledgeable ones say. (I have an SE6 as well)

I for one would not try that, as I would want to be in gear when I got there and ready to go.

As for the oil change/service, I let them do mine, just to have him checked over. JMHO

[SpyderPolly]

'This was first time going down the driveway neutral....and the last... I've always gone down in gear. I recommend not trying it cause it chilled me a bit,,,, Its got to be a built in safety thing ... F3 is fine no issues from this scary moment of "Don't Roll in Neutral Stupid"!!!..

[Chupaca]

Were you really in Neutral...?? thing is with the SE 5/6 transmission they will roll in any gear up to a certain speed at which the clutch will start to work and engage So if you were actually in Reverse it would stop you. I don't believe they have any rolling away safety features. Many used to park in gear thinking it was like the manual only to find the spyder would still roll on. Now I don' t have an SE so those that do can better comment...

[JayBros]

If you had a 500 mile oil change you sure did get clipped, like 2,500 miles too soon. Read the maintenance schedule in your operator's guide before you get set up for another haircut.

Save your brakes; never coast down hills in Neutral. The 1330 engine has great engine compression braking. You'll find it very beneficial in downhill twisties.

[SpyderPolly]

Hi, BajaRon, I got permission from dealer owner to watch the tech do the oil change in the shop. Heard of same where folks don/t get new oil... or service as paid for...... Lucky I'm female I guess and can use it the right way..(sometimes),,,,,,He did it with caring and patience..and I asked a ton of questions.'' He asked me why are you working on your own ride, and I explained I just have to work on my own rides... Don't trust too many unknown shops..... I praised and thanked the dealership family for letting me in the shop.... (totally against the house policy)... It may have been expensive but I got my list of questioned answered. I have always worked on my own HD's. ...just never worked or seen anyone change the oil and filter on a Spyder. (my HD is a lot simpler in terms of "O-Rings". The Spyder ...not bad at all and so far so good. Got 654 miles on her.... Oh.. by the way... I did not sell and will not sell my Road King.......Love and Peace to all from NH...... .....MsPolly..

[SpyderPolly]

[QUOTE=Chupaca;1384007]Were you really in Neutral...?? thing is with the SE 5/6 transmission they will roll in any gear up to a certain speed at which the clutch will start to work and engage So if you were actually in Reverse it would stop you. I don't believe they have any rolling away safety features. I was in neutral. I never will do it again and I have never done that on my Road King> Maybe it was a three wheel thing for me.. A late in life moment of stupidity.......

[SpyderPolly]

If you had a 500 mile oil change you sure did get clipped, like 2,500 miles too soon. Read the maintenance schedule in your operator's guide before you get set up for another haircut.

Save your brakes; never coast down hills in Neutral. The 1330 engine has great engine compression braking. You'll find it very beneficial in downhill twisties.

Been riding for years. And yes never coast in neutral. But it seems for that day/ moment I just rolled down my steep driveway on my new F3 in neutral not reverse.... .... MY DRIVEWAY!!!!!!!Wrong....... Don't do it...Senior Moment of Stupidity......MsPolly

[SpyderPolly]

If you had a 500 mile oil change you sure did get clipped, like 2,500 miles too soon. Read the maintenance schedule in your operator's guide before you get set up for another haircut.

Save your brakes; never coast down hills in Neutral. The 1330 engine has great engine compression braking. You'll find it very beneficial in downhill twisties.

This was initial first oil change. Did I miss read the owners manual. Spyder now has 650 miles on it. Next oil change will be at 3500 miles..... I thought I did right by changing first on at 553 miles............MsPolly

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

This was initial first oil change. Did I miss read the owners manual. Spyder now has 650 miles on it. Next oil change will be at 3500 miles..... I thought I did right by changing first on at 553 miles............MsPolly

You read something wrong somewhere! For the 1330 engine the first oil change is at 3000 miles. Subsequent oil changes are at 9300 miles or one year, whichever is first. Your next oil change now doesn't need to be until somewhere around 10,000 miles!

[jcthorne]

You read something wrong somewhere! For the 1330 engine the first oil change is at 3000 miles. Subsequent oil changes are at 9300 miles or one year, whichever is first. Your next oil change now doesn't need to be until somewhere around 10,000 miles!

Actually to maintain warranty coverage you will still need the 3k service. Anything before about 2500 or so does not count. It takes the new computer controlled clutch about 3k to fully break in and BRP wants the wear material and metal fragments out. Along with the inspection of the magnetic plug.

