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.