New to Group and Spyders. 2013 STS already having issues - VSS & Limp Mode

[Phazernut]

Good Day

I am new to the group and Spyders. Just bought a 2013 STS SE5 for my GF. Bike seems in perfect shape only 14000KM on it. The guy i bought it from mentioned that the brake light was sticking on at times and I figured simple fix no big deal. Picked up the bike a started on the 3 hour ride back home to St John's. I currently ride a Goldwing and have been on 2 wheels my whole life. I have to say I was impressed with the ride and handling of the Spyder. About 2 hours into the ride, I get a VSS fault and a limp mode screen. The bike stayed running normal for about 30 minutes and then went into limp mode. I managed to ride home but it would not run over 90km/hr. Dropped it into the dealer and was told it would be a week before they could look at it, but they took it in anyway. I got a call on Friday saying there was some sort of bracket that needed to be replaced along with the switch. About $200.00 in parts - and then the kicker... 8-9 hours labor to do the repair and another week at least for parts. So here I am with a bike I just bought and it hasn't even made it home yet. I really hope this is not a sign of things to come.

Craig

 

[ARtraveler]

Crud in the brake actuator switch can cause the brake lights to stay on. The "nanny" thinks the driver is "riding the brake." This will cause the limp mode situation.

Can you get back to the dealer and manually "unstick" the brake actuator. Follow the cable back to the rear wheel, you will see the switch. I am guessing this may be all the "fix" you need.

Let us know what happens.

:welcome: and congrats on that first post. :yes:

 

[Mikey]

The return spring gets weak also and you can go the hardware store and put an extra spring on the rod to give it a little help snapping back, some oil on all the joints and pivot points will help also.

 

[Knizar]

Craig, SERIOUSLY! Get another opinion!

That dealer is giving you a truck load of BS!

Good Luck, :thumbup: Bill

 

[Phazernut]

Craig, SERIOUSLY! Get another opinion!

That dealer is giving you a truck load of BS!

Good Luck, :thumbup: Bill

Unfortunately there is no other dealer closer than 4 hours away. And I know nothing about the mechanics of the Spyder. They said there was some sort of service bulletin for the mounting bracket for the brake light switch. Says it warps or something. I've dealt with these guys before when I had a Can Am ATV and they seemed decent deal with. The bike is apart now so kinda stuck with it.

 

[Bfromla]

Unfortunately there is no other dealer closer than 4 hours away. And I know nothing about the mechanics of the Spyder. They said there was some sort of service bulletin for the mounting bracket for the brake light switch. Says it warps or something. I've dealt with these guys before when I had a Can Am ATV and they seemed decent deal with. The bike is apart now so kinda stuck with it.

Ya unfortunately awfully close to hot catalytic converter & would warp & or melt the switch. At least you have a dealer will attempt also unfortunately growing problem dealers not accepting anything 10yr +old. :banghead::barf: Keep the maintenance up & timely, it will be good machine for ya, DIY nothing horrible. Carry extra qt oil around & check often 998 just naturally eat some.:riding:ENJOY:yes::welcome::congrats:

 

[Phazernut]

Ya unfortunately awfully close to hot catalytic converter & would warp & or melt the switch. At least you have a dealer will attempt also unfortunately growing problem dealers not accepting anything 10yr +old. :banghead::barf: Keep the maintenance up & timely, it will be good machine for ya, DIY nothing horrible. Carry extra qt oil around & check often 998 just naturally eat some.:riding:ENJOY:yes::welcome::congrats:

Thanks. I plan to do most of the maintenance once I get a bit more familiar with it. No issues around here with dealers not taking anything over 10. My Goldwing is an 08 and the local Honda dealer is top notch. Will work on anything. The guys at the BRP dealer seem pretty good as well. Looking forward to riding it a bit when the GF lets me. This is for her and its her first bike. She wants to graduate from the back of my Goldwing. Need to find a stock exhaust for it somewhere. It has some sort of baffled straight pipe on it now but still has the cat. Not horrible sound but we would prefer less noise.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Unfortunately there is no other dealer closer than 4 hours away. And I know nothing about the mechanics of the Spyder. They said there was some sort of service bulletin for the mounting bracket for the brake light switch. Says it warps or something. I've dealt with these guys before when I had a Can Am ATV and they seemed decent deal with. The bike is apart now so kinda stuck with it.

There's a pretty good chance that once fixed, this will be the last issue you have for quite some time! It's just a shame that

1. You didn't know how easy the initial fix (see posts #2 &/or #3) would've been on your ride home in order to keep you going;
2. You rode on without doing that initial fix until it caused Limp Home Mode to kick in;
3. Your Spyder is now apart & you are at the mercy of the dealer & more critically, BRP's parts supply system, no matter how good you might feel the dealer might be; and
4. You don't yet realise how REALLY SIMPLE the particular 'fix' for this on the road would have been, IF ONLY you knew about it!! :gaah: :banghead:

It really would've been a simple thing to avoid all this, and you would've avoided the escalation to Limp Home Mode if you'd just released the sticky brake switch - even if just temporarily!! And now that the bike is with the dealer and apart, even if they are the best out there, you will likely be held to ransom by the BRP Parts system, which may not even be able to supply the necessary parts anymore!! :gaah: And I did think that the 'mounting bracket' thing was a 'recall' on those, meaning that it was a free fix to the owner, rather than a service bulletin, altho there may well have initially been an expiry date on it?! :dontknow:

Besides, if you know which end of the hammer to hit a screwdriver with, then you probably need no more understanding of the mechanics of a Spyder in order to sort this thing out, especially if you can get your hands on a workshop manual - and someone will have a link to a source for that, I'm sure...

I do hope the dealer sorts it for you, and that you have no more issues - but I still feel that you should get that workshop manual and be prepared to do at least the basic maintenance on this thing yourself! The 2013 V-Twins are arguably one of the best ever years for the V-Twin Spyders (after the Heat Recall, anyway!) and arguably the V-Twins are the most exciting motors in any Spyder too, so it'd be a shame if your dealer pulled the 'it's over 10 years old, won't touch it' thing on you that others are increasingly finding/running into!! :cus: However, most of the normal/necessary maintenance on these is stuff that's easily do-able by even the most basic of home spanner-spinners, and a workshop manual will help with the rest, whatever little things might arise! :thumbup:

Good Luck, and here's to many Miles of Smiles! :cheers:

 

[Phazernut]

Thanks for the reply Peter. Believe me I wish I knew then what I know now. I already have a service manual downloaded for the bike. To be honest the last thing I would have thought about was that a sticky brake light would cause that issue. I have never had anything that a brake light switch would cause that much grief. When I got the VSS code I had images in my head of some fancy sensor being out of whack. Lesson learned. According to the dealer all the parts are available for it so hopefully no issues there. A friend had an 08 Spyder and ran it winter and summer and had over 120000km with no issues. I know they can be reliable rides. I'm really looking forward to getting it back. The Girlfriend is really anxious to get it. She has yet to do anything only sit on it.

 

[Mikey]

The big thing to remember is that it's just nuts and bolts, and at times, they can be cantankerous. You always have us, and your shop manual to fall back on, and I would be willing to bet we could have saved you some money on this repair!