Jalopnik
When it comes to segment blurring, the team at BRP's Can-Am have aimed a shot across the bow of both ultralight sports car makers and motorcycle manufacturers with their new Spyder. We've been following the release of this snowmobile with wheels since spy shots first surfaced back in December. And now we've just made sweet, sweet test-driving love to it. Given this is such an oddball vehicle, it makes a lot of sense to get into the hands of reviewers and early adopters to build some buzz before it's on the show floor, thus the TrySpyder campaign. Authorized dealers all over this great nation are passing around a couple of Spyders and letting the eager public (and dealership employees) beat them like rented mules. Test drive a 106 hp, Rotax-powered, first-of-its-kind, backwards trike for free? No strings? Thank you sir, I believe I will.
Upon approach, the Spyder is smaller in all dimensions than it looks in pictures. It's surprisingly low to the ground; the saddle is only a little higher than a Harley Fatboy, but nothing close to a BMW GS. From a styling point of view it's either love it or hate it. The bodywork is nicely sculpted, with fancy ducting around the front wheels and a carefully styled seat section. The headlight and windshield "pod" is the only part that looks a bit off, but in operation it makes sense. One thing I wasn't expecting was a Corvair-like trunk up front. There's enough room for your helmet and jacket or a bag of groceries or (shudder) a briefcase. Neat-o!
On the nuts and bolts side of things, the engine is a 998cc twin Rotax affair which also powers an assortment of Aprila models to great effect. The fat rear wheel is hooked up to a dual sided monoshock swingarm and is driven by is a carbon-fiber reinforced belt . The vehicle features linked brakes and an all-wheel ABS system. This bike/car also has stability control in the form of ignition cutout when you start doing something stupid. More on this later. Now things get weird. The double A-arm suspension up front is designed for Ackerman steering, self centering, and a pretty neutral kingpin offset. This means it's basically a car suspension up front and doesn't allow for leaning the vehicle into corners like a motorcycle. As a result, motorcycle purists think it's the work of Satan, while we're a little more pragmatic about it.
Hopping onto the Spyder is no different than onto a bike, except you can get on from either side without looking like a moran [sic]. The seating position is quite comfy and sort of like a cross between a rocket bike and touring setup. Your body is fairly upright while your feet are underneath. From a motorcycle rider's point of view, when driving the Spyder, there are a couple of things that are unsettling at first. The linked brake system is at the top of the list. The front brake normally offers 80% of total stopping power and is the first line of defense at your right hand. Here there isn't even a handle, just the twist throttle. All braking is done with the right foot, normally reserved for the weaksauce rear tire. This only causes temporary unease because after the first full panic stop, you can't help but praise your deity. On a motorcycle if you lock the front wheel you will go down unless you're very lucky. It's called low siding. I've done it and it's not fun.
Acceleration is smooth and controllable and the transmission is very fluid. Despite the displacement, the engine feels a little bogged down with an extra couple hundred pounds. So it's only about as fast as a modern 600cc rocket bike, which is to say still very fast. The engine note is delightful — a grunty howl with a dash of gear whine, however, I'm pretty sure a slip on can would really make it sound cool. Now the big question, cornering. If you've ever ridden a quad before you'll note cornering mechanics of the CanAm are almost identical. Hold onto both grips, keep your torso high, move your body around with your legs and use it like a lever against chassis roll. My first high-speed corner had me lifting the inside wheel and squealing the outer one. This machine is very predictable. The long wheelbase and well sorted suspension work together to soak up bumps that would unseat you on a motorcycle.
This all sounds like the makings of an ideal hooncycle, and in an ideal world it would be. However, I have one complaint. The traction control nanny is a bit of a killjoy. They need to dial it back from 11 to about 7. Half the fun of riding a quad, snowmobile or jetski is to let things hang out a bit —oversteer, play in the dirt, get squirrelly and in general have some fun. It seems that with the Spyder, just when things get fun (read: dangerous) the engine ignition cuts out the power and what you think is going to be a powerslide through the gravel turns out to be a sputtering plod through the gravel. Or when you really lean into a corner and get on the gas, the rear tire slips a little and that perfect apex you were aiming for disappears. Oh well. Lawyers.
To sum up: Not a motorcycle, not a car, something different. Maybe better. I'd love to have it for a week to test it as a daily driver. As effete as it may seem, the locking trunk is a huge selling point. Carrying a backpack full of stuff is a hassle and sweaty in the summer. Throwing the boat anchor out without worrying about locking up is really nice. Is it $15k nice? Nope, but once the other manufacturers jump into the market (Honda, Kawasaki, BMW... are you listening?) I suspect competition will have a nice effect on that problem. I can hardly wait to see what generation two looks like.
Related:
Can-Am Spyder Website Goes Live, Trike Fanatics Hearts Aflutter [internal]
Comments
Holy Trinity!
Looks like the suspension would be bottomed out with my tubby ass at the helm.
Video with pulse-pounding "pulling into traffic" action!
Trikes that don't lean are roll-happy.
There is a reason why all the 3-wheel ATVs got sued off the market. Corbin sparrows roll at the drop of a hat.
Roll happy is BAD.
Thus you better have a leaning-suspension like the Piaggio MP3 scooter, or not bother building a trike.
And to not lowside a bike under braking, get an ABS equipped bike.
Reminds me of sidecars far too much. If the locking trunk is the only advantage over a standard motorcycle, I fail to see the motivation. 15k?
