Word of warning RE: Rivco Driver Floorboards

[daveinva]

If it were me and I thought it was caused by mounting the Spyder I would glue the rubber pads down so I did have to count on just the inserts holding it on. You have a huge surface area for some good bonding material.

Thanks Lamont. I think there was already *some* glue there, but not a lot (certainly not enough to make any difference, as you can see-- the rubber pad definitely sticks most at the point of the four inserts).

If I hadn't torn the inserts in use, that's precisely how I would have fixed this-- just reglued the whole dang pad to that top metal plate and never even mentioned it. As it stands, I'd need at least two new inserts before I can do even that (I only showed photo of one that's damaged, but another one is also torn).

Anyway, if I run into this problem a second time, I won't even bother with the four inserts-- I'll just yank them off, take the rubber pad off that thin metal plate, and RTV the rubber pad down (or some non-skid) on the floorboard directly. Like I said previously, there's not a whole heckuva lot of anti-vibe benefit down there, I really didn't notice much of a difference between the way the undamaged floorboard worked and the bare stainless steel floorboard.

One way or another, it'll get fixed!

 

[fencepost]

Rivco has excellent at customer service, if for any reason you have a problem ask to talk with Rich

 

[Trooper]

Sorry Trooper, but I disagree to a point-

The poster merely discussed the issues he was having. Whether the manufacturer fixes them or not, or was even contacted or not is not the point of the discussion. He didn't needlessly flame the company, or even complain about it. He seemed more concerned about a possible fix, than anything else.

I know we're all trying to get by in difficult times. Big manufacturers and little ones. But why do I need to contact you before I discuss your product? If a product is a good one, it will stand for itself. If it's not, it won't. It's that simple. I don't need to give you or any other manufacturer a free pass. Do you give your product to me to try it, before I purchase it? No. So why do I need to contact you if I have an issue, before I discuss it with others? I know you'd like a chance for a little damage control, but that's not really fair to the unsuspecting public either, is it?

Networking gives me a chance to learn about all the pros and cons of a product, as much as it does to help you sell your product. It's a two way street. You should sell a good product for a reasonable price. I should be honest in my review of your product and/or services, -whether I contact you or not.

Stand behind your product, not in front of it.........:doorag:

You have some very valid points and I appreciate them. Unfortunately for many small companies, the R&D behind the product is done in the real world because of lack of ressources and pressure to get a return on the investment to simply continue to stay in business. One small bad review can be make or break for many companies today, and I think that this company simply deserves a chance to make it right to its customers before the poop hits the forum fan. There are many small parts builders on this site alone who depend on the business generated from Spyderlovers who are passionate about this customer base. If the manufacturer doesnt take care of the problem, then by all means, let the poop fly.

 

[Trooper]

I'm not trying to start trouble here, but I disagree with some of the comments. I did not find your post overly negative by any means.

If you contact the company and then they send you another floorboard nipple thingy and you do not post it here, the same thing could happen to other people a trend of posts will not generated seperating the good from the bad vendors. This is how we get our recalls started with our Spyders and vendors should be held to the same standards as BRP. Remember our rear fender bracket issues ??? If no one mentioned this on this forum we all would have thought it was just a fluke, but now we all know different.

You said you were going to contact the company and you posted the reason why. What is so bad about that ??? :dontknow: IMO people should post issues with products, this is how we all learn.

Agreed...however BRP has an office full of engineers and invest a HUGE amount of money in R&D. Many of the small aftermarket parts companies don't have that luxury, and many times the public end up becoming the R&D department.

All I am saying is to give a little more leeway and patience when dealing with the small folks. It helps the local economy grow. :thumbup:

 

[sealfloorboards]

Agreed...however BRP has an office full of engineers and invest a HUGE amount of money in R&D. Many of the small aftermarket parts companies don't have that luxury, and many times the public end up becoming the R&D department.

All I am saying is to give a little more leeway and patience when dealing with the small folks. It helps the local economy grow. :thumbup:

Thanks John,

You are a great spokesperson for us little companies who are really trying to offer the best possible product. i know that I welcome feedback and will do whatever it takes to make a customer happy even if it means eating any profit or even costing me money. On those few occasions when I have had to do that, it has paid off on spades in customer appreciation, usually a nice comment on the Forum.

Talk to us, let us know if there is a problem, the great majority of us are eager to make things right and you happy.

Ride in comfort,

John,
Seal FloorBoards

 

[wyliec]

Agreed...however BRP has an office full of engineers and invest a HUGE amount of money in R&D. Many of the small aftermarket parts companies don't have that luxury, and many times the public end up becoming the R&D department.

All I am saying is to give a little more leeway and patience when dealing with the small folks. It helps the local economy grow. :thumbup:

I may be the only one to think this; but, when I pay for a product, I'm not the R&D dept. for the co. I am buying from. Now, if they want me to test their product and not pay for it or give a reduced price, then I'll be their R&D.

But, getting back to your other statement of giving a little leeway. To me, I don't care whether they are a big or small co.; I'll give both equal leeway. I don't believe a smaller co. should get anymore leeway than a big co.

 

[daveinva]

Yay Rivco!

A rep from Rivco just called me in response to my email and photos. Based on that info, they're sending me a replacement pad, plate and mount assembly for my left footboard at no charge. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

She said they were very appreciative to receive all the photos detailing what happened. Interestingly enough, I'm the *second* person to report a problem: just two days ago, someone else reported a similarly torn rubber mount on their Spyder floorboard (don't know which side). They had damage on the bottom part of only one of the four mounts (the part of the mount that connects below to the floorboard, not above to the top plate). She said my floorboard featured far greater damage than the other owner's; however, both incidents were reported to their R&D department.

Thus, the good news: great company, very responsive, and fantastic customer service. :thumbup:

The bad news? In my opinion, an otherwise great set of floorboards may (MAY) have a design problem... I guess we'll have to see if any other owners ever have an issue with it.

(In fairness to our small businesses out there, I don't want to scare away people from a great company-- but I can only report the facts that I have).

 

[arntufun]

The only other thing I would like to add to this thread is, awesome input from everyone without flameing. This is how all threads should be. Great job everyone !!! :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Trooper]

The only other thing I would like to add to this thread is, awesome input from everyone without flameing. This is how all threads should be. Great job everyone !!! :thumbup::thumbup:

:agree:

 

[Ga Blue Knight]

You know, that's something else I've considered-- that it's less my riding style and more using the floorboard to mount/dismount the Spyder (seeing as I always mount from the left-- old habits and all-- that could explain my trouble with the left board). I'll try to switch back to the pegs, but that brings in a whole other issue-- the Rivco set replaces the stock pegs with shorter "sport pegs" that are obviously harder to use to mount/dismount.

Experiments to come!

I also have the Rivcos but hated the short pegs. I found that Harley pegs will fit in the space where the shorty ones were with the help of one or two 7/8ths in washers. They work great and I use the pegs for getting on and off.

 

[Rayelljay]

I read your problems and comments with great interest.
With respect may I offer this:......
As an ex mechanical engineer and having worked with vibration isolation systems in industrial piping I can see at least one cure for your problem of possible over rotation of the top plate relative to the bottom plate.
But it involves some welding: two lengths of stainless steel rod about 1/4" dia. welded at right angles to the underside of the top plate that would pass through two clearance holes drilled in the bottom plate. These would provide better rotational restraint without limiting the functionality of the assembly as a whole.

 

[daveinva]

I also have the Rivcos but hated the short pegs. I found that Harley pegs will fit in the space where the shorty ones were with the help of one or two 7/8ths in washers. They work great and I use the pegs for getting on and off.

Do you have a link to what you used, maybe even a photo? I'm curious...

I actually like the short pegs, more than I thought I would, they stay out of the way when your feet are on the boards. The problem with them is the aforementioned standing on the pegs to mount the Spyder (your really can't, not easily), and the boards themselves are so freakin' useful for riding that I don't like keeping my feet up on the pegs unless I have to. I'll keep it up on the right peg in traffic when I know I have to reach the brake quickly, but otherwise I've found that keeping my feet on the boards DRAMATICALLY improves my routine riding. Still want to get on the pegs for high speed twisties, but in routine riding, having my feet lower and a better grip on the tank with my legs really makes cornering a breeze... so much so that I'm kind of shock that floorboards of some kind aren't *factory* on the Spyder, they make such a huge difference in how it handles.

