Worth it to upgrade 2012 RTL?

[Deanna777]

I have owned a 2012 RTS-SE5( my first spyder) It had the 998 engine, I only had it for 2 years.

I took a test ride on a 2014 RTS-SE6 ( which is my current spyder). Why I bought a 2014 RTS-SE6 was the comfort,and the low maintenance, and the bigger engine, ( 1330 Ace Engine) qutier engine, and all the major upgrades they did. It has a 1200 Watt Alternator. I have about 29,000 miles on my current spyder.

Deanna

 

[Tonylmiller]

2012 " V-twin " .... BRP stopped using this engine in 2016 (?) .... so how many years from now do you think Parts will still be available. ???? .... Mike :thumbup:

I would think parts for the engine would be available for a few more years, and I hope I don't need any.
With 4,000 miles, I hope the engine lasts for quite a few more years.
And the more I ride it the more I like it.

 

[MRH]

I've owned a 2010, 2014 and now a 2020.
If you can hold out, I'd suggest getting a 2020 in a few years when the used prices will be lower.
The 1330 engine upgrade in 2014 was a major generational upgrade.
In 2020, the suspension, comfort and storage upgrades are another major generational upgrade still.

As always, my free advice comes with a double your money back guarantee.

I've owned the same three years, and completely agree with you. My 2010 had issues, but as I understand it the 2012 was significantly improved. Still, the biggest upgrade was the 2014 and I wouldn't every buy anything earlier than that at this point in time - and if one can afford a 2020+ I'm a fan of the smaller changes and the new body design. Just skip the BRP connect features, and the dash isn't an issue.

 

[Wahrsuul]

Heck, I'll sell you mine cheap. I'm looking for a nice F3 with a manual trans.

 

[BajaRon]

I would think parts for the engine would be available for a few more years, and I hope I don't need any.
With 4,000 miles, I hope the engine lasts for quite a few more years.
And the more I ride it the more I like it.

I've got customers with well over 100k on the original engine and clutch. If you take care of them, they will last a very long time. I don't mean baby them. I mean regular maintenance. I think they actually last longer if you ride them a bit hard. Wring them out once in a while.

 

[Peter Aawen]

I've got customers with well over 100k on the original engine and clutch. If you take care of them, they will last a very long time. I don't mean baby them. I mean regular maintenance. I think they actually last longer if you ride them a bit hard. Wring them out once in a while.

Yeah, I hafta agree with that bit! :thumbup: . I've seen more 'ridden soo carefully & never revved hard or run fast' Spyders with (wear? or mis-use?? :dontknow: ) problems than I have in those Spyders that've been ridden hard & run out to the red line fairly often, but also maintained well & regularly!

It seems that these Rotax V-twins really need to work - as if it's in their DNA or something... hyea: Back a few years now (8-10 or so?) I recall some people with V-twin SE's having clutch/trans issues because they didn't often rev them hard enough to properly engage the clutch; and also seeing some appalling looking oil coming out of Spyders that the owners claimed had always been serviced as scheduled but never treated hard or revved beyond about 5k!! :shocked: . I reckon they just never worked the engine properly/got the oil hot enough to burn out all the combustible crud; and I don't ever recall seeing oil like that coming out of Spyders that'd been run to the red line often!! :sour: . Maybe that was because those riding harder knew their V-twin engines used a little oil between scheduled changes so they kept an eye on it & topped it up with fresh oil more often; but for whatever reason, it really seems that it's the Spyders that've been worked a bit & regularly see high revs are those that are racking up the big & largely trouble free miles on the odometer... :dontknow:

And the other thing to remember about these Rotax V-twins & parts availability is that Spyders aren't the ONLY place/platforms they're used in! There's a reasonably wide range of machines that run the same or very similar V-twin Rotax engines and even a few that run similar transmissions & clutches, and it's not as if all of those are going to suddenly drop out of use just cos Rotax no longer puts the V-twin motor in Spyders :shocked: So I reckon most common maintenance parts will be available for a good while yet, and because some of the major components are effectively 'scheduled replacement parts' on some of the platforms these engines run in, they too will be available for a good while yet... possibly not always as OE gear, but in that case, then very likely as a/mkt parts! :thumbup:

Besides, I've yet to ride a 1330 engined Spyder that is as exciting & exhilarating as my V-twin engined RT, and then there's the rattly engine, the run-away sewing machine sound output, and the useless (to me, anyway ) digital dash with pointless add-ons & OTT technical innovations that really do nothing for the ride experience I'm after & just increase the number of things with a significant potential for failure, or things that are just another example of a great concept that suffers from pretty poor execution! So I'm still sticking with my fun to ride, high revving V-twin engined Spyder, at least for the forsee-able future.... hyea: