Ryker Issue Alert!

[Tslepebull]

It is the oil fill plug that has an O-Ring. I did not need to remove the fill plug because my gear box oil level was good. But if I had, I'd have reused the O-Ring.

The fill level plug I pulled has a copper washer which I reused. These copper washers can be reused a number of times without issue as long as they are not damaged. Same with most O-Ring applications. But the manufacturer is always going to tell you to replace them anyway.

OK, now I am confused. The way I interpret the owners manual is that the white plastic hex head plug with the o-ring is what must be removed to check the oil level which is to be even with the fill hole. The magnetic plug with a sealing ring is the drain in the bottom of the gear box. I did not see any reference to a different oil level hole and plug.

[cueman]

In my manual it says to fill to the bottom of the fill hole, rubber O-ring on white plastic plug, and drain at the bottom at the drain plug that has a crush gasket. It does not say anything about a third level plug with a copper gasket. Can somebody, like a BRP or Can Am employee, chime in to help me understand. Also, how about putting the serial numbers of the affected units out there so we have some confirmation. cueman

[BajaRon]

If you look at the pictures which Lamont put up in a previous post. The 1st one shows the Oil Level Plug and Copper Sealing Washer. The 2nd picture shows the large plastic fill plug w/O-Ring (where you add oil if needed). The fill plug has nothing to do with checking the oil level. It's sole purpose is to give access to the gear box so you can add oil if necessary.

So, Step 1- Pull the Oil Level Plug. Step 2- if you are low on oil, remove the fill plug and add oil until it begins to run out of the Oil Level Plug. If you are NOT low on oil (which I was not) Skip Step-2. I am not sure where the confusion is being generated.

Lamont's pictures do not address the drain plug because it is not pertinent to this discussion.

[cueman]

I stand corrected and I apologize to BajaRon and Lamonster. I just came in from the garage and sure enough there is an oil level plug close to where the driveshaft comes out of the trans. If you are looking at the white plastic fill plug look to the right and down a couple inches towards the driveshaft. There is a small in size toque head bolt plug and yes it does have a copper gasket. It even says OIL LEVEL on the case. I feel like an idiot! I guess I was so upset I over reacted. I also apologize to all forum members and others that I may have caused unneeded stress. cueman

[Tslepebull]

I stand corrected and I apologize to BajaRon and Lamonster. I just came in from the garage and sure enough there is an oil level plug close to where the driveshaft comes out of the trans. If you are looking at the white plastic fill plug look to the right and down a couple inches towards the driveshaft. There is a small in size toque head bolt plug and yes it does have a copper gasket. It even says OIL LEVEL on the case. I feel like an idiot! I guess I was so upset I over reacted. I also apologize to all forum members and others that I may have caused unneeded stress. cueman

OK mystery solved. Tomorrow I will remove the oil level plug (that I just found) and let the extra oil I put in drain down to the proper level. I erroneously filled my gear box up to the level of the fill hole. The owners manual is not particularly clear on this. My gear box was likely full after all. This is why forums like this are so valuable.

[BajaRon]

I stand corrected and I apologize to BajaRon and Lamonster. I just came in from the garage and sure enough there is an oil level plug close to where the driveshaft comes out of the trans. If you are looking at the white plastic fill plug look to the right and down a couple inches towards the driveshaft. There is a small in size toque head bolt plug and yes it does have a copper gasket. It even says OIL LEVEL on the case. I feel like an idiot! I guess I was so upset I over reacted. I also apologize to all forum members and others that I may have caused unneeded stress. cueman

No need to apologize. We are all here for the same reason. To get good information and to get answers when we don't understand. We've all been in your shoes more than once and probably will be again. It's all about the end result. And when that is good, it's all good!

OK mystery solved. Tomorrow I will remove the oil level plug (that I just found) and let the extra oil I put in drain down to the proper level. I erroneously filled my gear box up to the level of the fill hole. The owners manual is not particularly clear on this. My gear box was likely full after all. This is why forums like this are so valuable.

Wow! Good thing you stayed with this thread and got it cleared up. Running that gear box with that much oil may have been a real disaster!

Another Crisis Averted! Well Done!

[Tslepebull]

No need to apologize. We are all here for the same reason. To get good information and to get answers when we don't understand. We've all been in your shoes more than once and probably will be again. It's all about the end result. And when that is good, it's all good!



Wow! Good thing you stayed with this thread and got it cleared up. Running that gear box with that much oil may have been a real disaster!

Another Crisis Averted! Well Done!

