Carlo said in regards to the drive belt..

[SpyderWolf]

I took my Spyder in on Friday last week and the way they explained it to me was that they would do the belt check during normal maintenance for no charge and if I wanted it done outside normal maintenance that they would charge me for it.

I checked the mileage and was right around the mileage needed for the first maintenance check so they did mine for no additional charge. When I got my bill I checked it carefully and I was charged for the oil change and labor -- and several warranty and maintenance items were listed at $0.

I also did feel more comfortable driving it after the change, it was a smoother ride to me (less vibration) and also it seemed that the downshifting was less jarring.

As for what BRP should do -- I see a lot of valid points here, but whether this large corporation is going to listen to a few users is another thing entirely. So far as I've seen in the past 6 months they don't seem to be willing to do much of that.

I agree with those that say it's really up to the dealer to have your back. But at the same time, the dealer is in it for money too. it's kind of a delicate balance between making the money and keeping the customer happy.

I didn't and don't like my dealer's response about what they'd make me pay for and what they wouldn't. What if I wasn't due for another service for a couple thousand miles? Does that mean I should drive on outdated spec and possibly damage a vehicle that I paid a lot of money for? As it is, it appears I was out of spec on several warranty related updates despite the fact that my dealer uncrated and built my bike new last fall. Apparently no updates were done at that point before letting me take it home. These things annoy me and make me want to look for another dealership. When I told my service department my feelings on the subject I was told that their way of doing things was 'standard' and the same for all companies, not just BRP.

All this run around is putting my boyfriend (who has been considering buying a Spyder since I bought mine) in a mood to look at OTHER vendors and other dealers when he goes to buy his motorcycle later this year.

Well, I'm on the phone with them now, lots of confusion. Since this isn't a "campaign", the "service bulletin" wouldn't show up when the dealer pulled the VIN# for upgrades. :hun::hun: So they wouldn't know to do it. But the bulletin says for machines that come in for service, it needs to be done. So after verifying everything, the VERY nice lady at BRP is going to call my dealer and tell them what they need to do.
And this is yet another reason why I am skeptical about the ability and quality of this dealer. I've had to TELL them how to do their job since the second day I've owned this Spyder. I even told him that I was concerned about the belt tension and gave him the bulletin number.
I'm just about to run out of honey with these guys.....
Update: Picked up the Spyder and talked to the service guy. He gave the bulletin to the tech. According to my highly sensitive and calibrated finger, the belt is now looser than it was before.

The two of you are basically in the same position I am right now. I made calls to 3 different dealers trying to find one that knew about the bulletins and would perform the work on our Spyders. The closest 1 is an hour and a half away. A couple of them were adamant that they do not perform service bulletin work until you bring the Spyder in for service. One of them changed his tune rather quickly when I told him the issue was causing the sprockets to fail. He asked me to provide our VINs and he would look into it further. Fortunately, the closest dealer called me back and set up an appointment to take care of it tomorrow. I fully expect to be charged for their time, but will be most pleased if they do it for free.

An ounce of prevention may definitely be worth a pound of cure in this situation. :thumbup:

Hopefully this dealer will do me well, and you will be able to find good ones to deal with also. Best of luck.

 

[Firefly]

The tech guys in Cuba thought I was nuts for saying the belt tension should be down in the 450 range..... just seems most techs are not up to date as quickly as we are on what is going on......

Gotta keep ontop of them... or do it yourself.

Going to order new front sprocket bolt and replace it just to be on the safe side.