[crandallion]

Well, Im not sure if I am the first person this happened to but I did see some people were concerned over the plastic construction of the column. Those concerns were valid. Me and my buddy were riding tandem and we went into a turn to the left. We throttled up to power thru the turn when the column just sheered off in the middle of the turn. We both got dumped. My buddy got run over by the ski and the sponson got him in the leg. We swam away fine but I was pretty upset. ****, its only got 12 hours on it.

We took it to the dealer immediately. They said this was the first one they've seen do this. It looks like there may have been a defect in the casting of the column. Be for warned that it can and will break on you.

Please inspect your ski's before and after every ride to insure structural integrity. I'd hate to see other Spark owners get seriously hurt over defects or poor construction techniques. Hopefully Sea Doo improves their casting and uses stronger materials in the future. I'm covered under warranty so I'm not worried about, just upset its out of service for awhile.

 

[Dmshirkey]

Ouch, Sorry to hear. I try to look over my sparks every time before I ride.

Let us know if they cover it under warranty.

 

[crandallion]

The mechanics at the dealer already said it was, they had two techs, the man who sold me the ski and the manager come look it over and were shocked it broke lol. One of the techs said it looked like a casting defect. It'd be nice if there were steel bolts or something thru the column for extra rigidity and strength.

 

[serpent710]

Between you and your buddy, how much do you guy's weigh?

 

[JeffinWesternWA]

do you need to remove anything to inspect? Or, just the handlebar assy itself as it sits on the machine?

 

[crandallion]

Between you and your buddy, how much do you guy's weigh?

About 440. I'd say its pretty stable with the both of us on it.

 

[crandallion]

do you need to remove anything to inspect? Or, just the handlebar assy itself as it sits on the machine?

The assembly I'd say. I didn't really see where you could remove the assembly to inspect. Look for cracks and or stress fractures.

 

[Mark]

You are one of many.They will replace your defective part with another defective part. That's while it's under warranty. Afterwards you'll pay for the new defective part and it's installation. None of this takes into account the potential serious injury that could be avoided
if BRP stepped up to the plate and strengthen the part with a recall. It's very disappointing that they are not responding in a responsible way. I guess they are following the model of General Motors and waiting until someone gets killed.

 

[serpent710]

If your on a 2-up, your way over the max. It would seem the weight of the two of you could be the cause. Anyone get hurt?

 

[Neptune]

Wow that looks bad. Hopefully you can get it fixed easily. I would assume that is a defect, because I can't see that happening unless something was wrong.

Are they fixing it or completely replacing it?

 

[Hunter090]

Safety first, eh? Did you get hurt at all, and I also wonder if this has happened to anyone else. Hopefully this defect is limited to your machine and isn't popping up across multiple Sparks.

 

[crandallion]

If your on a 2-up, your way over the max. It would seem the weight of the two of you could be the cause. Anyone get hurt?

I have the 3Up model. my buddy got a scratch from the sponson after it ran him over, other than that, were fine.

 

[crandallion]

Wow that looks bad. Hopefully you can get it fixed easily. I would assume that is a defect, because I can't see that happening unless something was wrong.

Are they fixing it or completely replacing it?

The tech said they are ordering parts so I'll assume that they are ordering the entire assembly and fixing the column as well.

 

[crandallion]

Safety first, eh? Did you get hurt at all, and I also wonder if this has happened to anyone else. Hopefully this defect is limited to your machine and isn't popping up across multiple Sparks.

Just my buddy getting a scratch on his leg. The tech said it looked like casting defect. I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else, especially at high speeds and wave jumping. I could see some serious internal injuries occurring. I am pretty happy with my Spark, but BRP should definitely look into making the column stronger before people really start getting injured due to cost cutting design.

 

[wizzer]

Maybe Im seeing it different but that looks like its still the handlebar assembly and not the steering collumm. Just broken in a new spot.

 

[crandallion]

Maybe Im seeing it different but that looks like its still the handlebar assembly and not the steering collumm. Just broken in a new spot.

In regards to safety and structural integrity, they need to place the column as well so it doesn't shatter on in the inside. If not, I;m going to have a bad time..

 

[wizzer]

I was studying the parts diagram and it seems the entire steering device is all one formed piece of plastic and it is labeled the column. So to design and build a set of metal bars will be a more complicated procedure than has ever been done for the aftermarket. Perhaps even casting the plastic system in aluminum or even higher strength plastic. Looks loike the engineers will have quite a task to get this fixed before the class action suit kicks in. Just replacing the part is not going to fix it.

 

[Aubaub]

Two dudes on a bubblegum spark?
Lol...

 

[Bug Stomper]

Heed well, "Thou shan't ride 2up with 4 nuts."

 

[NetAtNite]

Heed well, "Thou shan't ride 2up with 4 nuts."

ahahahahahahaha!!!