Of course the whole garage will smell like cat pee! Why does gear oil have to smell like cat pee? Fortunately it was way too cold and windy to ride today so with y'all's help I was able to avert a cat-ass-trophy

[Winnex3]

Looks like you can check to see if your Ryker is affected 5EF26B56-20F9-4071-ADDB-014DA40F4C81.jpg. https://can-am.brp.com/on-road/ryker...nal/ryker.html. Scroll to the bottom of the page And that’s where you look it up

[GoandChase]

@Winnex3 thanks for posting this. Never went all the way to the bottom of that page. Good catch.

[Sarge707]

The one I,m picking up looks good but I don,t know if a Bulletin is going to show up as a safety recall?

[Tslepebull]

OK crisis averted. Thanks to information provided by Lamonster and BajaRon I was able to drain my overfilled (my mistake) gear box to the proper level before I rode it. Here are some observations about the process of removing the observation plug for anyone who wants to go through the process. (1) there is not much room to get to the plug, and it is tight. (2) the plug takes a T-40 torx bit but I found it very difficult to get enough room to rotate the wrench handle far enough to break it free because it is recessed behind a body panel, the frame, and the drive shaft. (3) the outside of the plug is a regular 10mm hex head. I found it easier to use a 10mm 1/4 inch drive socket and universal joint on a 6 inch extension angled back and outside the body panel with a 1/4 inch drive socket handle to break it free and remove. (4) Once removed I loosened the 15 mm plastic FILL PLUG for air flow and drained out the extra through the inspection hole until it stopped flowing; it was only about 350 ml but I thought I had added more than that. (5) the socket, universal joint and extension also made it easier to get the inspection plug back in; I used the extension without a socket handle for this part to maintain feel - I did not want to cross thread the plug. (6) finally I torqued the inspection and fill plugs to spec.

The drained gear oil had a surprising amount of fine black debris in it but no burned smell. I assume this if from the gears burnishing together during the break in period; there were no big silver chunks. My experience will make later gear box oil changes easier and doing a partial lube change at 200 miles only cost me time and the lube.

I went back and re-read the maintenance instructions in the owners manual. On page 103 under verifying the gearbox oil level it states in item 4 that oil level should be even with the bottom of the oil level hole. However, the arrow in the diagram points to what we have been referring as the oil fill hole (15 mm plastic plug). This reference is made again on page 104 under instructions for changing the gear box oil where in item 6 it says to remove the gearbox level plug and the arrow in the figure points to what we are calling the fill plug. Later in item 10 it says to fill the gearbox through the oil level hole until the oil reaches bottom of the oil level hole. Then in item 11 it states to install the oil level plug with its O-ring. Nowhere in the owners manual does it reference the 10mm plug with copper washer on the back side of the gear box despite the oil level wording cast into the gear box. Here is my concern... there is different information in the owners manual than Lamonsters service bulletin. Presumably the service bulletin is more current. However, if the information in the owners manual is inconsistent with the service bulletin BRP may want to address that.

[BajaRon]

I find that an actual picture is many times more informative than the diagrams in maintenance manuals. I hope this helps clear things up for everyone. Picture expands if you mouse over it and wait a second.

RykerOilLevel.jpg

[Leland]

The fact that BRP seems to have slipped up on "quality controls" is a concern to me. First, how does QC miss the fact that the several gearboxes are not filled with oil. This is a MAJOR safety concern. If the gearbox where to overheat and seize a bearing at highway speed the outcome could be fatal.

Another concerns is how does the owner know which lubricant was partially loaded into his gearbox? Smelling the oil may indicate which oil was partially loaded, but to be certain the gearbox needs to be drained and refilled. Mixing hypoid gear oil and engine motor oil is not a good practice. An owner that tops off his gearbox oil does not know for sure at this point what the outcome of this mixture will be at a latter date.

All dealers should take the time to check gearbox lubricant levels before the Ryker leaves their door. If the sales margins are so slim that safety checks are not performed then BRP need to revalue their products.

Finally the owner's manual should represent the product. Owner confusion must not exist when it comes to safety inspection and maintenance. Gearbox oil inspection and replacement is a simple task that owners need to be able to access easily at homes if they desire. BRP needs to slow down and get the support system working before dumping a new product on the market.

In my option it appear that BRP is in a big rush to save themselves. What I mean is, they know that the Spyder market is limited and hope to flush the market with this trendy hipster ride hoping to light off the sales and revenues departments. We may find out that the Ryker is not as durable as the Spyders in the end. Once again all new owners of first production machines are going to pay the cost of these mistakes.

