Potential Newbie with some general questions

[gnorthern]

I will be making a final decisions about a Spyder Monday and I have some general questions about all Spyders.
1. Was the Nanny updated in the past? The "Do's & do not's" for New Spyder Owners makes the Nanny sound not very smart. I rode a BMW 800 for a year with ECS and it never had problems with me doing dumb stuff like hitting the brakes in the curves (1)
2. According to Consumer Reports the Spyders have the worst repair record of any motorcycle. Is that past history?
3. Are there any drawbacks to using a cell phone as a GPS on a Spyder, like most people I know do? Despite aftermarket phone holders for the Spyders I get the impression from the forum Garmin GPS units are more common than cell phones.

Thank you in advance for any answers.



1. That is why I gave up riding motorcycles, my brain could not stop panicking on uphill and downhill curves. I test rode a Spyder RT and despite the sway my brain said handle it like a car and I was fine.

 

[Big Juice]

Answers?

Forget the answers, buy what you like and want to ride......if you could find the perfect bike (there's not one!), you won't enjoy riding it. They all have a personality, and it's how you ride and take care of that bike, that will make you happy, or not. I've owned Honda, Harley, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and CanAm, and have loved owning each for its personally AND have no regrets of ownership over my 50 years of riding. My opinion of course......

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I will be making a final decisions about a Spyder Monday and I have some general questions about all Spyders.
1. Was the Nanny updated in the past? The "Do's & do not's" for New Spyder Owners makes the Nanny sound not very smart. I rode a BMW 800 for a year with ECS and it never had problems with me doing dumb stuff like hitting the brakes in the curves (1)

Not sure what you mean here. There have been changes but I can't tell you what.

2. According to Consumer Reports the Spyders have the worst repair record of any motorcycle. Is that past history?

Reliability is improving, but may not be equal to Goldwings yet. How good is the cross section of owners who are polled for the report is an unknown. There are many thousands of Spyders out there that have no problems at all. You hear mostly about the ones that do have problems. Same with any vehicle.

3. Are there any drawbacks to using a cell phone as a GPS on a Spyder, like most people I know do? Despite aftermarket phone holders for the Spyders I get the impression from the forum Garmin GPS units are more common than cell phones.

Use whatever you want for a GPS, but you will have to come up with your own power supply and audio connections. I use an 8" Samsung tablet for a GPS.

 

[Poseidon]

I haven't been here that long, so I can't answer all of your questions. I'll answer what I can tho. I have owned other BRP products. They get a bad repair rap partially due to the propriety software they use. It makes it difficult, if not impossible to do do everything yourself and keeps you tied to a dealership for at least some of your repairs. BRP parts are on the expensive side compared to most other brands. If you are having a dealership do the work, the fact that you have to remove a lot, if not all of the body work to do anything to it will increase the labor costs. They also tend to tie the computer into almost every aspect of the bike.

As for GPS, it really depends on where you ride, what phone app you are using, and what features you are looking for in a GPS. If you ride in areas with no cell coverage, you will need an app with maps that are preloaded on your phone. You also need to be willing to subject your phone to vibrations, rain, bugs, road debris, and dirt / dust. Most motorcycle GPSs are designed to handle all of the above. They also have motorcycle features like curvy road routes, TPS integration, etc. The down side is that they are extremely expensive compared to their caged counterparts. Almost to the point it may be more cost effective to get a Garmin Nuvi and look at it as being disposable and just replace it periodically.

 

[ARtraveler]

Repairs: Big subject. A lot depends on the quality of the dealer--there are good ones and bad ones.

My record: 5 Spyders owned and almost 140,000 miles. NEVER had a major mechanical problem or a break down on the road. Not saying that will be your experience. There are always some that are more prone to break downs than others. I guess I have been lucky.

I still like them. You can find non-perfect in any brand you buy. Spyder has never been on any "worst" or "don't buy" lists that I am aware of.

Nanny: the two times I needed it (hydroplaning), it worked and saved my bacon. Both on my 2010. Three years into the model line.

Negative articles: Most of the time they are written based on heresay or by someone that does not know what they are talking about. The early reviews were biased, and written obviously by those who had spent 15 minutes aboard one--if that.

You have to make up your own mind. I would not buy one unless your "vibes" are on board. :yes:

 

[DGoebel]

I've only had mine for a year and 12k miles, so take this with a grain of salt if you will. I've been riding other bikes since '73 or 4. Started with trail, then motocross, street, crotch rockets, diy cafe' bikes, rode all over the US, Germany, the Philippines, and..... I love my '13 RTL Spyder more than most of the others before.

I'll second everything said by others above. If you like/want a Spyder, don't hesitate, it'll put a grin on.

#1 - My nanny has kicked in a couple times in the last year, probably saved me from crashing each time. At 60ish, I'm still often trying to ride a touring cruiser like a cafe bike (even with stock front Kenda's{they haven't worn out yet}).

#2 - Get a good dealer with a good mechanic, hopefully, you'll never need them... I've learned to do more maintenance on my Spyder myself through tips here, YT vids, and local friends helping.

#3 - Though My RTL came with the older Garmin GPS, I made an above dash mount with bracket for my S7 with constant power and use it as much as my Garmin, sometime allowing them to show me alternate routes to each other, but I could live with the phone alone.

 

[Fat Baxter]

IMO, the Consumers Report ranking was due to a single model in a single year (2013 RT's) that had a severe overheating problem (and a few fires). I can't speak to anything before 2014, but 2014 and on seem rock solid. There have been a few bikes with hiccups but they're the exception.

 

[SteveP]

Depends who you ask

To start with ... if you caught on to handling the Spyder right away without wondering why it didn't handle like a 2 wheeler you are ahead of the game . I still have my 2008 GS Premier edition, with all updates done before I bought it 3 years ( and 25,000 km) ago and have only changed the oil 3 times , had an O2 sensor changed and replaced exhaust gaskets once . Other than that I have had many day and weekend trips with no problems. People that have had problems will always yell the loudest if they are frustrated as with anything us humans buy . Find a good dealer , learn about your machine and ask questions ( there are really no stupid ones) . The only disappointment for me this year was the fact it rained almost every weekend this year and I've only put about 2500 km on this past summer . Just Ryde it and enjoy

 

[robhowen]

My 2-Cents

Nanny: Helps but does not hinder.
Quality: We have two 2015s and have had no issues except a bad rear shock on the F3S that the dealer replaced under warranty. From doing a number of items myself I assess the build quality as "good and to spec" vs. I always thought the quality on my BMWs was "beyond spec".
GPS/Phone: Use what you like as facilitating either is no big deal.

Personal Suggestion: Buy it if you want it and then ride it for a month before you do anything to it. Learn the machine as it is and then improve or decorate as you desire.

Rob