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F3 reliability and related

S

staneric

New member
Just read the post on the waterpump failure and the backorder of parts etc. As a potential new owner this is not confidence inspiring.

Can I get some feedback re; others experience with reliability, dealers, parts and service.
If I'm laying out nearly 20 k and getting rid of my VMax to boot, I want something that is pretty bullet proof and not problematic when I have to visit the dealer.
Thanks.
 
At the moment, isolated incidents have cropped up.

I bought a 2014 RT with the new 1330 engine in April of 2014. Same engine as the F3. I have 21,000 trouble free miles on mine. SpyderAnn has over 56,000 miles on hers (if I am not mistaken).

I would not recommend worrying that you will get a "bad one."
 
Gotta say..!!

if you read everything here you may never buy any model. It is one instance and there is nothing to go on. They aren't even a year old but have perforomed well.
If you remember the fire issue you would think every spyder made was catching fire. There were only 5/6 and they resolved the problem. This site deals in helping people with problems, be it their own, dealer or manufacturer and it does well. Spyders have no more or less than any other brand. Rest easy, test ryde the F3 and decide for yourself. Your gonna love the ryde...:2thumbs:
 
The fact that I am having a water-pump issue is not that big of a deal for me. The F3 has been an outstanding machine for me and my 2012 RS SE5 before that had no issues. What I can not understand is why there are no backup parts available for this very thing. What would be a week or so inconvenience is now going to go on for months and that is poor business planning and unacceptable for the consumer.
 
staneric said:
Just read the post on the waterpump failure and the backorder of parts etc. As a potential new owner this is not confidence inspiring.

Can I get some feedback re; others experience with reliability, dealers, parts and service.
If I'm laying out nearly 20 k and getting rid of my VMax to boot, I want something that is pretty bullet proof and not problematic when I have to visit the dealer.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

This is a good issue to bring up, and now is the time to do it! :thumbup:
But the fact is... every forum for every type of machine ever made, is just FULL of complaints. If you believe even 1% of it; you'd never buy anything again...EVER! :shocked:
The Spyders are complex machines, and they probably don't match up to Yamaha (yet) as far as reliability.
But they sure aren't as bad as you think! nojoke
 
Understood, I had an FJR Yamaha for years and the gen 1 bikes had a 'ticking' problem related to bad valve guides affecting at most 5% of production. The forum made it sound epidemic.
The issue with having to wait more than a month for something as common as a water pump, is inexcusable from a customer perspective.
 
Over 6,000 miles on my F3-S with nary an issue, other than too much rain in April and May, so I couldn't ride as much as I wanted! ;) I switched to the F3 after 3 years on a BMW K1600 GTL - one heck of a nice sport touring machine that had its share of little issues like weeping water pumps. No worries with the F3, based on my experience.
 
Good bike

We have a 2012 RT only minor problem with switch just need cleaning also have a 2015 F3S 5,000 miles no trouble at all great bike. Anything can get a bug in it overall the BRP has been great. My 2003 Harley Road king had lost a front motor mount before first oil change. I would say go for it. Jim
 
I've had my F3 for 2.5 months and 5,500 miles so far. It has been utterly reliable.

"Character" is a term used a lot to describe unreliable stuff. If so, I prefer less character!

The engine and chassis are a clean-sheet design so everything Can-Am has learned over the years has to have been incorporated.

Before I bought mine I borrowed the service manual from my dealer for the weekend. It was heavy reading but it reassured me that the design is sound and maintenance and repair is pretty straightforward.

That said, installing the aux lights was a PITA, although now I have seen a hand-fabricated tool that would make it simple. If I ever do another I will make the tool. And installing the heated grips took me 10 (!) hours because I had to remove the console. (I work slow!) But, everything was routed neatly, well marked and the service manual covered everything I needed to know. I could remove the console now in a third of the time.

I am sure the older design Spyders are fine but the new design sealed the deal for me. It addressed all of the perceived shortcomings that I had of the previous Spyders.

YMMV
 
I have 18k miles in the year and 1/2 I've had my "triple".
It has been steady, strong, never leaked or dripped , or overheated, or used any oil.
I think a lot of issues you hear about are one-and-done things that won't affect
98.6% of us.
 
Thanks. YMMV sounds particularly reassuring from the post.
Any experiences that speak to the issue of the dealer not stocking parts? It sounds like the 1330 motor has been out there long enough that shouldn't be an issue.
 
staneric said:
Any experiences that speak to the issue of the dealer not stocking parts? It sounds like the 1330 motor has been out there long enough that shouldn't be an issue.
Click to expand...

Most dealers only stock very common items. They don't have the ability to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars of parts in inventory, or the space.

The issue is not having parts at the dealer. That is not realistic. The problem is getting parts from BRP to the dealer.

Other OEMs have a very fast and comprehensive parts distribution system that is fully stocked.

It appears this is not the case for BRP. (I could be wrong!)

The most probable reason is the fact that there are only about 100,000 Spyders ever made. Honda has made at least that many current generation Gold Wings, and that is just one of many models they make.

With such a small market share, perhaps BRP's parts stash is super small?
 
Xyzzy said:
Most dealers only stock very common items. They don't have the ability to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars of parts in inventory, or the space.

The issue is not having parts at the dealer. That is not realistic. The problem is getting parts from BRP to the dealer.

Other OEMs have a very fast and comprehensive parts distribution system that is fully stocked.

It appears this is not the case for BRP. (I could be wrong!)

The most probable reason is the fact that there are only about 100,000 Spyders ever made. Honda has made at least that many current generation Gold Wings, and that is just one of many models they make.

With such a small market share, perhaps BRP's parts stash is super small?
Click to expand...

It is a BRP issue. One the leaking water pump is assembled by BRP at factory and shipped already attached to the engine to the dealership so It could not be a matter of the dealers fault not assembling the water pump correctly and secondly BRP has no parts in stock in case something like this comes up. It is also hard to believe that there is not a water pump anywhere? like sitting in some assembly line someplace? You know if some exec got off his butt and went down to the warehouse, one I am sure could be found. I believe this is poor planning, poor customer service and poor company mission in general.
 
Tazzel, just curious, is the dealer your dealing with for the repair the same dealer you bought it from?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
DrewNJ said:
Tazzel, just curious, is the dealer your dealing with for the repair the same dealer you bought it from?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


Yes. And again this is not a dealer issue. There is simply no back up parts available from BRP
 
Last edited:
:shocked: I'm not trying to make any excuses for BRP on this...
But since this has happened at the time when they're switching over to the new model year; do you think that might be part of the problem? :dontknow:

Does your dealer have an F-3 on-site, that he could scavenge one off of for you?
 
Bob Denman said:
:shocked: I'm not trying to make any excuses for BRP on this...
But since this has happened at the time when they're switching over to the new model year; do you think that might be part of the problem? :dontknow:

Does your dealer have an F-3 on-site, that he could scavenge one off of for you?
Click to expand...

No he sold his last F3
 
:gaah: THAT would have been the way to dig out from under this one quickly... :banghead:
Sorry...
Would one from an RT work? :dontknow:
It might be worth asking him...
 
What dealer is going to take a part off of a bike that could be sold to fix one that has already been sold?

Maybe a small part, but a water pump? How does he bill BRP for the removal and (eventual) replacement labor? Who wants to buy a bike that has had parts cannibalized off of it?

The dealer is caught in the middle here. It is a no-win situation.

I used to have a hard time sympathizing with dealers but recently I have gotten involved with learning how running a dealership works. The conclusion I have made so far is you would have to be insane to think about making a career at it, whether it be in sales, service or whatever. I can't go into too much detail because the information I have learned is private, but I can say that it is sobering to see the numbers.
 
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