I wouldn't have turned down an opportunity to try one out for free either though. After the experience of watching 3-wheeled devices going down lombard people still wear shorts during a test drive of these?
@nweaver: Ahh, but putting the two tires in front helps reduce/eliminate the rolling problem. The traction control should also reduce it. The 3-wheel ATV's were all the classic two-in-rear setup that's so unstable.
I do think the high seating position is dorky looking, though. The more car-like three wheelers (ie GX-3) look cooler and would handle better.
But, at that point, you might as well put two wheels in the back, and call it an Ariel Atom. It will handle and accelerate even better.
The guy on the silver one in the video is 6'10" and 300 lbs. even there it didn't bottom out, but it did squat pretty well.
And the three wheelers like the Suzuki 250R are entirely different animals. Two wheels in the back is dynamically unstable in turns while two wheels in front is actually quite stable. Trust me, there is very little rolling postential with this thing between the wide front end and the stability control nanny.
Many motorcycles offer that much storage (VFR, etc.) I've heard you also will need a motorcycle license to drive one of these. If so, that will negate a lot of the want for a motorcycle-thing that doesn't offer the riding dynamics of a bike.
@nweaver: They are only roll happy with the traditional one front wheel, two rear wheel layout.
Inverse trikes are fine, and can be raced very hard, ask Morgan. There is also the modern T-Rex.
Honestly the price isn't bad, what's an Aprlia rotax powered 2-wheeler cost $13-14K? Hopefully one of the other motorcycle companies will have the balls to make a VW GX3 style three wheeler.
@dculberson: The nice thing about a GX3 style three wheeler vs. an atom is that you don't have to buy the engine and chassis separately and then go through the hassles of registering your car under kit car exemptions.
Also, a lot of states don't require motorcycle licenses if your motorcycle has a sidecar (which they define as three wheels).
The problem that we have here is very similar to the CAFE problem. CAFE made cars more efficient, but it also forced a number of large car buyers into even less efficient SUVs. Similarly, federal safety regulations on 4-wheeled vehicles (i.e. crash testing, airbags, etc.) have made 4-wheel vehicles MUCH safer, but those regulations have also driven small sports car buyers to even less safe three wheeled motorcycles and kit cars.
motorcycle kids wont want to be your friend.
chances are theyll call you names and laugh at you.
@Drive-thru: yah, that's certainly going to be an issue. A bigger issue for me is that fact that northeast Ohio snow & potholes make this thing available to be used far too little to justify the price. Looks really fun, though!
@no_slushbox: That assumes a GX-3-like vehicle is actually made that isn't a kit. So far, that's not the case.
In the cycling world we call that a tadpole.
What a horrible vehicle. Overpriced, underpowered, leans the wrong way through corners, can't get it too squirrely, and it looks like a road going snowmobile.
On top of that, a 3 wheel setup means you're not going to be able to do much to avoid potholes and road debris. On a bike, I'm single track and I can go around things, in a car you can stradle things with the distance between the wheels. With another wheel in the center, that ain't gonna happen.
wow crevans, how do you really feel?
Given the damning conclusion you've come to I'll assume you've got hundreds of hours of seat time with this thing, so I'll bow to your review. All I know is that it's a different driving experience, it's pretty fun AND it keeps it's riders from acting like squids - a feature rocket bikes should be equipped with.
For the final time - it's not a motorcycle.
@dculberson: The T-Rex is sold complete and registers as easy as any other motorcycle.
My point is that I agree with you that 4 wheels is dynamically better than three, but the 2000 pound, $45K Elise is as close as any manufacturer is ever going to get to an atom or other minimalist track car.
The small scale production and inefficient separate installation of the drivetrain means that the well made kit/component cars start at about $40K complete, and their somewhat grey legal status makes registration difficult.
On the other hand, VW was aiming at under $20K for the GX3, and it would have registered as easy as any other motorcycle. VW didn't want to enter the bike market, but I think this Can-Am vehicle will inspire other major motorcycle manufacturers to come closer to the GX3 concept.
You said "The more car-like three wheelers (ie GX-3) look cooler and would handle better. But, at that point, you might as well put two wheels in the back." My point is that the fourth wheel comes with a lot of baggage, either airbags and crash testing or the small batch manufacturing and difficult registration of a component car, so there are good reasons to make a vehicle with only three wheels.
Having not driven one, I can't say whether I like this new vehicle or not, but I'm sure it will appearing in a many B-grade sci fi movies in the near future.
But, how is it in the SNOW?!?
Its a snowmobile no a jetski no a 4 Wheeler missing a wheel no a Motorcycle Tadpole I don't
know what it is but I test drove it and I like it. Its sort of ugly or pretty ugly like Ugly Betty I put my money on the table now after they hit the market we need a chip to take the wet blanket off its back.
Maybe someone can make a conversion kit and turn it into a Gyro Copter,we don't need no roads.
This is the first two-wheels up-front motorcycle...
EXCEPT for the PIAGGIO MP3 which came out first, and is already on sale. The Piaggio MP3, also LEANS like a true motorcycle, and has a completely unique and novel uprighting system. It also costs 1/3 the price. 400cc version already out in Europe.
The Spyder might be "fun", but the MP3 is practical fun and according to those that have ridden it, unlike any vehicle ever ridden (in a good way).
Do your homework! :-)
http://www.piaggiousa.com/
@no_slushbox: Yes, you're completely correct. I wasn't factoring in the regulations exceptions for trikes.. I think we need to get a regulatory exemption for small manufacturers ala the UK. Ahh well, that's pissing into the wind. Yuck.
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