About Those Dealers

[soreknuckles]

Hello all. I posted awhile back that my wife is considering a Spyder or Wing Trike. I think that sooner or later there will be a Spyder parked next to my Wing in the garage.Both of our dealers here are a little ways away, which, while not impossible, could be an issue. I read lots of dealer horror stories (as with the Wing also) and a lot of thumbs up stories. It seems that the thumbs up stories usually come after one dealer fixed a pile of stuff that another dealer screwed up. What seems to be the problem with dealers??? Greedy?? Don't care?? Lack of sufficient training?? Machine is too complicated for the average mechanic?? Not enuff time/$$$ allotted for warrenty work which causes the dealer/mechanic to rush thru and not do a proper job??? Experience...maybe it's not an upward field to work on Spyders??? What do you do if you break down out of town and there are no dealers?? I have been working on and servicing my own bikes for years, and also different brands. I am a pretty competent wrench, but with all the electronic crap they are loading new vehicles up with, I am less than competent that I could fix any of that. ARe these things a horror to work on?? What about routine maintenance??? Can the average guy change the oil and do any of the service himself?? I too don't believe in deep sixing a dealer, unless it is a total bomb job and someone else has to step in and fix the mess. Anyway, lots of questions and thoughts about this new in the future machine. It also seems to me that there are a lot of posts with problems on this vehicle. Of course, like the Wing, perhaps that is when folks post the most. But I gotta say, a couple thousand to repair a dealer's incompetence would REALLY heat up my good nature..........thoughts??? Ideas??? Advice??? Thanks all.....

 

[Bob Denman]

A lot depends on how you buy a vehicle. :shocked:
If you buy based solely upon price; you're probably going to get just what you pay for... :yikes:
It seems, that the dealerships that get the highest amount of praise; rarely compete on price.
They offer better service after the sale. :thumbup:
If you save a couple of thousand bucks, and got a poorly-prepped vehicle from a dealer who doesn't have trained mechanics; what did you really save?

Happy Hunting!

 

[Oldmanzues]

I do not remember if I replied to your previous post or not.
I am not sure which two dealerws you are are talking about. Middletown is about40 min away and Comm Ass is in Springfield. Middletown has been selling Spyders for a long time. They treat me right. Comp is kind of new at Seling Spyders, but have been around for year with other brands.
I would guess, both have their "I like" and I hate them" customers.
Other will chime in on working on them. I feel you can do a lot of the work, but like you said, a lot electrical/computer stuff involes which requires hooking up to a B.U.D.S. computer.
Like any other forums,, there have been some real horror stories about maintance and problems, but for If I was still physically able, I would be off to TN, MS or anyplace else in a heartbeat. I put 16 K on a GS/RS and only traded it for RT because of seating position and trunk space. 25 K on my 2010 RT as of yesterday.
If you want to talk in person, Pm me. I live in Beavercreek and am retired from the USAF, school bus driving, teen age driver training and anything that uses the four letter word work.
Oldmanzues

 

[Chupaca]

As I see it..!!

you will be fine. Your experiance is way more than needed to do your own maintanece and most repairs. With a shop manual and basic tools you can handle most anything. They are still basic motorcycle engines. Electronics can be tougher but not much goes wrong. You see a lot here but this is but a few of the many. Once you get one pull the panels and peer about you will see and the fun and joy of ryding out weighs any possible issue you may encounter. The 14/15's with the 1330ACE engine are almost maintinance free. Go for it....!! :thumbup:

 

[Dragonrider]

:agree: As long as the dealer can handle the major issues, you should be good! The new 1330s seem to be pretty bullet proof..

 

[Mr. White]

My Motor Trike is a '02 Wing triked in '05...as you know it is bullet proof. My 2011 Spyder was nice but my new 2014 with the larger engine, better shocks, 6 gears, transmission built for this engine is much better. We have a great dealer here in Boerne, TX (Coyote Motorsports) who will please their custiomers, with lots of personal attention.

The Spyder is harder to work on...ya gotta take off a lot of plastic to get to things. It has 7 ECM/computers and need special (read dealer only) software to work on the electronic stuff where the Wing does not....I like both, different rides, but great machines. Pick one, ya can't go wrong with either... Enjoy.

