Questions

[ArañaRider]

Test drove a 2018 f3t limited today. when shifting it made a very loud clunking sound. Is this normal? the sale guy said that's just because its new. also they gave me a price of 29,895.39 out the door. is this a good price? any info is greatly appreciated.

 

[ArañaRider]

And one more thing

Do you guys and gals use the can am stock tires? Do you use regular car tires? I hear the spyder stock tire wear in the middle prematurely and only last 10,000 miles?

 

[Beaudog]

i hear, we hear, they say. Ok what bike do you ride now that gets more than 10,000 on a tire?

Arguing about tires is like arguing about women. What do you want? Mileage or performance?


I want a tire that sticks like glue in every corner and will pull more gee's than I can take. Old fogies want a tire that last 20,000 miles. Not much fun but OK if that's what you want.

I'm not waiting for you.

All spyders clunk. The price is ball park for a 2018 and maybe pretty good for a limited. Consider this. Buy ir now and ride. waite save a few bucks and miss all the fun.

 

[UtahPete]

Do you guys and gals use the can am stock tires? Do you use regular car tires? I hear the spyder stock tire wear in the middle prematurely and only last 10,000 miles?

The stock tires are very good but the rear tire wears prematurely. Most of us replace them at about 10k miles with 'car tires'. There's plenty of info here on tires if you do a search.

 

[UtahPete]

Test drove a 2018 f3t limited today. when shifting it made a very loud clunking sound. Is this normal? the sale guy said that's just because its new. also they gave me a price of 29,895.39 out the door. is this a good price? any info is greatly appreciated.

The transmissions are all metal-on-metal gears, unlike car automatic transmissions. Yes, they clunk between gears. It's noticeable, but not 'very loud'.

The price is probably reasonable, if it includes taxes and registration. But, price shop online to see if you can do better elsewhere. Also, check the BRP website to see what promotional pricing is available on competitive models. You will do a lot better on a 2017, pricewise. And, you may prefer the electronics on everything prior to the 2018.

 

[Chupaca]

Welcome, welcome

The clunking is normal on the fist shift. 1st, reverse or 2nd those are the shifts you can do from a stand still. After your rolling things are better. They say switching to some full synthetic oils make it better.
As for tires...:yikes: take a day off and search tires here and read till dark. nojoke I use Kendas so not the one to comment...

 

[Flamewinger]

i hear, we hear, they say. Ok what bike do you ride now that gets more than 10,000 on a tire?.

My Honda Goldwing got 18-20K on the front and 16-18k on the rear tire. I expect these big Spyder tires to get as much. 2012-13 the Kenda tires were a softer compound and now that they're back to the harder compound they should last for more. I'm expecting my 2018 rear to last at least 14-16k miles. (Crossing my fingers)

As for gear shifting clunk, when shifting into first, yes it does clunk but shifting up while keeping the throttle on is smoother.

 

[Dennis in Lodi]

break in and sweet spot

As I get more miles I constantly get the bike to shift cleaner or less clunky. This is a combination of backing off the throttle slightly like a clutched bike and finding a sweet spot in the RPM range. For me any shifting around 3K is very quiet and less clunky. But anything above 4k and these automatic bikes clunk. But there always seems to be an advantage to a slight throttle drop off when shifting at any rpm. I have a flashed Spyder and shifting is improved over stock. I can't explain the reason for this. If you want to feel some real clunking you should feel my shifting at 8,600 rpm. Did it, done it and I'm pretty much done with stress that causes. My flashed F3L has so much more power across the board that I spend most my time below 5k and the bike can really haul in that area. But 3k shifting is where my F3L loves to be shifted.
Dennis

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

TIRES & PERFORMANCE

i hear, we hear, they say. Ok what bike do you ride now that gets more than 10,000 on a tire?

Arguing about tires is like arguing about women. What do you want? Mileage or performance?


I want a tire that sticks like glue in every corner and will pull more gee's than I can take. Old fogies want a tire that last 20,000 miles. Not much fun but OK if that's what you want.

I'm not waiting for you.

All spyders clunk. The price is ball park for a 2018 and maybe pretty good for a limited. Consider this. Buy ir now and ride. waite save a few bucks and miss all the fun.

Sorry pal but you don't know DIDDLEY about tires for Spyders ........ jmho ....Mike :thumbup:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

HERE'S A THOUGHT

Test drove a 2018 f3t limited today. when shifting it made a very loud clunking sound. Is this normal? the sale guy said that's just because its new. also they gave me a price of 29,895.39 out the door. is this a good price? any info is greatly appreciated.

If you are willing to try a NEW 2017 model I just saw a dozen on E-Bay ( dealer stock ) for 7 to 9,000 less than that price and these are the Limited models ........ I suggest you check out the difference between the 17 & 18 model year instrument functions ........ personally I think BRP went way over-board on the 2018 instument changes ............. jmho ..... Mike :thumbup:...PS that 18 model is going to worth $3 to $4 thousand less the moment you take possession ............good hunting

 

[wmh9680]

As I get more miles I constantly get the bike to shift cleaner or less clunky. This is a combination of backing off the throttle slightly like a clutched bike and finding a sweet spot in the RPM range. For me any shifting around 3K is very quiet and less clunky. But anything above 4k and these automatic bikes clunk. But there always seems to be an advantage to a slight throttle drop off when shifting at any rpm. I have a flashed Spyder and shifting is improved over stock. I can't explain the reason for this. If you want to feel some real clunking you should feel my shifting at 8,600 rpm. Did it, done it and I'm pretty much done with stress that causes. My flashed F3L has so much more power across the board that I spend most my time below 5k and the bike can really haul in that area. But 3k shifting is where my F3L loves to be shifted.
Dennis

I just had mine flashed too. Did your MPGs change afterwards? Thanks, Mike