Lamonster
SpyderLovers Founder
Part 1
My review of last week and the dealer show. This is going to be a long post so you've been warned.
Another week has gone by and for me it was a week to be thankful for. I was able to establish new relationships, make new friends, make new business contacts but most of all I was able to see how important support is for each other.
To be honest I was in way over my head doing this show for BRP but I wasn't going to say no when they asked me to do it. I've always hated public speaking. There was a time not that long ago where I would freeze up inside just thinking about having to speak in front of people. Through the years I've gotten better at it but it's no cake walk.
Just to give you a little insight to what it takes to do a show like this I'll give you an insiders look at it and what it was like to get to ride the new F3.
I flew into Harford CT with Rickylen Damouth Vanessa Steffen Damouth and Joan Wise and we had a little over an hour ride to the hotel. We were able to have dinner with some of the VP's from BRP and the other riders who were going to go on the ride the next day on the new F3's. It was a great time to get to know each other.
The next day we were shown a video and briefed about the F3 and the ride we would be taking. We each had an F3 with our name on it as it was setup for us, our height and size. It was amazing to walk up and see all the F3's lined up ready for us to take out and tear it up. Right away Joan knew her bars had to be changed and the guys didn't take long to get it where she needed it with the new u-Fit system.
As we lined up to pull out we had a film crew taking shots and when we rolled out to the first stop light it was quite evident that smoking the tire on the F3 was going to be a piece of cake. The F3 has different gearing and being 160 lbs lighter and with the added torque of the new gearing with the 1330 ACE motor you really didn't have to work that hard to squeal the tire. I think pretty much everyone did as we left the parking lot.
We had to wait at the first light out of the parking lot for the film crew to show. I figured that was a good time to practice my on stage burnout with the F3 and a SE trans. I was pretty sure I could do it but still wanted to make sure. I grabbed some brake and cranked the throttle and it lit off pretty good. I thought I would give it another shot and while I was doing that the guys were going a little nuts. What I didn't noticed was I was doing my burnout right in front of the police station. Soon after I got a warning from one of the BRP guys as I should have.
The ride from there was fantastic. I can honestly say I've never had so much fun on a Spyder in my life. I guess sitting in the F3 3.5" lower really made you feel like you were part of the road. That and having your legs in front of you took the pressure off your arms so that you really didn't have to work that hard to get it to go where you wanted to.
The handling was great, much better than any Spyder I've owned and the acceleration was just over the top fun. It honestly reminded me of my Suzuki M109R, it had the kind of torque that would rip your arms out of socket, I love that feeling. We had a little fun with some v-twin boys that gave us the nod at a light like they wanted to race. I'm thinking "really?" but we went ahead and ran them on a pretty long stretch of road. I could see the one big guy in my mirror banging the gears but he went from a big guy to a speck in about 4.2 seconds. By time we got to the next light they were long gone and we shut it down way before we hit the next light. As luck would have it they pulled up next to us again but this time two of them would even look at us but the one guy looked a Joan and gave her the thumbs up. It was pretty funny.
The other thing I noticed was that the wind protection was pretty darn good. I really never thought about having a shield unless a rock was kicked up from the bike in front of me.
At our first stop I was right behind the van that was shooting the video and I guess I should have been looking at the tail lights and not the camera because they stopped pretty hard and made a left and I had to slam on the brakes. The F3 stopped like I dropped an anchor. I've done panic stops on my RT and RS and neither of them stopped this fast.
We did some more interviews and photo shots and headed back in. I think the whole ride was about 2.5 hours and I had no idea we were in Rhode Island till I saw the sign that said welcome to Connecticut. I really did not want to go back to the demo sight. This is a ride I want to keep going on. The ergos on this bike is made for the long haul or just being cool running around town. This is the posture I'm use to. When I say this is the Spyder for me there is a reason. I've been working on this project with them for the last 4 years. I knew what I wanted to see in a cruiser style Spyder and they pretty much nailed it. Even though I didn't build the F3 I do have a lot of my heart and soul into this Spyder and feel like it is my baby too and I'm thankful that I was able to be there when BRP gave birth to her. So if you want to hear about the rest of the show you'll have to read Part 2
My review of last week and the dealer show. This is going to be a long post so you've been warned.
