Can-Am Spyder

[orionburn]

Came across this awhile back, but figured I'd throw it up here in case nobody has seen it before: Spyder

Interesting to say the least. Think it would be fun to take out for a spin to see how it handles. To me it looks like they basically replaced the skiis and rear tread on a snowmobile with tires. One thing I thought was rather odd was that the tires only require 14 PSI. Thinking that has to be for the fronts only. Can't imagine the rear needing that little air.

[Red01]

Ran across this ST.N member's test ride of one:

So, I'm out riding the ZX14 this morning on my favorite local twisty road when I see a bunch of ATVs heading towards me. Not uncommon out here, with all the hunters, but as they get closer, I notice they look a little more like a sport bike -- faired -- with two wheels in front. I pass them, and do a double-take in the mirror: they have a single rear tire.

I finish my ride and forget about it. Home and a shower calls, and then I grab a hair cut, and head over to the store to pick up some stuff. I decide to pick the store that happens to be next to a motorcycle dealership, so I can run in and lust and maybe find a new jacket or some gloves.

In the car, and on the road. When I get to the dealership (I mean, uh, the store), there are a couple of big black canopies in the parking lot, a semi trailer, and a sign that says Can-Am Demo, June 1-2. I park and see a bunch of riders taking off on these:



(Car and Driver review here: http://www.caranddriver.com/previews/12485/first-drive-2008-brp-can-am-spyder.html )

It's a three-wheeled motorcycle made by CanAm, a brand of Bombardier. The demo folks tell me it aims to be a safe, fun sport-tourer.

I sign up for the next ride -- which is the last they will be doing at this dealership, and kill the better part of an hour. When my time rolls around, we watch an instructional safety video that is more of a marketing brochure. It describes how the Spyder has independant ABS on all three wheels, traction control that cuts power to the rear wheel when it starts to slip, and a stability control system that lightly brakes the inside wheel when the outside wheel starts to lift in a turn. They also mention that the Spyder turns like an ATV -- you point the handlebars where you want to go -- and not like a motorcycle.

They let first send us through an obstacle course made of orange cones. At the first turn, I've picked up a bit of speed, and having already been riding today, instinctively countersteer. As my right hand countersteers, I realize what I am doing, and quickly pull the handlebar with my left hand, and narrowly avoid making a fool of myself. They had a set of stop signs set up we were to stop at -- one right after the turn, and because of my countersteering brain fart, I almost miss the second stop sign and mash the pedal a bit too hard, bringing the thing to a quick and not so smooth stop. Ok -- so the ABS works.

It takes me another lap before I get the hang of the handlebars. Like a car, the Spyder "leans the wrong way". This makes my brain want to countersteer even harder. With just a motorcycle-style seat, and no seatbelt, any moderate cornering force feels like it is trying to pull you off the Spyder. It's not a strong force, but it requires physical effort to resist. This is very unnerving and not so confidence inspiring in a vehicle they tell me is desig ned to be very easy to operate.

We put around the parking lot for a while, and then hit the real world. The cornering forces of the motorcycle are VERY unnerving for me at this point -- and it never really got better throughout the test ride. It'd be one thing if it only happened when you were pushing it, but it was there even when I was taking a turn from a stop. It's worse than a car in that respect, because you don't have a seat belt or a cushiony bucket seat to hold you in place. It seems to take what I like least about cornering in a car - body roll - and makes it worse. Is this what it is like to race an ATV?

The power is good but not great. The gears felt pretty tall -- second gear is good for sub-60mph twisties, but once I started getting to the right speed range for most corners around here -- 50-80mph -- there's a lot of shifting. Since it was a led demo ride, the leader didn't go very fast, and I had to rubber-band to get some momentum through the corners. This led to some wide-open moments mid-corner in second gear -- a few times the Spyder would shudder, almost like headshake, and then understeer.

So, the traction control system works, too.

The transmission works well. It has clunky, positive shifts, and neutral is hard to find. But I managed to not miss any shifts, and it will shift effortlessly without the clutch. The clutch is a hydraulically-actuated lever, and the pull is really quite light.

If I had gotten it up to about 90mph, I'd tell you that while there isn't a whole lot of wind protection, there really isn't any buffeting either. I think it might be tiring to ride on the interstate because of that. Still, no complaints from a ride where the average speed was around 55mph.

There are a lot of vibes. It feels very lumpy through the seat at idle. Women might like that. It is pretty vibey at higher RPMs through the handlebars. That might bother me on longer rides on this thing in the twisties, except that...

It's just too much work to ride this thing even at a moderate pace. It's a lot of fun, but with the cornering forces working AGAINST me, I didn't have to be going that fast (vs my pace on the ZX14) before it just took more effort than I was comfortable with. Granted, it didn't seem like we were holding up any cars, but I can't imagine riding this thing all day in West Virginia. It's definately a lot of fun to wrangle with this machine, but over hundreds or thousands of miles, it could get very old as fatigue sets in.

The Spyder is almost as wide as a compact car. This means there isn't so much a margin for error in terms of tagging the double yellow or white lines -- which a number of folks did. On the plus side, the relatively huge amount of contact patch means sand and gravel are a non-issue. We pulled off the road onto some sand when we lost half the demo group behind a red light. I was at first a bit worried, but then I just decided to try it -- and felt completely planted.

It has a nice cargo area under the front fairing. It looks like you could easily put riding gear in there, or do a grocery shopping, or put a weekend's worth of clothing in without much thought.

The Spyder also has an engine-operated reverse gear. There is a lever on the handlebars that unlocks an interlock that allows you to shift down from first into reverse, and then you can use the clutch and throttle to move about.

The Spyder I rode was still considered a prototype, and that they expect there will be some minor differences between this one and the final version.

If I were to own one, it would probably be relegated to poor weather commuting and occasional spirited jaunts. Maybe if I had one for a week to tour on I would have a better impression, but right now this is not machine I think I would enjoy touring with.

How could Bombardier fix that? I think the first thing to do would be a seat that lets the rider feel more planted. Maybe they could tweak the suspension to better manage the sensation of car-esque body roll, as well. I'm sure the nervousness I felt when cornering would go away with experience, but there is no denying that it did take more physical effort and coordination to corner at moderately relaxed paces than I would want on a tourer, and holding traffic up in the twisties is not an option.

Doesn't sound like it would be for me... not right now anyway.