Recap of 2014 RT Problems

[ulflyer]

I know those who have had no problems can say what they want but objective comments on what to watch for are a good thing. Constantly deriding anyone who mentions an issue serves no purpose. This forum is to help owners and not just the ones that have no issues I am happy for you all. Some people have not been so lucky and knowing what has happened may help them at the dealer resolving said issues.

I agree. I think most of us who were quick to jump on the '14 wagon expected to find problems and most of us are pleased to find there have been no serious ones. That is exactly what the above list shows.

[Art Mann]

Don't let a few people keep you from asking others to share their experience. I purchased a 2013 RT Limited and was very disappointed after riding for 15 minutes due to the unpleasant heat build up. Therefore, thanks to the forum information regarding the 2014, I took an $8500 loss on my 2013 to purchase a 2014. Guess what? It was worth it. The 14 is everything I wanted when I purchased the 13. I bet BRP would not have moved as fast on the 14 if our comments had not been available.

It was honest and factual accounts of the overheating issue (among other things) that persuaded me to buy a 2014 RT-S at a time when the 2013s were being heavily discounted. I am very thankful for those people and the forums here for preventing me from making a big mistake. There is a difference between someone who is giving a factual account of their bad experience and someone who is continually using Spyderlovers to try to impose some kind of revenge on BRP. Unfortunately, it isn't always tell from one post which is which.

[Bob Denman]

...Which is why I tried to figure out what was going on; before giving the OP a list...

[hill27]

no problem with my 2014 RT 7500 MILES

[stewartj239]

I thought I'd gather the collective experience of my fellow 2014 RTS owners to identify all common issues that have been experienced to date. So far I've seen threads detailing:

1. Uneven tire wear
2. Loud/defective fuel pumps
3. Defective shift sensors

Any other common issues other than the $500 oil changes?

So let me get this straight. The OP posted some legitimate questions pertaining to 2014 RT issues and people jump all over him? If he posted a similar list against the 2013 RT, would the reaction have been the same? This is one of many forums that I belong to and forums are for sharing the good, the BAD and the ugly. No product is perfect and the forums are a great way for people to sort through things. At the end of the day, the Spyder is just a machine of which I have no personal attachments to get defensive about .....

[stewartj239]

Before I get flamed, I just want to be clear that I am not knocking the 2014 at all. When the time comes, I will be buying the new 1330 and I am sure that whatever year that is, there WILL BE issues or known factory weaknesses that will need to be addressed. To me, when you buy a bike in stock form, it is mass produced for the general population for the least amount of money invested by the factory as possible. To make it optimal, every bike can be tweaked in one way or another to make it better. That is what forums are all about ... to understand what those weaknesses are and how to make them better!!!

[Bob Denman]

Actually; nobody got ugly for him asking; we just wanted to know WHY he was asking...

[shelbydave]

So let me get this straight. The OP posted some legitimate questions pertaining to 2014 RT issues and people jump all over him? If he posted a similar list against the 2013 RT, would the reaction have been the same? This is one of many forums that I belong to and forums are for sharing the good, the BAD and the ugly. No product is perfect and the forums are a great way for people to sort through things. At the end of the day, the Spyder is just a machine of which I have no personal attachments to get defensive about .....

Before I get flamed, I just want to be clear that I am not knocking the 2014 at all. When the time comes, I will be buying the new 1330 and I am sure that whatever year that is, there WILL BE issues or known factory weaknesses that will need to be addressed. To me, when you buy a bike in stock form, it is mass produced for the general population for the least amount of money invested by the factory as possible. To make it optimal, every bike can be tweaked in one way or another to make it better. That is what forums are all about ... to understand what those weaknesses are and how to make them better!!!

Actually; nobody got ugly for him asking; we just wanted to know WHY he was asking...

I think Bob stated it the best above... There are legit problems with every year Spyder out there, and there are some "characteristics" that can be applied over a wide range of bikes, and those just come with the territory.

For the people who are truly wanting to compile facts / issues to help fellow riders out, more power to them.

For the ones who for whatever reason, the honeymoon is over, and they just want to complain - Time to move on to the next big thing... We all make bad decisions in life, and shouldn't expect someone else to pony up the cost of our mistake.

