From the couriermail.com.au 

By Mark Hinchliffe

March 29, 2008 12:00am

IS IT a car, or a motorcycle-trike? The three-wheeler Can-Am Spyder roadster has elements of each, yet it’s a whole new class of vehicle.

It has just gone on sale in Australia costing $26,990 and already there are 150 orders for the Canadian vehicle, with a third of those in Queensland.

You will need an open motorcycle licence to ride one, but Rohan Slater, product manager for importers Bombardier Recreational Products Australia (BRP), hopes they can persuade state governments to comply with European and American standards which allow riders to operate the vehicle on a car licence.

Unlike a motorcycle, the rider doesn’t counter-steer the handlebars and the Spyder doesn’t lean in corners.

Unlike a trike, it doesn’t have a single motorcycle front wheel and tire.

Instead, the Spyder has two wheels up front and all three wheels are fitted with a special tire like those on most cars.

Other car-like features include a foot brake that operates all wheels, a parking brake, reverse gear, progressive power steering, traction control, stability control with yaw and rollover sensors, anti-skid brakes and electronic brakeforce distribution.

There is even a six-speed sequential transmission coming in October.

BRP Australia marketing manager Duncan Knight said their market was over 45s looking for a recreational vehicle.

“Or bike riders who might have had an accident on a bike and want something safer,” he said.

BRP Australia, which also imports jet skis, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and Johnson outboard motors, has 60 nationwide dealers, but only eight of these have been appointed to sell the Can-Am Spyder, one in each state.

“The next lot of dealers we appoint will be more mainstream motorcycle dealers within the next 12 months,” Knight said.

“We want to restrict dealer numbers to about Harley-Davidson levels to keep it fairly premium.”

The Spyder is powered by a liquid-cooled 79kW 998cc Austrian-built Rotax V-twin engine which is used in the Aprilia 1000R sportsbike where it produces 110kW.

Rotax also makes engines for BMW bikes and even the new Buell 1152R made by Harley-Davidson.

Knight said the next generation of Spyder could be “more sporty, with more horsepower”.

“But that hasn’t been confirmed yet. This isn’t a sporty bike; it’s a sports tourer.”

Fuel economy from the fuel-injected, dual-cam engine is about 7.5 litres per 100km, which Knight said would give about a 350km touring range from the 27-litre tank.

The Spyder was shown last year at motorcycle expos around the country and passed Australian Design Rules in November, classified in a special new category for tricycles with two front wheels.

“It didn’t fit any existing category,” Knight said.

Slater said they were still working on having the vehicle re-classified as a car-trike, rather than a motorcycle trike.

ADR compliance required a reduction of 3dB on the exhaust, the adjustment of the headlight angle for driving on the left side of the road and a reversing light.

Reverse gear operates off a button on the handlebar that reverses first gear and limits speed to 10km/h.

There is a large “boot” in the 44-litre nose section of the Spyder which will hold two full-face helmets and jackets.

Accessories include a top box, travel bags, cargo liner, passenger backrest, rear seat cowl, sports exhaust and low and high windshields. After market panniers have also been planned.

There is also a range of rider gear coming including protective clothing such as leather jackets and special helmets with a pump-up liner that guarantees a comfortable and firm fit.

The Spyder sits on specially made Chinese Kenda tyres with low recommended pressures of 13-17psi for better ride. Knight said tyre wear was 20-30,000km.

There are sensors in the rear seat to detect a pillion and change the spring settings.

The non-switchable, Bosch vehicle stability system uses a range of sensors including yaw and rollover to keep all wheels on the ground and prevent sliding.

Slater said that while trikes suffered from understeer and tipping, the Spyder tended more toward oversteer.

“With two wheels at the front you get good front grip and oversteer – but with the stability system it means it won’t go into oversteer – and it doesn’t want to tip,” he said.

Up front, riders will notice little different from a normal motorcycle, except for the absence of a right lever for the front brakes as all brakes are operated from the right foot pedal.

The instrument panel includes two large analogue dials for tacho and speedo with a digital screen in the middle with an array of readouts and diagnostics.

The Spyder was launched in the US in January by talk show host and motoring fan Jay Leno who has bought one. They had 1500 orders at launch.

It will be launched in Europe in May, but Knight said there would be no problem with supply.

“We have about 300-plus coming this year and they will all be sold,” he said.

Leisure is BRP’s business.

The company began when Canadian J. Armand Bombardier launched the Ski-Doo snowmobile in 1959.

The company now produces powersports products including the Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft and sport boats, Can-Am all-terrain vehicles and roadsters, Rotax engines, and Evinrude and Johnson outboard engines.

It also jointly develops engines with Austrian manufacturer Rotax.

In the 1970s and ’80s, it also produced motocross motorcycles, with production ending in 1987.

Now BRP, based in Valcourt, Quebec, has turnover of more than $3 billion, with manufacturing plants in Austria, Canada, China, Finland, Mexico and the US, and selling in 80 countries.

The US and Canada represent 71 per cent of BRP’s business, while the Asia-Pacific region, including Austyralia, is only seven per cent.

BRP Australia was established in 2002 when it took over as distributor for Sea-Doo, ATVs and snowmobiles.

Can-Am Spyder

PRICE: $26,990

ENGINE: BRP-Rotax, 8-valve, dual-cam, fuel-injected, 998cc V-twin

POWER: 79kW @ 8500rpm

TORQUE: 104.3Nm @ 6250rpm

COMPRESSION: 10.8:1

BORE X STROKE: 97×68mm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed (plus reverse), belt-drive (80,000km belt life)

SUSPENSION: double A-arm with anti-roll bar (front), swingarm with adjustable cam (rear)

STEERING: dynamic power steering

TYRES: 165/65R14 (front), 225/50R125 (rear)

BRAKES: foot-actuated, integrated hydraulic 3-wheel system, 260×6mm discs and 4-piston calipers (front), 260×6mm disc with single-piston caliper (rear), ABS, EBD, mechanical foot-operated parking brake

SAFETY: vehicle stability, tractional control, roll-over mitigation

DRY WEIGHT: 316kg

FUEL: 27-litre tank, ULP, 7.5L/100km

DIMENSIONS (MM): 2667 (l), 1506 (w), 1145 (h), 115 (clearance), 737 (seat), 1727 (wheelbase)

WARRANTY: 2-year, unlimited kilometres

SERVICE: first 1000km, every 5000km