After some True Can-Am insight - will I be making a huge mistake buying the RTL or F3?

[Bubby-D]

I know that this topic has prolly been more than likely covered ad nauseam but I am new to this whole world of motorcycle riding and I am looking to get my feet wet. I am in the process of researching my first bike and I’ve been all over the place, reading & watching videos, on the HD Tri Glide, Freewheeler, & Road Glide 3, the Honda Goldwing trike, and on into the Can-Am RTL & F3.
Let me start off by saying that I'm 56 and have spent several years as a firefighter and 20 as an emergency medical technician. The last part of my career has taken a toll on my joints and I just don’t want to deal with the ins and outs of a two wheeler. So that's what's had led me to the realm of trikes. That and I want to be able to have my wife enjoy some highway miles with me.
I know that HD can be hit and miss but over all are good bikes. Goldwing, from what I been discovering, are the gold standard. Then there is the Can-Am and this is where my inquest begins.
Research has shown me that the Can-Am Spyders, from it’s introduction in ‘07 and up until about ‘15, were not very reliable and caused it’s owners a lot of grief, money & downtime. From ‘15 to ‘18, there were still hiccups but they had gotten better and today they are very solid bikes. I’ve read and watched the videos that say not very many motorcycle mechanics are knowledgeable enough to work on them and there are not very many shops around that can work on them. I know Can-Am has 902 dealers nationwide but they can be fairly spaced out. I have one with 15 min of my house but they have a horrible business model and staff are not the friendliest. My next dealer is 1 hour away and the next closest is 90 min away. For comparison, I have 3 HD dealers within 45 min of my home, and there are at least 5 or 6 more a bit further out. Has the Can-Am reliability gotten any better or do they still have issues?
When I took the 3-wheel riders safety course, it was on the Ryker 900 Sport, and it was a blast. I went out on the HD Road Glide 3 for a test ride and while it was fun, there is a whole lot of beef being lugged around. 1,164lbs to be precise, with 90hp & 119ft-lb of torque. The Harley would require me to really have to spend a massive amount of parking lot time just to get a slight gist of clutching, breaking, throttle response, etc. I feel the RTL or F3 wouldn’t require as much due to being incredibly user friendly. I’ll taking both models out for a test ride here soon.
I know that this is all over the place but the bottom line is this, will I be making a huge mistake buying the RTL or F3? Will the investment be worth it or will it end up nickel and diming me at every turn?
Thank you in advance.
Bubby-D

 

[RayBJ]

Agree that Can Am dealers are hit & miss. The HD and Honda dealers are everywhere.

That said, I've been thrashing a 2020 RT for +40k miles. The RT has never been back to the dealer. Granted, there are others here that have multiple problems and are quick to inform us of their grief.

All bikes/trikes can/will have failures, including HD & GW. Dealer networks are important if you need regular maintenance (oil/filter, etc.) done by them, but if you can do most of the scheduled work yourself, dealers are less critical.

Personally, I chose the Spyder because it handles like no HD or GW trike can in the twisties.

If you need the comfort of the dealer network, Can Am may not be right for you.

 

[2dogs]

I agree with RayBJ. Can Ams' dealer network is its weakest link and may ultimately be its downfall. That, sadly being said, I've ridden them all, and the Spyder by far is the better of the three. Each one has its good points, but at the finish line, the Spyder takes the prize, for me anyway. If you follow this site, then I don't need to go through all nuances because everything you need to know about the Spyder is in here, just use the Search feature. Good in your choice.

 

[Gwolf]

I rode a home built Harley Sportster Trikes for over three decades. As for reliability and how easy they are to work on, you can't beat a Harley Trike and they have a large network of Dealerships with experienced mechanics as well as many factory certified indy shops in most towns of any size. Harley has excellent support with parts and add to that all the aftermarket parts available in shops and on the web.

I bought a Spyder about 5 years ago and it is the best three wheel design I have ever ridden for stability and sticking to the road on curves with out lifting a wheel or sliding. The design is great as far as more stability, but there are so many additional electronic and a good number of mechanical design problems that it makes them expensive to maintain and dealer support is not very good in many cases. There are some good dealerships, but unless you are near one of them, that is hit and miss. I decided to do my own work after picking the new Spyder up at the dealership and talking to the people who are supposed to be knowledgeable about it mechanically. They had people working in the service department who knew less about what was going on, than any rider who had been doing routine maintenance on any brand for a few years. The dealer assembly and prep was so unsatisfactory that when I checked the new Spyder out after trailering it home, I simply fixed everything myself rather than take it back to the dealership and letting them have another stab at it. If you are capable of doing almost all of your own routine maintenance and repairs, and if you are willing to correct a lot of engineering problems yourself, the Spyder is a good buy. If you depend on the spotty and sometimes unreliable dealership for maintenance work, it will be expensive and can mean your Spyder will spend a lot of time sitting in the dealership, sometimes only to discover the problem has not been fixed after picking it up. It is a trade off at best. Most of the Spyder design problems are small things, but they can be really annoying when the dealership is a 250 mile round trip and you can fix them in your own garage or shop in an hour and so they'll never occur again.

I prefer the Harley Trikes for reliability, parts availability, and maintenance. The Spyders are the best basic design with the reverse trike set up, but Dealer Support and sparse locations are a minus, as well as many overly complicated design problems that could have, and still can be fixed easily, but the dealerships won't and the factory goes on year after year with the same problems off the assembly line. If you get a good one to start with, meaning a good Spyder and a good Dealership, there are few problems. Many of the problems are created at the dealerships by unqualified mechanics. I have never let the dealership mechanic touch my Spyder again after picking it up new. If it starts giving me a lot of problems after it gets older and gets a lot of miles on it, I will probably not buy another one. I won't make a recommendation which to buy because I have worked in mechanical trades and machine shops all my life and have a fairly large and well stocked shop at home, which might not be the case with most people.

 

[JayBros]

I don't know where you're getting you information about all the alleged unreliability and problems with the "early" Spyders. If you're comparing the V-Twin engines to the 1330cc ACE engine, you're mixing apples and prunes. My 2014 RT-S SE6 just rolled over 94K miles Sunday and has had only one problem, a parking brake motor that was replaced under factory warranty about a year after I took possession. Remember, when gathering information on the internet, BS at the speed of light is still BS.

 

[Mikey]

Anything made by man is prone to fail no matter what badge it wears!! And I am sure that all have their issues with mechanics in there shop also. I believe the forward design is the best way for the trike too, instead of pushing into the corners it rolls thru them. I have a friend with a HD, and he puts a front tire on about every year, so I know that's true!! You do your homework and test rides, let us know what you found out, good luck.

 

[ron1026]

I have just traded my Harley RG 3 for the a 2024 Spyder RT-L, that Harley was the worst riding Harley I've owned. The Harley's suspension just beats the hell out of the rider, I spent over $2k on different shocks with none of them making it enjoyable to ride on, unless the road was perfectly smooth. I read all of the reviews about which shock was the best, and I'll tell you they all must have drunk the "koolaid". This has been the 2nd Spyder I have owned.

 

[d.o.spyder-rts]

I agree with the comments of the above posters. I have a 2016 RTS and have had no problems with it. I would suggest buying a 2014 and above model. 2014 was the year they put the 1330 ace engine in the spyders.

 

[djh3]

Be sure to try out both on a test ride. Seating position is unique to both, so which ever fits your stance. I prefer the F3 Limited.

 

[baxter]

Have owned three Spyders in last five years and no problems to speak of.

 

[Peter Aawen]

There's lots of V-Twin powered 2007/8 to 2013 Spyders out there with over 100,000 mainly trouble free miles under their wheels, some WELL over, and a few with more than double that, so don't necessarily discount the V-Twins as a cheap 'starter' if you don't want to fork out a lot of $$ to get a feel for these Spyder things. I'd even suggest that a well maintained 2013-2016 V-Twin Spyder with the heat recall work done on a 2013 RT and the DESS 'non-security' immobiliser system disabled on the 2014-2016 RSS & ST's would be a good buy, and very likely a far more exciting ride than any of the 2014+ 1330 Triples; but you would likely need to do your own maintenance. And if you try one and find you really like Spyders, as many here have done, and if you've chosen well and looked after your earlier Spyder, there's a very good chance that you'll get close to your money back if you decide to sell and upgrade!

Still, I haven't found a 1330 powered Spyder that's been any where near 'better' enough to tempt me away from my 2013 RT with a few relatively cheap & easy suspension & tire mods, plus an ECU Upgrade to unleash a little more of the power these engines put out safely and reliably in other platforms, but BRP decided Spyder Ryders can't handle!! I thought a RedRock Canyon might tempt me to 'upgrade', especially since I know a guy who's an absolute genius on the ECU Upgrades, but BRP in their wisdom, have decided that Canyons, which seem to be wonderfully suited to marginal roads and wide open spaces off the beaten track, will NOT come to Oz, the home of marginal roads and wide open spaces off the beaten track!! Now where's that bloody :banghead: emoji when it's so desperately needed!

As for the reliability of the earlier 1330's, I'd suggest you've got it backwards - not only do I see a lot of them here in my yard for various problems, but as a moderator here, I probably get to look at more of the threads and posts about them than most, and I'd say that without much argument, the 'fit & finish, reliability & quality control' started going downhill somewhat about 2018, and while the newer Spyders might have their attractions, if reliability is a major driver for you, a well maintained, medium milage 2018 or earlier is probably going to be a better bet than a later model; but if you need a dealer to service it, don't go too old, or you'll run into the 'most dealers won't touch anything over 10 years old' problems that we're seeing more of! And DON'T go for the very low milage units either, there could be a reason for that low milage beyond it being a shed queen (spent more time at the dealers with issues maybe??) and besides, they often haven't worked/travelled enough miles to identify let alone iron out any bugs!

So if you want a cheap way to check 'em out, look for a good looking, well maintained V-Twin for a good price (and as mentioned above, NOT a Spyder with too low milage - anything with less than 20,000 miles on it would be suspect in my view! ) The 2012's were pretty good all round, but they were the old style frame, wheels, brakes, etc; and while the 2013+ V-Twins might look the same, they had all the suspension, wheel, and brake upgrades that came on the 2014+ 1330's, except they kept the smaller, lighter motor & tupperware; and if you decide you want to go straight to a 1330, then in my experience, and arguably reflected here on the boards, the earlier models tended to be more reliable, up until about 2018 - I'd suggest the 2015-2017's are probably the pick of the bunch in the 1330's, but again, be wary of mileage of less than about 3-5000 miles a year, that little doesn't necessarily mean they're a better buy - IMHO, a proven and well maintained Spyder that's done more miles than that is likely a better option, especially if its DESS has been disabled.

Just Sayin'