Handicapped Spyder Ryders.....Roll call!

[Bruise01]

I Call Myself Handi-Capable

I wear a leg brace after being the victim of a Hit and Run Driver while I was a pedestrian. I have limited knee bend and reduced strength in my right leg so larger two wheelers weren't a good option for me anymore. My Spyder has been the perfect thing to get me back on the open road. I added ISCI floorboards and the ISCI Handbrake which has been a Godsend. Yes it's pricey but I think well worth it plus the ISCI folk give a discount to we Handi-Capable Riders. Ride Safe!

 

[LadyDi'sSpyder]

Ok, I hate to use the term handicapped but my intent is to have anybody with a mobility impairment read this thread. This bike has been an absolute dream come true for me, and many of the mods I used to make my bike "accessible" came from this site. My hope is that this thread will be an easy way for people with disabilities to link-up with disabled Spyder riders and know that there are many of us who have found a way to ride again.

Handbrakes, footboards, wheelchair racks and rerouted filler caps....it has all been done and many kind individuals on this site are more than happy to help out a potential Spyder rider. So, if you are a disabled rider and would like to weigh-in on the topic I know it would be greatly appreciated.

I am handicapped and as long as I can swing my leg over the seat, I'm good to go!!!:yes:

 

[LadyDi'sSpyder]

Hi, I crashed my Harley into a guardrail at 60mph, Lost bottom half of left leg (now wear a prosthetic limb)and partial use of left forearm and hand. My RSS SE5 is a GODsend. I've been back on the road for about 8 months after not riding for three years. My spyder and I go everywhere my wife's ElectraGlide Ultra goes. And I am happy to be in the wind. Will post pics soon. Thanks for the support.:yes:

Welcome aboard!!! :yes::yes:

 

[Ridge new]

Yes I'm also a member of the H club
No Spyder yet but once I'm confident I can operate it in spite of my limitations I will own one.
My issue is I lost total use of my right arm and hand due to a brain bleed 13 years ago. I drive a car just fine with my good right hand and hope to do the same on a Spyder.
Will appreciate any help anybody can give me.

Thanks


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[Pappy John]

After years of having limited usefulness from my left leg, it finally came to the point of leaving it behind and moving on. Bone cancer in that femur 35 years ago, followed by breaking the same radiation damaged bone 15 years ago led to bone replacement, with nerve, and muscle damage. Vascular problems from the knee down in the last year, plus an infection in that fifteen year old hip/femur replacement made the decision necessary so I had it removed at the hip on July 5th. I'm happy to say that I'm actually riding better now. I no longer need extra cushions to give me more seat height so that my bad knee could be straighter while riding. Now my lower center of gravity makes the corners much easier to maneuver. It's still a bit sore, so I'm not riding far yet....45 minutes at a time so far.... but I think I'll be riding farther than I could have handled pre-amputation, very soon.

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I don't have a prosthesis yet. I'm going for a hip mold in a few weeks, now that the swelling is down, to get fitted for one. Maybe then I won't get so many double-takes from drivers passing on my left. Lovin' my Spyder more and more!

 

[Fat Crip]

OK, I'll add my name to the roll. As you can tell from my avatar, I'm disabled and a little over weight! The latter is due to the former; the former is due to a clumsy surgeon performing a C3-C5 laminectomy ten years ago in June. I'm tetraplegic (or quadriplegic to you guys) with pretty severe paralysis down my right side and pretty much 80% use of my left. My dealer is currently fitting a left hand brake and throttle to a new, unregistered 2013 ST-S. He has custom built the fly-by-wire throttle, but the brake is done by cannibalising the left hand control unit off a manual shift ST. This allows the use of the clutch lever and reservoir to perform duty as a brake. It has the advantage, I'm told, of giving a factory fitted look... we'll see! Should be ready in a week or so, just need it shipped up here and my Can Am Outlander trade in collected. Here you can ride a quad on the road, and it's been my ride for the last three years, including a week in Ireland last summer for the world's fastest road race, Dundrod Bike Week. Keeping up with Buells and Ducatis showed the quad's failings, but great for carrying my travel scooter.

Finally, my avatar picture. It is the international signal flag foxtrot, which to any seafarer, in 9 different languages, means 'I am disabled, communicate with me'. If there is a better way to display your situation without flashing a picture of a wheelchair or crutches etc., I've yet to see it. It should, in my opinion, be the international pennant of disabled people the world over. I fly it on a whip Ariel on my quad.


