Why I sold my 2017 Can Am F3 LTD

[NJtony]

I had a 2017 F3 Ltd , Loved it, It only had 7000 miles on it and had no issues with it, but what I found some dealers were doing and BRP backed them up, I sold my bike and bought a Freewheeler.

I was on a site Spyderlovers.com, there was some one who posted he had a 2014 Can Am and wanted to get his rear tire changed the dealer told him they no longer work on bikes that are 5 years old . They will only work on the ones (5 years or older) that are under warranty. Now mind you the dealer had 2 bikes that were over five years old they selling on the show room floor. (big surprise for the ones who buy them) The owner of the bike contacted BRP and was told by BRP, the dealer has the right not to work on bikes that are 5 years old or older. So when you are buying your Can Am ask your dealer if they work on 5 year and older bikes. Not all dealers do this, but you need to know if you need repairs on your bike.

 

[rhino 2]

I had a 2017 F3 Ltd , Loved it, It only had 7000 miles on it and had no issues with it, but what I found some dealers were doing and BRP backed them up, I sold my bike and bought a Freewheeler.

I was on a site Spyderlovers.com, there was some one who posted he had a 2014 Can Am and wanted to get his rear tire changed the dealer told him they no longer work on bikes that are 5 years old . They will only work on the ones (5 years or older) that are under warranty. Now mind you the dealer had 2 bikes that were over five years old they selling on the show room floor. ( big surprise for the ones who buy them) The owner of the bike contacted BRP and was told by BRP, the dealer has the right not to work on bikes that are 5 years old or older. So when you are buying your Can Am ask your dealer if they work on 5 year and older bikes. Not all dealers do this, but you need to know if you need repairs on your bike.

Dealers are independent franchises and as such once a bike is out of warranty they can set their own policy….

 

[paws]

It was my experience that the local Honda dealer refused to do just Honda work on my GL1800 Honda trike…let alone the trike kit. Had to take it to an indy 125 miles from me.

So when I moved I was 150 miles from the indy. He retired so I finally sold the Honda trike and bought a 2021 Spyder RTLtd. The dealer is only 46 miles from me and they work on all years/models of Spyders/Rykers.

I like this machine almost as much as my Honda trike. It also consistently gets 37-38 mpg…Honda trike would range from 28-31mpg and when that fuel gauge hit half it dropped like a rock… I was always concerned with keeping it topped off as we often ride in remote areas.

 

[NJtony]

Paws

I did love that bike. I had the vented windshield with the f4 air wings , baker air wings, upper and lower and the stabilizer bar upgrade. I drove that from NJ to Maggie Valley and drove it straight home from Little Switzerland back home (650 miles in 12 hours) There was never any buffeting and it was great in the rain. It was a great cruiser bike.

Rhino 2

I hear what you are saying about dealers setting their own rules on what year bike they can work on, But this person went to get his rear tire replaced on an RT. The rear tire is the same as the 2020 RT. If he had a computer related issue he would be SOL. And the OBD on the Can AM is proprietary, you just can't connect the tool for your car to see if you can pull your codes, it will not work. The computer program for the Can Am is over 1K with a yearly fee. Yes, a license fee so it can work for a year. This is not a worth while investment for most people.

All I am saying is to ask the dealer before you buy a Can AM ( ASK: If I keep this over 5 years will you still work on this?) I am betting most will say they will, (i would want it in writing), but , you don't want to buy from the dealer who says they will not work on your bike because it is too old in 5 years and will not put it in writing.

 

[RayBj]

To be fair, any dealer, regardless of brands sold/serviced can make those rules. BRP has enough dealers (and indies) in NJ/PA area that service shouldn't be hard to find.

Wish could say the same for Aprilia! :gah:

 

[bikerbillone]

Re Paws, comment #3, I can surely relate to your comment. Wife and I were up in TN for our GW Trike vacation, it dropped a code, I had no idea. So I began calling, several dealers avoiding me like the plague. So we dumped a vacation and returned home early not knowing how the return trip was gonna go, code showing, tensions high. We did make it home where my 'go to' man fixed the problem, not a dealer. So I traded that beast in on a 2020 RTL Spyder, all is good now. Yeah, I know, it can happen to any scoot, but my point is the same as Paws comment.

 

[Pegasus1300]

Hmmmmmmmm I have 2012 SpyderRTL. IF anything is old it would be this antique. But even here in Utah in the wild I can find 3 dealers who will work on it and I just asked an indy 10 miles away if he would be willing to learn what to do on it and he said yes. I do most of my own work but at 75 those days are coming to a close so I keep my eye open for other options. If this bike goes down I am done riding.

BTW so far parts have been easy to get.

