I will reply to this post, but understand this; Folks who have negative experiences squawk the loudest and longest.

My experience only. Bought a new 2018 RTL (same as the 2019) in April 2019. New, zero miles on it. On the ride home I noticed the fenders flapping, figured that may be normal as I had no experience with these bikes. At home, I found the coolant level low, now I'm pissed at the setup guy. Bought coolant from the local ATV shop which carries BRP products, but doesn't work on Spyders.

Took the bike back to have the tires balanced (90 miles one way) and also try to convince them to install the 20.8 firmware upgrade. Big rigmarole on the software upgrade, not the bikes fault. Rode the bike home, still shaking on the front. Read extensively on how bad Kenda tires can be (hit or miss, you can have my low mile take-offs for free if you pick them up), determined to replace with car tires. Chose Vredesteins with some outstanding assistance from folks on here.

With the fronts mounted by a car tire shop, I immediately noticed the difference. Bike runs a lot truer and less flighty, not darting as it did before. Bought a Cycle Hill tire changer to swap the rear rubber. Upon opening up the rear rim I noticed the rim and rear wheel bearings are Chinese. Can't fix the rim, but darn sure replaced the rear wheel bearings with known good units.

Rode the heck out of the bike for a while, all the while trying different belt alignment and tension settings to get rid of the belt vibrations. Couldn't find the one sweet spot I had before, so I mounted a Roadster Renovations vibration dampener and it really worked good. Also mounted the Centramatic balancer discs.

Found the bike dives and wallows, especially bad with 2-up riding. Installed Baja Ron front spring pre-load adjusters. They worked good. Looking to add the sway bar if I can get the 'roundtuit thing going.

Now, we get to the core of the issue. From April 4th to May 22nd, I worked on and rode the bike to get it whipped into a shape I'd like it to be in. The first parking brake failure warning happened at 1384 miles with just 47 days on it, my problems began. The brake released once it cooled down, and I had purchased the little fold up wheel chocks and two 12mm wrenches to carry with me (based on threads on here), so I figured I'd wait until the 3000 mile dealer service. The brake issue came up 3 times total, but released each time when the bike cooled down.

Rode the bike more, began noticing a coolant leak. In early July (88 days, 1900 miles) I took my Spyder back to the dealer to investigate a brake failure, coolant leak, and also a cold clutch surging issue. The clutch surging may be a normal attribute of the Sypder, but mine seems particularly bad especially in reverse. Having them do the 3000 mile maintenance at 1900 miles due to round trip distance.

So far, this is what I learned. Bad water pump (leak). Bad left switch pack (known issue). I'm not sure that the parking brake motor isn't bad, as it would lock up when the bike was heat soaked and release when it cooled down. I don't have BUDS2 yet, so I couldn't see all the codes they pulled, but I looked at it this way. After parking the bike hot, upon restart I would push the parking brake switch. Upon trying to drive off, the bike didn't beep at me, to my mind that signals that the computer received the command to release (good switch?), but the red dash light would start flashing, meaning the computer recognized the brake hadn't released, showing the position switch was OK. Gotta be the motor, right? They say left switch pack. Hope they're not going to leave me stranded!

BUT! I will add this. I'm working my way through the trials and tribulations of Spyder ownership. My own personal take on this is that all companies, including your favorite car brand, are trying to maximize profit at any expense, including quality control. After seeing Chinese bearings rolling in the rear of my Spyder, and reading enough stories of either failures or short change intervals on the rear wheel bearings, I became convinced that BRP had sub contracted the small parts out to the point of gaining a reputation as being unreliable. They are rated as one of the least reliable bikes by at least one of the major players in motorcycle ranking, with Consumer Reports having them at a 42% failure rating. DESPITE ALL THAT, I still like this bike a bunch and will continue to press forward with it's resurrection to reliability!