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[ptbperegrine]

Hi from Downunder

Hi, I'm Peter (aka ptbperegrine) from Sydney, Australia. I had polio as a kid and was paralysed from the neck down.
These days my arms are fine and I can stagger about 3 metres with 2 walking sticks.

I bought a 2009 RS SE5 and have ISCI handbrake and footboards.

Freedom!

 

[Desert Spyder]

Hi, I'm Peter (aka ptbperegrine) from Sydney, Australia. I had polio as a kid and was paralysed from the neck down.
These days my arms are fine and I can stagger about 3 metres with 2 walking sticks.

I bought a 2009 RS SE5 and have ISCI handbrake and footboards.

Freedom!

Thats terrific! You guys are an inspiration! videos and pictures someday, please.

 

[Bandit]

Name

Hey, Lamont! Why not call this the "Challenge Corner"? I know what a "Challenge" it can be to modify a Spyder for different needs. :doorag:

 

[AbNormy]

I'm an above knee amputee left leg as a result of a drunk driver, ME! Took me 6 more years and 2 extended vacations before I got started on these 20 years sober I celebrated last December. Between sobering up and getting off paper and getting back to school finishing a degree, I still couldn't find a job. BS in Health Information Management, allowed me to sit for my Registered Health Information Administrator, nothing local where I live in Austin, so I went to work for the most accommodating employer, the US Dept of Treasury, the IRS where I've been 8 years now, GS6 step 7 but even with a raise I made 4300 less last year cause of this tea party crap. Had several BMW sidecars, always had to rig shifters on them. Test drove the 2012 RT A&C and said where do I sign! But with this income reduction scraping to make ends meet. Computer literate 20 years sober bilingual, need some help with some kind of part to full time gig if anyone knows of anything message me. 26,000 miles between Copper Mountain Co, then Sedalia Mo, then Maggie Valley I love my RT but desperately need some additional income. Wife's had this depressive bout last 3 years I hoped the travels would get her out of but no go. She's working 3 pt jobs Goodwill is one all just over min wage not bringing in 20k were scraping by. This too shall pass praying to be of service to the next guy.


Living the dream while I still can!

 

[ROADKILL1]

Hey everyone I'm ROADKILL, I had an accident June 16, 2013 and after multiple complications on Dec 23, 2013 I became a left leg a/k amputee. I have been riding since 1965 and don't plan of quitting yet. Two days after getting out of rehab I went to a Can Am dealer here in Jacksonville and climbed on one....I think I have found my next ride. I'm planning on getting one in the next couple of weeks. So if there is anything I need to know please chime in and let me know.

Thanks

Oh I had the nickname before the accident.

 

[sddinnh]

Let me tell you a story

I really thought long and hard about posting this in here. After all, I'm not missing any limbs or anything like that, there are times when I don't even consider myself disabled, and I'm a relatively private person. So, let me explain. I was a career Army First Sargent working on being a Sargent Major. Right after I came back from Desert Storm in 1992, I had a stroke. I was 47 at the time. The VA permanently disabled me and said it was from working in the burning oil fields and all the crap we breathed in over there. Then two years later, (the Army is slow :banghead, they finally transferred me to inactive reserve and my career was over.

Any way, after two years of physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy I finally got back to the point where i could get back on a BMW and thought all of that was behind me. Then last year at the age of 67, I was diagnosed with bone cancer. When I started chemo, it somehow reactivated the damage from the stroke and I now have severe leg weakness in my left leg and a slight loss of balance along with some minor pain which I understand will get worse. It's not bad enough that I can only walk for short distances, but it would preclude me from holding up a bike at a light or picking one up if I dropped it.

So, after sitting around over the winter moping for six months, here I am on a Spyder, trying to decide what to do with the two BMW's in the barn. Understand that I'm not riding a Spyder by choice, but I'm on it by necessity, and because of the concern and help from a group of friends who knew what stopping riding would do to me and who didn't want to loose my company on the trips (and the good bottle of scotch I always bring on tour :cheers: ). Touring with them has been a great part of my life for the better part of 50 years and it sustained me thru the death of my wife and all the other trials in my life. My friends and I do 3 or 4 major trips a year, and now I can continue that tradition with them thanks to the Spyder and their support..

Will it be the same? I doubt it. but I guess, when all is said and done, the trick is to do the best you can with the cards you are given and trust that your friends will support you and help you thru the rough patches. Who knows, once I master it, I may get to really like it ray:. Right now it's an interesting experiment to see how fast you can put one of these things thru a corner pps:. I hope it works out because if it doesn't there's no place else for me to go.

