Maintenance costs?

[chickridin]

The Spyder RTSM5 is a combination of a lot of great features and I really enjoy and appreciate the ride it provides.

MX intervals are absud. The man hours and expense at $100 per hour really add up. I'm an older guy who has had back and arthritis problems and I'm unable to do a lot of the maintenance items that I have always done on motorcycles. That said, I bought a 3 year MX plan from the dealer and it appears to be the way to go - at least for me. Having 13,000 miles since last August, it's been in the shop for both scheduled and unscheduled items. 90 mile round trip, not a bad ride BTY, is required for each visit. The shop itself is great. no questions about their work and knowledge. The Spyder parts availability is a joke. Two weeks tomorrow, since the BRP rep promised to send a canister, 2nd one, to the dealer. Almost 2 weeks to get the parts to repair the water pump oil seal in January. They wouldn't replace the pump, understandable I guess, but took 13 days to send all 12 parts to overhaul it, if needed. It was the oil seal and the dealer naturally didn't have that at the start of the problem. I also bought the extended warranty, but labor, of course, is on the owner.

Bottom line here is that it's an expensive ride. Much more than a Harley or GoldWing, due to the MX intervals and the man-hours involved for many checks. Can't believe I had to put rear brakes on it yesterday. That was actually pretty reasonable because they were swapping the rear tire out at 13,000 miles. I don't ride with my foot on the brake pedal and have always gotten great mileage out of disks and rotors. Such is life. This summary sounds a little negative, but the overall satisfaction level is pretty high. I knew many of the complications going in and have no one to blame but myself!! I'm a very happy camper. :firstplace:

Now, if I could get my wife back to work to buy gas for the cars and bikes, I'd be all set. My 1986 Honda Helix still gets 60 mpg most of the time, but needs tires every 4-6,000 miles!! Nothing's perfect.

Tuck

If you have an extended warranty, and the repairs fall under that warranty, you should not be paying anything, let alone labor. The only thing you might have to pay is a deductable if it applies.

 

[NancysToy]

.....I call BS, since I can take them all off in under 15 minutes, and I am not a BRP certified tech.

Just curious where that is free? At 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off, at $100 an hour, it sounds like $50 worth to me. That's certainly more than for a naked bike. All fared bikes have the cost for panel removal and replacement built into the service flat rates.

 

[Dragonrider]

:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack: None of you have owned a BMW K-bike. The Spyder is Honda cheap, by comparison. My last K12 had an electrically actuated hydraulic center stand that was replaced twice -at $1195 each, plus $500 in labor… Annual oil changes and check-up were in the $1,000+ range, and the tupperware was harder to remove…. but the bike was a dream to ride - loaded up and two up, it could carve corners with the sport bikes…. bottom line is, that youse gets whats youse pays for….

 

[chickridin]

Hi all,

just did several seaches to determine if the expected service costs on the spyder is higher than other bikes, but didn't really come up with anything but prices for the most part. Having no recent experience with motorcycles, I can't determine, if the costs are fairly standard across bike platfems, or if the Spyder is higher. Can those of you wih years of two wheel experience tell me what I could expect in that regard with Spyder ownership?

I totally agree! This is one reason I'm thankful that I bought the extended warranty! :2thumbs:As for costs, I find that for normal scheduled maintenance costs varies dealer to dealer. I don't think they know themselves what to charge. I spoke with one dealer that said they had charged a Spyder owner somewhere around $800 (sorry, this is pretty close. my crs has kicked in) for his 6000 mile service (which is supposed to include the valve adjustment). I about cried when he said that. My reply was.."What the h-e-l-l did I buy???!!!" On the other hand, I got a price of $350 without the valve adjustment, $600 with, (close again (- from the dealer I bought my Spyder from.

 

[dave01]

Just curious where that is free? At 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off, at $100 an hour, it sounds like $50 worth to me. That's certainly more than for a naked bike. All fared bikes have the cost for panel removal and replacement built into the service flat rates.

