Guess who needs a new front sprocket?

[SpyderWolf]

I just got mine back after 19,000 miles with a replacement of the shaft and the sprocket. $2250 for the repairs. (not covered by extended warranty/Western Services) I was at a shop and when I showed them the parts, an off hand suggestion to consider; inspect the sprocket more often as it is cheaper to replace a sprocket than replacing the shaft and the sprocket.

Ouch on it not being covred by the extended warranty you bought. Mine is still under factory warranty, and then the BEST will kick in for 3 years after that. Sorry to hear this ended up costing you on top of the warranty you bought.

 

[Raptor]

I certainly hope they don't give it back to me with a damaged shaft. That would definitely suck, and cause even greater problems in the future. I expect my Spyder to last for at least as many miles as you got out of your first engine.

Same here! I'm thinkin at this point to re-torque that front bolt every oil change now. Since you are already in that area and have the covers off it sure can't hurt.

There is a part of me that wonders how well the Spyder would do if converted over to a chain drive instead of the belt? I never had any sprocket issues on my sport bike, and I also had the ability to switch out the sprocket sizes based on what type of performance I wanted. :dontknow: Of course, I am pretty sure it would be best to wait until my Spyder is out of warranty before doing something like this.

I have thought the very same thing on numerous occations. Now that these reports of sprocket issues are coming up it makes me think about it even more. Camtecj, The gentleman with the show Spyder did it so we know it can be done. That might just be on my list of post-warranty things to do.

 

[SpyderWolf]

I actually think the reports of front sprocket trouble have slowed down a whole lot since the lower belt tension specs were set. Perhaps I am delusional though. :dontknow:

I was talking to a friend of mine about possibly converting it to chain drive after the warranty is up, and he reminded me that I live down a dirt, mostly sand, road. I wasn't even thinking of that part of the equation. :gaah:

 

[musicarcade]

I actually think the reports of front sprocket trouble have slowed down a whole lot since the lower belt tension specs were set. Perhaps I am delusional though. :dontknow:

I was talking to a friend of mine about possibly converting it to chain drive after the warranty is up, and he reminded me that I live down a dirt, mostly sand, road. I wasn't even thinking of that part of the equation. :gaah:

Hey Michael, sorry to hear of your issues- hope your back on the road soon.:doorag:

 

[SpyderWolf]

Hey Michael, sorry to hear of your issues- hope your back on the road soon.:doorag:

Thanks Tom. No word from the dealer today, so I am hoping the parts will show up tomorrow. Weather is supposed to get cold and rainy again, so that makes it easier to be patient.

 

[COOLMACHINE]

Me too plus.

Sorry to hear Spyderwolf. I had over $4 grand in repairs on my spyder engine/trans/belt etc at 16 thousand miles. At the time, they did not replace the front drive sprocket so at 22 thousand miles, it went out as well. Warranty took care of it. Have only put a couple hundred miles on it since. opcorn:

 

[musicarcade]

Sorry to hear Spyderwolf. I had over $4 grand in repairs on my spyder engine/trans/belt etc at 16 thousand miles. At the time, they did not replace the front drive sprocket so at 22 thousand miles, it went out as well. Warranty took care of it. Have only put a couple hundred miles on it since. opcorn:

Man, you guys are REALLY getting me nervous! I have over 15k miles on my :spyder: and I am planning to ryde to Maggie Valley in June and to Arizona next Sept.
I should be up to 20K by June.
I was hoping not to see a Spyder service center until late August just for a checkup to make sure my :spyder:is ready for a long distance trip.
ray:ray:ray:

 

[Sarge707]

This group is Soo valuable.:clap: I,m going to Retorque every oil change and really consider a New Sprocket at 18-20 Thousand? $65 is cheap insurance because you KNOW we don,t like it in the Shop!!:yikes:

 

[SpyderWolf]

Sorry to hear Spyderwolf. I had over $4 grand in repairs on my spyder engine/trans/belt etc at 16 thousand miles. At the time, they did not replace the front drive sprocket so at 22 thousand miles, it went out as well. Warranty took care of it. Have only put a couple hundred miles on it since. opcorn:

Wow, I am hoping that is not the road I am heading down right now. Even though the warranty will take care of it, I am really missing it right now.

Man, you guys are REALLY getting me nervous! I have over 15k miles on my :spyder: and I am planning to ryde to Maggie Valley in June and to Arizona next Sept.
I should be up to 20K by June.
I was hoping not to see a Spyder service center until late August just for a checkup to make sure my :spyder:is ready for a long distance trip.
ray:ray:ray:

I will be praying for your Spyder as well Tom. With as much time as it has spent in the shop already, you would think it has become allergic to going there, and should run great just by threatening it.

This group is Soo valuable.:clap: I,m going to Retorque every oil change and really consider a New Sprocket at 18-20 Thousand? $65 is cheap insurance because you KNOW we don,t like it in the Shop!!:yikes:

If the sprocket is only $65 then that would definitely be some cheap insurance, plus I wouldn't expect it to take up too much room in the trunk or any bags. Might not be a bad idea.

I called the dealer today and was informed the part came in on Wednesday and my Spyder was currently on the rack being worked on. I did not hear anything back from them before they closed, so will probably give them until noon tomorrow before calling back for a status update. I am still trying to stay positive about the whole thing.

 

[SpyderWolf]

My Spyder is still a no go as of today and the dealer is going to work with BRP some more to try to figure out what is going on. They got the new pulley and installed it along with a new belt, and worked on trying to align it for a long time. They were able to get the rear properly aligned, but the front is running too far to the outside and they are not sure why. I highly doubt I will be picking it up tomorrow, so due to the distance and work it will be at least next Friday before I can even think of picking it up. I am hoping they are able to fix the problem by then. It is getting a little more difficult to be patient, and positive, because it was gorgeous ryding weather today and will be for the rest of the weekend.

On a side note, I did ask them to ask BRP if the new 2011 sprocket can be retrofitted to the 08-10 Spyders. I am hoping they will remember to ask, and let me know what BRP says about it. In the end that may be the actual fix for all of the sprocket troubles people have had.

 

[Eraser]

Michael,sorry to hear that they can't cut her loose just yet.Keep the updates coming and try to keep your cool!

 

[Arthur---Mexico]

Sproket splines and bearing whines

Freinds, Don;'t think about converting your belt drive to roller chain. There will be a big lubrication problem and a slapping situation caused by the long center distance. I imagine the whining sound is caused by a bad bearing either in the rear wheel or in the transmission. A spine fit is a snug fit. There are press fit splines too and they are used on components that don't need replacing where torque transfer is the important thing, like when you have to attach a large diameter component to a smaller shaft, where a single keyway isn't suffice to transmit the torque. I can understand why a bad bearing in either the transmission or the rear wheel can't be heard when running in reverse. You go very slow in reverse. After the whining of a bearing the next thing that happens is that the bearing will usually freeze. When a bearing freezes while being rotated something has to give. The bearing's inner race will spin/slip on the OD on the shaft it's mounted on or the outer race will spin in the bore that holds it tightly. In both cases this rotary movement will ruin the surface seat of the shaft or the interior diameter of the box that the outer race of the bearing fits in. It is fatal to either component. So a noisy bearing is a very bad sign and requires immediate attention. Whining can also be caused by bad gears in the transmission. The bolt that holds the sprocket to the splined shaft is there only to not permit axial movement of the sprocket, nothing more. It doesn't transmit rotary movement. If a spline fit is poorly machined (and it happens) and loose, the pulsing of the motor will cause the spline of the softer component to wear. It isn't wear that produces chips, it's more of a forging action of moving metal and it is progressive.

 

[Aussie spyder]

guess who needs a new front sprocket?

Hi Spyderwolf.
I did have the same problem.belt running o.k on the back but on the front it did run in to engine casing.the spline on the shaft was worn out and movement in the shaft bearing.
greetings henk.

 

[PCBeachBum]

My Spyder is still a no go as of today and the dealer is going to work with BRP some more to try to figure out what is going on. They got the new pulley and installed it along with a new belt, and worked on trying to align it for a long time. They were able to get the rear properly aligned, but the front is running too far to the outside and they are not sure why. I highly doubt I will be picking it up tomorrow, so due to the distance and work it will be at least next Friday before I can even think of picking it up. I am hoping they are able to fix the problem by then. It is getting a little more difficult to be patient, and positive, because it was gorgeous ryding weather today and will be for the rest of the weekend.