[Bob Denman]

This was initial first oil change. Did I miss read the owners manual. Spyder now has 650 miles on it. Next oil change will be at 3500 miles..... I thought I did right by changing first on at 553 miles............MsPolly

First oil change is ay 3,000 miles; and every 9,300 miles (OR one year...) after that.
Your Dealer stole from you.

[Easy Rider]

Its got to be a built in safety thing ... .

I wouldn't be so sure about that.
With ABS, stability control and the "nanny", there should be MUCH better ways to do that.

AND......don't some of the "smaller" models still have the 998 twin engines ??
If her's really does, then y'all are really confusing matters !!

[Dudley]

She has a 2017F3L. The first oil change is 3000 miles, next after another 9300 miles...total miles reading on the odometer 12,300. MsPolly, how you maintain your Spyder is your decision to make. My 2017F3L is my 4th Spyder, starting with a 2008 GS. I have 7600 miles on mine and the next service will be at 12,000 =/- miles , after that, every 10,000. It is my belief that the Spyder is a highly reliable machine. I have driven a combined total of 150,000 miles without ever being stranded. I never worry if I go over the mileage between oil changes. On my 2008 GS I went 13,624 miles on one oil change (that was a trip around the US and some parts of Canada), using only 2 quarts of oil. I am not suggesting anyone do as I do, but it works for me.

[al0vely]

This was initial first oil change. Did I miss read the owners manual. Spyder now has 650 miles on it. Next oil change will be at 3500 miles..... I thought I did right by changing first on at 553 miles............MsPolly

Seriously - you read 500 miles 3000 miles in my manual and it includes some initial inspections. Your dealer was laughing I am sure - the customer is always right and charge them more to watch.

[4 MARIE]

Rolling any direction without power, in ANY vehicle, is DDD.....Dang Doofy Dangerous. Your throttle is one of your controls.
Stay safe out there Polly. Oh, and about the "500 mile service" ? That's already been addressed .

[Bruisr]

I had my first oil change at 1456 miles and the dealer did the 3000 mile service then at the same time. Now I’m wondering if the service they did will count as the 3000 mile service. I’m from the “old school” that break in oil( if you can call that) or more frequent oil changes is cheap insurance. I’m at 3700 miles...will give them a call Tuesday. The invoice from the dealer states “First Service” when I had the oil changed along with a host of other tasks . It wasn’t just an oil change 😳

[Highwayman2013]

I had my first oil change at 1456 miles and the dealer did the 3000 mile service then at the same time. Now I’m wondering if the service they did will count as the 3000 mile service. I’m from the “old school” that break in oil( if you can call that) or more frequent oil changes is cheap insurance. I’m at 3700 miles...will give them a call Tuesday. The invoice from the dealer states “First Service” when I had the oil changed along with a host of other tasks . It wasn’t just an oil change 😳

I’m from the new school I guess, I do oil analysis to see when the oil is actually due to be changed. The 1330 can easily go 9,300 miles on a quality synthetic oil.

[2dogs]

Let's say you did the right thing for your new spyder and you did your first oil change at the 3,000 mile mark. Then for some reason after only a thousand miles, you went on a long overseas vacation, or you suffered a unforeseen extended hospital stay, or even did a year in jail. Ah, lets forget that last one. Anyway if you just had a 3K mile first time oil change and you only started the thing up a few times that year, why would you, or would you, change the oil again? Knowing that the oil you'd be replacing it with is quite likely already over a year old from the time it was refined, stored and shipped to you through several suppliers before you ever bought it. I can understand if you did 5,6 or 8k miles in a year but why change oil every year just because? Does it somehow turn bad just sitting in the engine and not in the plastic bottle? If you are going to tell me that because it has acids, moisture and contaminates in it, well those are all in there anyway all through to the 9k mile mark. So why the 9,300 mile or one year which ever comes first? I don't even want to know about the 300 mile part, forget that. I've heard of folks never changing oil. Just change the filter and add oil. Can't say I'd do that but some people do.

[youngers]

don`t sweat the easy stuff , if you got it changed that early no real worries , it is done you got questions answered , and by some crazy event , the service guy found a lot of shavings in the oil and in the filter , that would have been a huge find , but all is well in poly world , so not too worry ---- tons `o fun are all ahead ... by the way do you have a photo of you and both your cycles --- a Harley gal and a spyder webber very cool !

[Highwayman2013]

I wouldn't be so sure about that.
With ABS, stability control and the "nanny", there should be MUCH better ways to do that.

AND......don't some of the "smaller" models still have the 998 twin engines ??
If her's really does, then y'all are really confusing matters !!

No smaller models being made. She says she has an F3.

[JP58]

Let's say you did the right thing for your new spyder and you did your first oil change at the 3,000 mile mark. Then for some reason after only a thousand miles, you went on a long overseas vacation, or you suffered a unforeseen extended hospital stay, or even did a year in jail. Ah, lets forget that last one. Anyway if you just had a 3K mile first time oil change and you only started the thing up a few times that year, why would you, or would you, change the oil again? Knowing that the oil you'd be replacing it with is quite likely already over a year old from the time it was refined, stored and shipped to you through several suppliers before you ever bought it. I can understand if you did 5,6 or 8k miles in a year but why change oil every year just because? Does it somehow turn bad just sitting in the engine and not in the plastic bottle? If you are going to tell me that because it has acids, moisture and contaminates in it, well those are all in there anyway all through to the 9k mile mark. So why the 9,300 mile or one year which ever comes first? I don't even want to know about the 300 mile part, forget that. I've heard of folks never changing oil. Just change the filter and add oil. Can't say I'd do that but some people do.

It's one year after oil has been used. It won't go bad in the bottle. Once contamination gets in oil it is only good for so long. On your never changing oil. When I was an auto technician I had a coworker female. Her boyfriend told her she didn't need to change oil. Just keep it full. It was a Nissan sentra. Engine seized at 32,000 miles.The filter was ok. The engine was full of sludge. Needless to say boyfriend was in the doghouse.

[Peter Aawen]

Basically, once you open the sealed placcy container & pour it into an engine, the oil will pick up some contaminants - very likely from the remnants of oil remaining in the engine, but even if your engine is brand new, just the act of 'pouring' the oil tends to 'aerate' it a little so it starts absorbing some moisture from the air (and btw, it keeps on doing that!! The water molecules from the air bond with some of the molecules in the oil &/or additive pack, so you won't necessarily detect any increased volume without something like a mass spectrometer to measure it!! But it IS happening! ) AND, once it has been exposed to atmosphere, the oil will begin to lose some of its 'more active' ingredients thru 'evaporation' & other reactions with airborne molecules... and there's even more chemical reactions going on inside the engine too; some of the different metals &/or bearing surfaces react or combine with oil &/or molecules in the additive pack.... all stuff that slowly degrades the protection the oil is likely to provide to your engine!! And all this happens even before you start running the engine & putting all those combustion contaminants in there too!! Then the reactions start becoming pretty frenetic & almost obscene!

The nett effect being that the BRP Engineers have determined that suitable spec'ed oil, once exposed to air & poured into your engine, only has a SHELF LIFE of about 1 year, and even then that shelf life can be potentially reduced significantly if the engine is run &/or put thru a few heat/cool cycles &/or worked for whatever the period/operational hours they've decided it takes on average to drive/ryde about 9300 miles, give (or maybe possibly take?) a reasonably conservative safety margin!! So it's only smart to try to comply with the given service specs & oil change periods - or you could get your oil analysed (fairly cheaply these days) and get another opinion on how well it's behaving after being subjected to YOUR ryding & the demands that places on it?! Over time & successive analysis results, the oil boffins can build up a pretty good picture of what your oil is or isn't doing for you....

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Read here for the results of the oil analysis I had done when I changed the oil at over 10k miles, one year, and parked over the winter.
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...t-10-719-miles

[SpyderPolly]

Read here for the results of the oil analysis I had done when I changed the oil at over 10k miles, one year, and parked over the winter.
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...t-10-719-miles

Okay, I did read the manual and probably did change the oil too soon..... but this was a left over 2017 that had been sitting on the show room floor for about a year...... Money spent I really didn't need to. Well..... I'm old school but trying to change old ways is not so easy. I still intend to do 3000 mile oil change..... Anyway on the rolling in neutral down the driveway foolishness... the engine was running and to my belief I WAS IN NEUTRAL. I know rolling in neutral is not something you would ever consider on the road. I guess this Spyder isn't just a new ride but is unlike anything I have ever ridden....except maybe a snow mobile.. I love my F3L so far. A lot faster than my 1996 Road King. Thank you all for your support and comments. I think I'm going to enjoy this forum. Very informative. Peace to all...MsPolly