Really, the short pegs are functional, but the longer pegs are better for the twisties, giving you a longer peg to "push off" of in turns. But I found it easier to just push off of the floorboards instead. Of course, that's probably what caused this problem I spent a whole thread complaining about .

 

[BajaRon]

One thing I think we have proven many times over, everyone has an opinion!

There are some who think running a small business is a piece of cake, you just sit back and wait for the register to overflow. I suppose people have tried that approach but they don't last long.

And I agree, no one want's to be R&D for anything. But the fact is, there isn't any way for a product to be completely tested before release. Sometimes the smartest people miss the simplest things.

In reality, we are all performing R&D service (whether we want to or not) for every product we have ever purchased (or ever will purchase). It isn't necessarily by design, it's just reality.

Add to this that a product that is perfect for 1 customer can 'Suck' for another. It's just the nature of diversity and variation in expectation.

A good product requires a good combination of people working together. Even the mouse trap has been improved upon over the years.

Think about it.... Who has done more R&D on the Spyder? A few dozen BRP riders over a few thousand miles, or thousands of owners over hundreds of thousands of miles? It takes both to make the product work.

I always appreciate a customer that will give me a shot at making things right. If I fail, then they have the rest of their life to flame me. Success is when the product satisfies the customer. As much as I try, that doesn't always happen the first time out of the gate.

We've got some great sponsors here at SpyderLovers offering great service and great products. It doesn't mean we shouldn't call it like we see it. But sometimes it's better to let the hand to play out before we call it.

 

[bcspyder]

I agree that the forums are a great place for information exchange but I am sure that there are manufacturers out there that would love to be given the opportunity to respond first. Regarding this thread you started the title with "Warning..Rivco floorboards". If I didn't read the whole thread I may be inclined to assume there was a serious issue and avoid the product. Clearly they have stepped to the plate and will take care of the fix and I feel your post could have waited until the entire story was told. Too many here jump all over manufacturers with the feeling they are out to screw us. I have found with some patience and co-operation most will do the right thing...just give them a chance.

 

[daveinva]

I agree that the forums are a great place for information exchange but I am sure that there are manufacturers out there that would love to be given the opportunity to respond first. Regarding this thread you started the title with "Warning..Rivco floorboards". If I didn't read the whole thread I may be inclined to assume there was a serious issue and avoid the product. Clearly they have stepped to the plate and will take care of the fix and I feel your post could have waited until the entire story was told. Too many here jump all over manufacturers with the feeling they are out to screw us. I have found with some patience and co-operation most will do the right thing...just give them a chance.

Okay... now here's where I must respectfully disagree.

My product BROKE. It broke from what I can only assume is normal, if spirited, use within ONE month of installation and 1,000 miles of riding. I paid $350 for this newly-developed product, just released this summer. When something breaks under those circumstances, I'm within my rights to bring it to the attention of other Spyder owners. Perhaps I could have chosen "Alert" instead of "Warning," but I'm not going to take up a federal case over my word choice here. It should be a fair assumption that interested readers will read the entire thread and not form permanent judgments based on a headline alone.

My words above speak for themselves, at no point did I "jump" over the manufacturer, nor do I feel they are out to screw us. I did not, and do not, believe the product that I purchased was shoddy in any way, but clearly, IT BROKE. First and foremost, my obligation is to determine why that was, and part of that obligation is seeing if other owners of the product here on Spyderlovers had their own feedback, i.e. has this happened before and no one else has mentioned it? Had someone before me already spoken to Rivco about this? If so, what did *they* learn? I'm exchanging information, that's all.

Again, at no point did I criticize Rivco beyond the most rudimentary speculation, and I clearly stated that I was going to contact them, which I did, and my problem was, for now, satisfactorily resolved. To a point-- they can only replace what broke, but obviously, there's no guarantee that it won't break on me again. Without knowing whether *I* was doing something wrong, which is again why I put the post here in the best Spyder forum on the net, I'm obviously concerned that my $350 investment could be for naught. Getting a company to keep sending me replacement parts every 1,000 miles is the sign of great customer service... but would anyone agree that's a good *product*? THAT'S my worry here.

Here's the bottom line: I support our manufacturers with my business (often *repeat* business-- I also own Rivco's highway pegs and passenger floorboards as well), and I support them with my fair praise, if deserved. Beyond that, I'm under no obligation to market their products, let alone assume "Golly, gee shucks, I'm so unlucky" when an expensive product they sell clearly failed the test of basic use.