On a side note, I did ask them to ask BRP if the new 2011 sprocket can be retrofitted to the 08-10 Spyders. I am hoping they will remember to ask, and let me know what BRP says about it. In the end that may be the actual fix for all of the sprocket troubles people have had.

Michael, I was hoping to see better news about your Spyder as stated in my email. Hang in there my friend its best to get it all at once. Instead of getting it back, only to find out you still have a problem that has gotten worse with the shaft and bearing problems. This way you know they are getting it done right the first time and the good weather will be around for a longtime to come, this season.

 

[SpyderWolf]

Thaks for the support everyone.

Arthur, everything you posted makes perfect sense but so far they haven't found anything wrong with the bearings or shaft, at least that they have told me of. What they did say is that my pulley was actually warped and the belt cut those grooves into it. I am thinking in order to warp the pulley, there had to be a weakness somewhere else and this may just be the beginning of a very long journey.

Henk, mine sounds like yours with the exception that my belt is running too far on the outside of the front sprocket, and they can't get it to shift over yet. Their thinking right now is that if they give it back to me it is just going to do the same thing all over again.

I wish when I call they would give me a blow by blow description of everything they are doing and what they have tried. So far I haven't gotten that and am providing you with exactly what I have been told. This leaves me wondering about many things, such as is the shaft still straight, are all of the bearings good, is the rear sprocket damamged, and so on, but I don't have the answers to any of that yet.

It is supposed to reach 60 degrees today, there is not a cloud in the sky, it is kind of windy, and would be a great day for a ryde.

 

[docdoru]

What they did say is that my pulley was actually warped and the belt cut those grooves into it.

Did they check the back whell bearings? opcorn:

 

[Raptor]

Thaks for the support everyone.

Arthur, everything you posted makes perfect sense but so far they haven't found anything wrong with the bearings or shaft, at least that they have told me of. What they did say is that my pulley was actually warped and the belt cut those grooves into it. I am thinking in order to warp the pulley, there had to be a weakness somewhere else and this may just be the beginning of a very long journey.

Henk, mine sounds like yours with the exception that my belt is running too far on the outside of the front sprocket, and they can't get it to shift over yet. Their thinking right now is that if they give it back to me it is just going to do the same thing all over again.

I wish when I call they would give me a blow by blow description of everything they are doing and what they have tried. So far I haven't gotten that and am providing you with exactly what I have been told. This leaves me wondering about many things, such as is the shaft still straight, are all of the bearings good, is the rear sprocket damamged, and so on, but I don't have the answers to any of that yet.

It is supposed to reach 60 degrees today, there is not a cloud in the sky, it is kind of windy, and would be a great day for a ryde.

Mike, I am starting to get nervous for you man. I hope like :cus: that they will get this right. I don't mean to insult anyone here, but how well do you know these folks working your machine? Do you think it might be time for a second set of qualified eyes to look this over? There seem to be things that are not adding up. I guess we'll have to stay tuned and see how this plays out. :sour:

All the best, bro.

 

[Firefly]

They need to go back to square one on this one IMO.

Tear it all back down, replace rear bearings (all 3), put a new rear sprocket on -- then put it all back together and see how it tracks.

Shop manual says to replace front,rear and belt at the same time.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[musicarcade]

Mike, I am starting to get nervous for you man. I hope like :cus: that they will get this right. I don't mean to insult anyone here, but how well do you know these folks working your machine? Do you think it might be time for a second set of qualified eyes to look this over? There seem to be things that are not adding up. I guess we'll have to stay tuned and see how this plays out. :sour:

All the best, bro.

Believe me, Where Michael and I live there aren't a lot of options as to where you take your Spyder.nojoke

It may take a few calls to techs in Canada to get everything back to what it should be. Hopefully they will get the problem solved soon.

I understand the frustration. Hang in there Michael!
ray:

 

[Greg H.]

Ouch on it not being covred by the extended warranty you bought. Mine is still under factory warranty, and then the BEST will kick in for 3 years after that. Sorry to hear this ended up costing you on top of the warranty you bought.

The BEST had better cover the issues with mine! $2,000+!? Ouch!