Who the heck said FREE....... What i said is I was tired of dealers using the excuse that they have to remove the panels, thats why they charge so much. Its a quick job and does not take long. Take the 50.00 you worked up off a 240 dollar oil change and its still 190.00. Panels off a Hayabusa and oil change 42.00, Panels off an R1 Yamaha and oil change 51.00

Average miles ridden in a year = 12000
Thats 1 valve adjustment at 1200
4 oil changes at 240.00
2160.00 in scheduled maintenance for 1 year, not including air filter, bearings, etc that BRP requires.

Are the Spyders fun? Heck yes, but they arent cheap, by any means

 

[chickridin]

:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack: None of you have owned a BMW K-bike. The Spyder is Honda cheap, by comparison. My last K12 had an electrically actuated hydraulic center stand that was replaced twice -at $1195 each, plus $500 in labor… Annual oil changes and check-up were in the $1,000+ range, and the tupperware was harder to remove…. but the bike was a dream to ride - loaded up and two up, it could carve corners with the sport bikes…. bottom line is, that youse gets whats youse pays for….

After hearing this.....I'm even happier to own a Spyder! :thumbup:

 

[NancysToy]

Who the heck said FREE....... What i said is I was tired of dealers using the excuse that they have to remove the panels, thats why they charge so much. Its a quick job and does not take long. Take the 50.00 you worked up off a 240 dollar oil change and its still 190.00. Panels off a Hayabusa and oil change 42.00, Panels off an R1 Yamaha and oil change 51.00

Average miles ridden in a year = 12000
Thats 1 valve adjustment at 1200
4 oil changes at 240.00
2160.00 in scheduled maintenance for 1 year, not including air filter, bearings, etc that BRP requires.

Are the Spyders fun? Heck yes, but they arent cheap, by any means

I'm not arguing with you Dave, I agree for the most part. They will never compare favorably to the Japanese bikes, although they do compare much more closely to the BMW, Ducati, and Guzzi maintenance costs...especially when you add in tires. I would love to see the valves be more accessible...nothing beats my BMW R-bike for that. I would love to see less frequent oil changes, and maybe less oil volume to pay for...I put less oil in my Beemers, less often. The design is what it is, however, and the reasons for the added costs, whether justifiable in an owner's eyes or not, are pretty well fixed for the reasons I have mentioned. A prospective owner needs to consider the total costs of ownership, and not be completely focused on the look or the safety features alone. He or she should compare those to similar touring or sport touring machines, however. This is no Model A Ford, and it takes a bit more to to keep it ticking.

 

[dave01]

I'm not arguing with you Dave, I agree for the most part. They will never compare favorably to the Japanese bikes, although they do compare much more closely to the BMW, Ducati, and Guzzi maintenance costs...especially when you add in tires. I would love to see the valves be more accessible...nothing beats my BMW R-bike for that. I would love to see less frequent oil changes, and maybe less oil volume to pay for...I put less oil in my Beemers, less often. The design is what it is, however, and the reasons for the added costs, whether justifiable in an owner's eyes or not, are pretty well fixed for the reasons I have mentioned. A prospective owner needs to consider the total costs of ownership, and not be completely focused on the look or the safety features alone. He or she should compare those to similar touring or sport touring machines, however. This is no Model A Ford, and it takes a bit more to to keep it ticking.

Would love to have a model A though. I'm just hoping all potential buyers dont get blindsided like i and others did with regards to maint costs. This site is doing great at informing buyers that take the time to do research. Your posts have been a great help with many people on here. i have a friend, on limited retirement that changed her mind, due to the maint. If they take the 12k valve adj off the plan, as i and many others have been told would happen in Chicago and again in Daytona, that would be a great selling point. Keep up the posts.......

 

[docdoru]

2160.00 in scheduled maintenance for 1 year, not including air filter, bearings, etc that BRP requires.

Or, free Spyder upgrade @ every 1,2K.

 

[dave01]

My dealer used to offer prepaid maintenance but the guy that posted just before this one ended that. I cant imagine how that could have happened.

 

[ARtraveler]

The maintainence of the :spyder2: is definately more expensive than most motorcycles. Most of us bought the :spyder2: because it was unique from most motorcycles and did not even give a thught about maintainence costs or poor mileage. I am smarter now, but still do not want to give up the :spyder2:.