 

[bikerbillone]

Hot dang Paul, good for you, at 77, you are not that far behind me. I am looking to do my first oil change soon, I have all I need from BahaRon. I look for patience, a good You Tube, and not to injure this old bod.

 

[Pegasus1300]

Bill you are still my hero. All I can say is take your time,and plan your moves so you don't have to get up and down very much.

 

[Big Juice]

As most of us that have ridden many years know, you will come across those dealers and shops, that pick and choose what they want to work on. If it's out of warranty, it can go either way. My personal experience showed me that the better you know a dealer and his staff, the more "acceptance" you're going to have in those situations. At my Honda shop years ago, I read complaint after complaint about their service online, but I got to know the staff and never had any problems, and they took very good care of me. So, we never know the "situation" that might have caused the problem, and I use only my own personal experience to determine my loyalty to a dealer or repair shop, as I deal with both. I take online recommendations with a grain of salt, unless they are from personal friends I know and can ask "what happened". My preference is to always ride what I want and what I like, then I will deal with whatever issues show up....my thoughts.......

 

[Burnerboy]

This is an interesting post here (that I bet 99% of us never even thought about asking) My Can Am dealer near me, also sells Jet skies, I purchased two brand new of them (jet skies) at the same time (one for me and one for the wife) and unfortunately, I didn't get that warm fuzzy feeling, about them, whenever I brought them in for service... All I saw was $$$'s flying out the window, on a very windy day..

So buying a Can Am from that dealership will be out of the question............. (although I will say that the group of riders that we ride with, all ride the Spyders and they ALL LOVE them...

Ronnie

2/4/22

 

[NJtony]

Like I said in my post.. I loved my Can Am F3 LTD . I liked the reverse and I liked the comfort and the ride. When I had it set up to where I wanted,It was great. I put on 6K miles in less then 18 months. I found it is much warmer to ride in cold weather and I never experienced buffeting with it at 80 MPH. So I figured I to go to a Harley Trike . So when I take my trip to the blue ridge parkway this year on the freewheeler I will compare it to the Can Am , but I think I know which bike is the better one.

 

[rhino 2]

Any dealer is the best since shaving cream in A aerosol can was invented .That is

Till there first screwup then they are the worst people to go to…

 

[cScjhb]

I had a 2017 F3 Ltd , Loved it, It only had 7000 miles on it and had no issues with it, but what I found some dealers were doing and BRP backed them up, I sold my bike and bought a Freewheeler.

I was on a site Spyderlovers.com, there was some one who posted he had a 2014 Can Am and wanted to get his rear tire changed the dealer told him they no longer work on bikes that are 5 years old . They will only work on the ones (5 years or older) that are under warranty. Now mind you the dealer had 2 bikes that were over five years old they selling on the show room floor. (big surprise for the ones who buy them) The owner of the bike contacted BRP and was told by BRP, the dealer has the right not to work on bikes that are 5 years old or older. So when you are buying your Can Am ask your dealer if they work on 5 year and older bikes. Not all dealers do this, but you need to know if you need repairs on your bike.

I sold my 2014 Spyder RTL a week after the warranty expired. During my ownership it was in the shop for warranty work 3 times. Each time the shop had it for over a month waiting for parts and scheduling the time for it to be worked on by a BRP certified mechanic. The last issue I had was a bad fuel pump that occurred with only a few weeks left under warranty. I paid my $50.00 deductible and the dealership billed CanAm over $1,000 for the fix. I found it unbelievably expensive and very time consuming to get anything done at the dealership. I went back to my Goldwing in which I have much more confidence in. And there are several independent shops that can provide parts and service at a reasonable cost and timely manner..... Jim

 

[Big Juice]

To follow up on my previous post, I now have 45K miles on my 2017 Spyder and my wife is at 55K on her 2016. We deal with an independent Spyder shop (about an hour away) and a dealer that's about an hour and a half away, when needed (it's our 3rd closest CanAm dealer as I don't have confidence in the two closest). We had a nice long day ride yesterday and still enjoying our Spyder experience and recommend them to our friends. Once again, we will ride what we enjoy and work out the problems we may encounter.

 

[Delkhouri]

Do you have an update on how you are liking the freewheeler so far?

Like I said in my post.. I loved my Can Am F3 LTD . I liked the reverse and I liked the comfort and the ride. When I had it set up to where I wanted,It was great. I put on 6K miles in less then 18 months. I found it is much warmer to ride in cold weather and I never experienced buffeting with it at 80 MPH. So I figured I to go to a Harley Trike . So when I take my trip to the blue ridge parkway this year on the freewheeler I will compare it to the Can Am , but I think I know which bike is the better one.