The Best of the Spyder Ride
My ride lasted six days and I did 1900 kms on the Spyder. It finished on 1st March 2010 with no incidents or damage to the vehicle. A comprehensive review of the machine will be coming up soon along with a couple of magazine articles on the horizon. I suggest you subscribe to the RSS feed of this website to enable you to be informed when these updates come out.
You may also wish to follow me on my new personal website at motoGrapher.com and keep yourself updated of my photography and new travels. Who knows I might be in your neck of the woods sometime in the future!
So here goes, the best of the Spyder ride in pictures:
Day 5 Feb 28th Armidale to Grafton via Grafton Road
Today was the penultimate day of the ride a fantastic ride on the Spyder. I set out from the lovely town of Armidale towards Grafton via the town of Dorrigo.
On the way out of Armidale I came across a Sunday market in the town center. Lots of handicrafts and street performers were there and the whole atmoshere was jolly and bright under the morning sun and blue skies.
There was a cafe in Dorrigo (Juan’s Cafe) themed as the world’s smallest motorcycle museum (perhaps to attract more customers and curiosity, since it worked to lure me in!).
The road from Dorrigo to Grafton via the Grafton Armidale road was pure delight too, however I felt I did a massive back workout after handling all those curves on the Spyder, but it was good fun!
There were lots of deers just behind my cabin in a Armidale holiday park.
The Sunday market at Armidale.
I spotted a Google Maps car with their huge high tech camera contraption on the roof. Finally i spotted one of them after using the excellent Google Map’s street view for a long time now.
Disclaimer: The Spyder is for sealed road usage only and that any off-road usage is not supported by Spyder Ryder Australia, Brisbane Spyder & CanAm and was done so at my own risk in pursuit of the perfect photo. Most of the off road photos are taken on a side road off the main sealed highway.
Day 4: Feb 27th : Taree to Armidale
Today I decided to take one of the pretty and quiet backroads from Taree to Armidale via the Comboyne – Killabakh Road. The road was very pretty, narrow and felt like riding through a Jurassic park. The foilage was dense, the trees were high and I could hear wierd forest sounds all around. I last felt this close to nature when riding through the Himalayas. I could only imagine how it must be walking through the dense forests of Amazon.
However, after around 25 kays into the road we ran into a block, a tree was blocking the road and we couldnt go further. A couple of other tourists in a 4×4 also had to turn around, and they were the only human population we spotted in our 60 kms return from the cul de sac.
We were back in Taree and now took the more tried and tested route (still not the main highway) via Kew, Wauchope and Uralla.
The road from Wauchope to Uralla is one of the most fantastic riding roads in Australia, and perhaps amongst the best in the world. 1000 twists and turns, smooth tarmac, green countryside with very less traffic awaits the motorcyclist.
I was pleasantly surprised on finding Armidale to be a very beautiful town. In fact it was a welcome change after staying in the bland town of Taree yesterday. Armidale was also on the colder side with a fresh scent lingering in the air.
Now the pictures follow:
Disclaimer: The Spyder is for sealed road usage only and that any off-road usage is not supported by Spyder Ryder Australia, Brisbane Spyder & CanAm and was done so at my own risk in pursuit of the perfect photo. Most of the off road photos are taken on a side road off the main sealed highway.
Day 3: Feb 26th : Gloucester – Stroud – Forster – Taree
From Gloucester it was further south towards Raymonds Terrace. The Spyder was performing well. I now had 700kms of riding experience on it and I felt confident in handling any situation thrown at me on the road except for oil spills, logs falling off trucks and meteors falling from the sky.
I remarked earlier that one had to forget what he has learnt about riding a motorcycle when first swinging his or her leg over a Spyder. While that is true, soon began taking turns on the Spyder with élan, didn’t get bothered when road trains used to come from the opposite direction on single lane undivided country roads at 100+ kmph, threatening to throw me off balance with their wind blankets. The only issue I could be a little worried about was a little tram lining on uneven tarmac due to the wide and flat rear tyre, something which I last experienced with the Suzuki Boulevard’s 240 rear. But surprisingly the electronic traction control and the two tyres upfront seem to do their jobs very well indeed.
Some motorcyclists might say it is not a motorcycle and that it is cheating that you have three wheels, plus there is no lean factor so how can you enjoy the twisties on offer? The answer to this question is best found after riding a Spyder, no matter how verbose I get, I will fail to explain the thrill experienced on the Spyder – you wear a helmet, you grab onto a handlebar, you have a meaty engine underneath you, you can feel the vibes through the bars, you can feel the wind hit your face, you can get wet in the rain and you are just a little more safe than a motorcycle.
I also feel that a fair amount of fitness is required if you are to ride the Spyder on a sinuous route, the fact that there is no counter steering and that you have to steer the Spyder yourself with your might makes you more involved in the whole thing, sometimes even more than a motorcycle! Trust me, try it yourself before throwing a brick at me. Of course you cannot touch your knee in the corners, but then the Spyder is for intercontinental touring and not for fast Sunday rides where your only sole aim is to get a knee down at every darn corner. Get yourself a super sport for that!
More on the Spyder experience in later blogs.
The highlight for today was the Lakes Way and the road to see the Grandis, the tallest tree in NSW. I will let the photos speak for themselves below:
Disclaimer: The Spyder is for sealed road usage only and that any off-road usage is not supported by Spyder Ryder Australia, Brisbane Spyder & CanAm and was done so at my own risk in pursuit of the perfect photo. Most of the off road photos are taken on a side road off the main sealed highway.
Day 2 :25th Feb : Tentefield – Glenn Innes – Armidale – Uralla – Walcha – Gloucester
I had a nice surprise in the morning, I could see blue patches in the sky and sunlight was actually able to make to the ground! Looked like it will be a good day for photos and a ride. I head out from the Tally Ho Motor Inn (79 AUD for one night ensuite with breakfast in the morning) in Tenterfield towards Glenn Innes.
Nice smooth tarmac all the way..
No feet required on the ground on this machine when posing.
My favourite subjects, bovines and herbivores, they are not that omnipresent in Australia as in New Zealand
Suddenly en-route there was a area with a lot of clouds at ground level, visibility was reduced to only a few metres, it was surreal
Under a railway overpass off the main highway
This was a cute strawberry shop with lots of beautiful fairy tale creatures and more for sale…
And all of them looked happy and never seemed tired of smiling…
After a great strawberry ice cream it was time to hit the road again…
The day ended after 400 kms in Gloucester where I had a Mongolian lamb dish. Unfortunately it was sweet and not spicy, and it was one of the worst dishes I had in my life..
The highlight of today was riding the Thunderbolts Way, which is one of the best roads in Australia. Tommorrow, it will be down to Newcastle and back to Taree.
Disclaimer: The Spyder is for sealed road usage only and that any off-road usage is not supported by Spyder Ryder Australia, Brisbane Spyder & CanAm and was done so at my own risk in pursuit of the perfect photo. Most of the off road photos are taken on a side road off the main sealed highway.
Day 1: 24th Feb 2010 : Gold Coast – Tenterfield
I landed at the Coolangatta airport (Gold Coast) and Todd Webster from Spyder Ryder was already there to pick me up. After a drive of 15 odd minutes I was staring in awe at a garage which had not one, but TWO Spyders restuing like a giant creature waiting to be woken from sleep. My first reaction was, woah, this is humungous.
The Spyders looked like an alien vehicle or perhaps a machine brought by a time traveler from the future. If I were to shoot Back to the Future IV, I would choose this any day over the DeLorean!
I have heard that the Spyder has already been used in sci-fi movies like The Transformers. The Spyder looks best in its profile, which is as long as a stretched limo, and when looked at a rear 3/4 from the right hand side.
Todd was an extremely down to earth person who took all care and time to explain the workings of the machine to me. In his session the only thing which was ringing in my mind was – you have to unlearn everything that you know about riding motorcycles to ride this one.
