Beware the new Spyder SS Grill

[dguisinger]

So I bought my SS grill from my dealer about 2 weeks ago when they had a spring sale.
It installs real easy, looks real nice.

But there is something I didn't notice, that Can-Am doesn't point out.

The old grill stopped at the bottom edge of the Spyder. The new grill wraps around and provides a small skid surface underneath. You would think great! More protection for my Spyder.......

Except no. I wrode my Spyder maybe 4-5 times since putting it on, and each time I backed out of my driveway I heard a scrape, which I had never heard with my F3 (I used to hear it with my RS all the time as well).

Today while backing out, I heard the scrape, and found a large part of my grill sitting on the driveway. It had cracked right off.
Checking the bottom of it, sure enough, there were lots of scrape marks. Checking my old factory grill, no scrape marks at all.

Needless to say I am not happy about this $350 purchase.....

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: I'm sorry to hear that you got "bit", by the transition out of your driveway... :banghead:
I guess that this could be counted as a lesson to "listen closely to what's going on with your bike", but check with your dealer to see if there might be some sort of accommodation made for this one time...
Good luck! :thumbup:

 

[Ron2andia]

Sorry to hear that

 

[dguisinger]

:shocked: I'm sorry to hear that you got "bit", by the transition out of your driveway... :banghead:
I guess that this could be counted as a lesson to "listen closely to what's going on with your bike", but check with your dealer to see if there might be some sort of accommodation made for this one time...
Good luck! :thumbup:

To be fair, my RS did it all the time, I thought it was new for the F3, but its a new season and I couldn't remember.

And its not like the driveway is steep or the curb is tall. If it can't back out over this, what on earth can it clear??

 

[ARtraveler]

Thanks for the warning. :thumbup:

 

[Riceman]

The F3 sits low, by having that piece it's even lower. Your going to have to angle your bike when backing out.

 

[Rogue Hawk]

It certainly looks cool on your Spyder. But truly style over function in this case.

 

[dguisinger]

It certainly looks cool on your Spyder. But truly style over function in this case.

You mean looked cool right? The style or function didn't last all that long

 

[dguisinger]

The F3 sits low, by having that piece it's even lower. Your going to have to angle your bike when backing out.

Does it really? I think the RS sat lower... either that or the wheel position caused it to scrape more often. I used to hit the curb and speed bumps with my RS-S *all* the time, it never happened with the F3.... this doesn't lower the F3 by more than half an inch tops.

Interestingly the bottom of this piece that acts like a skid plate.... it has several triangular ridges that aren't visible from the front, so they are clearly there to reenforce and "protect"... they are the only part with scuff marks... and based on how the plastic tore, it looks like those possibly caught the curb while backing out causing it to rip off.....

So... in other words, BRP designed it for impact but only from the front... they taper to the front but are a firm 2cm high square piece sticking down on the back side, so instead of pushing up over the curb, it caught the curb and ripped it right off....

reminds me of the original saddlebags that were put on hold last minute because when you went over a bump they actually hit part of the bike.... or the stripe decals I bought that were replaced by the dealer twice because they kept bubbling up, the last one i had to wait 2 months as BRP changed the adhesive because it was a flaw in their product.... if they had tapered the back of these ridges it probably would have survived just fine

 

[Hey Yu]

So I bought my SS grill from my dealer about 2 weeks ago when they had a spring sale.
It installs real easy, looks real nice.

But there is something I didn't notice, that Can-Am doesn't point out.

The old grill stopped at the bottom edge of the Spyder. The new grill wraps around and provides a small skid surface underneath. You would think great! More protection for my Spyder.......

Except no. I wrode my Spyder maybe 4-5 times since putting it on, and each time I backed out of my driveway I heard a scrape, which I had never heard with my F3 (I used to hear it with my RS all the time as well).

