Ok, Time for an update.......
I dont remember what info I last posted so ill go back just a little. On Thursday I called Big Number 1 and Charlie in service told me he had found the problem. He declared it to have to much play in the steering U-Joint. I told him that the first thing I noticed the day I picked it up and it was in my letter to BRP was the ability to shake the bars and have no response in the tie rods. Almost and inch of play at bar ends....
Anyway he told me that they were ordering the parts for Sat delivery and they were going to have the bike tore down and ready when the shipment arrived. So Saturday came and I hooked to the trailer and drove down to Birmingham. I called around 10:00 and they said the part had arrived. I told them not to hurry because I had plenty to do in Birmingham with my wife and daughter. I noticed the Can Am Demo Semi was there doing test rides when I pulled off the interstate. I guess it was around 1:00 when I pulled in. My bike and another one was coming toward the dealership and I noticed the side panels were off. They were test riding it I guess. The other bike was being ridden by one of the people hosting the Demo Ride Program. I walked in the service department and the demo hosting guy said "let run over the the semi and let you ride another 2013. I thought great. I was immediately given a 2013 RT with the bigger comfort seat and the adjustable tri axis bars. He said "take it wherever you want". I left and rode probably 15 miles. I didn't need to go any further. I ran it through curves and then jumped on the interstate and ran up to 95MPH. (for test purposes only)
. It was flawless. I could l could actually do near any turn and any speed with no effort. I even tried to see how fast I could go into them before the nanny kicked in. (actually quite fast). It was exactly why I wrote the check a month ago.
(Mental notes I made during the test ride.) 1. Have to have the bigger seat , 2. Have to have the Tri Axis Bars.........
hyea:
So back to the dealer , I go back to the service department and my wife and daughter go to the couch in the retail building. It is around 2:00 by now. I asked them how much longer and they advised he was still buttoning it up. I said ok and went to retail building and get with parts guy and Jeff. Jeff is Operations Manager there. I asked if he had the bigger seat and the bars. He said he had the bars and he had a Corbin and an Ultimate seat with driver backrest. I asked if he could give me a good price on the two items and he did so now I have them loaded in the trailer. It rolls around and now it 3:30. I go over to service and they say he is almost done. Sure enough it is brought around and the tech says he will follow me on a yellow RT. I take off and IMMEDIATELY notice a problem....:banghead:. It is pulling to the right. Really bad actually. As a mechanical minded person I knew it was an alignment issue or a brake rotor dragging a little bit or a front bearing or tire pressure. But the one thing that I did seem to notice was it didn't seem to be darting. The tech was in the next lane so I had him pull beside me and I said "watch this, it will pull to the right even when I'm in the left lane with the camber of the road to the left". I got up to speed and took my hands off and sure enough each time it would pull itself to the right lane. We swapped bikes and I preformed the same maneuvers and the new bike was perfect. He came up beside me on mine and said " yep it is pulling, lets go back and ill realign it." So now it's 4:30 (and they close at 5:00 on Saturday)and my family is not any happier. They have been sitting all day waiting on me to get finished. So I tell them I have to carry my family to eat and let them run to Brookwood Mall. Jeff said he would stay with the tech and do the alignment procedure once again. And he said he would call me when it was done. At 5:45 I still hadn't received a call so I came back to the dealer because it was nearly dark. They still had not finished. Finally around 6:30 they ride it around front and the tech takes it down the road. He come back and said it seems to be right now so I grabbed my helmet and went for a ride.
The last result is ----- I still have the pulling to the right. It does seem even better. But its still not perfect. I would say (from the short ride due to darkness and a ticked off wife) that it seems to be 90% now. I asked them what they wanted to do. They were stumped and honestly I kinda am. I believe the tech knows the alignment process after speaking to him about it. I also believe the shocks are ok because they pulled a new set off another bike just in case mine had an issue. They even jacked the bike up and made sure the brakes were not dragging. So they made a note to call BRP and get some more info.
I am going on vacation next week and wanted to trailer it with me so my wfe and I could use it to ease around and do some sightseeing. It was one of the reasons that prompted me to make the initial purchase when I did.
I knew it would be fine to ride so we all agreed that I would take the bike and get with them when I get back. Like I mentioned earlier I believe the bike is 90 to 95% perfect now. And actually next week will give me a little time to make notes on what it may need to get to the 100% mark.
I want to let people know that even though initially I was mad at everyone , I now realize Big Number 1 didn't have any info on the new alignment procedure and they had just received the ball joint kits. Jeff, Eric Charlie and EJ the tech were always very nice , they answered my call EVERY time I called, and they seemed to care about it being broken. I know they are a busy dealership and I admit they have their moments where they act like they just want to go to the next sale. But I have to say they have tried extremely hard to help me. And for what its worth they have gotten very close to perfecting it.
I also want to say if you head to Big Number 1 and see Jeff or any of the others please tell them I have spoke good about them. I think that soon all will be behind and and it will be like a distant memory.
Ill post more as the next week passes during vacation and when I get back ill see what BRP advises about the slight pulling to the right. Right now I'm headed to my shop to install my new Ultimate seat and tri axis handlebars
P.S. The last day I had my bike before I carried it in to have the steering darting fixed I installed the CB/Communication system and XM radio. It worked great so when I was at the dealer I also ordered the Bluetooth puck so I can stream audio without hooking the cable to my phone so Ill report on how good it works when i get it installed.
P.S.S. If you notice i havent mentioned anything about BRP. The reason is simple. I havent got a perfect bike yet and I havent settled with them. I feel sure it will all work out, but for today lets just leave the BRP issue as :To be Continued......
If someone could change the post topic by adding the words UPDATED MAR 24 to the end of the title it may let people know there was some new results.....
opcorn:
