Everyday use or is the Spyder just recreational

[Stephen Fortune]

Hi ... I totaled my 2012 Harley Electra Glide Ultra limited 5 months ago just now getting to put pressure on right leg .. I am not real confident that I will be able to handle a 1000 lb bike ... My question is.. Will a Can-Am Spyder hold up to everyday use -or- do I just need to go back to Harley and just buy a trike .... I do not want to buy something I will have to keep fixing because I am using it too much ..... All feedback is welcome...... I ride alot ..

 

[rhino 2]

First Welcome to Trike-Talk 'Steve........:wave4:

Second Yes the Spyder is an every day ride....I had one and rode all year snow and rain.....That said if you are a Harley man, You might want to test ride a Harley trike, And a Spyder.. Two different rides for two different missions..

Again Welcome to Trike Talk...:clapping:

 

[LadyonaMission]

Welcome to Trike Talk, Stephen.

Before I started riding my Freewheeler I wasn't aware of how many different trikes are out on the roads. You may want to test ride several before you make your decision. Good luck on your search.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Welcome to Trike Talk

My best advice is go to ALL the dealers you can

Test ride em ALL

Check prices and ride again

 

[Zammy]

Hello Stephen and welcome to TT.

 

[rhino 2]

Just to add to the title of this thread , Lets face it almost all Motorcycles/Trikes are recreational vehicles, Just the fact that most people won't ride them if its too cold too hot, Raining snowing , Or too much salt on the roads makes them recreational vehicles..:Shrug:

 

[Gorilla]

welcome aboard Stephen

 

[consitter]

My wife loves her Spyder, and would ride it every day if it wasn't too cold, raining, or too hot, etc, etc, etc...

Seriously though, it's a great bike (she's got a '16 LTD, it's the top of the line), and I'd ride it every day, even though I'm a hard core Harley trike fan. Hers has mechanical reverse, and mine has the weak ass electrical reverse assist. And at this time, I'm nowhere close to being able to afford to buy a mechanical reverse to put on it.

BTW, welcome to Trike Talk from eastern Kentucky!

 

[hogcowboy]

Hi ... I totaled my 2012 Harley Electra Glide Ultra limited 5 months ago just now getting to put pressure on right leg .. I am not real confident that I will be able to handle a 1000 lb bike ... My question is.. Will a Can-Am Spyder hold up to everyday use -or- do I just need to go back to Harley and just buy a trike .... I do not want to buy something I will have to keep fixing because I am using it too much ..... All feedback is welcome...... I ride alot ..

Lets face it, if you use any machine you stand the chance of unexpected service. It's that very reason I won't even consider a Harley that doesn't have a warranty. When Spyders first came out they were not the best machines on the road and had a lot of problems. They got that all hashed out and had a great machine starting around 2010. My wife had a 2012 and loved it. But BRP, the company that makes the Spyder blew it in 2013 and produced a machine I wouldn't even take if you gave it to me. But once again they got things squared away in 2014 and have produced good machines since. Good enough that my wife traded for a 2016.

She was very happy with it until we rode home in a west Texas dust storm for over 200 miles when we found out somewhere along the line the air compressor that maintains the level of the machine stopped working. Since that time she has had nothing but trouble with her CB. This is a dealer issue but shows what can happen. She is getting great help though with the BRP support network. It just gets frustrating when a dealer is the real cause of machine problems. But I somewhat understand why they may have had problems. The replacement of the air compressor is not a minor issue. In fact it's very major. Had we just stayed in a motel for the night we wouldn't have had problems either.

When you ride in 45mph winds with gust to 65mph, that poor air compressor worked constantly. It shouldn't have failed though as far as I'm concerned but it did. At some point we'll get everything fixed but it's still frustrating. Will we get another at some point, you bet. She could have been on a Harley and had another type of failure too so it can happen to any machine. One of the other Harley riders in the group we was with had his air cleaner get clogged so much the bike started running poorly. There just aren't any guarantees.

 

[trikermutha]

I went form a TRIGLide to a Spyder and been running it as much as I can. I worked more on the HArley that I ever have done with the Spyder.

Over 20 K miles now and waiting now for the new riding season to get rolling here.

