Word of warning RE: Rivco Driver Floorboards

[daveinva]

I had the day off yesterday so I went for a 170 mile joyride. No complaints there

At about the 140 mile mark I stopped off to use the restroom. When getting back on the Spyder, I noticed that the rubber pad over my left driver floorboard was torn (!!). :gaah: I'll take photos when I get home, but borrowing wolfee's photo, it's this one:



The rubber pad is atop a thin stainless steel plate with four, ummm, "nipples" (for lack of a better word) that fit through four holes in the plate and then through four holes in the stainless steel footboard. The nipples are glued to the rubber pad through the thin plate (nothing is glued to any metal). This setup is intended to make the floorboards "anti-vibration."

TWO bad things happened to mine: the pad came off the glue at two nipples, and the pad *tore* at a third nipple, damaging both the pad and that nipple. Basically, it was resting on just one nipple (I told you that wasn't a great word for it).

This really sucks, seeing as I spent a lot of money on these boards, I've had them for less than two months, and I've used them for less than a thousand miles. What's worse, I really like the footboards. When they're not broken.

Interestingly enough, the right-side footboard appears fine for now. This makes some sense, seeing as I ride often with my right foot on the peg to be close to the brake, pushing off (read: torqueing) the left footboard, hence the obvious damage.

I think this problem might be either unique to the Spyder, or at least exacerbated by it, given the riding style required (a two-wheeler rider is probably not putting as much lateral force onto their Rivco floorboards as a Spyder rider does).

Anyway, I'm going to complain to Rivco to see if they can't send me a replacement pad and set of nipples, but given how quickly and dramatically this happened, I'm confident this will happen again quite soon.

What's the best way to get non-skid rubber to stick to stainless steel? I rode without the pad on the left footboard and I sure as heck didn't feel a whole lot more in the way of vibrations, but obviously I can't ride like that forever on slick stainless steel... ??

Grrrrrr.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Adhesive

Hi Mike here, I've had great success on a number of tasks with a product from DAP it's " auto/marine sealant 100 % silicone with some additives to improve its adhesive capabilities ( its tenacious ) I bought a 5 oz. tube ( plenty enough ) at home depot about $5. I liked it. :thumbup:

 

[daveinva]

Hi Mike here, I've had great success on a number of tasks with a product from DAP it's " auto/marine sealant 100 % silicone with some additives to improve its adhesive capabilities ( its tenacious ) I bought a 5 oz. tube ( plenty enough ) at home depot about $5. I liked it. :thumbup:

Thanks, I'll check it out.

 

[ARtraveler]

Give Rivco a chance to help with the problem, and let us know what happens.

 

[Trooper]

Just a quick word of caution from a manufacturers standpoint if I may.

I think it is very important to give the benefit of the doubt to the manufacturer and to contact them concerning the issue BEFORE posting your displeasure/ dissastifaction/ concearn on an open forum. Most good companies who value their products and customers will make it right if you give them the opportunity to rectify the issue. If at that point you feel that you have been cheated in any way or did not get the customer service you feel you deserve, then I think that sharing your negative experience is warranted.

I have been grateful to this forum and to the customers who buy our products, and I would hope that if someone had an issue with our products that they extend me the courtesy to contact me and give me a chance to make things right before expressing their issue(s) on the forum.

Please do not take this the wrong way. I just think that all small companies deserve a fair shot at getting things right for their customers.

Regards,

John @ Elka Suspension

 

[Smokinspyder]

:agree: 110% percent

 

[sealfloorboards]

Just a quick word of caution from a manufacturers standpoint if I may.

I think it is very important to give the benefit of the doubt to the manufacturer and to contact them concerning the issue BEFORE posting your displeasure/ dissastifaction/ concearn on an open forum. Most good companies who value their products and customers will make it right if you give them the opportunity to rectify the issue. If at that point you feel that you have been cheated in any way or did not get the customer service you feel you deserve, then I think that sharing your negative experience is warranted.

I have been grateful to this forum and to the customers who buy our products, and I would hope that if someone had an issue with our products that they extend me the courtesy to contact me and give me a chance to make things right before expressing their issue(s) on the forum.

Please do not take this the wrong way. I just think that all small companies deserve a fair shot at getting things right for their customers.

Regards,

John @ Elka Suspension

:agree:,

Thanks John,as the owner of Seal FloorBoards, I couldn't agree more. We try very hard to provide the best product possible but things do happen. That's where customer service comes in. I will work with a customer until a problem is solved. Maybe it's something they can do on their end, if they are willing. If they can't or don't feel inclined to try, fine, I will replace a defective part. Just give us a chance to make the situation right before bringing it to public attention. Usually it's a simple fix.

