Reliability

[dlby]

Well im lightly stepping in

I will admit im a rabid HD guy who switched to this awesome Spyder

The site here helped my decision to purchace & learn to handle the bike & pick out acc (i can't call em f a rkles sorry

I feel as though I know some of ya as its a small room here
Any way thank you for all the ideas videos humour etc
This is a good site
I guess when people criticize the machine they own could be good reason & out of frustration
Lord knows many years ago wi HD it would been same

I selfishly just want to enjoy my new ryde & do not want it to be slammed
But so far it works perfectly
On the other hand if I have a problem I will want
HELP! BIG TIME
with no bitchin or slammin
Just help advise what dealer is good how to communicate with Can am etc
You ALL would be my help

So lets all go see REO Speedwagon or Bob Seger & have some peace Love & Spyder Power
DLBY
HOOSIER SEMI RETIRED PREACHER HIPPY

 

[joebryanjr]

Without knowing the parameters of the survey, I suspect at least part of the issue is that Spyder owners tend to be older and more financially established and are therefore more likely to have their vehicle serviced at a dealer. I know that is what I do.

 

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

one thing to take in to consideration is some of the other bike might have their repairs handles by their owners
where spyders like most new cars today have too much electronics & have to be brought in to dealer

 

[Bob Denman]

Okay; it's time for me to tell you why I said what I said... pps:
Most folks will join a forum like this, to gather some validation for their choices...
(Drew is the noted exception. )
We all hang around in here; telling stories about not being waved at by this or that type of bike, or being asked insulting questions by people who obviously don't get us...
And we always do our best to tell our friends to not worry about the cretins out there... :thumbup:
So when someone from in here, posts a "Study", or an article about how our choice of bikes isn't the next best thing to Mother's Milk and Sliced Bread; well, it almost feels like a betrayal... :shocked:

Dave,
You KNOW that I respect your mechanical skills and flawless taste in music.:bowdown:
When you posted it; I had to wonder if the "2013 jinx" was starting to take it's toll on you...

Are we good? :shocked:

 

[DrewNJ]

Okay; it's time for me to tell you why I said what I said... pps:
Most folks will join a forum like this, to gather some validation for their choices...
(Drew is the noted exception. )
We all hang around in here; telling stories about not being waved at by this or that type of bike, or being asked insulting questions by people who obviously don't get us...
And we always do our best to tell our friends to not worry about the cretins out there... [emoji106]
So when someone from in here, posts a "Study", or an article about how our choice of bikes isn't the next best thing to Mother's Milk and Sliced Bread; well, it almost feels like a betrayal... :shocked:

Dave,
You KNOW that I respect your mechanical skills and flawless taste in music.:bowdown:
When you posted it; I had to wonder if the "2013 jinx" was starting to take it's toll on you...

Are we good? :shocked:

Interesting, you've never met me, have never even spoken to me, yet you feel you think you know me.....[emoji23] [emoji107]
You seriously are clueless....[emoji6]

 

[Dib52]

Repair, service, reliability...to me are completely different categories for the said 42%. Does mine go to the shop? Yes, for the oil changes(service). Does it go there for tires and a laser alignment? Yep, I'll call that one a combo(repair and service). Did it go there for a broken shock? Yes, but replaced under warranty(guess that one is reliability and repair). How about the Orange screen of death or codes...the last time I checked, my garage doesn't have a Buds computer in it(chalk that up to service). Guess I'm part of the 42% because I've driven the wheels off of my "unreliable" machine.

 

[Bob Denman]

Drew,
Why would you care what I say? :dontknow:
You have made it perfectly clear that this isn't a popularity contest in here...

...and you don't care to march to the same drummer as everybody else.
I would have thought that honesty would be appreciated more by you.

 

[Magdave]

Well Bob everyone has a bad day and yesterday musta been your day in the barrel. I will continue to post as I see fit, good or bad. If it is bad hopefully BRP Cares will see it, report it to corporate and increase that $70 mil profit by making their best advertisers happy.:thumbup:

 

[CruiseRT]

2013 RT Limited
Brake light wire burned from hot exhaust
Returned for band-aid recall
Returned for software upgrade and other items(belt guard bolt, etc.)
Replaced burned evap canister
Returned for water pump seal leaking
Waiting on BIG recall.......
All this before my second oil change.(5100 miles)

I don't think there is a problem with Magdave's post.

