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2007 Can Am Spyder
Thanks to
BRP (Bombardier
Recreational Products)
and RideNow Powersports
for providing
the motorcycle
by Kirk Johnson
April 2007
MSRP
$14,999
A true street toy with guts
About the Spyder
First, here is a quick note about the manufacturer. I
did not know much about BRP and thought a brief background would
be of interest.
BRP manufactures Ski-Doo® and Lynx® snowmobiles, Sea-Doo® watercraft
and sport boats, Johnson® and Evinrude® outboard engines
and Can-AmTM all-terrain vehicles (ATV or Quad). They
started out in 1930s with the first patent on snowmobiles and
have been very successful with recreational vehicles. They
currently employ over 6,200 people worldwide in 80 different
countries and have revenues of over $2 billion. The Can
Am Spyder Roadster is the first creation from BRP to be licensed
for the street or for the open road.
Engine
Manufacturer··············································BRP-Rotax
Type···························································990
V-Twin
Displacement··············································60.90
Cu In or (998cc)
Cylinder······················································2
Valves per cylinder·····································DOHC
4
Max output··················································106
hp @ 8500 rpm (79 kW @ 8500 rpm)
Max torque·················································77
lb-ft @ 6250 rpm (104.3 Nm @ 6250 rpm)
Compression ratio······································10.8:1
Ignition type················································Electronic
ignition with dual output coil
Cooling·······················································Liquid
cooled
Injection······················································Multi-point
EFI with 57 mm
This three-wheel creation comes in at around
800 pounds with two wheels up front and a center wheel in the
rear. The
front suspension configuration is a double A-Arm with an anti-roll
bar, and the rear is a single swing-arm with monoshock. The
transmission is a five speed and has a final belt drive to the
read wheel. Fuel capacity is 7.13 Gallons.
1 Body. 4 Brains.
Spyder incorporates some of the most sophisticated electronic
management systems on any vehicle today. In fact, the
1 CAN BUS system integrates several Electronic Control Units
(ECUs), making the Spyder one of the most intelligent and innovative
power sport vehicles on the planet.
With the VSS, (vehicle stability system),
the Y-architecture enables the Spyder to host an innovative
stability system. Developed in conjunction with Bosch, the
VSS reduces the risk of losing control. It immediately detects any loss of traction and
quickly takes steps to correct it. Integrated in VSS are the
functions of SCS (Stability Control System), TCS2 (Traction Control
System ) and the ABS (Anti-lock Braking System). Basically,
what all of these systems do is help make sure you do not loose
control of the Spyder. For example, if you do a burnout
and start to fish tail, the engine will cut back just enough
for the rear wheel to gain traction again. Also, if you’re
going around a corner and start to lift one of the front tires
off the ground, the electronics will limit the engine and manage
the braking system to limit the tire lift and keep it on the
ground.
The Spyder also has dynamic power steering
and incorporates a single brake pedal for all three wheels. It also has
a lockable storage compartment up front. It comes in two
basic colors, Yellow or Grey and has a two-year warranty.
Test Drive
Before I could take this little Spyder
for a road trip, I had to drive it around a little track setup
with cones. After
one lap around the course, with multiple stops and turns, I realized
why it was a prerequisite. First, because of the two front
tires in front, you had clearance issues. When going through
the slalom, you realize you cannot cut the corners like you would
with a motorcycle. If you were to gauge the corners as
if on a motorcycle in the real world, you would be climbing curbs. With
the Spyder, this is easier to get used to than with a traditional
trike. On the Spyder, you can see the front tires and
compensate for width. On a traditional trike, you do not
see the tires following you and have to guess the width to make
sure you clear the curb. The second thing was the braking. There
is no front brake lever on the handlebars, just the single right
foot brake. This is because of the ABS system. With
this system, you will never have to worry about locking up or
skidding any one of the wheels, thus you can maintain control
of the Spyder at all times.
Finally, after a couple of boring laps around
the track, I got to go play in traffic. Because of liability
issues, and because these are prototype units, a BRP representative
had to ride with me on his own Spyder during the test ride. The first thing we had to do was
a brief photo shoot, which of course required some slow drive-bys,
allowing Raymond to get some good photo shots.
I could not resist playing with the Spyder
while doing these drive-bys and wanted to test out the computers
that check for vehicle stability. I found a large graveled area where
I turned around to start playing. First, I flew into the
turn-around area, cranked the handlebars to the left and slammed
on the brakes to try to slide sideways. It did not work. The
computer system or VSS (vehicle stability system) took over and
kept the Spyder controllable by not letting the brakes lock up.
Then, I tried to power out of the gravel
area to fishtail around. That
did not work, either. The VSS system limited power to the
drive wheel to keep the Spyder from doing a power slide in the
gravel. Interestingly, it did not shut the power off,
just limited it to slip free acceleration.
OK, not to be totally out done by the computer,
I stopped in the middle of the road, revved the engine and
dropped the clutch at about 5,000 rpm. Wow, you can easily smoke the rear
tire in first and spin it again when you grab second gear. If
you get a little crossed up, the VSS will shut the power down
to stop wheel spin. Then, the Spyder will track straight
again.
Finally, pictures taken, we headed out
to grab some road time on the 101. Tied up in traffic,
I was unable to really find the rev limiter on the on-ramp. Obviously,
while in traffic, we got a lot of lookers checking out these
rides.
Running down the 101 at 70 to 80 mph, the
Spyder runs very smooth. The
problem with this little Spyder is it screams at you to play
- you just want to play in traffic! By this, I mean you
have this overwhelming urge to dart in and out of traffic and
twist the grip. The Spyder is totally a toy. It feels
stable at any speed.
While on the way back to the barn, we took the
Scottsdale exit off the 101 and made the U-turn to get back on
the frontage road to West World. While turning left, I
pushed the Spyder to the limits. I could see that the inside
tire of the Spyder came up off the ground less then ½ of
an inch, then settled back on the ground right away. The
engine never shuts down when the VSS system takes over, it just
limits the power to make sure that all wheels are on the payment. How
cool is that!
Summary
The Spyder is a great little toy and is
street legal. Price
points are very reasonable. I can’t imagine this
not being a success for the spirited rider in the very near future. This
being the first street legal release from Can am is very amazing. I
am sure you will see more stuff from them in the future.
Ride safe,
Kirk
Phoenixbikers.com
Motorcycletestdrive.com
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