My 600 Mile Service Results – Your opinion?

[skeet]

600 mile service

When I bought my Spyder, the nearest dealer was 700 miles. By the time I needed my first service, there was a dealer in Kansas City,250 miles away. I contacted them twice and asked about their ability to properly service the spyder and was assured they were qualified, so I made an appointment for service. To my dismay, they not know the proper procedure for changing the oil, and when challanged, they offered to do it over-this time by the manual.
My suggestion (as I did) is to ask to speak to the person that will do the service, and ask several questions (that you know the answers to) such as the CORRECT procedure for the oil change, how much oil does the bike require, what is the proper belt tension and how is it determined, and what the tire pressures should be for the average rider.
There are now 3 "Dealers" within 100 miles, and by asking these questions, I found only 1 Tech that could answer these simple questions. The fact that they have a Dealer License does NOT mean they have thorough knowledge of this bike. The Service Manuals are expensive, but the information you need is there.
I have 14,500 almost trouble free miles on mine in 1 year. I replaced the rear tire @ 12,000 and the gear position sensor. That's it. Good Luck and "Don't ride faster than your Angel can fly"

 

[Tom in NM]

Dudley, your right - it is my personal wiring that makes this a irritation to me. I have ridden motorcycles since the mid-60s. While I had to reach down and open the reserve tank lots of times, I only ran out of gas once ( the empty indicator bulb had burned out and the bike had no reserve tank ) That was more than an inconvenience and I have never forgotten it. My Spyders room-mate is a BMW F650GS (which also just has a fuel low indicator light) and I take it well off the beaten path. But, I try and never drive anything lower than a quarter of a tank.
I will get over/adjust to the Spyder's gauge or somehow get it fixed. To me, on such a well designed and executed machine - it is strange to me this is so screwy.
( by the way, great post on your trip and the great time you had )
Tom

 

[bjt]

...I am very surprised that there are not more people bothered by it...

Not everyone is seeing the same thing that you are with your gas gauge. When my tank gets to one bar and the warning light comes on, I fill up and get 4.5 - 5.5 gallons in the tank.

 

[Tom in NM]

good points!

Skeet I agree 100%
The guy working on the Spyder seemed to know his stuff - at least enough to change the oil. He was the only person in the shop who could work on them.

Even before I bought the Spyder, I got a PDF copy of the maintenance manual so I would know as much a I could. The bottomline is that Spyders are VERY complex and I agree, there cannot be many great mechanics deeply qualified to work on them.

I hope I have your experiences with reliability, because I really enjoy riding the Spyder and plan to do it for years.

Tom

 

[Dudley]

Dudley, your right - it is my personal wiring that makes this a irritation to me. I have ridden motorcycles since the mid-60s. While I had to reach down and open the reserve tank lots of times, I only ran out of gas once ( the empty indicator bulb had burned out and the bike had no reserve tank ) That was more than an inconvenience and I have never forgotten it. My Spyders room-mate is a BMW F650GS (which also just has a fuel low indicator light) and I take it well off the beaten path. But, I try and never drive anything lower than a quarter of a tank.
I will get over/adjust to the Spyder's gauge or somehow get it fixed. To me, on such a well designed and executed machine - it is strange to me this is so screwy.
( by the way, great post on your trip and the great time you had )
Tom

You and I started riding about the same time. I ran out of gas one time, at night, and pushed a bit (no gas gage in 1962). I remember the reserve valve well. One time on the Interstate I was too ingrossed in the scenery to watch the gas gage on my Venture and the light came on in between there and nowhere. All I could do was take a deep breath and hope. I made it, but now when I am on long trips, I fill up with 2 or 3 bars left! Gives me a chance to unkink the muscles, take my helmet off and let my head get some fresh air, grab a coke, etc. Time to smell the roses.

 

[jimmar]

Tom, it sounds like your first experience at the dealership was as disappointing as mine. You can feel a bit better that your dealer charges $67/hr the one I used charged me $89/hr ($109 Can). I didn't have any gas smell until after the service. Iv'e only ridden it twice since then (it snowed here today, high of 5 C). I've also experienced the creep when trying to come to a stop, it happens irregularly. But I did have it select 1st gear with no help while it was sitting idling, I had the parking brake applied, this has happened only once. Iv'e already mentioned this on another thread. The dealer did manage to blow 2 fuses by using a power washer to clean off the excess oil left after the oil change. My brakes still squeal but that is a whole new saga. I like my Spyder but I am disappointed with my after sales service.

 

[speedster200]

Every dealership has to have a tech take a series of tests to have the spyder dealership. BRP usually gives the dealership a year to get the tests done. Next time you go in for service make sure and ask to have your Spyder worked on by the tech who has taken the tests.

 

[opticat]

What interests me is 20 hours and 612 miles. Mine went in at 605 miles and 13.5 hours. We do have a lot of back roads with speed limits reaching 65 mph, and I'm guessing that's why.

 

[CincySpyder]

tom they should have changed the trans filter too at 600

 

[Latemarch]

Tom, per the gas smell.
The vent on the canister is just under you and doesn't have a hose attached to it.
Attach a hose to it and run it toward the back and lower part of the bike.

I know that's not really a fix as the canister should be replaced but it will take care of the problem untill the next time in the dealership.

 

[jwhatman]

Hubby and I went out yesterday and I had a very strong gas smell. So strong that hubby smelled it as well, and he was on his wing. We finally stopped and I fiddles with the gas cap, thinking maybe it was loose or not on all the way. The smell of gas was really intense. I took the cap off and and put it back on, making sure I heard and felt the clicks like my VW. I think when hubby gassed the bikes up the night before, the cap wasn't seated properly, which is why the smell was so overpowering. Now I gassed up again on the way home, an no problems.
Joyce

 

[mjw930]

Hubby and I went out yesterday and I had a very strong gas smell. So strong that hubby smelled it as well, and he was on his wing. We finally stopped and I fiddles with the gas cap, thinking maybe it was loose or not on all the way. The smell of gas was really intense. I took the cap off and and put it back on, making sure I heard and felt the clicks like my VW. I think when hubby gassed the bikes up the night before, the cap wasn't seated properly, which is why the smell was so overpowering. Now I gassed up again on the way home, an no problems.
Joyce

To clarify a little, the cap is a screw type with the "clicker" feature to prevent you from over tightening it. It turns about 2 revolutions before it bottoms out and you get a "click". What happened on ours was I probably cross threaded it so it only made about 1/2 a turn before it clicked. Since my truck uses a bayonet style cap I didn't think twice. When Joyce put it back on with the proper turns it sealed then clicked and the smell went away.

We aren't saying this is 100% your problem but even if you have it on properly it's possible it's defective if you have a strong smell. I say this because the EPA regulations of venting are very strict as is NO fumes should be allowed to escape. You should never have a gas smell from the tank or the recovery canister. If you do then there's something not sealed properly.