Some of the purchasing of a Spyder should be determining where you will ultimately have your Spyder serviced. There are good dealers and there are the bad ones. Look for red flags. Are they giving you a good deal, or TO GOOD of a deal. The later hope to sell you the Spyder and never see you again. They are difficult to work on and time consuming too.
If you read carefully on this site, you can easily figure out who is who. :bowdown:
~~~ Since I bought both of my Can Am trikes from a dealer in Kansas (Cycle Zone), and considering I live in Fla., going back to the dealer for servicing was out of the question. That said, every motorbike I ever bought, Jake spun the wrenches. I’m not a trained motorcycle mechanic, I was trained to assemble and service bicycles, but at a later stage in life. I thought about opening up a bicycle shop shortly after Y2K, so I enrolled at a bicycle institute (Barnett in Colorado Springs) to get the mechanical aspect of the business out of the way. Through a series of decisions, Jake never opened his bike shop. Sorry, but I digress. I’ve never been afraid to venture into the unknown, mechanically speaking. I’ve gotten in over my head a time or two but for the most part, working on the motorcycles I’ve owned has been a piece of cake. Looking back, probably the biggest mechanical job I got myself into was totally rebuilding the motor and drivetrain in the 1972 Honda 600cc Sedan I once owned circa 1980. Prior to the rebuild I undertook I had experienced the air-cooled parallel vertical twin motor jumping the timing. Unbeknownst to me the valve train was operated by a chain that ran between the crankshaft and the camshaft that had a hydraulic Adjustor which operated via oil pressure on the Adjustor. These were very inexpensive cars purchased new, about 2 large back in the day (71’s went to CA and HI only, the 72’s were 50 state cars, & by 73’, Honda dropped that car (Sedan & Coupe) and came out with the 4T Civic). Anyways, that motor needed frequent oil changes which most didn’t get, and they jumped timing (Imagine the results =
). So after paying a hack or 2 to repair my Honda 600or, I decided to figure this motor out myself and it was an enjoyable experience. I recall waiting 6 weeks for a new crankshaft including piston rods (assembled as one unit) after ordering it from a Honda dealer outside of Detroit that sold Honda cars & motorcycles. I had the cylinders bored to fit new 1st oversized pistons, had a machine shop clean up the head, valve train, bought a new carb, measured and fitted for appropriate shims for the transmission main and lay shafts (to eliminate slop). She was a real runner after the rebuild. I also painted the entire car; found a set of four 10” mag wheels; & Pop riveted synthetic fender flares on all four corners. Can’t remember if those mags were off a mini, which this car was designed to mimic originally. I sprayed the paint in a neighbor’s garage. At the time I was living in a basement apartment in a post-war 3 story building (in Royal Oak MI) with 6 rental apartments. I was the caretaker keeping the stairways vacuumed & the walks shoveled of snow in the winter. Best part, rent was $70/month, utilities were free. As for employment at the time, I was employed as an experimental research bench hand at a company that built refrigerant charged DHW solar systems. I didn’t make a lot of money so I couldn’t afford to buy new cars. I was also going to Wayne State University full time while also working full time. None of it was easy making it all work and sleep was at a premium
Getting back to buying/owning a Spyder RT and taking care of it, I always figured I’d be able to handle the maint & hopefully the repairs, if needed. These might look like complex machines and there are a lot of electrical circuits which to me, the electrics, may appear like a bowl of worms, an electrician’s nightmare yet there have been enough peeps here on this forum that have figured a lot of this stuff out & explained to laymen like myself. As far as the mechanics go, if you have to remove bodywork (AKA Tupperware) to get to it, so be it. Take your time and learn how to remove the panels. IMO, prospective buyers/owners need to consider, or at least give thought to, how long do you think you are going to own one of these, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? As mentioned, 30 large for an RT Limited (purchased new!) is a chunk of change. Not that anyone asked but I started looking at these in 2010, going on demo rides through the years. When the Rykers came out, I couldn’t contain myself and jumped on one new with the 900cc motor. I thought, 8 Large for one of these new?! It was a no brainer (I think that was MSRP in 2020). I miss riding the Ryker I had but, the RT is much more comfortable to an aging baby boomer such as myself. Fortunately, 2021 was a good year (financially) for me so dropping 27 large before trade in was possible. Again, no one asked but I paid $300 less MSRP for my Limited before trade in. I don’t recall exactly what Aaron gave me for trade in on my 2020 Ryker except I felt he gave me top dollar on trade. I really can’t say enough good things about Cycle Zone in Topeka Kansas. They treated me more than fairly.
Speaking to the prospects thinking about buying a Ryker or Spyder, give a lot of thought and examination into who you are going to buy your machine from. If you are buying used from a private individual, remember this - you are buying the seller. Sure, you’re thinking of buying his/her machine, but you are or should be buying, the owner; same goes to new or used machines from a legitimate dealer. Check them out. What kind of reputation do they have. I haven’t looked at the prices for new Rykers in several years but if you are on the fence so to speak, about buying into the BRP family, consider buying a Ryker. Little dinero, whole lotta fun. Ride it a year or two then move into a Spyder if that’s your real goal. By buying a used Ryker & riding it for a year or two, you may be able to get every dime back if you bought wisely. Having owned/ridden a new RT for 2.5 years, I can honestly say, I have not regretted a minute of owning my Spyder. AFAIC, it’s been one of the best motorcycles I have owned/ridden. If you are going to own of these, own it. IOW, take care of it and it will take care of you!
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
It’s never too late to have a happy Childhood
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