donec
New member
Well I took my Spyder for it's first outing today. I remember when I got my Burgman 400 I had people sometimes ask about riding a scooter, but nothing like on the Spyder. I had 3 people stop at stop signs and ask about and 2 just gawk at it. Anyway I went on some back country roads to avoid traffic as much as possible. I found that no one is kidding when they say it is different.
I think for people that have never been on 2 wheels it will be easier as the most common effect they will have to deal with is the feelings they will experience when handling a curve and the feeling of shifting. On a curve you really must consciously feel the control of the handlebars and the road. In a car you turn the wheel and the car goes but most cars you don't get the feel of the turn. On a Spyder you feel resistance in the handlebars and you feel the curve's angle and sharpness along with the slant of the road.
On 2 wheels you don't feel the curve in the handlebars as a lot of the control is by leaning. You don't feel the angle of the curve as you often just cut through it from one side of the lane to the other. You don't feel the slant of the road as you only feel the amount of lean.
Another thing that you feel more on a Spyder is the unevenness of the road. I mean when you go over areas of the road where a section has sunk or risen in a car you feel both wheels shake the car a little right and left but because you are in a cage you don't feel the full effect. On 2 wheels you don't feel the side ways movement at all. Now on a Spyder you feel one wheel go down or go up as the case may be and you feel your body try to shift from one side to another (sometimes quite a lot), you feel the rear wheel try and lean as it rides on the slanted portion of the road between the 2 different levels of road. All during this you have to control the handlebars as the wheels try and take the path of least resistance and not just keep in the direction you are going. If you work hard at control you probably will over correct and feel that too.
Please note I did not say it was bad just different and at first can be a real workout but IT IS FUN fun fun
Shifting with the SE5 is different than shifting in a vehicle that has a clutch. With a clutch you slip the clutch as you change gears creating a smooth shift, but with the SE5 you do not control the clutch you just hit the paddle to shift and at first shifting will be abrupt but by finessing the throttle it seem you may be able to smooth that a little but not like having control of the clutch.
2 wheel riders remember brake with the foot not the hands. Since you are accustom to using your hands you really need to practice using your foot a lot as the quick response when needed will be to use your hands and that slows your reaction time. I felt it when approaching a curve and miss gauged the amount of curve without lean and needed to slow down quickly (not much Spyder experience on my part yet).
I think for people that have never been on 2 wheels it will be easier as the most common effect they will have to deal with is the feelings they will experience when handling a curve and the feeling of shifting. On a curve you really must consciously feel the control of the handlebars and the road. In a car you turn the wheel and the car goes but most cars you don't get the feel of the turn. On a Spyder you feel resistance in the handlebars and you feel the curve's angle and sharpness along with the slant of the road.
On 2 wheels you don't feel the curve in the handlebars as a lot of the control is by leaning. You don't feel the angle of the curve as you often just cut through it from one side of the lane to the other. You don't feel the slant of the road as you only feel the amount of lean.
Another thing that you feel more on a Spyder is the unevenness of the road. I mean when you go over areas of the road where a section has sunk or risen in a car you feel both wheels shake the car a little right and left but because you are in a cage you don't feel the full effect. On 2 wheels you don't feel the side ways movement at all. Now on a Spyder you feel one wheel go down or go up as the case may be and you feel your body try to shift from one side to another (sometimes quite a lot), you feel the rear wheel try and lean as it rides on the slanted portion of the road between the 2 different levels of road. All during this you have to control the handlebars as the wheels try and take the path of least resistance and not just keep in the direction you are going. If you work hard at control you probably will over correct and feel that too.
Please note I did not say it was bad just different and at first can be a real workout but IT IS FUN fun fun
Shifting with the SE5 is different than shifting in a vehicle that has a clutch. With a clutch you slip the clutch as you change gears creating a smooth shift, but with the SE5 you do not control the clutch you just hit the paddle to shift and at first shifting will be abrupt but by finessing the throttle it seem you may be able to smooth that a little but not like having control of the clutch.
2 wheel riders remember brake with the foot not the hands. Since you are accustom to using your hands you really need to practice using your foot a lot as the quick response when needed will be to use your hands and that slows your reaction time. I felt it when approaching a curve and miss gauged the amount of curve without lean and needed to slow down quickly (not much Spyder experience on my part yet).