After getting a few handy tips on handling the Spyder on road and in situations like rain and roundabouts I was ready to go.
Some pointers which first time Spyde owners should pay heed to:
- There is no counter steering, the wheels do not lean withe bike, unlike the Gilera Fuoco’s scissor like action.
- The Spyder features a semi automatic transmission, it downshifts automaticaly at low speed to avoid stalling, but it does not upshift by itself.
- Special care has to be taken at roundabouts, the machine often downshifts due to low speeds, and if you entered the roundabout at a higher gear you might be surprised by the power while exiting due to the auto low gear selection. Trust me, this is not something which you want.
The first 30 kms or so were very scary for me, my brain was telling me its a motorcycle, while the dynamics of the Sypder were totally opposite. It was a hybrid of a motorcycle, a car and a quad.
After 80 kms or so I was pretty confident with it, I started cornering at 70kmph on the twisties in rain. No once the rear lost its line, but it would have slid if I had used all the power the 990CC rotax 106 Bhp engine had to offer.
The traction derived from the Spyder is tremendous, mostly due to the three wheels, the ultra wide rear and the low tyre pressure (15 up front and 28 PSI rear).
More about the riding experience in a later blog. The day today was totally wet and gloomy, most of the time I was riding in rain.
Disclaimer: The Spyder is for sealed road usage only and that any off-road usage is not supported by Spyder Ryder Australia, Brisbane Spyder & CanAm and was done so at my own risk in pursuit of the perfect photo. Most of the off road photos are taken on a side road off the main sealed highway.
So what is this, thing?
Ever since the first photos of the Spyder made its way on to thousands of hard core motorcyclists’ screens in Dec 2006, it has been an epicenter of many discussions deciding if it could satiate the needs of a true blue two-wheeler motorcyclist.
The only three wheelers I have been in are the Bajaj auto rickshaws that run amock and aplenty in India. And yes, I have been on many motorcycles, the orginal two wheeler variety, as god intended them to be. Have traveled extensively on fine machines like the Concours, Fireblade and very recently the mad BKing.
This will be my first brush with the Spyder, and I am really looking forward to it. I am curiously fascinated by the machinery, physics and the looks of this machine, which has evidently found its way into the hearts of many motorcyclists who were swearing that this machine could not be in their garage. I wonder what changed their minds?
Let us see if it makes way into my heart! I will be traveling in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD) on the eastern coast of Australia for 6 days on the Spyder. I will definitely not have the money to buy one if I fall into love, but I will make sure to let you know if you should get your cheque ready…
I thank Todd from SpyderRyder and the folks at BrisbaneSpyder to enable me to test this alien machine on one of the finest countries to ride on this planet.
I am not really a verbal guy, but a motoGrapher, so I will let my photos do the talking with a sprinkling of literature as and when required!
My trip starts on 23rd February 2010 from Gold Coast and it ends back at the same place 5 days later and approximately 2000 kms with the following approximate route:
Day 1: 24th February 2010 Wednesday: Tweed Heads – Lismore – Casino – Tenterfield 260 kms
Day 2: 25th February 2010 Thursday :Tenterfield – Glen Innes – Armidale– Uralla – Walcha-Gloucester (400kms)
Day 3: 26th February 2010 Friday: Gloucestor – Raymond Terrace – Bulahdelah – Taree : 250 kms
Day 4: 27th February 2010 Saturday: Taree – Wauchope – Armidale: 306 kms
Day 5: 28th February 2010 Sunday: Armidale – Coffs Harbour – Grafton : 275 kms
Day 6: 1st March 2010 Monday: Grafton – Casino – Woodenbong – Tweed Heads: 360 kms
I will try to update the blogs at least thrice during the roadtrip and within two days after its completion.
Meanwhile, if you want to help underpriviliged children in India, please support my fellow rider, Rahul, who is riding on a Ninja 250 around India until 28th Feb 2010. Please donate whatever amount after reading this page: http://www.xbhp.com/gad