Today while backing out, I heard the scrape, and found a large part of my grill sitting on the driveway. It had cracked right off.
Checking the bottom of it, sure enough, there were lots of scrape marks. Checking my old factory grill, no scrape marks at all.

Needless to say I am not happy about this $350 purchase.....

I like the after photo better! The lower lip gives it attitude! Think of it as your Spyder telling you it didn't like/need that bit.hyea:

 

[dguisinger]

I like the after photo better! The lower lip gives it attitude! Think of it as your Spyder telling you it didn't like/need that bit.hyea:

Hah, you know, if they molded a piece underneath that covered the holes that was orange, and didn't have the jagged breaks in it, I'd agree, it is a good look.

 

[dguisinger]

Here is the bottom view.

As I mentioned above, its like a small skid plate, the ridges are clearly there to give it rigidity since you can't see them, and they taper and get shorter and rounded in the front. So, again, I'm thinking they had a major brain fart... "people will only hit these going forward" so we will round them off and make it so it deforms to absorb energy and slip past if they drive over something..... but if they back up, nah, we don't need to test what happens if one of these things digs into concrete moving backwards...."

 

[BeRight]

I have a driveway similar to yours - maybe even a little steeper. I have to slowly angle my Spyder and car in and out of driveway. Car will even scrape if just backed out straight. I didn't scrape my 2008 nor 2015 Spyder Yet but I know it must be very close - so thanks for the heads up I don't think the SS grill would do well on my F3-S either.

 

[vondalyn]

you need a bump skid

Once your dealer helps you out on replacing the grill, you should install a bump skid and then you'll never have to worry about this again.

 

[Wildrice]

That's the weight reduction feature--I'm surprised CanAm Spyder didn't charge extra for it:banghead:

 

[jcthorne]

I second the recommendation to install a bumpskid under it. If they refuse to replace, I think it could be repaired pretty easily and when installed with the bumpskid supporting it, will never break again.

 

[dguisinger]

Well, after two weeks of dealing with BRP, BRP came back to the dealer and said they won't do anything under warranty, that I'm the first one to report the issue, and that it "wasn't meant for driving/scraping backwards" WTF? Really? There is a f***ing reverse gear on the spyder, what a cop-out.

Dealer says they will sell me another one at cost, but that still means I've paid $650 for a front grill between the two that is just going to rip off again....


Regarding that bump skid, how easy is it to install on the F3? I wonder if it would work with my front grill missing the bottom spoiler.... i managed to clean up the break points.... but I guess i still have a problem with the bottom, the orange bottom piece of the spyder with the holes would still show through.

 

[jcthorne]

The bump skid would actually be easier to install with the part you broke off gone. If it were me, I would take the grille off, tape off and paint the lower lip of the grille opening where you see the orange now in flat black. Then install the grille back along with the bump skid. I think it will look great.

If you can install the that grille, you will have no trouble with the bump skid. Spyderpops includes great instructions.

 

[dguisinger]

The bump skid would actually be easier to install with the part you broke off gone. If it were me, I would take the grille off, tape off and paint the lower lip of the grille opening where you see the orange now in flat black. Then install the grille back along with the bump skid. I think it will look great.

If you can install the that grille, you will have no trouble with the bump skid. Spyderpops includes great instructions.

Wait, i'm confused, you put the spyder pops on UNDER the new grill? How did that fit with the spoiler? I didn't realize it at first because you had the silver paint on the orange piece.

 

[jcthorne]

Wait, i'm confused, you put the spyder pops on UNDER the new grill? How did that fit with the spoiler? I didn't realize it at first because you had the silver paint on the orange piece.

Yes. it fits fine, just sits ever so slightly lower (the thickness of the grill below) such that I needed longer bolts for the front few. Nothing a trip to the hardware store did not solve. With your 'broken' grille you will not have that problem.

I painted the cross brow on the grille silver to match my other silver trim. There is no orange on my bike and it clashed pretty bad. Mine has a gloss black frame.