pro10is
New member
When I first got my RSS I was amazed at its go-cart like ability to swerve left and right so quickly. I've avoided many a pothole at the last second with it. I remember thinking you sure can't react that instantaneously on a motorcycle. I often practiced using its tight maneuverability in the event that I should ever need it, a lesson I learned from my motorcycle training class eons ago.
Well, on my way to work this morning I was cruising along on a beautiful country road at about 50mph (posted speed limit). Out of nowhere a teenage girl on a cell phone (of course) pulls out of her driveway nose first in a large pick up truck (must have been her dad's). I'm only about 200 feet away and closing fast. Instead of hitting the gas and getting out of the way, she simply freezes when she finally realizes she's pulled right into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Now I have a massive truck fully blocking the right lane with absolutely no time left to brake. There's a stone fence on my right so the only escape is to swerve into the left lane but I can see oncoming traffic coming fast. Without any time left to think I put my Sypder into a extreme left hand turn to run around the truck and then immediately into a steep right hand turn to avoid a head on. It was by far the most extreme maneuver I've ever put the Spyder through. It was all over in seconds. Instead of being obliterated, which I fully expected, I was looking at the open road and everything was fine (except my nerves).
It took a while to sink in but after going over the scenario again and again in my mind I realized that I could have never done that on a two wheeled motorcycle. I had developed considerable skills riding motorcycles for many years but I knew that maneuver was well beyond my expertise. To make an instantaneous severe left hand turn followed immediately by an steep right hand turn at about 50 mph on a typical motorcycle would have required the skills of a highly expert rider who knew how to scrape both pegs within seconds. I also don't think that particular maneuver could have even been done in a car. Only something as small, stable, and nimble as the Spyder could have pulled it off without a hitch without a skilled stunt driver.
So the next time you doubt why you gave up your motorcycle for this crazy machine know that it can do near miraculous maneuvers that can save your life.
Well, on my way to work this morning I was cruising along on a beautiful country road at about 50mph (posted speed limit). Out of nowhere a teenage girl on a cell phone (of course) pulls out of her driveway nose first in a large pick up truck (must have been her dad's). I'm only about 200 feet away and closing fast. Instead of hitting the gas and getting out of the way, she simply freezes when she finally realizes she's pulled right into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Now I have a massive truck fully blocking the right lane with absolutely no time left to brake. There's a stone fence on my right so the only escape is to swerve into the left lane but I can see oncoming traffic coming fast. Without any time left to think I put my Sypder into a extreme left hand turn to run around the truck and then immediately into a steep right hand turn to avoid a head on. It was by far the most extreme maneuver I've ever put the Spyder through. It was all over in seconds. Instead of being obliterated, which I fully expected, I was looking at the open road and everything was fine (except my nerves).
It took a while to sink in but after going over the scenario again and again in my mind I realized that I could have never done that on a two wheeled motorcycle. I had developed considerable skills riding motorcycles for many years but I knew that maneuver was well beyond my expertise. To make an instantaneous severe left hand turn followed immediately by an steep right hand turn at about 50 mph on a typical motorcycle would have required the skills of a highly expert rider who knew how to scrape both pegs within seconds. I also don't think that particular maneuver could have even been done in a car. Only something as small, stable, and nimble as the Spyder could have pulled it off without a hitch without a skilled stunt driver.
So the next time you doubt why you gave up your motorcycle for this crazy machine know that it can do near miraculous maneuvers that can save your life.