We are starting to find out now that the front tires size is proprietary as well as the need for a special socket to mount the wheels along with a 3ft. torque wrench. Now we have question regarding missing gearbox oil and errors in the owner's manual. Yesterday a Ryker owner posted that his headlights where not aimed correctly from the factory, they flooded the tree tops on high and on low, went directly into the window of oncoming cars. What is going on in these BRP factories in Mexico?

What other little tricks are hiding under the Ryker-hood, BRP?

[Tslepebull]

I find that an actual picture is many times more informative than the diagrams in maintenance manuals. I hope this helps clear things up for everyone. Picture expands if you mouse over it and wait a second.

RykerOilLevel.jpg

Thanks again BajaRon, the photograph and arrows provide much better information than schematics. Having the side panel off in the photograph makes the inspection hole much easier to see and likely easier to get to. I just had to do everything the hard way starting with my interpretation of the owners manual. Some times the lessons hardest learned are those longest remembered. It was too cold to ride this morning anyway. I was better off spending quality wrench time with YellaCat

[frj322]

Have to agree here. Isn't this being passed on to us as customers as part of the 'prep charge'? Even if BRP missed it, the dealer should have caught it for sure (reference my above post concerning the pre delivery inspection process).

[ARtraveler]

I'm thinking a bit early to condemn BRP and the QC process. Things sometimes happen with first run production. As long as they make it right...give them a chance.

To early to call foul...IMO.

[old Timer]

Way too early to call a Foul.

[BajaRon]

Way too early to call a Foul.

Agreed. We don't even know if anyone has had a problem. And as far as we know, no one has found their gear box oil to be low. Everything beyond the check of certain VIN # machines is pure speculation. With the facts that we do have I commend BRP for what appears to be an overkill reaction on their part just to be sure this isn't a problem.

There is a great deal of assembly required to get a crated Ryker ready to ride. I'm sure there is a check list of things which are required by the dealer before delivery. If the gear box is supposed to be filled from the factory and it isn't on the check list. I am not going to fault the dealership or BRP if this is not an assembly requirement.

[Tslepebull]

I'm thinking a bit early to condemn BRP and the QC process. Things sometimes happen with first run production. As long as they make it right...give them a chance.

To early to call foul...IMO.

Yeah, remember the "no maintenance needed" final drives without a drain hole in the early Oilhead BMWs? BMW was very good about replacing them with the upgraded unit even after the warranty was up. They replaced the final drive on my 2005 GS even though my mileage had passed the 36K warranty; that was about a $1700 part. All I paid was the hour of shop time the technician took to remove and replace it.

[Tslepebull]

Agreed. We don't even know if anyone has had a problem. And as far as we know, no one has found their gear box oil to be low. Everything beyond the check of certain VIN # machines is pure speculation. With the facts that we do have I commend BRP for what appears to be an overkill reaction on their part just to be sure this isn't a problem.

There is a great deal of assembly required to get a crated Ryker ready to ride. I'm sure there is a check list of things which are required by the dealer before delivery. If the gear box is supposed to be filled from the factory and it isn't on the check list. I am not going to fault the dealership or BRP if this is not an assembly requirement.

I'll bet they check it now

[Michaelscs]

Way too early to call a Foul.

Agree! Glad you said something.

[WilliamTRyker]

We don't even know if anyone has had a problem. And as far as we know, no one has found their gear box oil to be low.

My dealer just picked my Ryker due to the Service Bulletin (just to be sure). What they told me was that they assembled several additional units after I took delivery of mine and they were all low on gearbox oil, however, none of them were dry. I don't know if that means anything I just want to add it as a data point.

[Sarge707]

My dealer just picked my Ryker due to the Service Bulletin (just to be sure). What they told me was that they assembled several additional units after I took delivery of mine and they were all low on gearbox oil, however, none of them were dry. I don't know if that means anything I just want to add it as a data point.

This would make you assume they are filled at the Factory, which is now Mexico per the copy of the title I received, and a Very easy tip to find the hole is -Turn the parking brake off (down) and it will point right at the level check hole.

[BajaRon]

This would make you assume they are filled at the Factory, which is now Mexico per the copy of the title I received, and a Very easy tip to find the hole is -Turn the parking brake off (down) and it will point right at the level check hole.

Yes, I would say it is pretty well established that the gear box is filled at the factory. The subject has been raised that this should also be checked by the dealership during setup. I'm not against this. But I do not think it should necessarily be required. I would say that there was a new product assembly glitch and it has now been addressed at the source. I think the problem is most likely, permanently resolved. So I would be good with leaving this off the setup list.

[Tslepebull]

More on the subject by an unhappy Ryker owner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeS60qzIp54
I don't agree with bashing the dealer but the information regarding the service notice appears to be correct.