Originally Posted by
TRLBLZR1
Newbie here..... (on 3 wheels/this forum anyways)
With quite a bit of experience in powersports, prior to purchase I too was concerned with regards to how 3 wheels would "hold the road."
(We have crowned roads here, albeit subtle for the most part. Yet the road contour seems to have no noticeable effects.)
I must be one of the lucky ones... Just seems to drive like it's on rails!
(I honestly never even think about steering input etc., just does exactly as I think.)
Haven't had a single situation yet where I notice any kind of drift whatsoever.
Maybe it's the model and/or the drag bars? Maybe the laser alignment, maybe the new tires....
And it could be that I spent 35 years tearing around on snowmobile trails and riding sport bikes.
Handlebar design may have a lot to do with riding experience/road feedback. Narrower swept-back bars (unlike mine) may tend to make rider pull on them instead of pushing? And I'd wager that could leave the driver fighting the road & crown, instead of not noticing it. ~ Can't tell you why, but I just knew the drag bars were going to be the right choice for me. And that's why I ended up with the model I chose. They came stock on the unit.
As for tracking etc:
The only time I think mine exhibits "sub-par" handling is if you do a quick subtle left/right "jitter" on the bars which creates a slight wobble, that disappears almost instantly. (caused by low tire pressure specs.)
(And from reading these forums, I now know the reason for the weird vibration that I've only encountered several times in my first few hundred miles. Belt vibration. ~ Thought it was the road lol.)
The other day (without even thinking about it), after showing a friend my new ride as I drove off I gave a 2 <thumbs up> with both hands out like an eagle, high in the air, maybe @ 50 mph coming out of a very subtle LH turn? Wasn't even thinking about it, wasn't planned. Just a reaction. (Only sharing this because that's how confident this particular machine tracks. And no, I don't make it a practice of doing this. But I do frequently find myself at slower speeds "one-handing" the bar/throttle side around town on banked roads with almost 0 effort.) ~ Yep, I'm "old school" & use my left hands as secondary directional/stop indicators.
FWIW: I didn't buy a spyder with the idea of replacing a motorcycle. More along the lines of it being a "snowmowheel." (That's what I actually call it/use to describe it to friends.)
To me, it handles like an almost perfectly setup performance trail sled on good groomed snow. ~ And there are major similarities as to how it is driven: Body position,, steering and leaning in particular.
All I can add is: @ 52 yrs. old, I find my F3-S (paddle shift model) more fun to drive than any dirt bike, sport-bike, snowmobile, ATV or watercraft I've ever owned/demo'd. Maybe I'm showing my age?