12-05-2008, 09:23 AM
Road test – Can-Am Spyder 990 (Reverse Trike)
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/100584265037230.jpg
Now, I will state right from the outset that I was invited by an acquaintance to test ride this bike and I was only ever riding this bike for curiosity’s sake (I don’t want my good name tarnished forever).
This bike had good credentials, a 990cc V-Twin Rotax engine in a vehicle (Not a motorcycle) that weighs in just over 300kgs, but as soon as you sit on this contraption it is obvious that this bike is not aimed at the person who enjoys a high speed blat through the traffic or the wrap out through the twisties on the weekend. It is a big machine.
The customary lap around the car park had to be completed to show that you did know how to pedal. Straight away you notice on moving off that the power-steering on this bike is still very heavy at slow speeds and notchy on the change of direction. There is no conventional front brake, rather a foot pedal (such as a rear brake that most of us are accustomed to) that brakes through an ABS system on both the front and rear wheels. This takes some getting used to and at the first couple of sets of lights you find yourself grabbing for a lever that doesn’t exist. Once you do get used to it you find yourself rocking backwards and forwards as you brake while the on-board computer decides wether it needs more front or rear brake at that given time. It is very distracting.
There is supposed to be traction control on this vehicle but on the test day with damp roads I managed to spin through three gears off the line before I had to back off to avoid crabbing down Great Eastern Hwy. I asked the rep riding along with us when this ‘control’ was going to work? Hi reply was “Oh, it only works around corners when you really need it’. Handy, thanks for the heads up. So, around the next corner I go in second at about 3000rpm and I give it a bit of a boot. Well, this is the only time I enjoyed riding the Can-Am. It stepped out predictably and just kept on powersliding all the way through second and third and half way along the Narrows Bridge. No traction control that I could feel!
At no time, predictably did the rep take us through any twisties or even above 80km/hr. Perhaps he knew something we didn’t, as I can’t see how this vehicle would handle a trip out through O’Briens Road at all. The front felt like it was pushing wide through normal every day corners.
In short, I think that the only person that this vehicle would appeal to is the over 50’s who are too lazy to put their feet down at the stop lights, who don’t want to corner or lane split. And for $29,990 I think I could buy two decent real motorcycles and they still wouldn’t take up as much room in the shed as this vehicle.
This is one ride I won’t be taking again!
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/100584265037230.jpg
Now, I will state right from the outset that I was invited by an acquaintance to test ride this bike and I was only ever riding this bike for curiosity’s sake (I don’t want my good name tarnished forever).
This bike had good credentials, a 990cc V-Twin Rotax engine in a vehicle (Not a motorcycle) that weighs in just over 300kgs, but as soon as you sit on this contraption it is obvious that this bike is not aimed at the person who enjoys a high speed blat through the traffic or the wrap out through the twisties on the weekend. It is a big machine.
The customary lap around the car park had to be completed to show that you did know how to pedal. Straight away you notice on moving off that the power-steering on this bike is still very heavy at slow speeds and notchy on the change of direction. There is no conventional front brake, rather a foot pedal (such as a rear brake that most of us are accustomed to) that brakes through an ABS system on both the front and rear wheels. This takes some getting used to and at the first couple of sets of lights you find yourself grabbing for a lever that doesn’t exist. Once you do get used to it you find yourself rocking backwards and forwards as you brake while the on-board computer decides wether it needs more front or rear brake at that given time. It is very distracting.
There is supposed to be traction control on this vehicle but on the test day with damp roads I managed to spin through three gears off the line before I had to back off to avoid crabbing down Great Eastern Hwy. I asked the rep riding along with us when this ‘control’ was going to work? Hi reply was “Oh, it only works around corners when you really need it’. Handy, thanks for the heads up. So, around the next corner I go in second at about 3000rpm and I give it a bit of a boot. Well, this is the only time I enjoyed riding the Can-Am. It stepped out predictably and just kept on powersliding all the way through second and third and half way along the Narrows Bridge. No traction control that I could feel!
At no time, predictably did the rep take us through any twisties or even above 80km/hr. Perhaps he knew something we didn’t, as I can’t see how this vehicle would handle a trip out through O’Briens Road at all. The front felt like it was pushing wide through normal every day corners.
In short, I think that the only person that this vehicle would appeal to is the over 50’s who are too lazy to put their feet down at the stop lights, who don’t want to corner or lane split. And for $29,990 I think I could buy two decent real motorcycles and they still wouldn’t take up as much room in the shed as this vehicle.
This is one ride I won’t be taking again!