BRP Spyder investigation started. What will happen?

[jerpinoy]

This very interesting esp. the % of 50K. What about the % of the mileage driven? There are only handful of us driving 10k/ year.

Another issue is the fires reported here are not all. Some :ani29: owners are not even on SL. Hopefully this will bring good things for all of us to enjoy our:ani29::ani29::ani29:.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

I can't figure out if the Morgantown WV Police Syder is a 2012 or a 2013. They have a press release from October of 2012 saying that they took delivery of one but it doesn't say the year. The investigator that I spoke with did not mention the police Spyder fire but he led me to believe that the focus of their investigation is to determine if the recall work took care of the problem on the 2013s.

I really don't see them looking into complaints of hot right feet though.

 

[Jeriatric]

Good point Ann

They didn't for years. Why would they bother now. Like the report says. Requests for comment have been made. Crickets! Nothing new there either.

:doorag:

 

[M109Dreamer]

I can't figure out if the Morgantown WV Police Syder is a 2012 or a 2013. They have a press release from October of 2012 saying that they took delivery of one but it doesn't say the year. The investigator that I spoke with did not mention the police Spyder fire but he led me to believe that the focus of their investigation is to determine if the recall work took care of the problem on the 2013s.

I really don't see them looking into complaints of hot right feet though.

I dont either, but I wish or hope they would look into the heat coming up from the panels where it has literally has given folks 2nd degree burns on their legs. Im not referring to the hot right foot area.

 

[DC_Jon]

Coming up on 16k miles with my 2013 RT. So far so good.

 

[billrob71]

Very interesting , curious to see what happens

 

[Dat Guy]

It's good to see that so far no one has been hurt. The nature of these fires in how they burn so hot and so quickly definitely has the potential to cause serious harm if someone isn't paying attention while riding and if they don't react quickly enough.

All new designs have their issues. Some more so than others. While I'm politely frustrated, even after my incident I am not anti-BRP or anti-Spyder. I just hope that BRP can fix and improve upon the design they currently have. Maybe in 10 years Spyders and vehicles like them will set the bar for safety and you'll see them everywhere. That'd be pretty cool.

I'm a young guy but I'm afraid my riding days may be over. I'm personally not opposed to owning another Spyder but I don't think I'll ever be able to convince my wife to get on another one now. And after seeing what happened to my friends wife after they wrecked a Harley I won't put my wife's safety at risk on 2 wheels again. I guess I could ride alone, but if I can't share the experience with her it's not worth doing. I guess I'll have to look into other hobbies.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Dat Guy, that is sad but understandable. If I wasn't a rider and my husband had been the one on the Spyder when it burned, I'd probably feel the same as your wife.

I'm nearing 18,000 miles on my 2014 and I have ridden it in extreme heat for long periods of time and it has not had any issues. It has been ridden as hard or harder than my 2013 was so I feel that it has passed the test.

 

[MountainSeaDog]

Proportion is not percent

I edited the statistics in the quote you showed above. The % was off by one decimal. The correct % is .001346076

The number 0.001346 is the proportion (10/7429). The percent is 0.1346% which is between one seventh and one eighth of one percent.

 

[billrob71]

I dont either, but I wish or hope they would look into the heat coming up from the panels where it has literally has given folks 2nd degree burns on their legs. Im not referring to the hot right foot area.

I took a heat reading with a infrared thermometer on mine after a short ride on cooler temps the left side panel had a pretty high temp and the bottom bolt for the side panel was very hot and that's where my leg hits and has burned my leg through pants

 

[M109Dreamer]

I took a heat reading with a infrared thermometer on mine after a short ride on cooler temps the left side panel had a pretty high temp and the bottom bolt for the side panel was very hot and that's where my leg hits and has burned my leg through pants

Yeah, my wife always geta burns on the inside of her calves and thighs.

 

[robmorg]

Just going to toss out some fix ideas for the RT.

....I think this is a good start any other ideas? We all know the source is unvented heat under the Tupperware. Protect better and Vent better is the solution IMHO.

Dave,

I think that's a very good start. I especially like #5, the venturi vented underbody covers. Wonder how well that would work? With cooling in mind, I'd add two more.... First redesign the entire intake system to allow more air flow around the top of the engine, and also add reflective heat shields to the underside of all side and upper panels between the handlebars and the rear storage module.

 

[taxmyzer]

Hope something comes of this investigation.

