In my last post, I wrote about us wanting to move on from the scooter. Our Kymco Downtown 300i scooter has served us well for nearly three years. It limits our mobility though. It was great for running to the store or going to the beach as long as we didn’t have to travel much more than 10 miles each way. Longer rides became uncomfortable. Also, even though it could cruise easily at 60 mph, high-speed riding wasn’t its forte. So we avoided fast highways and interstates.

We started seriously thinking about replacing it with something that we could easily trailer behind our coach. We aren’t ready to give up the trailer. It’s my rolling garage where I keep my tools, our bicycles and kayak along with a few bins filled with spare parts and whatnot.

After seeing a number of Utility Task Vehicles (UTVs) licensed for the street here in Arizona, we thought that might be a viable option. We liked the look of the Reeper I wrote about in my last post. It seemed to be more suited for street use than most UTVs and was also capable of playing in the desert. After test driving one, two things became apparent. It wasn’t very exciting to drive. In fact, it was under-powered and a little squirrelly. Also, Donna realized she doesn’t like off-roading – it scared her.

On Tuesday, I went to another dealer to look at Polaris UTVs. I thought I should look past the Reeper and see if I couldn’t find something that drove better. Maybe Donna could learn to like off-roading too. The Polaris and Arctic Cat dealer here in Lake Havasu City is AZ West. They had a large inventory of vehicles including the Polaris Slingshot. This is a wild, side-by-side two-seat tricycle made for street driving, not off-roading. I nixed that idea though – too expensive, too big and not practical for our needs.

In the showroom, I was asked several times if I needed help finding anything. I said I was just browsing and went outside to have a look around. I saw something that caught my eye. It was another tricycle type vehicle, but it was laid out more like a motorcycle. It was a Can Am Spyder they had taken in on trade. When I went back into the showroom, I was asked if I found what I was looking for. I said, “No, but I found something that I wasn’t looking for and I’m interested.” I found out the Spyder had a trunk for storage in the front and was reasonably priced.

I came home and did some research on Spyder prices. Then I told Donna I wanted to test drive it and she should come along. We went back to AZ West and arranged a test drive. I was in for a surprise. After 45 years of riding motorcycles I thought I knew what I was getting into. I’ve never ridden a vehicle with this layout before though. We put on our helmets and Donna hopped on back. We were to follow one of the employees on a loop that took us past the rodeo grounds on back roads, then blast down highway AZ95 back to the dealership.

I barely made it out of the parking lot. This thing felt so awkward, I was fighting it. The thing is, with your butt in the saddle, feet on foot pegs and hands gripping the handle bars with the throttle on the right grip, it seems like riding a motorcycle. But it isn’t. It’s more like a small sports car, but it isn’t quite like a car either. It’s neither fish nor fowl – it’s something unique.

This Spyder Roadster was the SE5 model with a semi-automatic transmission. It idles at about 1,400 rpm. Twist the throttle and at 1,800 rpm, the centrifugal clutch begins to engage and is fully locked up by 3,000 rpm. The engine is a powerful Rotax 998cc V-twin – the same engine that powered the Aprillia 1000R and Mille superbikes. In the superbikes, it was tuned to produce over 140 hp. In the Spyder, it’s de-tuned to 106 hp making it more tractable with a broad powerband. The acceleration is snappy – it will go from 0 to 60 mph in just over 4 seconds. By the left grip is a paddle shifter. A flick of the paddle with your thumb shifts up to the next higher gear. Pulling the paddle back with your index finger downshifts to the next lower gear. It automatically cuts power to upshift and blips the throttle to match rpms with road speed when you downshift. The gearshifts are quick – 200 milliseconds (0.2 seconds). It has a reverse gear and also has ABS brakes, traction control and electronic stabilization. It’s a sophisticated vehicle.

But in my mind, I was riding a motorcycle. As we rode through curves, I leaned into the turn and the Spyder didn’t. In fact, it rolled to outside of the turn, completely counter to what I was used to feeling on a motorcycle. Instead of swooping smoothly through the turns like I can on a motorcycle, I was choppy and fighting my way through.

I can get a motorcycle through the turns

After a while it began to make sense. The front suspension was acting like a car. As I went through a turn instead of leaning into the turn as a motorcycle would, centrifugal force was rolling the vehicle toward the outside of the turn and compressing the front suspension on the outer wheel. Once I understood this, I got over the out-of-control feeling and started driving smoother. That’s right, driving – not riding. It’s more like a car than a motorcycle.

Donna didn’t enjoy the test drive. She could tell I was having issues and felt like I was struggling for control. I was at first. She thought if I was having such a hard time, she would never be able to ride this machine. After the test drive we told Jack, the salesman, that we would have to think it over. We came home and I explained to Donna what was happening. I felt confident that I had it figured out and would get over trying to ride it like a motorcycle. I also felt confident that she could learn to ride it easily enough.

We did some more online research and slept on it. On Wednesday morning, I went back to AZ West and struck a deal. I traded in the scooter and left with the Spyder. Donna and I took a drive down to Parker Dam on the Spyder. She could see that I had indeed adjusted my style and could drive it competently. The drive was 20 miles each way and we took AZ95 at 65-70mph the whole way. It was a nice ride.

Donna and our Can AM Spyder at a scenic overlook

Another view of the Spyder

View from overlook

We rode over the dam and parked. We walked around and took in the views of the Colorado River.

Parker Dam

Colorado River behind the dam

View from the west end of the dam

I cancelled the policy on the scooter and insured the Spyder. Our premium increased by only $56 annually. It’ll be a tight squeeze to shoehorn the Spyder into our trailer. When we get to Mesa, I plan to get a bigger trailer.

The Alpine Coach rally officially opens this evening. We have 25 Alpines registered along with a few hundred other RVs at the rodeo grounds. The pyrotechnic display begins tonight. The weather is nice – clear, sunny skies with the temperature reaching the low 80s. Humidity is under 20%. I’ll write more about the Winter Blast Western Pyrotechnic Association show in another post.