Vibration..More Information!!!

[Jornie1]

Hey gang, I have spent all day disassembling the front end of my Spyder to get to the damper rods. I have had a serious annoying vibration in my Spyder RT especially when accelerating, for quite some time. It became more pronounced after I had the belt tension adjusted in complience with service bulletin 2010-6. Take a look at the pictures I have attached to this post. I found one of the bolts..actually the nut on the damper rod HARD against the frame. I found metal dust where the nut was vibrating against the frame. It was transfering engine/belt vibration to the frame of the Spyder and therefore to me. You won't believe the difference after I filed a relief in the frame flange where the nut could not come in contact with the frame. This problem can be fixed.

I would not recommended doing this at home for the faint of heart and non mechanical types.. But... It will stop nearly all of the vibration.

Those out there that have no vibration... Well.. there must be no contact with the bolt and the frame...

Take a close look at the pictures.. You will notice that one picture shows the nut hard against the frame.. the other photo shows space between the nut and frame after I moved the bolt up to the top of the slotted bolt hole and filed some relief from the frame flange... If anyone out there wants some suggestions on how to approach this somewhat complicated fix..send me a PM.... Len

[capt.jim]

those are some nice pictures, i dont have an RT, but i've been following the post on this problem, but couldn't really tell what was happening, i can see it clearly here. I hope brp addresses this soon, such a small thing to mess up such a great ride.

[SC92]

Check out this thread

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=22766

[InspectorGadget]

Take a close look at the pictures.. You will notice that one picture shows the nut hard against the frame.. the other photo shows space between the nut and frame after I moved the bolt up to the top of the slotted bolt hole and filed some relief from the frame flange... .... Len

Thanks Len,
I hope you torqued those engine mount bolts down before you put it back together.
I may get to this soon and now with the help from your photos I know exactly where the problem is.
Thanks again CYA RL

[SpyderDon]

Thank you for the great pictures. I sure hope my problem is the same, if so the dealer should be able to fix it. I'm waiting for a GPS, DPS and 3000 mile oil change before I make the trip back to my dealer.

[sinkhole]

Why in the world didn't BRP lengthen the cross stabilizer bar an inch and a half or so? It would have moved the bolt out where it wouldn't have hit anything... or is this the fix on the 2011's.

[fastfraser]

I hope its a fix for the 2011s.

[Gordy]

repaired mine when they replaced the dps, there was a groove worn in the nut

[Eraser]

Good to know Gordy,we're both probably using the same dealer.

[sinkhole]

I have a set of fog lights coming for mine, so while I have the front end off, it'll be a good time to resolve any issues I might have.

Len, did you have problems with both RT's?

[Jornie1]

Dave,
Sorry it took me a couple of days to get back to you on this.

I did have vibration with both RT's. I have fixed them both. It's a world of difference. It's hard to believe.

Here is how to get to the rubbing bolt/nut. Remove all the panels required to get the snout off, then off with the snout. Make your way to the oil tank, unbolt it and lift it out of its bottom rubber grommets. I didn't remove any oil tank plumbing, but tied it back out of the way letting it flex on the attached oil lines. Remove the front to back vibration damper rod, it's easy to get to. Then, loosen the two rubber motor mount nuts (see in my picture) ...Don’t take them off, just loosen. Then... find a handy spot to jack the engine up just enough to lift the rubbing nut off the frame so you can get a wrench or socket on it. I used the flange just under the rubber motor mount for jacking with wood for protection.

The rubbing bolt/nut (on the bolt head end), goes through a slotted hole, loosen the bolt & using a prying tool lift and slide the bolt to the top of the slot. This in itself when tightened may lift the nut off the frame. While holding it in place, re-tighten the nut/bolt, 35 ft/lbs. While the engine is jacked up, there is enough space below the rubbing nut to use a rat tail file and file more relief in the flange... Again, see my picture. I did this because I don't ever want to do this again and wanted to make sure there could be no more contact, nut to flange. Re-tighten the rubber mount bolts, 35 ft/lbs, and put the sucker back together.

You’re going to be amazed at how the machine smoothes out. This fix is a lot of trouble and as I said in my post, not for the faint of heart or mechanically challenged. I’m sure with evidence mounting with all of us owners out here that are having or have had this vibration, BPR/Dealers should take on this daunting task as a warranty issue. Some of them won’t do it unless BRP is paying them.

Being dangerously curious and a glutton for punishment I just like to work on my own stuff…When I can. I had to take the snout off to install my new Stebel air horns and thought what the heck… why not keep going.

I hope this helps, let me know if I can be of further help… Len

Note: I will also post this on the forum for the benefit of others if they’re interested.

[2NFrnt]

For any of you who have that "running over a grate" feeling in your RT's foot pegs at certain RPMs this is likely the problem. I had my RT in for service, new gas gauge and new rear shock and got my dealer, Cowtown in Cuba, MO, to look into this for me. They found this condition and fixed it!! Not going to tell you it's "electric motor" smooth, but is A LOT BETTER and in the mid-5K range it's is "electric motor" smooth and my foot pegs don't vib anymore than my handlebars, which is not much. Thanks you guys at Cowtown you are No.1.

Sam

[J W Miller]

Had my new to me but really former demo bike 0000159 out on I- 75 today and what a rough runner this one is. I am sure as I can be that I too have a strut rod bolt head rubbing the frame. 4900 to 5400 rpms in 5th really bad vibes. Be 4 or 5 days before I can tear into it. Sure hope that is the problem. J W Miller

[sinkhole]

I had the RT apart to install fog lights so I checked the Damper rod bolt. Sure enough, it was hitting and had notched the bracket. As Len mentioned, the majority of the work involved with this fix is getting everything out of the way go you can get to the bolt. A Dremel works well to notch the bracket, and raising the outer attach point to the top of the sloted hole, give plenty of clearance. Just got her buttoned back up so the test ride will have to wait until tomorrow.

[Gordy]

Good to know Gordy,we're both probably using the same dealer.

enns in portage

[clueless]

I had the RT apart to install fog lights so I checked the Damper rod bolt. Sure enough, it was hitting and had notched the bracket. As Len mentioned, the majority of the work involved with this fix is getting everything out of the way go you can get to the bolt. A Dremel works well to notch the bracket, and raising the outer attach point to the top of the sloted hole, give plenty of clearance. Just got her buttoned back up so the test ride will have to wait until tomorrow.

make sure you paint over the area with rustoleum paint or some rust preventative paint the area you cleared away ..

[clueless]

dealer found I had the issue. had them check when they did the DPS recall as its closer to the area so little extra work to get to the rubbing bolt.

wont know until i pick up RTS back but will let you guys know how it went.

[sinkhole]

make sure you paint over the area with rustoleum paint or some rust preventative paint the area you cleared away ..

I did use the Rustoleum, but forgot to take an "after" pic.

[clueless]

I did use the Rustoleum, but forgot to take an "after" pic.

did you test ride yet... thoughts ? how much of improvement did you get in the vibration ?

[sinkhole]

did you test ride yet... thoughts ? how much of improvement did you get in the vibration ?

I took an 80 mile ride this morning and I'm happy to say that the heavy metal clunking vibrations are GONE.
I still have some vibration in 5th gear under load, but I feel as if this is a belt vibration problem. My belt is riding lightly against the inside flange of the rear wheel sprocket, and several people have said that once you get the belt away from the sprocket flange, the light vibrations will pretty much disappear.
One thing that I thought of doing, but didn't, was to install a small half-round filler under the attaching bolt at the bottom of the slot. I don't think that the bolt will settle down over time, but a filler in there would prevent the bolt from vibrating back down altogether. Next oil change I'll do a spot check to see if anything has changed.
btw, the only reason I can see for the vertical slot, versus a hole, is so that the bolt can be installed from the rear. There is minimal clearance between the mounting point and the engine, and a plain hole would not allow the bolt to inserted or removed.

[clueless]

I took an 80 mile ride this morning and I'm happy to say that the heavy metal clunking vibrations are GONE.
I still have some vibration in 5th gear under load, but I feel as if this is a belt vibration problem. My belt is riding lightly against the inside flange of the rear wheel sprocket, and several people have said that once you get the belt away from the sprocket flange, the light vibrations will pretty much disappear.

NICE thanks for the update. cant wait to test my spyder out after it gets back from the shop.

[J W Miller]

After removing much of the front plastic I found no such rubbing of the strut rod head rubbing on anything. I did notice the belt is rubbing on the ouside side of the front pulley. Could this be my viberation problem? my bike is 0000159 one of the first produced. If that means any thing.

[Jornie1]

I'm not sure if it is possible to get totally rid of ALL vibration in this machine. I think if you look at the evidence on this thread... Most have had or are having the "Bolt On The Frame" problem. I own two RT's.. Both had this problem and once the nut was moved so as not to be riding on the frame....nearly all vibration .."Emphasis on Nearly All" vibration disappeared.

With a V'twin engine and a very long ribbed belt, it is my contention that there will always be some vibration..

I can attest to the incredible improvement after giving the offending bolt/nut some relief from riding on the frame...... Len

[rineer4635]

dealer found I had the issue. had them check when they did the DPS recall as its closer to the area so little extra work to get to the rubbing bolt.

wont know until i pick up RTS back but will let you guys know how it went.

Had mine in for DPS recall, they told me I would have to pay for 4 hours mechanic time to address bolt issue. I told them I am not paying to fix a factory issue.

[clueless]

Rode the RT today and there is still the vibration but it was about 75% less...

now I am quite happy cruising the highway at 70 mph at 5,000+ RPMs. i didn't notice when I hit 5,000 RPMs like I did before fixing the bolt clearance.

before I would know when I accelerated in 5th gear around 5,000 to 5,500 I could tell by the vibration.