I for one would like to have less heat since heat & fuel don't play well. I think BRP can come up with a solution for a lot less than what we all lost in value due to this issue. BRP knows there is a serious problem because they don't want these bikes & neither do the dealers. BRP's best option here would be to fix the problem and make things right no matter the cost. The longer they delay the more their public image gets hurt. Once this really gets out in the press you'll see the big name stars that have been pitching their product pull away. Big name stars don't want to be seen as the face of a bad product.

 

[Buzzatronic]

Just got back from a ride of less than an hour in 70 degree weather and it still smells of strong gas fumes. When I parked it (in front of a box fan running at max) I used my temp gun to spot check for hot spots. Other than the expected heat on the exhaust system, the only other place I was getting high readings was the gas cap area (plastic) and the gas tank itself (seen through the small hole from the right side of the bike with the seat up). Here are my readings:

gas cap area with box fan on: 140
gas cap area with box fan off: 160 (within 10 seconds of turning off the fan)
gas tank (metal) with box fan off: 163.5

As I was taking readings I could actually HEAR the gas boiling and at one point I heard a hiss, the boiling sound stopped and within a few seconds, ultra strong gas smell.

Seems to me that the gas is boiling really easily and creating significant fumes/pressure in the tank which at some point gets vented out.

I bought the spyder as my car replacement and gave my wife our only real car. If I can't actually ride this thing because of this, I'll have a serious problem.

 

[Vrooom]

Police usage

I would be interested in knowing how the police rode that burned Spyder: mileage ,speed,length of time at idle, average daily usage, anything else that might relate. It may give the rest of us an idea about when ours will go up in flames.

 

[ThreeWheels]

Not to wish anything bad on anyone, but if one of the police RT's lost the windshield dog bone arm, we might get some action from BRP.

 

[PMK]

Being a total wise ass, and I do feel for those with these machines.

My guess is there will be a recall, the recall will involve a supplemental page in the owners manual on how to operate the recall installed fire extinguisher.

I don't ride or own a 2013 or earlier machine. My opinion is that running the exhaust as they did inside the bodywork is a contributing factor.

If I were to guess on a fix, entire new exhaust system minimum and maybe some body panels / heat shields. If they go with electric fans, they complicate the systems and failure of the fans reintroduces the problem.

The fuel leak is not the problem, the heat is. The fuel and fires are a result of heat. Dissipate the heat and the fuel problems should be gone.

BRP is no doubt having discussions and maybe sweating bullets behind closed doors. They are trying to balance many things. Send out an emergency notification not to ride your machine...pray noone gets seriously hurt or killed, either while riding or upon parking within a garage...and what options do they have to resolve the problem with the least cost.

Not yet mentioned, large corporations frown on negative exposure. In some odd way, and it has been done before in other industries, BRP could pull the plug on all Spyders, buy them all back and turn the page. This is Bombardier, overall, a money making machine, never seen it have much of a personal side.

I hope BRP is testing to the point of starting one ablaze, seeing the source of the fire, but also closely monitoring and documenting temps as the machine idles in traffic, is ridden and after shutdown.

All the best with it BRP, nothing worse than solving problems with big brother overseeing your actions.

PK

 

[joebryanjr]

I have not seen this mentioned. I wonder if any of these burned Spyders had modifications done. I have seen notes about adding deflectors to keep the heat away from the driver. Could this contribute to added heat under the tupperware? There may be other contributing factors, as well.
That said, the Spyders should be designed to not need those extra deflectors and be comfortable to drive-oh and by the way, not catch fire.

 

[sddinnh]

IMHO, the first thing they should do is STOP SELLING LEFTOVER 2013's. The 2014's do not have this problem, but people are still being seduced into buying the 2013's because of not doing their research on the problem and the price differential created by the discounts. While it's true that not all 2013's have the problem, it was serious enough to cause me to back off the deal on a 2013 and opt for a 2014 instead. Of course the bigger engine, six speed, and better gas milage didn't hurt either :lecturef_smilie:

 

[Pennyrick]

My take on this is that this is what BRP has been waiting for.

They have known all along that they had to fix it.

Had they tried to tackle the problem earlier the investigation would still happen.
There would still be recommendations and requirements imposed on them.
After the investigation they will be able to handle the problem in a sanctioned way.
It's cheaper to do it this way.

It kind of sucks but that's the reality of it.

I agree with Roger. When companies are trying to keep the lawyers at bay, (both private and governmental) they need to find out "what do they know and when did they find out about it". Therefore the best posture is to wait until all the cards are laid on the table before they make their play.