Ride in comfort,

John
Seal FloorBoards

 

[daveinva]

Ya know, I thought hard about hitting send, but clearly not hard enough pps:

Just to note, I'm VERY HAPPY with my purchase. :thumbup: If anything, I'm pretty sure this might be a case of user wear-and-tear, given how spirited I ride. While it's unusual and disappointing that the pad came apart so quickly and easily, I don't think it's necessarily a case of blame the manufacturer-- Rivco clearly has a way they make floorboards, they took a design they've successfully (and profitably) used on two-wheelers for years and converted it for Spyder use. I just think that I, and perhaps other Spyder riders to come, may be harder on their stock design than they anticipated.

Given that, I'm not looking for free stuff-- I'd be happy to pay the replacement cost for the part, and that's what I'll tell them (I need to take photos of what happened and send on to them, will do that this evening). I'm more concerned that this may reflect something requiring a redesign for future buyers, but like I said, I won't know that until I have the replacement pad and run the same number of miles on it. Not knowing whether I was alone in having this happen, I didn't feel like waiting another few months until I've put those miles on a replacement pad before mentioning it here in the forum-- I figured other Rivco owners might have a similar experience and can add info here in the meantime.

Anyway, again, NOT SLAMMING Rivco, who so far in my estimation has made a high quality product. Or, perhaps, they didn't, and I just got the "Friday floorboard"; I don't know. I'll talk it over with them and let everyone know what I hear back.

I love our Spyder aftermarket companies. You guys all do fantastic work for a niche customer base, I've already spent PLENTY of $$$ supporting everyone. Just want to make sure what we get for that $$$ works best (which I'm sure we all agree is a good thing!).

 

[Trooper]

Ya know, I thought hard about hitting send, but clearly not hard enough pps:

Just to note, I'm VERY HAPPY with my purchase. :thumbup: If anything, I'm pretty sure this might be a case of user wear-and-tear, given how spirited I ride. While it's unusual and disappointing that the pad came apart so quickly and easily, I don't think it's necessarily a case of blame the manufacturer-- Rivco clearly has a way they make floorboards, they took a design they've successfully (and profitably) used on two-wheelers for years and converted it for Spyder use. I just think that I, and perhaps other Spyder riders to come, may be harder on their stock design than they anticipated.

Given that, I'm not looking for free stuff-- I'd be happy to pay the replacement cost for the part, and that's what I'll tell them (I need to take photos of what happened and send on to them, will do that this evening). I'm more concerned that this may reflect something requiring a redesign for future buyers, but like I said, I won't know that until I have the replacement pad and run the same number of miles on it. Not knowing whether I was alone in having this happen, I didn't feel like waiting another few months until I've put those miles on a replacement pad before mentioning it here in the forum-- I figured other Rivco owners might have a similar experience and can add info here in the meantime.

Anyway, again, NOT SLAMMING Rivco, who so far in my estimation has made a high quality product. Or, perhaps, they didn't, and I just got the "Friday floorboard"; I don't know. I'll talk it over with them and let everyone know what I hear back.

I love our Spyder aftermarket companies. You guys all do fantastic work for a niche customer base, I've already spent PLENTY of $$$ supporting everyone. Just want to make sure what we get for that $$$ works best (which I'm sure we all agree is a good thing!).

Thank you for clarifying that Dave. I just want to make sure that we have a fair chance as manufacturers to take care of our customers and maintain our businesses. Your business is incredibly important to us and we know you deserve to be heard and treated right.

Please remember to support the Spyderlovers vendors before looking outside as well. There are some great innovative products made by Spyder riders who know and understand what your needs are. :thumbup:

 

[ARtraveler]

:agree: Everyone seems to be on board. Talk w/ mfg. vendor first--try to resolve before posting complaints.

I have also been quick on the trigger--its so easy to push send--and then have second thoughts. Been there, done that, have the T-shirt.

All the vendors that are sponsers here seem to be tried and true. Those that were not--are long gone. No product is going to be perfect every time, and as long as problems are dealt with--its okay.

 

[Trooper]

:agree: Everyone seems to be on board. Talk w/ mfg. vendor first--try to resolve before posting complaints.

I have also been quick on the trigger--its so easy to push send--and then have second thoughts. Been there, done that, have the T-shirt.

All the vendors that are sponsers here seem to be tried and true. Those that were not--are long gone. No product is going to be perfect every time, and as long as problems are dealt with--its okay.

There's a t-shirt for that?

 

[arntufun]

I'm not trying to start trouble here, but I disagree with some of the comments. I did not find your post overly negative by any means.

If you contact the company and then they send you another floorboard nipple thingy and you do not post it here, the same thing could happen to other people a trend of posts will not generated seperating the good from the bad vendors. This is how we get our recalls started with our Spyders and vendors should be held to the same standards as BRP. Remember our rear fender bracket issues ??? If no one mentioned this on this forum we all would have thought it was just a fluke, but now we all know different.

You said you were going to contact the company and you posted the reason why. What is so bad about that ??? :dontknow: IMO people should post issues with products, this is how we all learn.

 

[AutumnCat]

I just want to say that I have these floor boards & love them. They were exactly the type floor board I was looking for.
I haven't noticed any problems with mine & I've had them most of this year. Though, due to the weather - haven't been riding as much, either.
Thanks to this thread, I am going to take a close look at my boards just to make sure they are holding up better. I ride my Spyder the same way the OP does to a degree.

 

[mguin]

Rivco Floorboards

Greetings,

I purchased the same floorboards about a month ago. No problems so far. FYI to anyone reading this thread, the quality/workmanship of this product appears to be VERY GOOD!. I know, time will tell. After reading the posts related to this thread, I went back to RIVCO's website in search of warranty information. It looks like RIVCO offers a 2 year limited warranty on their products. After reading the warranty, I believe that if you contact RIVCO they will tell you to send them the pad and they will send you a new one.

Good Luck

Bluezr0kr
Chandler, AZ :doorag:

 

[daveinva]

Hey all, I wrote to Rivco, explained my problem, and attached the following photos. I read through the warranty stuff, my plan is to mail them back the part(s) and hopefully get a new one. I offered to pay for new parts; I'm not interested in the free stuff so much as the chance for Rivco to consider that something like this could happen with the design.

Of course, reading the above notes from other owners, I'm all paranoid about my riding style. I'm not a crazy drunken monkey hanging off the thing, I swear!

BTW, last point before photos: I double-checked my right floorboard, no problems there at all. I'm thinking matters would be different if I had a handbrake instead of that right-side footbrake...

 

[daveinva]

One more photo...

 

[CJ/johnnyg]

Dave, Ok this is coming from johnnyg cuz he is sitting here looking at the thread with me. I have had the rivco on other MC with no problem. IMO If you think about it when you get off the spyder your left foot is still on the pad with all your body weight on it and you are turning your heel clockwise this makes the pad pull and push on those rubber garmets or nipples. The stress you are putting on them will cause them to rip. Like you said it might be your riding style. When you get the new ones think about turning turning your heel outward before putting all your weight on it. Just a thought. These pads are made for viberation not to be twisted. Like you said the spyder is a different type of ride. Thanks for posting this, it may help some that already have these and they can adjust accordingly, so it doesn't happen to them. Oh by the way his spyder is up on jack stands right now, He is putting the madstad foot rest and a few other things on from spyderpops when they get here. Plus he has to put my stuff on for my RS too.:thumbup:

 

[daveinva]

Dave, Ok this is coming from johnnyg cuz he is sitting here looking at the thread with me. I have had the rivco on other MC with no problem. IMO If you think about it when you get off the spyder your left foot is still on the pad with all your body weight on it and you are turning your heel clockwise this makes the pad pull and push on those rubber garmets or nipples. The stress you are putting on them will cause them to rip. Like you said it might be your riding style. When you get the new ones think about turning turning your heel outward before putting all your weight on it. Just a thought. These pads are made for viberation not to be twisted. Like you said the spyder is a different type of ride. Thanks for posting this, it may help some that already have these and they can adjust accordingly, so it doesn't happen to them. Oh by the way his spyder is up on jack stands right now, He is putting the madstad foot rest and a few other things on from spyderpops when they get here. Plus he has to put my stuff on for my RS too.:thumbup:

You know, that's something else I've considered-- that it's less my riding style and more using the floorboard to mount/dismount the Spyder (seeing as I always mount from the left-- old habits and all-- that could explain my trouble with the left board). I'll try to switch back to the pegs, but that brings in a whole other issue-- the Rivco set replaces the stock pegs with shorter "sport pegs" that are obviously harder to use to mount/dismount.

Experiments to come!

 

[Lamonster]

You know, that's something else I've considered-- that it's less my riding style and more using the floorboard to mount/dismount the Spyder (seeing as I always mount from the left-- old habits and all-- that could explain my trouble with the left board). I'll try to switch back to the pegs, but that brings in a whole other issue-- the Rivco set replaces the stock pegs with shorter "sport pegs" that are obviously harder to use to mount/dismount.

Experiments to come!

If it were me and I thought it was caused by mounting the Spyder I would glue the rubber pads down so I did have to count on just the inserts holding it on. You have a huge surface area for some good bonding material.

 

[NancysToy]

If it were me and I thought it was caused by mounting the Spyder I would glue the rubber pads down so I did have to count on just the inserts holding it on. You have a huge surface area for some good bonding material.

:agree: A few blobs of RTV silicone or somethging similar would reinforce it nicely, and reduce strain on the mounting projections. Be sure to let the silicone cure completely before stepping on the board, though.