I'm pretty sure it is the operator, at least most of it.
Thanks for the response. I was concerned you might come back with some self-defensive argument that it has to be the bike and not the rider! Attitude is all important. When one is open to the idea that things are just different it is a lot easier to learn new ways. You are there!
After riding on 2 wheels for a bit over 50 years, a really LOT of things become automatic.
You don't realize how much until you get on something that has an entirely different steering "geometry" and stability requirements........like a riding lawn mower with steering "bars" or a motorcycle with 3 wheels.
Let me digress for a bit. My youngest brother bought a HD trike a few years ago. He said dealers told him that the riders who had the most difficult time making a transition were those who had spent years and years riding only on two wheels. In another case our local GW chapter director told of a couple guys who went to buy trikes, Hondas I think. The dealer suggested they slowly ride around the parking lot to get used to them. Both of them said they had ridden motorcycles for years and didn't need any freakin parking lot training! Promptly, before they got out of the parking lot one ran into a building wall and the other into a ditch!
You CAN teach an old dog new tricks but if you first have to UN-learn some old tricks it becomes MUCH more difficult.
I think I need more miles on the Spyder......and to finally get rid of my Vulcan and stay off of 2 wheels during the transition.
Younger riders may be able to do both but I think it's pretty obvious that I can NOT.
There very well may be more benefit to staying off the 2 wheels for a few weeks than any of us realizes! Some here have commented that they are able to switch back and forth and the proper habits automatically take over, but I don't know how long it took for them to get to that place or how long they stayed off the two wheels while learning the Spyder.
For me, the transition was short, about 200 - 500 miles, but there were two big reasons for that. I knew it would be different based on the comments above, and I had a fair amount of experience riding an ATV. But I also am somewhat adaptable. I took to my CPAP machine in two nights. My older brother fought it for 6 to 9 months. So maybe DNA plays a part, who knows? :dontknow: And for whatever impact it may have been, I was ready to leave two wheels and not go back. I might ride something like a Honda 90 around a field, but a Goldwing, no.
I don't recall what sort of experience you've had with ATVs, if you have mentioned it even. On a two wheeler your body and the bike are pretty much a single unit, moving together, leaning and going up and down as one. On an ATV your body is connected to the machine with flexible joints. As you corner you move your body one way or the other. As you ride over rocks and depressions on the trail the machine moves around under your body. Here's an idea. The next time you get on the Spyder think of it as a three wheel ATV, not a three wheel motorcycle. That may help your brain make the change! You know an ATV isn't the same as a two wheeler. Instill that thought in your head when you get on your Spyder.
In a few miles, or a few hundred miles at most, it will all be second nature.
I can't say I relish the sound of tires squealing on a turn!