:spyder2:

 

[Pennyrick]

Hello all. I posted awhile back that my wife is considering a Spyder or Wing Trike. I think that sooner or later there will be a Spyder parked next to my Wing in the garage.Both of our dealers here are a little ways away, which, while not impossible, could be an issue. I read lots of dealer horror stories (as with the Wing also) and a lot of thumbs up stories. It seems that the thumbs up stories usually come after one dealer fixed a pile of stuff that another dealer screwed up. What seems to be the problem with dealers??? Greedy?? Don't care?? Lack of sufficient training?? Machine is too complicated for the average mechanic?? Not enuff time/$$$ allotted for warrenty work which causes the dealer/mechanic to rush thru and not do a proper job??? Experience...maybe it's not an upward field to work on Spyders??? What do you do if you break down out of town and there are no dealers?? I have been working on and servicing my own bikes for years, and also different brands. I am a pretty competent wrench, but with all the electronic crap they are loading new vehicles up with, I am less than competent that I could fix any of that. ARe these things a horror to work on?? What about routine maintenance??? Can the average guy change the oil and do any of the service himself?? I too don't believe in deep sixing a dealer, unless it is a total bomb job and someone else has to step in and fix the mess. Anyway, lots of questions and thoughts about this new in the future machine. It also seems to me that there are a lot of posts with problems on this vehicle. Of course, like the Wing, perhaps that is when folks post the most. But I gotta say, a couple thousand to repair a dealer's incompetence would REALLY heat up my good nature..........thoughts??? Ideas??? Advice??? Thanks all.....

Don't be too worried. Go ahead and get a Spyder.

I highlighted in bold face some of the points you raised that I am in agreement with.

-My opinion is that poor dealers have screwed up more Spyders than BRP did with bad engineering. (2013 models excepted).

-A number of dealers don't want to devote the time and money to get their techs certified to work on Spyders.

-When you are on a trip and break down you pray. Once a machine goes in to limp mode to self-protect itself from damage, it usually will be okay once you shut it down, move the chipped key a distance away from the machine and give it time to reset itself. We had to do that three times with my wife's RT on a recent trip.

-You can do the routine stuff with ease and maybe even some of the non-routine stuff but the computer system needs to be regularly tied in to a BUDS device at the dealer.

I dropped into my dealer on Saturday to check progress on my wife's machine and deliver some donuts to the service staff (it pays to support your local dealer as much as you can) and discovered there was a new BUDS update released as of October 6. We pulled my '12 Spyder in and quickly hooked it up and downloaded a throttle body firmware upgrade that the service manager wasn't aware of. It isn't a mandatory thing that my Spyder had to have but BRP routinely tweaks stuff and sends upgraded software to their dealers.

 

[soreknuckles]

Thanks for the replies and PM's too. It appears that a lot of problems have been solved with the new RT and a three cyl engine also. I realize that you can have a problem with any vehicle. I have 70K on this wing, and it has been trouble free. Kinda spoils you I guess. But my last five scoots have been Wings and HD's and they were not problematic either. The Spyder is new to me (and her) and I am looking into everything I can on it. I see more of them on the road all the time. It's gonna be up to her to make the final decision as it's her bux and ride. However, we all know how this works. I AM THE GUY who will have to maintain and do whatever to it....lol

 

[soreknuckles]

Well, I guess we are on hold again, or leaning toward a trike. Sheesh. With the issues over the 2013 "heating" up and the gov getting involved, my wife is afraid that the company may not be able to sustain if the fines and recalls are huge, which they may well be. BRP is certainly not a company with the deep pockets of Honda, Toyota, or GM. Wife sez she wants to purchase a ride, not a vehicle that will become a collectors item. Honda is in the middle of a mess too with the stumbling issue and rear brake lockup. No cure for either at this point. I have a hard time believing that BRP would put out a machine with these heat problems and then ignore the problem. I personally believe they were fully aware of it, but just hoped it would go away. I feel sorry for those that have this vehicle as the problem has rendered them almost valueless at this time, as word gets around. Of course, if they can find a viable fix/mod things should be OK, but that remains to be seen. And now, the government is here to help.........a point of no return.

 

[spyderyderjim]

Well, I guess we are on hold again, or leaning toward a trike. Sheesh. With the issues over the 2013 "heating" up and the gov getting involved, my wife is afraid that the company may not be able to sustain if the fines and recalls are huge, which they may well be. BRP is certainly not a company with the deep pockets of Honda, Toyota, or GM. Wife sez she wants to purchase a ride, not a vehicle that will become a collectors item. Honda is in the middle of a mess too with the stumbling issue and rear brake lockup. No cure for either at this point. I have a hard time believing that BRP would put out a machine with these heat problems and then ignore the problem. I personally believe they were fully aware of it, but just hoped it would go away. I feel sorry for those that have this vehicle as the problem has rendered them almost valueless at this time, as word gets around. Of course, if they can find a viable fix/mod things should be OK, but that remains to be seen. And now, the government is here to help.........a point of no return.

