This last week we trailered our RT on our Drop-Tail trailer up to Page, Arizona, for some riding out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and in the Kanab, Utah, area. No problem loading the Spyder at home or unloading in Arizona [once there, the area was truly beautiful and a really nice place to ride ... 68 degrees and sunny at the North Rim with the smell of pine]. Re-loading in Arizona also went well with no problems and trailering home went well, but when unloading upon arrival home I had a problem: When I lowered the "drop-tail" and began to back the Spyder down, something "caught." See photo. I raised the tail of the trailer a couple of inches to where the damaged piece got over the joint and thus got the Spyder off the trailer; however at that point I realized that my Spyder would no longer go into reverse. It would only go into Neutral. Since it would still operate in the forward gears with no issue, I rode it over to the dealer where it now sits for analysis and repair. Two comments:

1) I'd ridden the Spyder on and off the trailer several times without any trouble both before this trip and during the trip and never had anything scrape, let alone "catch" on the trailer. The tires were all full at BRP-recommended air pressure. The only thing I can think of that was different was that I had "softened" the adjustable air spring during the trip to give my wife a more comfortable ride and didn't reset it (ours is the 2017 model RTS with a rocker switch to control this). I now assume this also "lowered" the Spyder to the ground. But I swear it didn't scrape when loading the Spyder in Arizona and it was the same setting there. ??????

2) What is this piece that was damaged? I don't understand how it could cause me to lose my reverse (only) while leaving all the forward gears intact. If I try to put it in reverse right now, it will only move to Neutral. Anybody have any ideas what went wrong? The service manager at first thought that maybe a wire got cut and maybe it's a simple repair and they could bend the piece back where it belongs, but then he started off on the usual "but this" and "but that." Their Spyder tech is tied up and I won't hear back from them for at least a week.
Damage.jpg