 

[HedonismBot]

Must be the approach of the full moon has got so many on edge. Like we in the trade say; there's a pill for that:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

I've managed two international support/grief-based listservs, and one thing that happened every year without fail, was hostility among members spiked in the winter time. I'd wager that the increased time stuck in the house due to weather (cabin fever) along with people dealing with S.A.D. and holiday stresses like family events led to the increase of people flying off the handle. This is more pronounced between long-standing vanguard members when newer members joined the group and expressed ideas that challenged the vanguard's notion of reality within the lists. The vanguard took huge offense to anything they perceived as a challenge to the "way things were" and demonstrated a sense of ownership in the lists (despite the reality they were not owners or even moderators). Every year, old members would leave complaining of new members and new members would do the same--finding a lack of acceptance from long-term members. New members were often treated as pariahs despite everyone joining the lists for the exact same reasons. They had more in common than not.

I've seen the same thing reflected after several years here. A core vanguard who aren't always accepting of new members who express ideas not in keeping with how things have always operated. In Winter time, when people can't get out and ride and are dealing with the effects of Season Affective Disorder, everyone develops a short fuse. The forum is always filled with snippy and sometimes distasteful, personal attacks and people over-reacting in general. That combined with the added security of being essentially anonymous behind a monitor, it becomes too easy for vulnerable individuals to act in an aggressive and hurtful way.

I'd also wager that this type of situation exists in every support group, bulletin board/forum and listserv on the planet regardless the topic. It's a product of many variables but mainly the inability for mankind to be humane.

 

[ARtraveler]

On certain issues a site of this size is going to have differing opinions on most everything. There are people that don't always agree with me (and I could name a few--but wont), and there are some I don't agree with either. I am a firm believer in letting each express their opinion. I have never used "ignore" because I do want to see what others say on various topics. I do occasionally bite my tongue or zip my lip because I do not want to add fuel where it is not needed.

I have never got into a long drawn out disagreement with anyone, and will keep it that way.

I respectfully disagree that there is an old member/new member thing going on. Most of the "old" guard are very knowledgeable concerning :spyder2: lore and :ani29: information. People can still get answers about their "new to them" 08's and 09's" if they need it.

Many of the "old" guard have also kept up on the latest and greatest. We have several now that can give current information on the 1330's and the F3's. Most have many miles under their belts when it comes to :ani29:.

Most try to be welcoming and helpful to any and all. I for one am glad that not everything is of a technical nature, and if it was, life would get very boring, very quickly. As members of a community that has the :spyder2: in common, we like to hear about other subjects that concern members of the community.

 

[coastrider]

I'm firmly in the camp that believes that technical information and tips are the best reason for being here. While there's nothing wrong with war stories and opinions, when they take over the conversation and legitimate questions or opinions are ridiculed its time to perform a self-check. BRP doesn't love you, and the Spyder is a commodity. BRP makes its decisions based on their bottom line and there's nothing wrong with that. Where we go off the rails is when we start defending them and stifling discussion, no matter how valid the criticism might be. To those members who insist that nobody say anything negative about our rides, remember that you didn't design it or build it. All you did was put your money on the table. If you're that insecure about your decision making abilities, you're in the wrong forum.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Hmm one picture is worth a thousand words

This is from the May issue of Consumer Reports as posted here: http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?78984-CONSUMER-REPORT&highlight=consumer+report

Consumers Union sends, presumably at random, surveys every year to several thousand subscribers. Maybe they send surveys to all subscribers. I don't recall as it has been years since I subscribed to the magazine. The people are requested to list their vehicles that were, IIRC, bought new within the previous 5 years and to rate their experience about all sorts of criteria, including how many times the vehicle has been in the shop for repairs, and what type of repairs were needed. It takes a long time to completely fill out the survey as there are a lot of questions on them. CU has been at this for a long time so I'm sure they have refined their techniques to elicit as accurate and objective a response as possible. In a May 2013 article about motorcycle reliability (bought new from 2009 to 2012) on their website they state that differences less than 4% are meaningless. They also adjust the data to eliminate differences related solely to age to and mileage. That probably applies to the data shown above.

You can quibble all you want about the data above but like it or not, it is a fair representation of the percent of owners reporting problems. That does not necessarily mean the percent of bikes having problems, although it probably is close. How much the data is impacted by those who do their own repairs vs. take to a shop is a valid question, but I doubt it makes very much difference in the end.

EDIT: I just looked closer at the scanned pages in the other thread. At the bottom it says differences fewer than 10 percentage points are meaningless. It also state failure rates are for 4 year old motorcycles bought new and not covered by a service contract. That means repair rates for contract covered bikes is not included, so we can't know what the real repair rate is for bikes up to 3 years old.