Again, I don't care about what Rivco could do to fix MY problem (they did, thankfully, and I praised them for it), I care what they do to fix THE problem (if, again, if there even is one), so other owners don't experience it.

Sheesh. I'm inclined that next time something I spend several hundred dollars on something that breaks, I'll keep it to myself, and let some other Spyder owner stumble blindly into an identical issue until I get permission from a company to talk about it in public... :joke:

 

[bcspyder]

Unfortunately things break. It happens. The internet has changed the way we do business and I think that some people (maybe not you..I'm just sayin') choose to go to the internet first rather than call the company and deal with them directly, and that is unfortunate. It is in everyone's best interest to deal with the problem with the dealer/manufacturer and if unsatisfied look for other avenues of relief. One such choice may be to share your frustration with forum users. BRP and the Spyder have gone through quite a learning curve and many here provided sensible answers to difficult problems. Some chose to rip on BRP and demand a perfect product. Won't happen. I did not mean to include you in that group and I apologize if I did. My point was that there was only a day or so between your original post and the resolution from Rivco. I would have waited to hear from them and then post the entire story. You would still be able to caution about the possibility of the floorboard to come apart and also a potential fix. Again, sorry if I offended you.

 

[daveinva]

Unfortunately things break. It happens. The internet has changed the way we do business and I think that some people (maybe not you..I'm just sayin') choose to go to the internet first rather than call the company and deal with them directly, and that is unfortunate. It is in everyone's best interest to deal with the problem with the dealer/manufacturer and if unsatisfied look for other avenues of relief. One such choice may be to share your frustration with forum users. BRP and the Spyder have gone through quite a learning curve and many here provided sensible answers to difficult problems. Some chose to rip on BRP and demand a perfect product. Won't happen. I did not mean to include you in that group and I apologize if I did. My point was that there was only a day or so between your original post and the resolution from Rivco. I would have waited to hear from them and then post the entire story. You would still be able to caution about the possibility of the floorboard to come apart and also a potential fix. Again, sorry if I offended you.

No offense taken, friendly difference of opinion, that's all. Safe riding! :doorag:

 

[wyliec]

BajaRon,

I guess the point I was trying to make was lost. I was responding to Trooper b/c he made it sound like small businesses shouldn't be held to the same standards as large businesses in regards to product development/R&D. I know that most products need tweaking once released. It just sounded to me that he was saying it was okay to release the product early and let the rest of the R&D be completed in the field b/c small businesses don't have the money to spend on R&D.

In my previous life I was involved in product development for a large air conditioning co.

 

[Trooper]

BajaRon,

I guess the point I was trying to make was lost. I was responding to Trooper b/c he made it sound like small businesses shouldn't be held to the same standards as large businesses in regards to product development/R&D. I know that most products need tweaking once released. It just sounded to me that he was saying it was okay to release the product early and let the rest of the R&D be completed in the field b/c small businesses don't have the money to spend on R&D.

In my previous life I was involved in product development for a large air conditioning co.

I can certainly understand how my post could have been interpreted as I go back and read it, but the intent of the message was along the lines of what Baja Ron stated. No matter the amount of time of money spent on R&D, sometimes small bugs will arise. Baja Ron just had a better way of expressing it than I. Thanks Ron.

I am sure your first generation of air conditioners were not perfect, and its only once they hit the market that you realised from customer feedback that some things needed to be improved...and it is completely normal. As a consumer, I am not happy either when I spend my hard earned money on something and it breaks soon after it is purchased, but we then have a choice in how we are going to deal with the problem.

I hate to say it, but our Spyder shocks were not perfect either when the first generations came out, but we worked with the best people in the business.....you, the consumers....to iron them out to where they are today. Without the feedback from this community, we would not be anywhere close to where we are, and for Lamont and this forum in general, I will be forever grateful.

 

[Trooper]

Sheesh. I'm inclined that next time something I spend several hundred dollars on something that breaks, I'll keep it to myself, and let some other Spyder owner stumble blindly into an identical issue until I get permission from a company to talk about it in public... :joke:

Please don't do that. Sometimes companies need tough love to get bugs fixed. :thumbup: