2013 Can-Am Spyder Roadster Ride & Review

If we asked you to guess where the motorcycle was built that garnered the most head turns, smiling faces and crowds at the coffee shop on Saskatoon streets this summer, you may be surprised to find out the answer was not Milwaukee but Valcourt, Quebec.

The Can-Am Spyder Roadster is not a motorcycle, not in the purest sense.  What it is exactly is open 

to interpretation of its rider.  For some Spyder riders it is freedom, independence and for all of them pure exhilaration.  The Can-Am Spyder Roadster does not handle like a motorcycle, it has more in common with riding a snowmobile or an all-terrain vehicle when it comes to handling.   What it offers over and above any off road vehicle is sublime comfort with pneumatic suspension and dynamic power steering, incredible power from the Rotax 998cc V-Twin, an unparalleled level of safety from Can-Am’s vehicle stability, anti-lock braking and traction control systems.  There is as much technology in a Spyder Roadster as there is in most luxury automobiles.

The Can-AM Spyder Roadster is offered in three models with 8 trim levels and two transmissions for 2013.  Getting the 100 horsepower to the rear wheel is handled through either a 5 speed manual (conventional clutch shifting) or a 5 speed semi-automatic

that will electrically clutch and synchronize the direct drive transmission shifts like a 6 figure high performance sports car.  Reverse is intergraded into both transmissions and is just makes life with the Spyder Roadster so easy.  The newest addition to the Can-Am Spyder Roadster family is the Spyder ST, which stands for Sport Touring.  The “ST” combines the best features of the existing model line up; the sporty style of the Spyder RS with some of the functionality and touring capacity of the Spyder RT as you can get the ST with and without hard saddle bags.  The riding position on the ST is also somewhere in-between the RS and RT; more relaxed than the RS but you are able to ride aggressively if the need arises (which often does when you’re having this much fun) and not quite the feeling of family room’s comfort recliner that the seat on the Spyder RT model offers.

For our ride we had the crème de la crème Spyder RT Limited equipped with matching roller luggage inserts for its intergraded hard 4 storage holds,  adjustable air ride suspension, GPS Navigation,  
heated hand grips for both rider and passenger, electronic cruise control and of course AM/FM 4 Speaker Audio system with iPod integration.  The Spyder cruises comfortably at all speeds, in town and passing semi-trailers on open Saskatchewan roads.  There is never a shortage of power on the Spyder.

Who the Spyder Roadster is built for is an interesting a question.  It is definitely not for the motorcycle purest.  It is for the rider who wants the freedom, power and touring capacity of a large displacement motorcycle with the security and ease that its three wheeled configuration offers.  It is great for someone getting back into touring or if the prospect of holding up 800 plus pounds of motorcycle in the rain at a traffic light is a daunting one.  It is no secret that women in Canada have taken to motorcycling over the past decade like they did to voting in the 1960’s and it is about time!  The Spyder Roadster is for some the best and only 100% original manufacturer offered option to experience the feeling of the open road as a rider and not a passenger.

The bottom line is the Can-Am Spyder is a different riding experience and that is not to diminish from the thrill of just being out on the open road.  How different is it?  Come down to FFUN Motor Sports in Saskatoon, sign out the demonstrator and ride one.  It is not a motorcycle but by this definition neither is three wheeled Goldwing or ElectrGlide.  The Can-Am Spyder Roadster ranges in cost from $18,699 to $33,099 which isn’t cheap by any stretch until you start to look at what you get.  The Sypder Roadster is unrivalled technologically and what it costs to purchase an alternative and install a “Trike” conversion, by comparison, makes the Spyder a bargain.  The Spyder offers you a “ride it out the door” option on a fully intergraded design that comes with a 2 year warranty.  With a 100hp Rotax engine, ABS, Stability Control and Power Steering standard on all models you’ll have to spend a lot more on any alternative to get the same features and value.  Spyder Roadster is different but isn’t that the point?