Hi,
I would suggest you call Len at Pitbull Powersport in Springfield, Mo 417-863-1418 to get the truth about how good the new 2014/2015 Spyder RT-S/L motor is. Buy your 2015 Spyder RT-S SE6 (semi-auto trans) from his dealership in May 2015 (after your winter is over).
Lamonster Garage (Lamont is one of the best Spyder mechanics around) will put it together correctly and you will have years of trouble free ryding)!! They are the 2 best and most trust worthy in the Spyder business.
I have 13,000 miles on my 2014 Spyder RT-S SE6; do my own oil/oil filter changes (very easy job). I love every minute I am ryding it!!!
Don't be concerned about BRP's problem 2013 RT's. I had a 2013 Spyder RT-S SE5 for 9,000 miles and wrapped exhaust pipes with ceramic insulation, insulated gas tank with reflective heat wrap, etc, and rode it through the Tucson/Phoenix Arizona summer heat last year without any problems.
But the 2014/2015 Spyder RT 1330cc in line triple motor with huge torque, a neat wailing triple sound, smooth shifting semi-auto 6 speed trans is a huge improvement over previous years.
So my suggestion is to buy a 2015 RT from Len; Lamont will put it together; fly to Springfield, Mo. next Spring, ryde it home, you can do your own oil/oil filter maintenance on it; you can ryde and enjoy the awesome 1330 motor all next year!!
Hope this helps relieve some of your concern.
Enjoy.
Jim

 

[Orange Spyder Man]

A lot depends on how you buy a vehicle. :shocked:
If you buy based solely upon price; you're probably going to get just what you pay for... :yikes:
It seems, that the dealerships that get the highest amount of praise; rarely compete on price.
They offer better service after the sale. :thumbup:
If you save a couple of thousand bucks, and got a poorly-prepped vehicle from a dealer who doesn't have trained mechanics; what did you really save?

Happy Hunting!

COUPLE THOUSAND BUCKS.. will buy a fair amount of service..

OSM

 

[Woodsrider]

A lot depends on how you buy a vehicle. :shocked:
If you buy based solely upon price; you're probably going to get just what you pay for... :yikes:
It seems, that the dealerships that get the highest amount of praise; rarely compete on price.
They offer better service after the sale. :thumbup:
If you save a couple of thousand bucks, and got a poorly-prepped vehicle from a dealer who doesn't have trained mechanics; what did you really save?

Happy Hunting!

Couldn't have said it better. I paid a premium for mine to get from a local dealer with a great service reputation. Sure, you can save 2 - 4k buying from the cheapest guy on the Internet, but that same guy assembled the machine. Then you're back at your local dealer for warranty work and at the end of the service line because they give priority to their customers that bought the bikes there.

 

[granpa in Cincy]

Middletown will treat you right. Two mechanics who know their spyders. Owners are good people. Buy there and you will get service.

 

[soreknuckles]

Well....the drama is over. There is a new 2015 RT sitting in my garage. Wife sez she loves it and that's all that counts. She is having a blast getting used to it after driving a wing trike for so many years. I, on the other hand, have yet to try it. Looks like it will be awhile before it is available...lol

 

[Ex Winger]

Congrats on the new RT.After riding a Wing for years it,s quite a learning curve.Enjoy shell let you ride it some time.
Bill

 

[Buggy]

:congrats::clap:

 

[Tango]

Well....the drama is over. There is a new 2015 RT sitting in my garage. Wife sez she loves it and that's all that counts. She is having a blast getting used to it after driving a wing trike for so many years. I, on the other hand, have yet to try it. Looks like it will be awhile before it is available...lol

:congrats: :welcome:

 

[Bob Denman]

Well....the drama is over. There is a new 2015 RT sitting in my garage. Wife sez she loves it and that's all that counts.

:congrats: :nopic: :2thumbs:

 

[granpa in Cincy]

Well....the drama is over. There is a new 2015 RT sitting in my garage. Wife sez she loves it and that's all that counts. She is having a blast getting used to it after driving a wing trike for so many years. I, on the other hand, have yet to try it. Looks like it will be awhile before it is available...lol

So which dealer did you buy from?

 

[ARtraveler]

:congrats: on the new :spyder2: