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Hand Brake Poll

Hand Brake


  • Total voters
    102
Not according to what he explained in post #29.
I was on my phone when I read this and didn't see that. I take back my vote for a handbrake and no foot brake then, you need both or it kills the whole idea of being like a motorcycle. The V8choppers have a handbrake only and it's the same issue, you go for the foot brake that's not there. :mad:
 
Hand Brake

I agree. BOTH would have been a better choice in the poll.
It would be nice if BRP offered the handbrake as an OEM option.
 
I have a SM5. I roll like this........ Neutral, foot on brake and hands on my thighs to give them a break from being fully extended. I don't do risers. :doorag: My next Spyder will be a SE5.

Holly says your next one will be an SE5,,,,,, an RT-SE5. :yikes:
 
A RH hand brake will have to work in conjunction whith the RH foot brake. Your hand is not strong enough to stop your Spyder fast in an emergency situation. There's not one made that can including mine that I made. But it sure helps when the RH hand brake is used together with the RH foot brake. Arthur---Mexico City
 
We have a couple of Polairs atv 4 wheelers. They come standard with hand and foot brakes. The brakes operate both front and rear brakes together. It doesn't matter which one you pull or stomp on it will stop the same. I think this is a great setup and should be put on all Spyders.
As for the cost the Polairs 4 weeelers are one of the most reasonable priced out there. Way less then the Can-Am for the same units. If some other company gets into the foward three wheeled game. Cam-Am will have to rethink there motors and pricing.
Just think if you could have a Honda V65 motor or the Yamaha VMax motor. Less trouble and way faster with less vibration and better milage. Win.Win.Win.
 
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It seems to me that any motorcycle safety course you take will teach you to use both brakes every time. It is a good habit. I don't know why BRP decided to violate this basic safety principle of motorcycling. They may say it's not a motorcycle, but there are far too many similarities, both in features and risks, to ignore... but I guess they did anyway.

Oh, and I would vote 'Both'.
 
A RH hand brake will have to work in conjunction whith the RH foot brake. Your hand is not strong enough to stop your Spyder fast in an emergency situation. There's not one made that can including mine that I made. But it sure helps when the RH hand brake is used together with the RH foot brake. Arthur---Mexico City
Sorry, but I disagree with you on his one. When ISCI brake system first came out we had it on the buds system and although you foot will give you more hydraulic pressure, your hand brake will provide more than enough pressure to activate the ABS unless your hand is small or weak. In my case, the hand brake has stopped me twice in emergency situations. My foot was missing in action.
 
Thank you all for your input, I appreciate the comments. I purposely omitted "both" as an option because of cost and complexity and because the brake system is balanced front to rear and includes ABS. I can certainly appreciate the desire to have both hand and foot brakes, but I was more interested in an either/or situation.

Without the 'Both' option this poll really doesn't mean much. The only riders that would trade their foot brake for a hand brake are going to be those that must have a hand brake to stop. I thought we were talking about improving the Spyder.

There isn't that much complexity to adding a hand brake. Everything is already in place except an actuator on the handlebars. It is about as complex as adding a clutch lever as you don't need any more calipers. The cost would be minimal. Your talking a master cyclinder, lever, hose and slave cylinder.

People spend hundreds of dollars on bling for their Spyder. My guess is BRP could put a front brake on the Spyder for around $100 added cost.
 
People spend hundreds of dollars on bling for their Spyder. My guess is BRP could put a front brake on the Spyder for around $100 added cost.

If it's around $100, I would even go for that. But, then I have to ask, why is the ISCI one so much? Yeah, yeah, I know there are R&D costs; it just sort of seems out of line now that a figure of $100 is mentioned.
 
Definitely strongly in the 'both' camp. From two wheelers, my action is in the right hand by habit, but I find even trying to move the wife's RT in tight quarters when not aboard is a pain. At purchase, I would have gladly paid a reasonable amount to have had it, and as previously stated by others, as a percentage of production cost and sales price, BRP could have included it, as all the major components are already in place. Also, I think a not insignificant part of their market comes from the MC community, but maybe I'm wrong. Listening BRP? A.
 
Sorry, but I disagree with you on his one. When ISCI brake system first came out we had it on the buds system and although you foot will give you more hydraulic pressure, your hand brake will provide more than enough pressure to activate the ABS unless your hand is small or weak. In my case, the hand brake has stopped me twice in emergency situations. My foot was missing in action.

Agreed. I use my ISCI hand brake most of the time and have had a couple of Oh S**t moments and was happy with the performance.
 
Love my Hand Brake

I love my hand brake as an Addition to the foot brake. The hand brake allows me to get more power/depth on the foot brake. I use both as standard. The hand brake is a wide reach for many - should be adjustable but I have not gone to that trouble.

I heard/read that the Spyder is sold as a 'non-motorcycle' in fact a 'car' in some countries, and this is one of the reasons for the lack of a right hand brake. I am not able to verify this information.

I agree that the costs are prohibitive, and that BRP should consider a BRP adjustable 'add on" that is about half the cost. Then again maybe there is some rhyme or reason to them leaving it off .. just like the rear high mount tail light that other companies sell (I did buy mine from a SL.com sponsor) - this one to me is a safety issue. The joke is: BRP is setting up the bikes so that others can make mod products - you know - spreading the wealth......
 
Handbrake.

I have ridden 2 wheel motorcycles for 40 years with a hand brake. After purchasing the 08
Spyder I found using just the foot brake only was ackward and always reaching for the lever that wasn't there. SO, in 2010 I put in a brake system that was described here by one of the members and it works just fine. I now use it all the time in conjunction with the foot brake, as I use too, on a 2 wheel motorcycle. Mickc
 
If it's around $100, I would even go for that. But, then I have to ask, why is the ISCI one so much? Yeah, yeah, I know there are R&D costs; it just sort of seems out of line now that a figure of $100 is mentioned.

ISCI had to re-invent the wheel with their unit. Sales volume is a small fraction of what production sales would be. I'd be surprised if even 1% of Spyders have the ISCI unit. I don't think BRP would have to re-invent the wheel as they already have at their disposal many different braking systems not to mention access to manufacturers that probably have components on the shelf that would work.

If you put hand brakes on every Spyder the cost per unit would be much lower. $100 cost to BRP might be low but I'm sure it would be quite reasonable. Think about how much it costs Honda to put a front brake on a motorcycle (not counting the calipers, rotors and mounting hardware which the Spyder front brake would not need.

Another factor is liability. With the ISCI unit I would think liability cost per unit is much higher than it would be with a factory unit. BRP already has coverage and I don't think adding a hand brake would add much, if anything to that cost.

But there may be other reasons that BRP resists a hand brake. It may put the Spyder into another vehicle class that would mean more hoops and regulations. There are probably unknown (to us) issues involved.
 
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RE: R & D costs.

Per accounting standards: R & D costs are required to be expensed as incurred. Therefore, if a company spends X dollars on R & D prior to the product being marketed, they are racking up the expenses and maybe losses on their income statements.

When the product is marketed--some companies try to catch up by inflating the price because:

1. They want to catch up
2. Supply and Demand: if you want it bad enough, you will be willing to pay--anyone get a discount on the first :spyder2: in 2008?
3. They can

RE: Medicine costs: Why do you think some doses of medicine are $50.00 and up for some pills, and $1000.00 and up for some injections. They are making up for the billions they spend on research--but also check their profit margins--they are doing just fine thank you.
 
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