 

[SXSMachine]

I really thought long and hard about posting this in here. After all, I'm not missing any limbs or anything like that, there are times when I don't even consider myself disabled...................

Steve how you consider yourself in life is entirely your concern as a person. What the world owes you in return for your sacrifice and the pain you have been through and continue to go through without anyone having a clue because its your own personal ordeal doesnt preclude you from having your rights and your dignity.

My own descent into disability has been different but the same wobbly road and I share what I know will have been your ongoing frustration at set-backs and personal issues in your life. You dont sound like you caught much of a break and I just hope that if a Spyder can keep you out on the road with the boys, doing the things that have helped you through these experiences so far and continuing to bring you the joy and kinship that Army and motorcycling often share in common.

A Spyder is a different ride but its still a ride and those of us that have been through the type of physical issues and limitations you are still going through know that when you have a chance to live anything close to what you were doing you grab it with both hands and hang on tight!

Heres to another shot at the title!

Gavin

 

[sddinnh]

Heres to another shot at the title!

Gavin

Yup Gav - one more time around - Cheers mate :cheers:

 

[Big Bird]

Getting here isn't the challenge, enjoying our life and having great rides to brag on

Sarge, and every one else... I ride Big Bird for two reasons. One, my wife likes it because it doesn't fall over. Second, it doesn't fall over...lol
I've rode some sort of bike most of my life... Hondas, Kawis, Yamahas, and Harley too... my last bike before 'Big Bird was a '92 ST1100 sport touring bike, and I loved it... didn't love the price that honda wanted for the tupperware, but the ride and guys and gals were great... as is the Spyder folks... more and more of them. Even here in the desolate Mohave Valley in Arizona.... I used to live in Westminster, South Carolina and that is where I lived when we drove up to Wisconsin to get the Spyder... My wife had named it Big Bird from just the photos that Tony had posted. So ride on my friends... it's the wind in your face, not how it gets there... :clap::yes::congrats:

 

[Raindragon]

Handi-Capable

I've been thinking about a board just for you guys where it would be easy to share information with each other on how to overcome some of the things you have to deal with on a daily basis. If you guys would like that how about a name for the board besides Handicap SpyderLovers?

Great idea, Lamont! How about "Retreads" for us hand-capable SpyderLovers?

 

[911MEDIC]

I Know I'm late but I'm here....

I have finally sat down and browsed through the forums and found this one.... & all I can say is THANK YOU!!!! I am so glad that there are people out there that share my passion who could also understand my situation. I have Charcot-marie tooth syndrome. Nerve disorder that makes my muscles disintergrate in all of my extremities at an alarming rate no feeling in my Legs,feet arms or hands. Legs worse than hands though. I have to wear braces on both leg to keep my feet held up because I cant lift them on my own, and the braces are the only reason I can actually walk. (sort-of. I walk like a zombie, but zombies have better balance.) I have had nothing but problems as a Medic and am now pretty much confined to dispatch at 911. When the guys at Big #1 motorsports put me on a Spyder, I fell in love! I just rolled over to 1000 miles on my 2013 ST SE5 and LOVE IT!

but since I'm with you guys I have a question. I have the most horrible time gettin my leg over the bike. What is the easiest way to mount this thing? right now Im having to get up on the passenger foot boards and drop my leg on the other side.... any suggestions?

Thanks Again!!!!

 

[ptbperegrine]

Wheelchair Mount

T5 Para here. Injured in a motocross crash almost 10 years ago. Got my Spyder back in December, 2011. In the past few months I have finally got everything all setup to where I really enjoy riding! It has been a ton of fun so far!!!

Hope to see everyone around!

Polio victim from Australia here. Could you show me/us how your wheelchair is mounted, that would be really helpful!
Happy Ryding!

 

[Marker]

I found this site here is the link hope it helps http://www.3wheels.org/outfit-reviews/reverse-trikes-ok-spyders/gregs-spyder/

One of guys pictured his name is Barney and he lives close to me. He is an amazing fellow. He rides snowmobiles in winter and spyders in the summer. He also has an old muscle car he drives.
All his toys are modified for his needs.

 

[ptbperegrine]

Wheelchair Mount for Spyder

I found this site here is the link hope it helps http://www.3wheels.org/outfit-reviews/reverse-trikes-ok-spyders/gregs-spyder/

One of guys pictured his name is Barney and he lives close to me. He is an amazing fellow. He rides snowmobiles in winter and spyders in the summer. He also has an old muscle car he drives.
All his toys are modified for his needs.

Many thanks! :2thumbs: