My Laser Alignment Experience...

[gypsy_100]

That's great. I've only had a few that were close enough that I didn't do an adjustment. I don't charge anything if I don't put a wrench to the rods. :doorag:

Now that is more than fair!

As I said, the 'Centering Tool' is probably fail-safe but it is obvious to me that someone with a good deal of experience, like Lamont and others, can center the steering accurately without the tool. Many examples of this can be sighted including my Spyder. As in most mechanical situations, it comes down to the expertise, experience and integrity of the one doing the work.

Agree on all counts!

 

[BajaRon]

Thank you Lamont and Baja Ron, I have an appointment with my dealer on Tuesday. My bike is running very rough at 80 miles an hour felt very squarely and lots of vibration in the ass end after my alignment. It felt like it wanted to be put back into fourth gear. Also there are 18 weights on my front left tire.
THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP GUYs

Oh! Ouch!

18 weights on a truck tire is a lot. On the small Spyder tire that seems a bit ridiculous to me. If it actually needed that much weight you might as well hang a 'Don't Use This Defective Tire' on it. Something is definitely wrong there.

Running rough... did your dealership do any 'Tune Up' maintenance? Maybe replace the spark plugs? If so you may well have deceased spark plug wires. This is a classic scenario. Never replace the spark plugs without changing out the wires if you're using OEM parts. The wires will fail better than 50% of the time.

Did they mess with rear wheel alignment/belt tension? Is your belt tracking correctly on the rear sprocket?

Hang in there till they get it right and let us know what the fix ended up being.

 

[RBS66]

Oh! Ouch!

18 weights on a truck tire is a lot. On the small Spyder tire that seems a bit ridiculous to me. If it actually needed that much weight you might as well hang a 'Don't Use This Defective Tire' on it. Something is definitely wrong there.

Running rough... did your dealership do any 'Tune Up' maintenance? Maybe replace the spark plugs? If so you may well have deceased spark plug wires. This is a classic scenario. Never replace the spark plugs without changing out the wires if you're using OEM parts. The wires will fail better than 50% of the time.

Did they mess with rear wheel alignment/belt tension? Is your belt tracking correctly on the rear sprocket?

Hang in there till they get it right and let us know what the fix ended up being.

My bike is a 2013 RT with 1200 miles on it I purchased it August 23. While it was in the shop having the alignment and your bar installed they did check the rear wheel alignment and belt tension. I spoke to my dealer about the 18 weights and they are going to check that on Tuesday also.

 

[BajaRon]

My bike is a 2013 RT with 1200 miles on it I purchased it August 23. While it was in the shop having the alignment and your bar installed they did check the rear wheel alignment and belt tension. I spoke to my dealer about the 18 weights and they are going to check that on Tuesday also.

It is good that they checked the rear wheel alignment as the Laser works off the rear wheel. For the alignment to be right, the rear wheel has to be right.

Anytime you alter the belt tension you will get a period of belt vibration (in my experience). I assume this is the belt getting settled into the new configuration. I've got my guesses as to why but no solid evidence.

In my case I've changed belt tension 3 times (as BRP's specs changed). Each time I experienced a higher degree of belt vibration for a time. But eventually it settled down.

 

[Kingers]

As posted by OJ UK, we don't have laser alignment here in the UK Spoke to Can am dealer today to see if they could check alignment by any other method and was informed they can't do any wheel alignment:yikes: I did ask where I would be able to get this done and was told to try an independent car garage.

My local garage is owned and run by biker friendly mechanics and have taken my cars there for many years. If they are prepared to check my alignment, what info would they need?

Oh, and if Lamonster intends to visit the UK, please pop in, you are more than welcome. Just bring your laser level:yes: We are well trained in the art of forming an orderly queue

Thanks in advance for you help USA.

 

[FLAspydergirl]

As posted by OJ UK, we don't have laser alignment here in the UK Spoke to Can am dealer today to see if they could check alignment by any other method and was informed they can't do any wheel alignment:yikes: I did ask where I would be able to get this done and was told to try an independent car garage.

My local garage is owned and run by biker friendly mechanics and have taken my cars there for many years. If they are prepared to check my alignment, what info would they need?

Oh, and if Lamonster intends to visit the UK, please pop in, you are more than welcome. Just bring your laser level:yes: We are well trained in the art of forming an orderly queue

Thanks in advance for you help USA.

I have independant shops that are not BRP dealers...with a fair understanding of alignment...this OUTLAW LASER SYSTEM could be a winner for them.

E mail me: I have a draft I can send you asking some questions. sales@ spydercomfort.com Kristal

 

[BajaRon]

As posted by OJ UK, we don't have laser alignment here in the UK Spoke to Can am dealer today to see if they could check alignment by any other method and was informed they can't do any wheel alignment:yikes: I did ask where I would be able to get this done and was told to try an independent car garage.

My local garage is owned and run by biker friendly mechanics and have taken my cars there for many years. If they are prepared to check my alignment, what info would they need?
Oh, and if Lamonster intends to visit the UK, please pop in, you are more than welcome. Just bring your laser level:yes: We are well trained in the art of forming an orderly queue

Thanks in advance for you help USA.

Not being the resident expert on this subject (but having some understanding of what is required) I would not expect a standard auto alignment shop to be able to do the Spyder correctly.

1st, without Spyder specific BUDS it cannot be done correctly so you're out of the parameters right off the bat. Even if they could give you a perfect alignment, without BUDS to get your alignment synced up with the electronics on the Spyder, you're going to have potentially big problems. The primary one being limp mode.

There is an alignment procedure from BRP to align the Spyder in the field. Again, you must have the Spyder Specific BUDS program and Spyder interface connection to make any alignment work. But personally, having done both, I would not bother with the BRP field method. My opinion is it's a crap shoot at best and a waste of time in nearly every case.

The fact that your dealership 'Can't' do alignments and that they would recommend a local auto shop shows that they have no idea what they are talking about. Very Scary! :yikes:

Someone in the UK needs to get the Outlaw Alignment setup - BUDS capability and some instruction.

 

[FLAlaserman]

Not being the resident expert on this subject (but having some understanding of what is required) I would not expect a standard auto alignment shop to be able to do the Spyder correctly.

1st, without Spyder specific BUDS it cannot be done correctly so you're out of the parameters right off the bat. Even if they could give you a perfect alignment, without BUDS to get your alignment synced up with the electronics on the Spyder, you're going to have potentially big problems. The primary one being limp mode.

There is an alignment procedure from BRP to align the Spyder in the field. Again, you must have the Spyder Specific BUDS program and Spyder interface connection to make any alignment work. But personally, having done both, I would not bother with the BRP field method. My opinion is it's a crap shoot at best and a waste of time in nearly every case.

The fact that your dealership 'Can't' do alignments and that they would recommend a local auto shop shows that they have no idea what they are talking about. Very Scary! :yikes:

Someone in the UK needs to get the Outlaw Alignment setup - BUDS capability and some instruction.[/QUOTE]


BajaRon....YOU ARE RIGHT ON...I have an Outlaw independant that has a tire store and has been doing Spyder aligns for 4 years( his way ) now he is doing a complete Laser alignment by "our" book...but he also gets a local BRP dealer to reset the buds...you either have to buy the
ENTIRE system OUTLAW LASERS AND BUD or work a deal with a local BRP dealer to just reset after the laser align...they work together

 

[gypsy_100]

Thank you Lamont and Baja Ron, I have an appointment with my dealer on Tuesday. My bike is running very rough at 80 miles an hour felt very squarely and lots of vibration in the ass end after my alignment. It felt like it wanted to be put back into fourth gear. Also there are 18 weights on my front left tire.
THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP GUYs

Oh! Ouch!

18 weights on a truck tire is a lot. On the small Spyder tire that seems a bit ridiculous to me. If it actually needed that much weight you might as well hang a 'Don't Use This Defective Tire' on it. Something is definitely wrong there.

There you have it from an expert. If the tire isn't actually "defective", I would think with all that imbalance it must also be out of balance side-to-side. That will never be cured by putting all the weights in a straight line, no matter how many are there. And that's what BRP and the dealers do. It's all the dealers are set up to do and is what BRP specifies in the shop manual. I know you didn't buy the bike at Blackman's but went to them for the alignment and belt adjustment. Hopefully they are willing to get into this tire issue for you and go to bat for you. It will be interesting to learn what they say next week. Keep us posted.

Did they mess with rear wheel alignment/belt tension? Is your belt tracking correctly on the rear sprocket?

Hang in there till they get it right and let us know what the fix ended up being.

Agree with Ron's other comment re vibration and how it changes when you get the tension adjusted. It seems to me the belt vibration occurs at a certain speed range which is a function of belt tension, among other things. Change the tension and the vibes may move to a different speed, and also be stronger or weaker in severity. I always tell Blackman's to set mine at 500-550 as I've found it's pretty smooth there and yet doesn't stress the bearings as much as if it were at the top of the spec at 600. One time when I took it in, the belt had somehow gotten down to the lower end of the spec, about 300+ and I can tell you the vibes were significantly worse when it was that loose, even though it was in spec. Took it back up to 500+ and all was well. Again, keep us posted on the outcome. Just bear in mind that these bikes with their long belts will vibrate to some extent at some speed. Inherent. They're not whisper-smooth Gold Wings and weren't meant to be.

 

[IGETAROUND]

Harrrummmph!:gaah:.....Can't get this done in the UK!!

As the old song said; "Be the first one on your block...." Why not set up shop in the UK?:hun:nojoke

 

[Silvervette05]

How do I get an appointment to have this alignment done?

 

[NancysToy]

As posted by OJ UK, we don't have laser alignment here in the UK Spoke to Can am dealer today to see if they could check alignment by any other method and was informed they can't do any wheel alignment:yikes: I did ask where I would be able to get this done and was told to try an independent car garage.

My local garage is owned and run by biker friendly mechanics and have taken my cars there for many years. If they are prepared to check my alignment, what info would they need?

Oh, and if Lamonster intends to visit the UK, please pop in, you are more than welcome. Just bring your laser level:yes: We are well trained in the art of forming an orderly queue

Thanks in advance for you help USA.

Any dealer that says he cannot do a BRP wheel alignment is not familiar with the procedure and tools. If they read the shop manual (or service bulletin for the 2013's, they will find the tools and procedure layed out for them. It is not anywhere near the same as an automotive alignment, and an auto shop cannot align a Spyder with their tools and methods. Since the far superior laser alignment is not available in the UK, it soundd like it is time to educate your dealer.

 

[BajaRon]

How do I get an appointment to have this alignment done?

If you want an alignment at Lamonster's Garage you just need to email or PM him to set up an appointment.

The Doctor is In! hyea: