Rode a Spyder yesterday....

[jeff in ohio]

rode A Can-Am Spyder today and loved it. Did not find the steering squirrly, scary, or twitchy like some say. I could weave back and forth in my lane with ease (and no fear) and it was easy to hold a straight line without thinking about it. The stability control is great - really lets you do stupid things without fear of pitching it off the road. Riding aggressivly with body english and good push on the bars rewards with a high fun factor. Pull your self forward and to the inside on turns with weight on the front, then get your upper body low with head above the hand grip and giver 'er a good push and LOTS of gas and it is a blast. I would lay into the throttle on turns at intersections and it would start to slide the rear before the computer would right the ship and get everything back in line and blast away. Ridden vey agressively, it was possible on hilly turns to lighten one of the front wheels, but once again, the computer would make it so you didn't kill yourself. Just an absolute blast to ride. The motor does need to be kept on the boil above 6,000 though. Cruising on the interstate on a trip really wouldn't be a problem, but the thing is really meant to be ridden hard on curvy roads. Even slow speed 90 degree turns (like at intersections) are fun because you can just lay in the throttle when turning and slide it a little before the computer kicks in and keeps things from getting out of control. I hammered thru turns with gravel that would put a motorcycle in a ditch.

Would it replace my motrocycle? NO - a motorcycle provides a complete different sensataion. But......If I lived somewhere where it didn't snow, I would use it in place of a car. It had storage in the front for loads of items. I'd love to try one in the wet. The fun factor would be way up there knowing you could still abuse it and the stability control is there to keep you from killing yourself.

I would still have a bike for *fun riding* and the occasional track day, but this Spyder thing would be great for every day use in place of a car. Sure you could slap all sorts of luggage and crap on a motorcycle to lug things with, but I that taking all that crap on a bike, especially a sportbike. The Spyder has that nice storage hatch in the front (enough for a large amount of groceries if you are dingle - almost enough for height of an airline rollerboard bag) and lets you get away with enough ham fisted stupid riding techniques that it would be just a blast for every day use instead of a car.

I have 3 cars and would consider selling one (my Scion xB) to have one of these in my garage. Showed a vid to my wife and she said "if we didn't have three cars". I think I could get her on it also. She has not ridden on a motorcycle since 1996, but she thought this thing looked fun.....

[Hellgate]

Thanks Jeff very cool, and a great write up. I've seen a couple around town and they look like a lot of fun. How much is one of those puppies??? And what is the displacement?

[rbesr]

I like the Spyder as well. The sensation is different from a bike though.

A vehicle I would love to try is the Carver One. A friend of mine in England has one and I'd love to give it a test drive. You ride it just like a cycle but have protection from the elements year-round. Here's the link to the Carver.

Carver

A newer vehicle coming out in a couple of years is called the Venture One. It's similar to the Carver except it's a hybrid. It leans just like a bike also. Here's the linkto some pix of it.

The plug-in hybrid carving three-wheeler from Venture - Image 1 of 31 - gizmag Image Gallery

[fz6nick]

They are 900cc. they have one at the dearlership I got my fz at. I could of rode it, but was to excited about my new cycle back then. Not sure how much they are I think around 10k.

Kinda reminds me of a backwards 3- wheeler

[sideslider]

Will the spyder bring an end to videos of people dropping their bikes trying to do burnouts?



\at 0:22 he does a burnout on a spyder

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufactur...est-61047.html

[dickieD]

ive ridden the spyder and it felt like a clunky 3 wheeled 4wheeler. didnt have a good sound to it .. i felt that on bumpy roads it wouldnt handle to well.. and they were talking about the high performance system kicking in so you wouldnt go on 1 wheel up front and i still got it to go to one wheel.. so i guess its just to each its own.. its cool looking.. but ill stick to my FZ.

[dickieD]

its a 990 .. and the base model is around 15k U.S.

[fz6nick]

Originally Posted by dickieD

its a 990 .. and the base model is around 15k U.S.

I was way off. (quote from dumb and dumber when hes looking for marys name)

[Hellgate]

Originally Posted by dickieD

its a 990 .. and the base model is around 15k U.S.

$15K, ouch. I think I'd drop the coin on a nice, new shiny Duc 848 with some cool bits instead.

Thanks!

[davidsa1]

Originally Posted by rbesr

I like the Spyder as well. The sensation is different from a bike though.

A vehicle I would love to try is the Carver One. A friend of mine in England has one and I'd love to give it a test drive. You ride it just like a cycle but have protection from the elements year-round. Here's the link to the Carver.

Carver

A newer vehicle coming out in a couple of years is called the Venture One. It's similar to the Carver except it's a hybrid. It leans just like a bike also. Here's the linkto some pix of it.

The plug-in hybrid carving three-wheeler from Venture - Image 1 of 31 - gizmag Image Gallery

Thats pretty cool!