Another week has gone by and for me it was a week to be thankful for. I was able to establish new relationships, make new friends, make new business contacts but most of all I was able to see how important support is for each other.
To be honest I was in way over my head doing this show for BRP but I wasn't going to say no when they asked me to do it. I've always hated public speaking. There was a time not that long ago where I would freeze up inside just thinking about having to speak in front of people. Through the years I've gotten better at it but it's no cake walk.
Just to give you a little insight to what it takes to do a show like this I'll give you an insiders look at it and what it was like to get to ride the new F3.
I flew into Harford CT with Rickylen Damouth Vanessa Steffen Damouth and Joan Wise and we had a little over an hour ride to the hotel. We were able to have dinner with some of the VP's from BRP and the other riders who were going to go on the ride the next day on the new F3's. It was a great time to get to know each other.
The next day we were shown a video and briefed about the F3 and the ride we would be taking. We each had an F3 with our name on it as it was setup for us, our height and size. It was amazing to walk up and see all the F3's lined up ready for us to take out and tear it up. Right away Joan knew her bars had to be changed and the guys didn't take long to get it where she needed it with the new u-Fit system.
As we lined up to pull out we had a film crew taking shots and when we rolled out to the first stop light it was quite evident that smoking the tire on the F3 was going to be a piece of cake. The F3 has different gearing and being 160 lbs lighter and with the added torque of the new gearing with the 1330 ACE motor you really didn't have to work that hard to squeal the tire. I think pretty much everyone did as we left the parking lot.
We had to wait at the first light out of the parking lot for the film crew to show. I figured that was a good time to practice my on stage burnout with the F3 and a SE trans. I was pretty sure I could do it but still wanted to make sure. I grabbed some brake and cranked the throttle and it lit off pretty good. I thought I would give it another shot and while I was doing that the guys were going a little nuts. What I didn't noticed was I was doing my burnout right in front of the police station. Soon after I got a warning from one of the BRP guys as I should have.
The ride from there was fantastic. I can honestly say I've never had so much fun on a Spyder in my life. I guess sitting in the F3 3.5" lower really made you feel like you were part of the road. That and having your legs in front of you took the pressure off your arms so that you really didn't have to work that hard to get it to go where you wanted to.
The handling was great, much better than any Spyder I've owned and the acceleration was just over the top fun. It honestly reminded me of my Suzuki M109R, it had the kind of torque that would rip your arms out of socket, I love that feeling. We had a little fun with some v-twin boys that gave us the nod at a light like they wanted to race. I'm thinking "really?" but we went ahead and ran them on a pretty long stretch of road. I could see the one big guy in my mirror banging the gears but he went from a big guy to a speck in about 4.2 seconds. By time we got to the next light they were long gone and we shut it down way before we hit the next light. As luck would have it they pulled up next to us again but this time two of them would even look at us but the one guy looked a Joan and gave her the thumbs up. It was pretty funny.
The other thing I noticed was that the wind protection was pretty darn good. I really never thought about having a shield unless a rock was kicked up from the bike in front of me.
At our first stop I was right behind the van that was shooting the video and I guess I should have been looking at the tail lights and not the camera because they stopped pretty hard and made a left and I had to slam on the brakes. The F3 stopped like I dropped an anchor. I've done panic stops on my RT and RS and neither of them stopped this fast.
We did some more interviews and photo shots and headed back in. I think the whole ride was about 2.5 hours and I had no idea we were in Rhode Island till I saw the sign that said welcome to Connecticut. I really did not want to go back to the demo sight. This is a ride I want to keep going on. The ergos on this bike is made for the long haul or just being cool running around town. This is the posture I'm use to. When I say this is the Spyder for me there is a reason. I've been working on this project with them for the last 4 years. I knew what I wanted to see in a cruiser style Spyder and they pretty much nailed it. Even though I didn't build the F3 I do have a lot of my heart and soul into this Spyder and feel like it is my baby too and I'm thankful that I was able to be there when BRP gave birth to her. So if you want to hear about the rest of the show you'll have to read Part 2
opcorn:
