Hi Everyone,
I did something dumb and bought a 2012 RT- S SE5 Spyder 15,000 mis from an elderly couple in Colorado sight unseen. Everything looked on the up and up. I paid for the bike then went to Colorado to pick it up. I wanted to check all of the fluids. So the owner said we have to start it up and let it idle for a minute because its dry sump. He showed me the dip stick and it was right in the middle he said the book says to have it right under the full mark so he added a small amount. We checked it again. It's right at the F mark. I'm nervous about this.. but I go "well he owned the bike for 8 years so he knows better than I do. The bike also came with a RT622 trailer which was in tow.
Not 30 minutes into the drive over million dollar highway. My wife starts waving at me to pull over immediately. We pull over and she tells me the message display is saying DSP error so we pull over and read the manual and it says DSP error blah blah blah... nothing helpful. I tell her to turn the bike off and wait a few minutes turn it back on. see it the error clears. And it does... cool. We go on with our vacation. We drove up up the passes and then stopped at Silverton. While stopped at Silverton I notice the bike smells hot and little puff of smoke. comes from under the bike but it's really dusty so I just think okay, I'm probably seeing things plus the bike is working super had over these hills, Our car (which I am driving) is also smelling hot between brakes and exhaust.
I may have made a fatal error. I decided to go to a little lake called little Molas lake to get a panorama from the pass. Well that road was pretty damn rocky and I never realized how low the spider is but I figured if my Mercedes SLK can make it on this gravel road then surely a Spyder can too. In hindsight probably a bad idea.
We overnighted in Durango and were very pleased with our purchase. The next morning we headed out for Mesa Verde park, did that whole loop, awesome fall colors everywhere, came back through Cortez and down to Gallup. Didn't notice anything strange. Did 75 for an hour on I-40 stopped off in Holbrook, got gas. Headed down 77. The sun was going down as we neared Snowflake and Taylor. I was cold and had to put my convertible top up and my wife was obviously cold too so we pulled into a parking lot. While there I noticed a heavy burning oil smell and noticed some legitimate smoke coming off the bottom bike. I told my wife to wait a minute and see if the smoke dissipates. We over-nighted in Show Low and headed south. We went though the Salt River canyon which is hard on any vehicle. We down through Globe and Oracle and decided to stop at a QT in Oro Valley. From Globe to just 20 mins south of globe the temperature went from 80ish to almost 100 degrees outside. At the QT in Oro Valley I notice heavy smoke and heavy oil smell. I look under the bike and already 3 drops of oil have fallen. we sit for about 10 minutes and about 8 or 9 drops of oil have now dropped under the bike. At this point I'm very worried. I do an inspection to see where the oil is coming from and it looks like its coming straight down from the engine.
We get the bike home and it is dripping every minute. we have a steep drive way and we are trying to figure out how to park it correctly. The drive way has several lines of oil on it now and there is a puddle under it as it currently sits in the garage.
I have a few questions. If we overfilled the oil and that is the problem. It feel like I need to look in the Airbox and see if there is oil in there. Is there another way to tell? After I got home with the engine hot I checked the oil level and it is at the same place the oil was when we left from the POs home. Which I though was odd. The oil level is right at the F mark but not over.
Should I drive it to the dealer or have it towed 12 mis? The oil level looks good, if not too full. But is there a high possibility something catastrophic could happen?
If our off road excursion damaged the the pan (I don't know if that flat spot on the underside is the oil pan or not) or something crazy. Where would I look for a leak?
Last question: Does anyone have experience with an independent mechanic in the Tucson area? If not has anyone had a good dealer service experience at Ride Now Tucson East?
I did something dumb and bought a 2012 RT- S SE5 Spyder 15,000 mis from an elderly couple in Colorado sight unseen. Everything looked on the up and up. I paid for the bike then went to Colorado to pick it up. I wanted to check all of the fluids. So the owner said we have to start it up and let it idle for a minute because its dry sump. He showed me the dip stick and it was right in the middle he said the book says to have it right under the full mark so he added a small amount. We checked it again. It's right at the F mark. I'm nervous about this.. but I go "well he owned the bike for 8 years so he knows better than I do. The bike also came with a RT622 trailer which was in tow.
Not 30 minutes into the drive over million dollar highway. My wife starts waving at me to pull over immediately. We pull over and she tells me the message display is saying DSP error so we pull over and read the manual and it says DSP error blah blah blah... nothing helpful. I tell her to turn the bike off and wait a few minutes turn it back on. see it the error clears. And it does... cool. We go on with our vacation. We drove up up the passes and then stopped at Silverton. While stopped at Silverton I notice the bike smells hot and little puff of smoke. comes from under the bike but it's really dusty so I just think okay, I'm probably seeing things plus the bike is working super had over these hills, Our car (which I am driving) is also smelling hot between brakes and exhaust.
I may have made a fatal error. I decided to go to a little lake called little Molas lake to get a panorama from the pass. Well that road was pretty damn rocky and I never realized how low the spider is but I figured if my Mercedes SLK can make it on this gravel road then surely a Spyder can too. In hindsight probably a bad idea.
We overnighted in Durango and were very pleased with our purchase. The next morning we headed out for Mesa Verde park, did that whole loop, awesome fall colors everywhere, came back through Cortez and down to Gallup. Didn't notice anything strange. Did 75 for an hour on I-40 stopped off in Holbrook, got gas. Headed down 77. The sun was going down as we neared Snowflake and Taylor. I was cold and had to put my convertible top up and my wife was obviously cold too so we pulled into a parking lot. While there I noticed a heavy burning oil smell and noticed some legitimate smoke coming off the bottom bike. I told my wife to wait a minute and see if the smoke dissipates. We over-nighted in Show Low and headed south. We went though the Salt River canyon which is hard on any vehicle. We down through Globe and Oracle and decided to stop at a QT in Oro Valley. From Globe to just 20 mins south of globe the temperature went from 80ish to almost 100 degrees outside. At the QT in Oro Valley I notice heavy smoke and heavy oil smell. I look under the bike and already 3 drops of oil have fallen. we sit for about 10 minutes and about 8 or 9 drops of oil have now dropped under the bike. At this point I'm very worried. I do an inspection to see where the oil is coming from and it looks like its coming straight down from the engine.
We get the bike home and it is dripping every minute. we have a steep drive way and we are trying to figure out how to park it correctly. The drive way has several lines of oil on it now and there is a puddle under it as it currently sits in the garage.
I have a few questions. If we overfilled the oil and that is the problem. It feel like I need to look in the Airbox and see if there is oil in there. Is there another way to tell? After I got home with the engine hot I checked the oil level and it is at the same place the oil was when we left from the POs home. Which I though was odd. The oil level is right at the F mark but not over.
Should I drive it to the dealer or have it towed 12 mis? The oil level looks good, if not too full. But is there a high possibility something catastrophic could happen?
If our off road excursion damaged the the pan (I don't know if that flat spot on the underside is the oil pan or not) or something crazy. Where would I look for a leak?
Last question: Does anyone have experience with an independent mechanic in the Tucson area? If not has anyone had a good dealer service experience at Ride Now Tucson East?
