CAN-AM Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 CAN-AM SPIDER MOTORCYCLE . THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE FUEL IN THE FUEL TANK BEGAN TO OVERHEAT AND BOIL WHICH CAUSED FUMES TO IRRITATE THE CONTACTS EYES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING; HOWEVER, THE CONTACT HAS NOT RECEIVED THE RESULTS YET, NOR WAS THE VEHICLE REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 900 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 2,200 UPDATED 07/06/12 *BF

WHILE TRAVELING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC ON INTERSTATE MOTORCYCLE SUDDENLY AND WITHOUT WARNING DROPPED THE SPEED FROM ABOUT 65MPH TO 40MPH. STEERING SYSTEM FAILED. DRIVERS IN BACK BRAKING HARD TO AVOID ME, TRYING TO GET TO SHOULDER BUT NOW THE TRAFFIC TO THE RIGHT IS TRAVELING TWICE AS FAST AS I AM. UNABLE TO GO FASTER DUE TO WHAT MANUFACTURER CALLS "LIMP HOME MODE". FINALLY GOT TRAFFIC IN RIGHT LANES TO SLOW TO ALLOW ME TO GET SAFELY TO SHOULDER. VERY HARROWING EXPERIENCE. I HAVE RIDDEN MOTORCYCLES FOR OVER 50 YEARS AND HAVE NEVER RIDDEN SUCH AN UNSAFE VEHICLE. THIS EXACT SCENARIO HAPPENED TWO MORE TIMES. AFTER EACH OCCURRENCE THE DEALER REPAIRED IT UNDER THE DIRECTION OF BRP. ALL PROBLEMS WERE RELATED TO BIKES COMPUTER SYSTEM THAT MALFUNCTIONED. BIKE CURRENTLY IN SHOP FOR THIRD TIME FOR SAME PROBLEM. YOU CAN READ ABOUT OTHERS WITH SAME PROBLEM ON "SPYDERLOVERS" BLOG. THIS BIKE HAS SEVERE SAFETY PROBLEMS THAT THE MANUFACTURER IS UNABLE TO REPAIR ON ALL OF ITS MODELS. *TR

THE VSS FAULT LIGHT CAME ON AND THE ENGINE BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH AS IF IT WAS NOT HITTING ON ALL SPARK PLUGS WHEN I WENT INTO A TURN. I PULLED OVER AND SHUT OFF THE ENGINE, WAITED A FEW MINUTES, AND RESTARTED THE VEHICLE. THIS ALLOWED THE COMPUTER TO REBOOT. THIS HAS OCCURRED THREE TIMES SINCE. LATER, MY FRONT TRUNK RELEASE BUTTON QUIT WORKING AND THE RIGHT FOG LIGHT QUIT WORKING (BULB IS FUNCTIONAL) AND MY GAS MILEAGE HAS GONE DOWN. I HAD NONE OF THESE PROBLEMS UNTIL THE DYNAMIC POWER STEERING UNIT WAS REPLACED DURING A RECALL. *TR

MY LAST RIDE, AS IN PREVIOUS RIDES, WAS ACCOMPANIED BY THE ODOR OF RAW FUEL. AMBIENT TEMPERATURE WAS IN THE MID 50'S. TYPICAL CITY TRAFFIC BUT NO LONG PERIODS OF STANDING STILL. ENGINE TEMPERATURE NORMAL. VOLUME OF FUEL IN THE TANK DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A FACTOR. PARKED THE SPYDER AND, AS IN THE PAST, OBSERVED VAPORS EMITTING FROM THE VENT HOSE UNDER THE FRAME WITH AN OCCASIONAL DROP OF FUEL. REMOVED THE FUEL CAP, FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND OBSERVED THE SOUND OF BOILING LIQUID. WITHOUT ANY DETAIL GIVEN I ASKED MY PASSENGER TO DO LIKEWISE WHICH RESULTED IN AN IDENTICAL OBSERVATION. VERY LITTLE HAS BEEN DONE, PARTICULARLY GIVEN THE ENCLOSED NATURE OF THE VEHICLE, TO PREVENT HEAT RADIATED FROM THE EXHAUST, IN VERY CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE FUEL TANK, FROM HEATING THE TANK SUFFICIENTLY TO CAUSE THE FUEL TO BOIL. THIS, IN MY OPINION, IS A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN. *TR

I WAS RIDING MY 2005 CANAM SPYDER MOTORCYCLE TO WORK AND ABOUT 2 BLOCKS AWAY WHILE I WAS STOPPED AT A STOPLIGHT I HEARD A POP AND SAW A SMALL AMOUNT OF SMOKE COME UP FROM UNDER THE COWLING. I IMMEDIATELY RUSHED TO MY WORK PARKING LOT (BECAUSE THERE WERE NO TREES OR ANYTHING FLAMMABLE AROUND) AND WENT INTO WORK TO GET SOME WATER TO EXTINGUISH THE SMALL FLAMES I SAW. BY THE TIME I GOT BACK OUTSIDE THE BIKE WAS ENGULFED AND MELTING. (THE OUTER SKIN IS MAINLY FIBERGLASS) I HAVE BEEN ON THE WEB AND HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS POSTINGS OF FIRES ON THE MOTORCYCLES AND ALSO THE WATERCRAFT AND ATV'S THIS COMPANY MANUFACTURES. *TR

VEHICLE HAS ENTERED LIMP HOME MODE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS (65MPH) WHICH SUDDENLY REDUCES SPEED TO 35MPH. VEHICLES FROM REAR HAVE NEARLY IMPACTED DUE TO RAPID LOSS IN SPEED. ALSO ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING ASSIST HAS FAILED WHILE EXITING HIGHWAY WHICH MAKES MAINTAINING CONTROL VERY DIFFICULT. VEHICLE NEARLY LEFT PAVED SURFACE DUE TO HIGH STEERING EFFORTS. THIS VEHICLE HAS A VERY STRONG FUEL SMELL WHICH CONTINUES WHILE VEHICLE IS NOT RUNNING. FUEL VAPORS COULD CAUSE A FIRE DANGER. *KB

WHEN ATTEMPTING TO CANCEL TURN SIGNALS (LEFT OR RIGHT), IT IS VERY LIKELY THAT THE OPPOSITE TURN SIGNAL WILL BE ACTIVATED RATHER THAN CANCELING. THIS CAUSES THE DRIVER TO HAVE TO CHECK THE DASH FOR TURN SIGNAL CANCELLATION. IT IS COMMON TO HAVE THIS OCCUR MULTIPLE TIMES WITH EACH CANCELLATION ATTEMPT, CAUSING THE TURN SIGNALS TO ALTERNATE LEFT & THEN RIGHT MULTIPLE TIMES ALL WHILE TRYING TO CANCEL IT. SEVERAL ATTEMPTS AND SEVERAL SECONDS OF THE DRIVER'S ATTENTION IS OFTEN REQUIRED TO SUCCESSFULLY CANCEL TURN SIGNALS. THIS PRESENTS A SAFETY HAZARD AS THE DRIVER IS NOT WATCHING THE ROAD AND TRAFFIC AND ALSO BECAUSE THE DRIVER IS SENDING CONFUSING SIGNALS OF HIS/HER INTENT TO OTHER DRIVERS. THIS PROBLEM HAPPENS AT ANY SPEED OR WHILE STOPPED. THIS PROBLEM CAN OCCUR WITH EVERY ATTEMPT TO CANCEL THE TURN SIGNAL. THIS PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE WORSE WHILE WEARING GLOVES. *KB

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 CAN-AM ROADSTER SPYDER RT-S. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS HE NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A STRONG GASOLINE ODOR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHO ADVISED HIM THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND ADVISED HIM THAT HE MAY BE USING TOO MUCH GASOLINE WHICH ENDED UP SATURATING THE CHARCOAL CANISTER. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 650.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2008 CAN-AM SPYDER RS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED MOMENTARILY WHEN IT ENGULFED INTO FLAMES. THE CONTACT EXTINGUISHED THE FLAMES, BUT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ALSO APPEARED ON THE SCENE. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE FIRE ORIGINATED NEAR THE FUEL TANK. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED AND WAS NOT TAKEN TO HAVE THE FAILURE DIAGNOSED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 9,000.

BRP ISSUED SERVICE BULLETINS SB-2009-01 IDENTIFYING FAILURE OF THE GEAR POSITION SENSORS ON SOME OF THEIR CAN AM SPYDER ROADSTERS. SYMPTOMS OF FAILURE INCLUDE "E" OR INCORRECT GEAR NUMBER INDICATED IN CLUSTER INDICATOR; INTERMITTENT POWER STEERING OPERATION; DIFFICULTY SHIFTING; "CHECK ENGINE" WARNING SCROLL IN CLUSTER INDICATOR. PRESENTED TO AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR SERVICE 3 TIMES WHILE UNDER WARRANTY, UNSUCCESSFUL REMEDY WAS RESET OF GEAR POSITION SENSOR. PRESENTED TO SAME DEALER AFTER EXPIRATION OF WARRANTY, REMEDY WAS REPLACEMENT AT CUSTOMER EXPENSE IN EXCESS OF $200. BRP FACTORY TECH AT BRP EVENT INDICATED THAT REPLACEMENT WAS PROPER REMEDY. FAULTY ORIGINAL MANUFACTURER INSTALLED GEAR POSITION SENSORS ARE REPLACED WITH NEW DESIGNED PART FROM BRP ONLY AT OWNERS EXPENSE. *TR