For the ones who are fishing for information to feed some scumbag lawyer for a get rich quick scheme - move on! There's nothing to see here! I doubt there's any veterans on here that would jump on that bandwagon.

Unfortunately, when things get to where they are with BRP - the heat issues with the 2013's, the change in tire composition on the 2014's, etc..., It gets hard to tell exactly what the intentions of a post are, so maybe after all the negative from the last couple years, some of us are kind of "on edge", and ready to jump on anyone who looks like they fall into the bottom 2 from above.

So, speaking for myself, I understand that there are issues that need to be ironed out. BRP needs to make things right with many customers. But, the number of negative posts (or started threads) has made me weary of even reading on here. It seems that there are some that feel the need to keep this fresh, by starting new threads stating the same things as soon as the last thread reaches end of life.

I'd rather mull through 1 long thread (or ignore it) than to have my recent posts blow up with new threads of the same old stuff.

[sduskin]

I have had 2 really good managers in my working career (so far!). Seperated by years, and work experience, both had the same principle that they worked by.

"Don't come to me with just a problem. Come to me with the problem AND potential solutions!"

What would benefit me more on many of these forum posts would be if posts were more like...
"I had this problem/issue/quirk and it was resolved this way."

-Steve.

[Bob Denman]

But I'd hate to say that we think alike; I wouldn't want to insult you!

[ARtraveler]

Sometimes these threads do go South, and then we get people nipping at each others heels and making statements that we may regret a bit later.

There have been many negative threads of late. Been on the site going on five years now and lately has been a bit hard for even me.

I have no problem with people posting about issues or glitches with our beloved machine. I have experienced a few things also. My history is now over five different 's and 100,000 miles. I guess you could say I like the product and am a supporter of it.

My problem currently is that there are a few (and most of us know who they are) that are ticked off big time at BRP or their particular machine, or the particular year model.

We see their rants almost daily. They interject their issue and problem in almost every thread they can, and sometimes in threads that are not even close.

Some have tried to get the problems solved. Some have not met with good results. We even have some who sold their and they continue to rant. Then there are some who's expectations are not even realistic. It is easy to see who is on a vendetta.

A lot of the negativity on the site comes from a few people and not the majority.

[stewartj239]

I have been a member of this forum for about a year and half and I do agree with you that there has been a lot of negativity - not just lately but as long as I've been here. I remember reading about it before and after buying my 2013 as well. It seems like it never ends. I also agree with the comments that if an issue exists, it is best for people to point to a solution or a suggestion for resolving it - that is what I think is lacking - the actual discussion for how to make things better. Unfortunately, I have also seen some posts from what I believe are new members asking about problems they've read about and I know on many occasions, they were scared off by the responses. Anyhow, I don't have the answer. I do know that because of the issues I read about the 2013 is why I started a thread that addressed solutions to many of the problems. I wish there was more dialogue like that that didn't say the Spyder is junk because of this or that, but here is a real problem, and here is a real fix for it.

[markyodo]

I didn't read through all the posts so if this is a repeat I apologize. I am replying to the OP.
After 3 weeks of ownership I noticed I have some noisy brakes (rubbing). I don't consider this a problem yet. I only get to ride once or twice a week since the weather is colder.
If it continues I will have it looked at.

Carry on.

[Orange Spyder Man]

don't think this could be actually a problem.. more of a "shortcoming" .. the light in the frunk on my RT... I have seen fireflys that emit more light...

OSM

[Dragonrider]

The REAL problem with the 2014s is they didn't make a RED one... I had to buy white instead!!!

[The-BigDog-30]

Problem is everybody wants to say how great the 14's are, but in reality there's been nothing but problems- brakes, oil leaks, clutch, tires, rear shock, ignition, alignment, loose bolts, fuel pumps, shift sensor etc. The list goes on , most of it should be corrected by BRP and you would think they would have cleaned it up by now. The rest is due to a bad delivery at dealer by undertrained techs. Should not be swept under the rug like it's no big deal. They should be fixing current issues before coming out with new models.

[shelbydave]

Problem is everybody wants to say how great the 14's are, but in reality there's been nothing but problems- brakes, oil leaks, clutch, tires, rear shock, ignition, alignment, loose bolts, fuel pumps, shift sensor etc. The list goes on , most of it should be corrected by BRP and you would think they would have cleaned it up by now. The rest is due to a bad delivery at dealer by undertrained techs. Should not be swept under the rug like it's no big deal. They should be fixing current issues before coming out with new models.

Yeah, like GM for the last 14 years...

[Bob Denman]

Problem is everybody wants to say how great the 14's are, but in reality there's been nothing but problems- brakes, oil leaks, clutch, tires, rear shock, ignition, alignment, loose bolts, fuel pumps, shift sensor etc. The list goes on , most of it should be corrected by BRP and you would think they would have cleaned it up by now. The rest is due to a bad delivery at dealer by undertrained techs. Should not be swept under the rug like it's no big deal. They should be fixing current issues before coming out with new models.

Sorry...
The 2014s are a much improved ride over the previous years. There have been some hiccups along the way; but a lot of those items on your list...

[MisterP]

Haven't we beat this to death? Some think there are problems, some think there aren't. This thread has nowhere to go but in circles.

[shelbydave]

Haven't we beat this to death? Some think there are problems, some think there aren't. This thread has nowhere to go but in circles.

Perception is reality... That's why these threads are so tough. It's hard to separate the opinions from the facts, and even with the facts, then there are opinions on who should do what...

I'll use the tires as an example...

First off, I don't know WHO requested the softer compounds for the 2014's - Was it Kenda who changed, or BRP who asked for a stickier tire?

Either way,

Probably some more aggressive riders complained that the tires were too loose in the turns, so a stickier tire was made. Unfortunately, regardless of what you drive, you have to find the balance between performance and longevity. You generally can't have both. Now, everyone is complaining that they can only get 5000 miles from the tire. Well, that's the price for performance.
The best decision would have been for Kenda to make BOTH tires, but then the drawback would have been the price, since they were making 2 types, and basically cutting the volume of each in half.

Can't please everyone, so you try to please the majority, then handle the remainder. Out of the remainder, some can be satisfied with some "tweaks", others just need to be tuned out.

[Bob Denman]

There will always be folks who are never happy...
If you showed up to their house, and handed them a ZILLION dollars; they'd be mad because you didn't also give them the car that you arrived in...
Fortunately; there's also folks out there, who can take lemons, and make some pretty sweet lemonade out of them.
Complaints should be heard; it's how improvements get made to the bikes. I think that BRP listened to what was being said about the original RTs, and the 2014s were the result.
Were they perfect? Nope... But then; what is?
I think that when folks show up with a gripe about an actual problem; it needs conversation about solutions. Trying to gather a mob by saying what BRP should be doing to right the wrongs foisted upon the stupid consumer... is a pure waste of space!
Discussing solutions to the problem presented, and then helping folks to move forward with the solutions; is what can make everybody smarter about their bikes. Isn't that what these forums are about?

Maybe the "Crybabies" need to simply be ignored. Let the thread die from boredom over the whining...

Okay; asbestos suit on... I can take it!

[shelbydave]

There will always be folks who are never happy...
If you showed up to their house, and handed them a ZILLION dollars; they'd be mad because you didn't also give them the car that you arrived in...
Fortunately; there's also folks out there, who can take lemons, and make some pretty sweet lemonade out of them.
Complaints should be heard; it's how improvements get made to the bikes. I think that BRP listened to what was being said about the original RTs, and the 2014s were the result.
Were they perfect? Nope... But then; what is?
I think that when folks show up with a gripe about an actual problem; it needs conversation about solutions. Trying to gather a mob by saying what BRP should be doing to right the wrongs foisted upon the stupid consumer... is a pure waste of space!
Discussing solutions to the problem presented, and then helping folks to move forward with the solutions; is what can make everybody smarter about their bikes. Isn't that what these forums are about?

Maybe the "Crybabies" need to simply be ignored. Let the thread die from boredom over the whining...

Okay; asbestos suit on... I can take it!

I'll don mine too. I'm right there with ya.

[Bob Denman]

[Magdave]

]

[Bob Denman]

Fair enough...