23rd October 2009, Glenorchy

This morning I had a test ride on a Can Am Spyder – see below. It is a three wheeler 990cc rotax engined flappy paddle type auto gearbox. Two wheels at the front.

I booked in for the test ride, just to have a ride on something exotic. It was a beautiful day to have a ride and I enjoyed it, but the bike was a huge dissappointment. I really thougtht the front wheels would lean over into the corner, but they don’t, they stay upright. This makes for a very boring, stilted, two dimensional ride. I can’t imagine many motorcyclists would enjoy these – you just can’t get into corners like you can on a motorbike.

Also, my single cylinder  650 would have left these for dead; they just didn’t move. I was expecting a lot more.

The rest of the day I spent at the Hobart Show. I mostly enjoyed looking at the animals and photographing them. I felt for them though, caged up for three days with all sorts of people in their faces. Well, I was in their faces too but able to put them at ease. They really all looked as though they just wanted to get out into the open.

There were also some great photographs in the photographic exhibition. You could tell that none of them were taken with a compact digital – the quality was superb.

The Can Am Spyder – I pilfered this photo from http://www.tuvie.com/can-am-spyder-roadster-three-wheels-vehicle/

Popularity: 20% [?]