 

[Bob Denman]

:agree: It's just part of the cost of being different... :thumbup:

 

[zrc]

All you people follow the rules to well

I see the "suggested" maintenance chart in the manual, but thats just how I see it. Also, you assume some level of miles ridden. Add that in with paying a dealership for their parts / stuff can get Xpensive.

Do like I do, call the dealer, ask you if you can do parts of it, and what the cost for other parts of the maintenance would be, ask if you can bring the items that will be changed out. You will be surprised at how this effects your pricing.

My 12k service cost me 282 bucks, plus 6 quarts of oil at 9.69 each (and some tax) and a set of filters from Bajaron (and throw in some spark plugs + new wires) around 100 bucks. So just 450ish (total) for the 12k, and new plugs, plug wires.

 

[kawakii]

We pre-paid for our service plan through our dealership when we bought our 2011 RS-S and saved some money off the cost of each service. It includes our 600, 3000, 6000, 9000, 1200 services. It allowed us to reduce the maintenance cost on our Spyder but I understand that some can't afford to pay for a service plan up front. It was something we used as a negotiating tool for money off our purchase of the Spyder as well -- saying if they took off money on the Spyder we'd buy a service plan so they'd get our business for maintenance. Which in our area we have 3 dealerships local who culd do our maintenance and the dealer knew it. Worked out in the long run for us.

 

[Grandpa Spyder]

I will say that if you do your own oil and filter changes the cost is a lot more reasonable. By doing my own oil and filter change my 600 mile service was only $95.00. It took me a couple of hours to do my 1st oil change but it was not that bad. it is just learning what to take off and how. take your time and it isn't too bad.

 

[mrwizrdd_66]

This is timely since I am considering the spyder along with sport tourers. I always consider the upfront price and the maintanence prices for anything I buy (Fool me once...). Good thing I change my own oil, adjust valves, change belts, and whatever else is even remotely possible to do.

What are the charges like for the updates or to have it checked on BUDS?

 

[Jeriatric]

Hi all,

just did several seaches to determine if the expected service costs on the spyder is higher than other bikes, but didn't really come up with anything but prices for the most part. Having no recent experience with motorcycles, I can't determine, if the costs are fairly standard across bike platfems, or if the Spyder is higher. Can those of you wih years of two wheel experience tell me what I could expect in that regard with Spyder ownership?

Hey Midlife! First..... let me say I'm a newbie too, and have been lurking and reading for a few weeks now. That said, I too am interested in estimated dealer performed NORMAL service costs anually.

If 'Dave01' hits it close with these numbers:

"Average miles ridden in a year = 12000
Thats 1 valve adjustment at 1200
4 oil changes at 240.00
2160.00 in scheduled maintenance for 1 year, not including air filter, bearings, etc that BRP requires."

Asumming his numbers are close enough for government work and 12,000 miles is ones anticipated anual usage - and you add anual fuel cost (say roughly 4 bucks a gal 12000 mi (avg 27 mpg), plus insurance (say $500 (+ - anual), and registration (differs state to state so won't estimate). Overall operating cost come out somewhere around .40c a mile - plus any money spent on candy. (Just a rough gestimate mind you).

Thoughts?

 

[TuckMiddle]

Extended Warranty

If you have an extended warranty, and the repairs fall under that warranty, you should not be paying anything, let alone labor. The only thing you might have to pay is a deductable if it applies.


You, of course, are correct. What I really should say is, in my case, with this maintenance agreement, after 3 years (and maybe less based on 6 oil changes and 6 inspections) my out of pocket mx costs will naturally go from zero to what ever it takes for normal things. I've got to put my son, 2 sons-in law and 4 grandsons on notice that I expect a lot of help in a couple years, so read up.hyea:

Tuck

 

[docdoru]

My dealer used to offer prepaid maintenance but the guy that posted just before this one ended that. I cant imagine how that could have happened.

:shocked::yikes:

 

[J. Mark]

:agree: It's just part of the cost of being different... :thumbup:

Agree. :agree: