New Owner, Many Questions.

[Justaguy]

Greetings All,
I am a new Owner of a 2019 F3 Limited. I have to admit that after my first few rides I was afraid that it may not have been the wisest purchase of my life. I have now found that the more I ride it, the more it makes me giggle. After 3500 miles of us getting to know each other I have several questions and/or concerns. Unfortunately I am finding that I have more knowledge of the workings of this machine than my local Dealers (sadly this is not hubris). Worse yet, BRP is of absolutely no help (but I expected this from past BRP product contact attempts). I would greatly appreciate feedback on the following;

1. Do they all sound like sewing machines at cold idle?

2. My drive belt rides against the inner sprocket stops. The Owners manual states that it should not. The Dealer states that they all do and it is of no concern. What say you?

3. I have a drive belt vibration under load at hwy speeds. Apparently, from my research, so do you (unless you have installed a tensioner). So my question is this, is the BRP tensioner adequate or should I go with an aftermarket? To date I have purchased all BRP accessories, arm rests, fog light kit, cover, etc ('cause I'm like a trained monkey). If the BRP tensioner is adequate and/or recommended, has anyone had success in having it installed under warranty?

4. The audio/nav system was very quirky. I learned there was an update that was not performed on my bike prior to delivery so I just had that taken care of. I'm hoping this will have fixed long delays of no audio output at times. My real question here is, is it worth my time to master the BRP connect system or should I just use my phone nav and stream audio direct?

5. I would like to increase the exhaust decibels so that I no longer "sneak up" on my Harley friends. I don't want obnoxious but additional performance would be welcomed. I really don't want to spend $1,000.00 for the Akra...whatever exhaust that BRP and others offer. Any consensus on exhaust out there?

6. Has anyone out there wired 12V aux or USB, using a trim plate, to the steering wheel movable or stationary cowls on the F3 LTD?

...and now the $300.00 question...

7. I wish to increase the stability in the twisties. I am pretty sold on the Baja Ron bar and links however I have read that the F3 Limited has upgraded shocks and some feel this bar does not improve stability as much as a result. Are there any F3 LTD Baja Ron fans out there. *since my original post of this question I have pulled the trigger and ordered this kit.

I look forward to your feedback.

EKIRT on!

*Disclaimer - All of the opinions expressed in my posts are my own and are generally unpopular with others, but they are mine, so I like them.

 

[Deputy Dog]

where in Michigan are you located, and where did you buy your spyder?

 

[PaladinLV]

Replies below in Blue

Greetings All,
I am a new Owner of a 2019 F3 Limited. I have to admit that after my first few rides I was afraid that it may not have been the wisest purchase of my life. I have now found that the more I ride it, the more it makes me giggle. After 3500 miles of us getting to know each other I have several questions and/or concerns. Unfortunately I am finding that I have more knowledge of the workings of this machine than my local Dealers (sadly this is not hubris). Worse yet, BRP is of absolutely no help (but I expected this from past BRP product contact attempts). I would greatly appreciate feedback on the following;

1. Do they all sound like sewing machines at cold idle?

Depends what you mean by sewing machine! As long as its not the sound of someone shaking a half full can of bolts.

2. My drive belt rides against the inner sprocket stops. The Owners manual states that it should not. The Dealer states that they all do and it is of no concern. What say you?

He is 100% WRONG!

3. I have a drive belt vibration under load at hwy speeds. Apparently, from my research, so do you (unless you have installed a tensioner). So my question is this, is the BRP tensioner adequate or should I go with an aftermarket? To date I have purchased all BRP accessories, arm rests, fog light kit, cover, etc ('cause I'm like a trained monkey). If the BRP tensioner is adequate and/or recommended, has anyone had success in having it installed under warranty?

Between their OEM tires (out of round, not balanced properly, and belt you mention . . . I quickly got a Laser Alignment and BaJa Ron Swaybar and 95% of that vibration disappeared. After I got a new set of tires, about 10K miles vibration dropped even more. I'd say 99% free. BTW Squared away did the Laser Alignment and they also adjusted the belt at the time. Personally, don't believe in tensioners. Harmonic road vibration is always present at certain speeds and highways, even in cagers.

4. The audio/nav system was very quirky. I learned there was an update that was not performed on my bike prior to delivery so I just had that taken care of. I'm hoping this will have fixed long delays of no audio output at times. My real question here is, is it worth my time to master the BRP connect system or should I just use my phone nav and stream audio direct?

5. I would like to increase the exhaust decibels so that I no longer "sneak up" on my Harley friends. I don't want obnoxious but additional performance would be welcomed. I really don't want to spend $1,000.00 for the Akra...whatever exhaust that BRP and others offer. Any consensus on exhaust out there?

It will NEVER come even close to a Harley. I went with the Akrapovic for three reasons; removable baffles (which I did), no need to change material inside like some others, and if installed by BRP tech, it gets the Spyder Warranty (at least it did when I got mine).

6. Has anyone out there wired 12V aux or USB, using a trim plate, to the steering wheel movable or stationary cowls on the F3 LTD?

...and now the $300.00 question...

7. I wish to increase the stability in the twisties. I am pretty sold on the Baja Ron bar and links however I have read that the F3 Limited has upgraded shocks and some feel this bar does not improve stability as much as a result. Are there any F3 LTD Baja Ron fans out there. *since my original post of this question I have pulled the trigger and ordered this kit.

Laser alignment, sway, bar, good tires

I look forward to your feedback.

AJ

EKIRT on!

*Disclaimer - All of the opinions expressed in my posts are my own and are generally unpopular with others, but they are mine, so I like them.

 

[Justaguy]

Milford/Highland Area.
Purchased from Dee's Marine & Powersports in Clinton Twp. They appear to know very little about these machines.
Closest Dealer is MotorCity Powersports. They appear to know nothing about these machines.

 

[Justaguy]

Somehow in the time I was responding to you, Jengland, it ended up below.
Lets try this again.
Milford/Highland Area.
Purchased from Dee's Marine & Powersports in Clinton Twp. They appear to know very little about these machines.
Closest Dealer is MotorCity Powersports. They appear to know nothing about these machines.

 

[Justaguy]

OK, so Im learning...

 

[Deputy Dog]

I'm in Battle Creek, Mi. a week or so ago I ask if thee was any good dealers in Michigan. I didn't get any responses in the greater Detroit area. The ones that were mentioned were Village Motorsports of Holland, Leaders RPM in Kalamazoo, Extreme power sports in Gaylord, Powersports in Peru Indiana. Don't think any of those are real close, but maybe worth checking out. I'll be getting my service done at Leaders in Kalamazoo since they are close to me as long as the service is good.

 

[h0gr1der]

Greetings All,
I am a new Owner of a 2019 F3 Limited. I have to admit that after my first few rides I was afraid that it may not have been the wisest purchase of my life. I have now found that the more I ride it, the more it makes me giggle. After 3500 miles of us getting to know each other I have several questions and/or concerns. Unfortunately I am finding that I have more knowledge of the workings of this machine than my local Dealers (sadly this is not hubris). Worse yet, BRP is of absolutely no help (but I expected this from past BRP product contact attempts). I would greatly appreciate feedback on the following;

1. Do they all sound like sewing machines at cold idle?

2. My drive belt rides against the inner sprocket stops. The Owners manual states that it should not. The Dealer states that they all do and it is of no concern. What say you?

3. I have a drive belt vibration under load at hwy speeds. Apparently, from my research, so do you (unless you have installed a tensioner). So my question is this, is the BRP tensioner adequate or should I go with an aftermarket? To date I have purchased all BRP accessories, arm rests, fog light kit, cover, etc ('cause I'm like a trained monkey). If the BRP tensioner is adequate and/or recommended, has anyone had success in having it installed under warranty?

4. The audio/nav system was very quirky. I learned there was an update that was not performed on my bike prior to delivery so I just had that taken care of. I'm hoping this will have fixed long delays of no audio output at times. My real question here is, is it worth my time to master the BRP connect system or should I just use my phone nav and stream audio direct?

5. I would like to increase the exhaust decibels so that I no longer "sneak up" on my Harley friends. I don't want obnoxious but additional performance would be welcomed. I really don't want to spend $1,000.00 for the Akra...whatever exhaust that BRP and others offer. Any consensus on exhaust out there?

6. Has anyone out there wired 12V aux or USB, using a trim plate, to the steering wheel movable or stationary cowls on the F3 LTD?

...and now the $300.00 question...

7. I wish to increase the stability in the twisties. I am pretty sold on the Baja Ron bar and links however I have read that the F3 Limited has upgraded shocks and some feel this bar does not improve stability as much as a result. Are there any F3 LTD Baja Ron fans out there. *since my original post of this question I have pulled the trigger and ordered this kit.

I look forward to your feedback.

EKIRT on!

*Disclaimer - All of the opinions expressed in my posts are my own and are generally unpopular with others, but they are mine, so I like them.

Mr. Justaguy,
My Opinions, and mine only (the ones I can answer, I ride an RTL barge)

1. Noise. It's new, so you get to ignore any noise that doesn't sound like breakage. Pay attention to knocking, grinding, and such as that. These things make a bunch of different noises, including whining at speed, chattering at idle, etc.
2. Look closely along your drive belt to the front sprocket. Is it touching a flange up there? A few Spyders come with way too high of a belt tension from the factory, and the alignment ends up like what you describe. Mine was too tight, and had the belt touching at the left front and right rear. Upon lowering the tension to the lowest spec, the alignment corrected itself. Also get a bright flashlight and look down closely at the belt, if you see the teeth on the sprocket it's not rubbing hard enough to hurt anything.
3. Belt vibration. Learn about the lower tension spec for your bike. Lower belt tension reportedly reduces both the speed at which the vibration happens and the severity of the vibration. Not the same, but on my RTL I went from around 230 Lbs tension (as measured by the Krikit II) down to around 140 lbs, and my vibration mitigated. I installed a vibration dampener, and must say that thing worked. I later removed it because I kept smelling rubber. Never noticed any damage to either the dampener or the belt, just didn't like the smell. Vibration is so small and infrequent I'll just ignore it.
7. Stability. Different ride. The RTL is a barge. After all is said and done, rearview, I'd do it in this order. Laser alignment. A lot of Spyders don't have enough toe in. This makes them wander and/or dart. Fix this first. Then the sway bar. I installed Baja Ron's unit because 'Murica! Finally, and this is a personal choice, put better tires on there. With all 3 of those done, even this barge handles like it's on rails.

 

[ChicagoSpyder]

#6 I installed a 7x24 hot 12 volt outlet in my dash.

#7 The Bajaron sway bar improved the body roll on my machine.

 

[Flamewinger]

4. The audio/nav system was very quirky. I learned there was an update that was not performed on my bike prior to delivery so I just had that taken care of. I'm hoping this will have fixed long delays of no audio output at times. My real question here is, is it worth my time to master the BRP connect system or should I just use my phone nav and stream audio direct?

You paid a pretty penny for it so it's worth it to learn the New Tech. When I got mine it was no where near like it is now. Had to fiddle with it and figure it out. Now it's a breeze and much easier than trying to work a smartphone with gloves. I mount the phone on top of the dash for easier access as I ride an RT. Once the bike is on I don't need to touch it. Any new Tech requires learning and once you get to know it's easier. You become familiar with using it and it become second nature. It wasn't easy when the Garmin first came out and this will take a few tries to get used to just like the old GPS units did.

 

[Big Juice]

On your $300 question.....I have a 2017 F3-Ltd, have good tires and laser alignment and I corner with the best of them (with no add-on sway bar).
For exhaust......I put the cat delete with stock pipes and it works for me, a little extra sound but not obnoxious, but Harleys will never hear you over their pipes.
For belt.....my belt rides in the middle of the sprocket.
For sound system.....I don't use mine at all because it is totally useless (my opinion). Listen to music through my Sena bluetooth through my helmet.
Good luck and enjoy the ride........