 

[Cruzr Joe]

Interesting, you've never met me, have never even spoken to me, yet you feel you think you know me.....[emoji23] [emoji107]
You seriously are clueless....[emoji6]

While I am in the same box as Bob, because I don't know you or have never spoke with you, the problem i have with you is when you give advice to people that are asking for help or advice and you start off with ................"just disconnect it and don't worry about it". That is what you told a new owner about his brake fluid sensor problem. That was so wrong and dangerous in so many ways. I can only help with some minor repair or mod issues so i don't get into major "problem fixing" areas, but to give someone advise that could harm them or someone else puts you in my "wrong" book and i understand that you don't care. Mag Dave has a lot of good advice, i don't always agree with his advice but none of it ever seemed harmful to someone. This statement is so that others will maybe have an understanding of why i post anything regarding you, and i understand that if i don't like your post i came pass over them or put you on ignore, they same way you can do me. I am speaking for myself so you can take it for what it's worth.



Cruzr Joe

 

[DrewNJ]

While I am in the same box as Bob, because I don't know you or have never spoke with you, the problem i have with you is when you give advice to people that are asking for help or advice and you start off with ................"just disconnect it and don't worry about it". That is what you told a new owner about his brake fluid sensor problem. That was so wrong and dangerous in so many ways. I can only help with some minor repair or mod issues so i don't get into major "problem fixing" areas, but to give someone advise that could harm them or someone else puts you in my "wrong" book and i understand that you don't care. Mag Dave has a lot of good advice, i don't always agree with his advice but none of it ever seemed harmful to someone. This statement is so that others will maybe have an understanding of why i post anything regarding you, and i understand that if i don't like your post i came pass over them or put you on ignore, they same way you can do me. I am speaking for myself so you can take it for what it's worth.



Cruzr Joe

That is your opinion, and your welcome to it.
I really don't care if you like me, what I say, or what I recommend. Like you said, you really aren't a mechanical type person so I really wouldn't expect you to understand. Again, your problem.
You can continue to act like a child and bring me up in every thread you want. The more you do it just shows more and more how childish you really are.

Joe, honestly I don't care enough to like or dislike you. That how unimportant you and what you say are in my world. So carry on!

 

[PaladinLV]

There's an old adage in the world of statistics.

"Figures don't lie, but liars can figure."

AJ

 

[Dan McNally]

Hmm one picture is worth a thousand words

The CanAm has many more very complicated systems than some two-wheeled motorcycles . . . things which a dealer needs to address because they are beyond the capability of most owners. But for me, I am quite happy with stability control, differential power steering, anti-lock brakes, and, yes, even the "nanny." Comparing a $30,000 Spyder with a Yamaha SR-400 is comparing apples to oranges . . . and that is part of the fallacy in articles like this, as they compare by brand, not by model. Would you consider at article that compared maintenance costs for an IndyCar and a Toyota Corolla as legitimate? Apples and oranges . . .

 

[MikeinGA]

Consumer Reports has always been is a good at getting the best data on a product. It looks like fair report. I'm one of the 42% and I think it's a good number.


Mike

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Comparing a $30,000 Spyder with a Yamaha SR-400 is comparing apples to oranges . . . and that is part of the fallacy in articles like this, as they compare by brand, not by model. Would you consider at article that compared maintenance costs for an IndyCar and a Toyota Corolla as legitimate? Apples and oranges . . .

There really is no fallacy in the ratings as they are presented. Consumers Union is not comparing power, speed, handling, etc., of the bikes. If they were then your point would be totally valid. It would be difficult and impractical to find another motorcycle to make a direct comparison to a Spyder. And if you could, and did, do that as you are suggesting there would be so many individual categories that the report in the end would be seriously lacking in meaningful information. Consider this. Cars are pretty much built in assembly plants dedicated to a specific brand. Power sports equipment is not. Honda, for instance, manufactures a whole variety of motorcycles in a new plant in Japan. Goldwing manufacture was moved from Ohio to Japan and there is no 2011 Goldwing model. The same assembly line that makes the Goldwing makes a trail bike, the way I understand it. The methods and quality management are going to be basically the same for both machines. Hence, a judgement about quality of motorcycles is not a judgement of a particular model, but of the brand Honda. The quality practices of Harley Davidson apply across the board to all their machines. In fact years ago the quality management program they used for motorcycle manufacture was applied to bomb bodies they made for the US military. So like it or not, the report shows that 4 year old Harley Davidson bikes require fewer repairs than 4 year old Can Am Spyders, regardless of model.

 

[Dan_Ashley]

The quality practices of Harley Davidson apply across the board to all their machines. In fact years ago the quality management program they used for motorcycle manufacture was applied to bomb bodies they made for the US military.

One of my dissertations was in quality management. Nearly all manufacturing companies use a quality management program, as do hospitals and chain stores, and etc. All of these programs are highly similar. They are all based on total quality management concepts. Albeit, some use more statistics, some use more flow charts, and some entail more employee empowerment. But in their core, they are all the same.