Capt Jim,
I talked to you just the other day after having my tensioner installed. The dealer had set it at about 7# which was not enough #'s and after I spoke with you I reset tensioner to 14#. Now at speeds up to about 50mph the bike/belt are absolutely smooth. Above the low 50mph area it helps but has not eliminated the vibrations. As I accelerate the vibration comes back and then the tensioner will help reduce the vibration. This happens if I'm at 55 or 70mph , 4Th or 5Th gear!!
Yes, I remember your call, I was sitting in the emergency with my arm in a sling with a shoulder injury. Busted my *** after I stepped in some iguana crap on the sidewalk while waiting for the fireworks to start, we have a lot of iguana's in S. FL.. Seen some stars that night but not much fireworks, was sitting on the couch at 8:30 using a bag of frozen cut green beans for an ice pack.
You wouldn't be the first to change back to 2 wheels over belt vibration I think, I've had many customers tell me they would have dumped it long ago if they couldn't get rid of the vibration. Unfortunately, the tensioner is not a cure-all for everyone, for many it is, but I suspect many are running a tighter tension than the book calls for, and some, maybe most don't seem to have any vibration for some reason. Many mechanics are thorough and will check, adjust and grease everything by the book, well, everything except the grease fittings on the top back A-arms, which require near complete dis-assembly to change, and others, not so much, as in "Hey, I got a lot of bikes in front of me, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The belt is 40" long between sprocket centers and the belt tends to want to follow the curvature of the front sprocket as the teeth from the belt separate from the sprocket teeth, throwing a ripple effect towards the back sprocket. The belt doesn't know or care what gear your in, it is more speed related. Until BRP raises the tension back the other way some or comes out with something better in the way of belt control or a tensioning system some are still going to have some vibration, even with the tensioner, although greatly reduced I hope. In addition to that there is still some belt squeal and noise, hence the gray coating on the new belts. I like my tensioner business, but I love the joy from knowing I made a positive difference in another spyder riders time in the saddle. Sometimes though I feel like I am one little person trying to fix all of BRP's belt woes. Riders call or email me day and night because they can't get thru to BRP or are referred back to the dealer whose hands are tied. Why can't they fix my squealing belt!, or they adjusted it and now it's off to one side!,or what is that growling noise?, or the vibration is driving me crazy and I shouldn't have to buy a tensioner after I just spent 25k.
I'm happy to share my limited knowledge or give what advice I can, but I don't work for BRP, and I don't have all the answers. I love my GS dearly and I think BRP has done a great job bringing us something exciting and new to the market, a new paradigm they call it, and I'm not here to bash them and certainly want them to prosper and bring us new things, but bad news travels fast, and they need to start addressing and ironing out some of these design defects instead of flooding the market with new spyders with old problems. They fixed the steering problem, which was a biggie as far as a liability issue, but the fly by wire throttle and related electrical problems seem to be causing a lot of grief, and the dreaded limp mode while on a busy highway is downright frightening. As far as lowering the belt tension 3 times and the vibration that may ensue, the customer and dealers should not have to endure the frustration and misery for BRP's drivetrain engineering, or lack there of, and miscalculation of what damage might occur from a belt that long set tight enough to not vibrate, many of their customers will suffer needlessly or have to spend more money on a tensioner because BRP may have to replace some bearings at their cost while under warranty. BRP at least should give the dealers and mechanics some leeway to use their own judgement, discretion and experience when setting the belt tension since it was BRP's doing, raise it up a little at a time if necessary until the customer is happy, if there is still a little vibration we will buy them a tensioner, which should clean up what's left. It maybe a little tighter than BRP likes and they may have to replace a few bearings here and there, but look at all the money they have saved by not redesigning anything or adding a tensioner of some sort. The customer is king, and a happy customer will come back and pass on the good word and bring more sales, people tend to remember the bad stuff they hear long after they have forgotten the good things.
And most customers bought a smooth running spyder when new I would imagine, as most complaints come after the belt is readjusted, it's not fair to change the rules in the middle of the game. I went to visit my folks in Central FL. a couple of weeks ago and stopped in a large dealership, they had 4 new RT's and 2 used ones, one with 3500 miles and one with 9500, no RS's. The first thing I do naturally is reach in and feel the tension, the new ones were very tight and the used ones were very loose. Had they been RS's I would have thought nothing of it, as they are traded for RT's frequently, but the first thing to cross my mind is they probably couldn't stand the vibration and traded it in, it made me sad.
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