Snow Balling out of controll

[gbouten]

I know a few of you have replied to my post for some of the issues I have been having, so I thought I’d bring you up to date. I need to say at the outset that I'm not slamming the service department where I purchased the bike they are continuing to work with me. Here is a bit of history of my issues
Last week I purchased from a dealer a 2011 RT with 2100 miles and still under factory warranty. This dealer is 70 miles from my home. Part of the sales pitch was that they would install a factory radio. I finished the paper work 15 minutes before closing time so it was getting late when I left with my Spyder. Right off the bat I get a check engine light that went away and never came back. During the next week of driving it check engine light came on every time I slowed down to pull into my drive way and then went out. The yesterday we drove it back to the dealer to get the radio installed and I explained my problems and was told they would look into it after the radio install. They told me there were a few recalls that they would do and one had to do with my issue. We were at the dealer for over 6 hours and when they pulled it out of the shop and the service tech got the check engine light. He seemed surprised and told me that the recall for this issue had already been done. They took it back in and put it on their computer. The fault code came up as a bad O2 sensor and I was told I could drive it home and they would call me when the part came in. Again it was late so we headed home. In all the confusion to get out of there we never got to test the radio other than to verify that it was working. On the way home I could only pull in one FM station and zero AM stations. To top it off my check engine light came on every time I slowed down and by the time I got home it was on more than off but never went into “Limp Home mode”. I called the dealer to ask if I should not drive it and was told they will get back to me about this next week. So, now I get to take another 70 mile trip back and it looks like I may have to trailer it back. At this point I’m regretting selling my Harley Ultra. It does need to be said that the service manager has been very responsive and I do feel he will work to get these issues solved.

 

[Bob Denman]

:gaah: This sounds a bit lie a bike that needs a proper setup... Insist that your dealer go back through it to check, re-check, and even re-re-check everything to make sure that they find every and any potential issues... Good luck and please keep us posted! :thumbup:

 

[gbouten]

:gaah: This sounds a bit lie a bike that needs a proper setup... Insist that your dealer go back through it to check, re-check, and even re-re-check everything to make sure that they find every and any potential issues... Good luck and please keep us posted! :thumbup:

Thanks, I have to say the service manger has been very nice to us at this point and I'm sure he will do his best, its just so frustrating after selling a bike that was cherry only knee problems put me in a position of having to get rid of it. Like I said it makes me wonder why the bike was traded in when it was less than a year old. I just need to vent 17 years sober and don't want to let this drive me to drink (just kidding if any friends of Bill are on this list)

 

[neelbert]

Thanks, I have to say the service manger has been very nice to us at this point and I'm sure he will do his best, its just so frustrating after selling a bike that was cherry only knee problems put me in a position of having to get rid of it. Like I said it makes me wonder why the bike was traded in when it was less than a year old. I just need to vent 17 years sober and don't want to let this drive me to drink (just kidding if any friends of Bill are on this list)

the first dealer i took my Rt to was very nice,BUT has no experence fixing spyders, they have exp. working on them there is a differance:banghead:

 

[Arr MiHardies]

Could be a loose battery connection I'd think either in addition to the O2 sensor, or maybe causing the o2 sensor to read as bad. There are some posts about how to get the error codes when your spyder throws a check engine light. I may be mistaken (and if I am, I'm sure I'll be corrected), but I believe you hold down both the mode and set button, and while holding them, push in your turn signal button like you were canceling a signal, and the error code should appear on the screen.

 

[ARtraveler]

Sorry to hear of your problem. The problem sounds like set up issues and perhaps a dealer who is not very good at servicing the :spyder2:. When you call them with a problem and they say they will call you back next week sometime--it kind of raises a red flag for me.

You might request finding out who the previous owner was and have a direct conversation with them. We may know the owner and some of the history of the :spyder2: you bought.

A 2011 with 2100 miles on it--should have had the bugs worked out of it--IMO.

 

[gbouten]

Sorry to hear of your problem. The problem sounds like set up issues and perhaps a dealer who is not very good at servicing the :spyder2:. When you call them with a problem and they say they will call you back next week sometime--it kind of raises a red flag for me.

You might request finding out who the previous owner was and have a direct conversation with them. We may know the owner and some of the history of the :spyder2: you bought.

A 2011 with 2100 miles on it--should have had the bugs worked out of it--IMO.

Service said he would call me back next week to let me know if I should continue to ride it or not. We know the code was a falt in the O2 sensor. I have the name on the first owner as it's on the title.

 

[Gordy]

dont be discourage the bugs will be worked out its just too bad your so far from the dealer a lot of us are, my dealer is also about 70 miles away and if I have to trailer the spyder its about a tank of gas in the truck which aint cheap anymore

 

[CyncySpyder]

I know from personal experience just how frustrated you must be

Dealer set-up makes or breaks these bykes. We ended up taking a pretty big finanial hit ourselves when we couldn't get our 2010 RT-S to be bug free & ended up trading it in on Teds Red Sled 2011 SpyderFest Eddition 1of5 RT-S from Len & the crew at Cowtown. Can't say enough good things about a dealer that knows what their doing. I hope they can get your Spyder bug free sooner than later. When all the bugs are worked out, its one hell of an adictive ryde & you won't regret your decision. :thumbup:

 

[StanProff]

I have read a lot on this forum about the importance of correct dealer setup/checkout of the Spyders. I have had only good experience with my 2010 RT S (bought and set-up at East Tenn. ATV in Elizabethton) and would also be really dissapointed if it had been problematic. I am one of short patience when it comes to car problems or bike problems, my back ground is of Honda motorcycles, and Yamaha along with Kawasaki. For the past 40+ years i have changed oil, put gas in and standard tune-ups. That is what I am used to, I guess I have been lucky through the years to have very dependable rides. I still have a bunch of two wheelers in the garage along with the Spyder. I love the Spyder and in the 8000 miles that I've put on it I have 0 complaints of problems.
I am sure the dealers take note of the forums and should make every effort to triple check the assembly and set-up on every one that rolls out the door. Something as simple as the battery connections not being tight is unacceptable and this is a common issue we hear about. I know without a doubt that this is a great ride and when the issues are taken care of you will love the Spyder as we do. My wife and I planned a cross country trip last September and I put over 2 thousand miles on the Spyder on various roads and conditions to gain the confidence needed to take the trip. This was done not only for my "learning curve" riding the Spyder but also to bolster my confidence in the machine. All went well, The trip covered 4,500 miles and my wife and I had a once in a life time experience covering 17 days of travel through 12 states. My wish is for everyone to enjoy something similar.

Stan (the happy Spyder man).

 

[Tim Pringle]

I had a similar issue when I picked up my knew Spyder. My problem turned out to be to much water in the gas tank from the bike sitting in the show room. After I filled the bike up with 93 Octane, the check engine light went away and never came back. The bud showed two bad o2 sensor. I have almost 1500 miles on it.

 

[gbouten]

I had a similar issue when I picked up my knew Spyder. My problem turned out to be to much water in the gas tank from the bike sitting in the show room. After I filled the bike up with 93 Octane, the check engine light went away and never came back. The bud showed two bad o2 sensor. I have almost 1500 miles on it.

I wish it were that simple I'm on my 4th tank of gas.

 

[OneBadPenny]

Things to check

Our 10 RT-S was having dieing issues almost like you are explaining with its symptoms. The bike went through 2 O2 sensors, throttle body, ECM, and everything to do with fuel and electonics for engine control. It turns out the Purge Valve or PCV and evap canister were bad. Haven't gotten it back yet since they want to ride it for several miles before returning it.

 

[gbouten]

Our 10 RT-S was having dieing issues almost like you are explaining with its symptoms. The bike went through 2 O2 sensors, throttle body, ECM, and everything to do with fuel and electonics for engine control. It turns out the Purge Valve or PCV and evap canister were bad. Haven't gotten it back yet since they want to ride it for several miles before returning it.

Bike is still in shop waiting on parts

 

[fastfraser]

Hope this is the fix you are looking for .

 

[gbouten]

Thought I'd give everyone an update. The O2 sensors (two of them I guess) were replaced on Saturday. The dealer is closed Sunday and Monday. The dealer asked if they could drive it to their other dealer about 40 miles away to make sure all is well and I told them I thought that was a good idea. If there are no problems I will pick it up after that I will let all know what the end result is.

 

[CyncySpyder]

Teddy & I are hope'n & pray'n this works & its time to enjoy your new ryde

:yes:ray::yes:

 

[gbouten]

:yes:ray::yes:

Thanks we should know this afternoon. I'm looking forward to getting to ridding it.

 

[gbouten]

In my post I mentioned my radio issue. I'm told by the service manager that this was a bad antenna ground. I should have news of the other issue today and hope to have it on the road by the week end. (Fingers and toes crossed)

 

[gbouten]

I just received a call from my dealer that they have everything ready to go. I was told they drove it for 80 miles without any issues. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow I am so ready to ride this thing.