Front Drive Sprocket Bolt Loose/Damaged.

[F3Spyderman]

Had F3S up on lift for routine inspection/clean and on turning the rear wheel got loud screech from belt/front sprocket. Found that the bolt holding the sprocket onto the gearbox shaft was only finger tight. Removed bolt and found that the sprocket was about 4mm off the spline. Knocked it back on with a piece of wood and heavy hammer, tried to tighten the bolt but found that it just spun. Re examined the bolt and thread seemed OK which meant that the thread inside the shaft must had stripped.

F3S now back at main dealer for examination and costly repair. F3 is 5 years old with 16,000 miles. The bolt has never been tightened or removed before. No sign of 'red dust'.

Was this problem ever the subject of a recall? What's the likely cause of this fault? Any ideas or comments re this problem would be gratefully received.

 

[Luke]

I don’t think it was a recall, what I read here was some dealers don’t acknowledge there is a problem with the old pulley. My new to me F3 S got hard to push so I noticed the dreaded red rust in the front pulley. The old pulley inside flange was separated and just rattling loose.I replaced it which went well but as I was aligning the belt and running it with the wheel off the ground I was satisfied so I clicked it into second to check it and as I let it back to idle it rattled a little ( like a shaft drive bike will do if you run it on the stand) then it went to abs fault and then limp home mode. I’m not sure what to do next as I didn’t have the wheel off or fool with the brake. Any suggestions? I’ll learn how to retrieve codes and if I can reset it by disconnecting the battery, it’s all new to me

 

[Luke]

I did a search here and learned it’s a wheel speed difference that set it off and I just need to ride it gently and it should reset itself
Good knowledge base here, thanks!
To the original poster, how is yours going?

 

[Ex-Rocket]

I don’t think it was a recall, what I read here was some dealers don’t acknowledge there is a problem with the old pulley. My new to me F3 S got hard to push so I noticed the dreaded red rust in the front pulley. The old pulley inside flange was separated and just rattling loose.I replaced it which went well but as I was aligning the belt and running it with the wheel off the ground I was satisfied so I clicked it into second to check it and as I let it back to idle it rattled a little ( like a shaft drive bike will do if you run it on the stand) then it went to abs fault and then limp home mode. I’m not sure what to do next as I didn’t have the wheel off or fool with the brake. Any suggestions? I’ll learn how to retrieve codes and if I can reset it by disconnecting the battery, it’s all new to me

I think all is well with your Spyder even though all the faults showed up. The Spyder doesn't like it when the rear tire turns and the front tires are not. It will throw a fault every time. There are speed sensors mounted on all 3 wheels and if one is turning and the rest are not, it will send you a fault. Best thing for you to do is go on a short ride like 10 miles and the faults will go away on their own.

 

[F3Spyderman]

Thanks for that Luke. It took me ages to find transport to get the F3S to my dealer. No one seemed interested in taking it even some supposed reputable bike movers. Three of them did not even bother to get back to me. Anyway once at the dealer they found the problem was not as bad as expected. The gear box output shaft was ok so all they had to do was renew the sprocket and bolt. One interesting thing about this episode was that I did not have a 'red dust' warning of a problem beforehand as I check for it regularly. So now I'm back on the road terrorising the motorists. Yip Eeee!