Three Wheel Revolution

In Search of Fresh Voices

Shane — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:32:13 +0000

Any readers that have been actively visiting this site for the last few months will notice one BIG change, the frequency of postings has dropped off dramatically. There are several reasons for this: I recently picked up a second job (the Spyder isn’t gonna pay for itself), my family has demanded more of my time lately, and there seems to be an expected lull in the news surrounding the Spyder. As almost all Spyders for the first year are spoken for, yet no Spyders are on the road yet, there is very little happening in our community, other than waiting. I can only comment so much on my personal experiences with the Spyder, like many of you, I have been fortunate to have test rode the Spyder (twice!), and enjoyed it, but I have exhausted that experience as a source to draw from.

I am hoping that there are among the readers, perhaps even you reading this, a number of people interested in sharing your Spyder thoughts and experiences by writing guests posts for Three Wheel Revolution in the near future. This will be most helpful when you realize the following:

I want an automatic Spyder. Most of you know what that means - I won’t see mine for a LONG time. So when the Spyder finally hits the dealerships this fall, and all of you get a chance to go out and really enjoy it, I will not be among you. And, therefore, I will not be in a position to write some of the posts that are appropriate for the initial launch of such a great machine.

If any of you out there are willing the give guest posting a try, please drop me a line and let me know. I would greatly appreciate it. -Shane

Poll Results: Standard Transmission, or Automatic?

Shane — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:41:43 +0000

It’s that time again, the end of another month, and the poll results are in. This time the poll focused on, assuming both models were available for immediate purchase, which transmission would be preferred. By a count of 28 to 18, the standard was preferred. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, as I expected more even voting.

I can think of several of the reasons that people could have based their decisions on. I for one would, if purchasing a Spyder only for myself, prefer the standard transmission, as I come from a motorcycling background and appreciate the added control. But since I would anticipate my wife and other friends and family members using the Spyder, I voted for the automatic myself.

Please take a moment to use the comment box below to leave a reason of your own for why you voted, or would have voted, they way you did/ would have.

Fall Delivery: An Educated Guess

Shane — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 05:07:08 +0000

There has been a lot of information exchanged online about the question as to when people will be getting their Spyders. There has also been some speculation as to whether or not dealers, knowing, or not, may have had their assumed initial orders allocated to other dealerships. There is also some concern as to any relationship between when a deposit was forwarded from the dealer to BRP, and that timing directly effecting delivery.

The situation is exacerbated by at least two factors. The first is that BRP in notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to giving out information, even to its own dealers. The second issue is that it appears, again, in the absence of word from BRP, that at least one individual at the Spyder Hotline is asking questions of, and making statements to, prospective Spyder consumers that may be misleading and downright untrue (more on this to follow).

Because of this, a theory has developed among the online community that perhaps as more proactive dealers oversold their initial allotments, they were rewarded with additional units culled from the dealers that had not yet claimed them trough deposit receipt. This would not mean that the dealer had not received deposits, but that they may have failed to record the deposits a timely manner. This would lead to consumers placing a deposit on a Spyder, only to have another consumer at another dealership place a later deposit but receive their Spyder earlier if their dealer acting faster.

This theory was further bolstered by the fact that people were receiving confirmation numbers from BRP with numbers higher than the total initial offering, leading many to believe that their confirmation number indicated their place in line for a Spyder, and that therefore they would not receive their Spyder in the Fall as promised/ presumed.

After speaking with other individuals at the Spyder Hotline, discussing it with my local, and trusted, dealer, and observing the forum discussion on the matter, I would like to make the following “educated guess” as to what the situation really is.

Dealers have been allocated an initial Fall allotment of varying number of units based on statistical information I wouldn’t even guess at. Those will be delivered, barring production complications, early in October. If you made a deposit on one of those initial allotments, and your dealer dealt honestly with you, you will receive you Spyder at that time. For all orders exceeding the initial allotment, the only “guarantee” is that orders placed before July should be in by March 2008, and orders before September in by May 2008.

I place the caveat of dealer honesty because there is reason to believe that some dealers have “overstated” their initial allotment and took deposits in bad faith.

The “confirmation” number is automatically generated as BRP receives and processes deposits and is unrelated to the serial number or the delivery order of the initial allotment. For those not receiving in the initial allotment, it remains to be seen if and how the order in which BRP received deposits will reflect on delivery.

Again, this is my best guess. It would be nice for BRP to respond to the growing concern over this subject directly, but don’t anybody hold their breathe.

If you have information relating to the above, please, leave a comment or email me.