NHTSA Complaint #10257204 — 2008 CAN-AM SPYDER RS

ON 10/19/2008, WHILE DRIVING EASTBOUND ON IH40 IN OKLAHOMA (ON A STRAIGHT-A-WAY), THE CAN AM SPYDER'S POWER STEERING ABRUPTLY PULLED ME INTO THE LANE TO THE LEFT. THIS HAPPENED TWICE WITHIN A PERIOD OF MINUTES. THANKFULLY, IT WAS AN EARLY SUNDAY MORNING WITH LITTLE TRAFFIC. ON 11/15/2008, WHILE RIDING SOME "TWISTIES" IN NORTH TEXAS, THE SPYDER AGAIN EXHIBITED MULTIPLE STEERING MALFUNCTIONS... THIS TIME PULLING THE BIKE TO THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT. IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE STEERING PROBLEMS, THE GEAR SELECTION INDICATOR ALSO SHOWED EITHER THE WRONG GEAR OR AN "E", FOR ERROR. ON THIS OCCASION, I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED AND DISABLED THE POWER STEERING BY REMOVING THE ASSOCIATED FUSE. NO PROBLEMS OCCURRED AFTER DISCONNECTING THE SYSTEM. BECAUSE OF THE SECOND SET OF OCCURRENCES, I RESEARCHED THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE GEAR POSITION SENSOR AND THE POWER STEERING AND DETERMINED THAT THE GEAR POSITION SENSOR PROVIDED (ALONG WITH ABOUT SIX OTHERS) DIRECT INPUT INTO THE COMPUTER STEERING LOGIC. I ORDERED AND REPLACED THE GEAR POSITION SENSOR ($90+) AND HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS SINCE. THE CAN-AM SPYDER'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM IS A CAN-BUS TYPE WHERE MULTIPLE AND DIFFERENT SENSORS, LIGHTS, ETC. SEND INPUT ALONG ONE WIRING ROUTE. FROM WHAT I CAN PIECE TOGETHER ON MY OWN (AND I AM NO EXPERT), THE GEAR POSITION SENSOR WAS FAULTY (HAS SUBSEQUENTLY BEEN REPLACED BY ANOTHER PART NUMBER BY CAN-AM) AND SENDING "CONFUSING SIGNALS" TO THE STEERING SYSTEM. BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, THIS IS AN EXTREME SAFETY HAZARD AS A RIDER MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RECOVER, OR ACTUALLY "OVER RECOVER", IN THE EVENT OF THE MALFUNCTION. BTW, THE SPYDER SHOULD BE LISTED IN THE "MOTORCYCLE" SECTION, NOT AUTOMOBILE. *TR