 

[Pegasus1300]

First Welcome to Trike-Talk 'Steve........:wave4:

Second Yes the Spyder is an every day ride....I had one and rode all year snow and rain.....That said if you are a Harley man, You might want to test ride a Harley trike, And a Spyder.. Two different rides for two different missions..

Again Welcome to Trike Talk...:clapping:

Welcome to Trike Talk...:clapping:

I ride all year long and after about April 1 my Spyder is my car. I commute to work on it every day. I have also taken it on several trips,San Diego,Sturges, Red Rock Spyder Rally (twice), and tons of local rides. I wouldn't own a bike I couldn't use for work and play. All my bikes (50+years worth) have always for work and play. The Spyder is great.

 

[3-togo]

Spyder

Hi ... I totaled my 2012 Harley Electra Glide Ultra limited 5 months ago just now getting to put pressure on right leg .. I am not real confident that I will be able to handle a 1000 lb bike ... My question is.. Will a Can-Am Spyder hold up to everyday use -or- do I just need to go back to Harley and just buy a trike .... I do not want to buy something I will have to keep fixing because I am using it too much ..... All feedback is welcome...... I ride alot ..

Hello,

I found the 2015 rtl to be very comfortable road bike. I've ridden in heavy rain, handles the wet really well. Rode in 110 deg or more with evaporative vest and neck scarf and survived rather well. Encountered these conditions twice riding from Oregon to Arizona. Over seventy and all went well.

pete

 

[ol' school]

Welcome to Trike Talk Stephen! As has been said, test ride as many as you can to help you decide!

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Welcome to the Gang from Western Colorado.

+1 on doing lots of test rides ... your gonna fork out some serious dough and only you can tell what will work for you, especially with a less than perfect leg.

Test ride and let your heart decide ... unless you wallet overrides your heart ... :AGGHH: ... mine always does.

 

[mdouglas6903]

+1 on ryding a Spyder everyday. I have been doing just that on my F3L. Love it!

 

[Pegasus1300]

I have ridden every bike I ever owned every day to and from work or on what ever errands I needed to do that didn't require a car. I have done that for over 50 years. The Spyder is probably the most functional in that respect because of it's 3 wheel stance and all the carrying capacity it has. So yes I ride to work and on errands and shopping trips with it all the time. I would say that it is very practical in that respect.

 

[bikerbillone]

I was, and still am, a fan of the Canam Spyder RT. I did some serious home work on this machine, maybe even a couple years reading about other's experiences, demo rides, etc. The ride, I could not find anything thing I did not like on the RT, suspension, et all. I've been riding a GW/with Road Smith conversion for some years now, I like it but just got the bug to try something different. After all that, I got serious in talking with dealers, there is just no working with them on price, in my opinion, so I let the idea go, I just wasn't willing to waste any more time on that project. My negative thought was, I've heard the horror stories about the dealers shops and the techs ability to fix something that's broke, and the exorbitant prices they charge. My final solution was to dump a couple grand into my 2005 GW/RS Conversion and have an almost new sled. Had the seat rebuild by a pro, who what a difference that made, having deep maintenance by Greg in Zephyrhills, so I'll be good to go for a few more years, maybe after that I'll think about the Spyder again. That is my story for whoever might be interested. Bottom line, if I could have gotten a decent deal with a dealer, then I'd be driving that Spyder RT. I suspect it was not meant to be, I couldn't get even responses from sellers on CycleTrader, within reasonable driving distance. At some point ya just say, "screw it", life is too short for this business. Hope I not offended any of the Spyder owners here, that was not my intent, 'cause I continue my interest in that machine, I do lust after it.

 

[al0vely]

Interesting question

Can you ride a HD trike everyday - of course you can.

Same answer for Spyder - it is a good comfortable ride.

 

[LadyonaMission]

I ride my HD to the grocery store, save a lot of money. Now that I have the Freewheeler, I have people walk over to see how I am going to carry the groceries home because they don't realize I have a trunk.

 

[rhino 2]

To 98% of the Populace.....Motorcycles , Trikes, Spyder's , Slingshots Etc.Etc....Are nothing more than recreational vehicles...And no matter how anyone sugar coats it, Thats all they are and will ever be....:Shrug: