Why Does It Matter When?

[stillriding]

This just doesn't make sense! Last week five of us left for a trip to West Virginia, but the lights on my after-market trailer wouldn't work. They worked when plugged into my car that day and they've worked on my '14 RTs before. We stopped at my dealer who squeezed me in to check it out and discovered that the wiring harness controller was fried and he had none in stock. Here's what really upsets me: even though this dealer installed a BRP hitch and a BRP harness the harness is not covered by the warranty simply because it wasn't installed when I bought the Spyder. SO WHAT? It's BRP's harness installed at a BRP dealer by a BRP trained technician. What difference does it make when it was installed? It's not like I could have ordered it from the factory at the time of the Spyder purchase, not that that should matter. So I'll have the expense of the controller, labor and labor for the initial stop at the beginning of the trip. And the dealer hinted that my problem could have been caused by my non-BRP trailer. How? Four wires plugged into four. By the way, since I have the high running, brake light and turn signals and the trailer is fairly low and not too long, I didn't get pulled over for not having functioning trailer lights. On a brighter note, the Canaan Valley area of West Virginia is gorgeous.

 

[PaladinLV]

Your dealer might be incorrect.

Go to the BRP website and check under accessories for the harness.

In many cases the accessories say "Must be installed by dealer for warranty" or similar words.
It does NOT say at time of purchase.

If the words are there copy the page and bring it the dealer to stuff up his . . . .

AJ

This just doesn't make sense! Last week five of us left for a trip to West Virginia, but the lights on my after-market trailer wouldn't work. They worked when plugged into my car that day and they've worked on my '14 RTs before. We stopped at my dealer who squeezed me in to check it out and discovered that the wiring harness controller was fried and he had none in stock. Here's what really upsets me: even though this dealer installed a BRP hitch and a BRP harness the harness is not covered by the warranty simply because it wasn't installed when I bought the Spyder. SO WHAT? It's BRP's harness installed at a BRP dealer by a BRP trained technician. What difference does it make when it was installed? It's not like I could have ordered it from the factory at the time of the Spyder purchase, not that that should matter. So I'll have the expense of the controller, labor and labor for the initial stop at the beginning of the trip. And the dealer hinted that my problem could have been caused by my non-BRP trailer. How? Four wires plugged into four. By the way, since I have the high running, brake light and turn signals and the trailer is fairly low and not too long, I didn't get pulled over for not having functioning trailer lights. On a brighter note, the Canaan Valley area of West Virginia is gorgeous.

 

[Bob Denman]

Sorry to hear that the trip has started out like this :shocked:...
I'll bet that it got a lot better, after that! :thumbup:

 

[stillriding]

Your dealer might be incorrect.

Go to the BRP website and check under accessories for the harness.

In many cases the accessories say "Must be installed by dealer for warranty" or similar words.
It does NOT say at time of purchase.

If the words are there copy the page and bring it the dealer to stuff up his . . . .

AJ

​Thanks for the tip. I'll do that.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Yes, I agree with AJ, and I have had wiring harnesses replaced that were not on the Spyder when it was purchased. I wonder if your problem could be related to the grounding harness issue that they had with 14s? I had a bunch of problems when I first got my 14, it kept blowing out the lights on my 10 RT622 and it was due to the grounding harness or lack thereof. I believe that there was a service bulletin on it.

 

[stillriding]

Yes, I agree with AJ, and I have had wiring harnesses replaced that were not on the Spyder when it was purchased. I wonder if your problem could be related to the grounding harness issue that they had with 14s? I had a bunch of problems when I first got my 14, it kept blowing out the lights on my 10 RT622 and it was due to the grounding harness or lack thereof. I believe that there was a service bulletin on it.

​I'll look into that although I've had no other electrical issues. Thanks.

 

[ARtraveler]

I am recommending a little more research.

A BRP product, installed on a BRP :ani29:, by a BRP dealer, and they are saying getting the harness fried is your fault and not covered under warranty?

If so, why in the HECK did they install it for you in the first place?

Was there a problem with them taking your money the first time?

My dealer is one of those concerned with non OEM tires. Solution, he refuses to install them. That I can understand.

 

[flaggerphil]

Sounds to me like they're just trying to avoid paying for it. Time for a new dealer?

 

[easysuper]

Trailer lights

We had the same problem with both of our Spyders , the brp part was installed by a brp dealer and they both went out on both bikes the same time on a trip. We found a Can Am dealer in that location and he had had the same problem with several Spyders, his solution was to install a GENERIC controler on both bikes and 15,000 towing miles later no problem . His theroy was that the BRP controler was "looking for the non existing BRP trailer" and that was what fried it. It cost me $350.00 but what else could I do besides run without lights ?

 

[OverHillAndDale]

Although my BRP trailer harness tested OK when I used a meter to check voltage on the pins, I had all kinds of issues when I hooked up a non-BRP trailer. The trailer worked fine when hooked up to my car or when I used a spare battery and jumpered to the trailer pins individually. I never had the chance to test it with a BRP trailer.

In the end I pulled out the harness and installed a Big Bike Parts 5-pin harness and all the issues cleared up (yes, it involved some work to go from 5 to 4 pins, but there are lots of adapters that handle this).

I don't know if the BRP harness have a high failure rate (lots of posts on my thread indicated that this may be true), or if they are design VERY SPECIFICALLY for the BRP trailer, but I elected I was better off with a non BRP adapter.

 

[BikerDoc]

I certainly have heard of claims being denied because you pull an after market trailer (so do I ) but never because the BRP portion was not installed originally. Your dealer sounds confused at best

 

[stillriding]

This just doesn't make sense! Last week five of us left for a trip to West Virginia, but the lights on my after-market trailer wouldn't work. They worked when plugged into my car that day and they've worked on my '14 RTs before. We stopped at my dealer who squeezed me in to check it out and discovered that the wiring harness controller was fried and he had none in stock. Here's what really upsets me: even though this dealer installed a BRP hitch and a BRP harness the harness is not covered by the warranty simply because it wasn't installed when I bought the Spyder. SO WHAT? It's BRP's harness installed at a BRP dealer by a BRP trained technician. What difference does it make when it was installed? It's not like I could have ordered it from the factory at the time of the Spyder purchase, not that that should matter. So I'll have the expense of the controller, labor and labor for the initial stop at the beginning of the trip. And the dealer hinted that my problem could have been caused by my non-BRP trailer. How? Four wires plugged into four. By the way, since I have the high running, brake light and turn signals and the trailer is fairly low and not too long, I didn't get pulled over for not having functioning trailer lights. On a brighter note, the Canaan Valley area of West Virginia is gorgeous.[/QUOTE I'm happy to report that this is no longer an issue. All I can say is that I still like BRP.

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: At least the source of the problem has been found, and a fix is in the works. :clap:

:nopic: or two of the trip?? :2thumbs:

 

[stillriding]

:shocked: At least the source of the problem has been found, and a fix is in the works. :clap:

:nopic: or two of the trip?? :2thumbs:

​No pics were taken.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

​No pics were taken.[/QUOTE

Are you in the witness protection program? :roflblack:

 

[Bob Denman]

​No pics were taken.[/QUOTE

Are you in the witness protection program? :roflblack:

 

[stillriding]

​No pics were taken.[/QUOTE

Are you in the witness protection program? :roflblack:

​Is it that obvious?