Last weekend, I was invited out to Detroit to test a vehicle with just stupid levels of power. To get there, I didn’t hop in my stately BMW E61 wagon or one of my many Volkswagen diesels but a trike. BRP is loaning me a 2023 Can-Am Spyder F3-T to test out and there’s perhaps no better way to evaluate a touring machine than to take it on a trip. Along the way, I’ve discovered the secret about trikes like these: they’re remarkably comfortable. The Spyder was so soft on this run it was like riding a recliner and I’m not entirely sure how BRP pulled it off.
Since I started riding in 2018, I’ve owned somewhere around 20 or 30 motorcycles and ridden many more, the vast majority with two wheels. Through all of this time, I’ve remained a big proponent of trikes. Many motorcyclists dismiss trikes as the worst parts of a car combined with the worst parts of a motorcycle. I can see the logic there. A trike is a heavy motorcycle that’s as wide as a car and doesn’t lean. At the same time, owning a trike is like driving a car that doesn’t have a roof and has three tracks rather than just two.
Sure, that is all true, but I would ask these people to see the flipside of trikes. You don’t have to balance a trike, which is great for people who aren’t physically able to balance a motorcycle. This is a bigger population of people than you might think. This summer, I want to teach my wife how to ride a motorcycle. But I have to work around the limitation of not blowing out her bad knee. That wouldn’t be a problem with a trike. They’re also great in horrible weather, look otherworldly, and statistically, have been a gateway for getting diverse sets of people into motorcycles, which is always a good thing.
Still, I see many riders question why you would buy a trike when a regular motorcycle will almost always be better and cheaper. Over the past couple of weeks, I found a compelling reason for trikes, specifically the 2023 Can-Am Spyder F3-T parked outside right now.
It’s as comfortable as a La-Z-Boy and road trips like a car, yet still gives you those feelings of freedom provided by a motorcycle. My full review of this machine will come soon. For now, I just want to focus on this one skill that the Spyder F3-T does really well.
Detroit By Trike
Last weekend, I was invited out to Detroit to drive a truck with so much power that my Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI feels like an economy car in comparison. I’ve never flown to Detroit. By the time you go to the airport, get through security, board the plane, taxi, and all of the other stuff, going from Chicago to Detroit by plane doesn’t save much time. So, I always drive out.
Normally, I’d hop into something like the 2007 BMW 540xiT that I bought from the Bishop. I’d get to sit in air-conditioned leathery luxury and just pile on the miles. Or I’d take one of my diesels and enjoy range so good that I’d arrive in Detroit with tons of fuel remaining.
By the weekend, I had managed to put a few hundred miles on the Spyder just scooting around the local area, and I noticed that after those rides I felt great. This was important.
I love my collection of motorcycles, but my bikes have usually been harsh in some way, at least, for my body type. It’s no secret that I’m a bigger person and my big rear impacts how I feel after a long ride. My wife is staring me down as I write this and I think I’m contractually obligated to say that said ass is nice. Look, I don’t disagree with my lawyer.
Anyway, long rides on my old top-heavy Triumph Tiger made me feel like I had a workout. My Buell Lightning’s seat straight up makes my hiney hurt after maybe 200 miles. My new-to-me Triumph Rocket III has a seat that feels cushy enough, but the suspension (and maybe the old tires) sends jolts that I can feel in my spine. The Royal Enfield Classic 350 has a good combination of seat and suspension, but not enough horses in the stable for a trip like this.
Admittedly, I had low expectations for the Can-Am. I took the Spyder’s newer, smaller sibling, the Can-Am Ryker (below), down the Pacific Coast Highway in California and the bike did the job without a hiccup, but the standard seat was hard enough that 150 miles a day was about my limit.
The Spyder is a completely different experience.
Road-Tripping Canada’s Gold Wing
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I left my apartment Friday morning and hit the road. My destination was Detroit Metro Airport, approximately 330 miles and five hours from home. That’s where my next press loaner awaited. This road trip wasn’t going to be any different than the ones I normally do. I make an initial stop for food and fuel, then get on the road and don’t stop again until I need more fuel.
After a quick stop at a Casey’s General Store for pizza, fuel, and a chat with a stranger, I hit I-90, bound for Michigan. I also checked the baggage compartments one last time. The Spyder F3-T has enough storage for a weekend for two, provided you’re using soft bags like I did.
Trikes tend to come in three configurations. Harley-Davidson trikes are rear trikes, where you have one wheel up front and two in the rear. Many aftermarket trike conversions are also rear trikes. Can-Ams are known as reverse trikes, where you have two wheels up front and one in the rear. Urals and other sidecar rigs will have two wheels in parallel like a regular motorcycle, plus a third wheel off to the side.
Rear trikes have been around for basically as long as the motorcycle itself. In my experience, some rear trikes can require some real muscle to maneuver at slower speeds and they’ll sometimes have a turn radius comparable to a battleship. Handling can also gets weird. With a rear trike, you have a lot of weight and car tires behind you and a single motorcycle tire up front. At least in my experience, hard cornering and hard braking in a rear trike can result in an uneasy feeling as weight shifts onto that sole front wheel.
Reverse trikes are a solution to stability woes. Now, when you corner and brake, two tires in a wide stance are loaded up. When you maneuver in a tight environment, you get two wheels turning sharp. And unlike a rear trike, I don’t get the feeling that when I want it to turn, it wants to continue straight. As a bonus, on a green light you can hit a Can-Am’s throttle hard and do a burnout. Do that while turning and you’ll lift one of the front wheels in the air.
The Spyder F3-T has excellent highway manners. I set the cruise control and pointed the bars where I wanted the trike to go, and the trike did it without complaints. Let go of the bars and so long as the road is level, it’ll continue going straight like a car with a perfect alignment.
It handled cloverleaf curves and ramps with grace as well. You don’t countersteer or lean on a trike like you would with a motorcycle. Instead, you just turn the bars. Still, the lack of leaning can feel awkward. For Can-Ams, I recommend pushing with your legs to counterbalance not unlike riding a snowmobile; fitting for a BRP product. I don’t think these can out-handle a two-wheeler, but you can hit some high speeds in sharp corners.
Smooth Rider
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Comfort was on an entirely different level compared to the Can-Am Ryker. With a Ryker, you feel everything on the road. Run over a dime and you could probably tell what year it was minted. With the Spyder? The ride quality was almost car-like. Cracks and smaller bumps just aren’t felt and the bigger stuff is soaked up pretty well. The amazing thing to me is that the saddle isn’t that thick or super soft. I think what’s going on here is the combination of fat tires, the seat, and perhaps importantly, a rear air suspension. Add them all up, and my tush felt great.
It was only on those infamous Michigan potholes did the Spyder get unsettled. I hit a few of those hard enough to make me fear I broke the trike, but it was fine. If there was anything holding the Spyder back, it was the fact that it had three wheels. A regular motorcycle can dodge potholes. A car can sort of dodge potholes.
A Spyder has just two narrow gaps between three wheel tracks, so you could straddle small obstacles, but, come up on a minefield of potholes and you will hit them.
Still, even with that in mind, I was thoroughly impressed with how exalted the lofty machine made me feel on the highway. Heck, I’ve driven a number of new cars with far worse rides than this plastic-bodied trike. I found myself just sitting on the Spyder taking in the sights of Michigan without a worry in the world.
This wasn’t a “pure” motorcycle experience like my Royal Enfield, but it was oh-so relaxing in just how pleasant it is. The engine hummed away and the windshield diverted just enough air to keep buffeting down while also keeping my noggin cool. The trike’s clear display showed me just what I wanted to know and the 7.1-gallon fuel tank provided an easy 240-mile range at highway speeds.
The last time I felt this relaxed on a motorcycle, it was on a more expensive BMW R 18 Transcontinental with its nifty adaptive cruise control. Of course, a Honda Gold Wing is also exceptionally comfortable, same for Harley’s tourers. Sadly, the $22,799 Spyder F3-T is only a grand cheaper than the BMW, but that’s something to talk about in the full review. And while I don’t recommend being the kind of person to blast your tunes at everyone, the Spyder’s stereo was loud and clear, even at 80 mph. That’s something not even the Marshall system on BMW’s dresser can do.
Speaking of the engine, power comes from a 1,330cc Rotax ACE triple that’s making 115 HP and 96 lb-ft torque and putting it down to the rear wheel through a six-speed semi-automatic transmission. Shifting is achieved through a thumb shifter under the left grip. The engine is moving a vehicle that weighs a thousand pounds, but it gets up to speed quickly and while muted, it puts out a nice sound, especially when you hit the plus button on the semi-automatic transmission and the engine puts out a little raspy burble during the gear shift.
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When I dismounted the Spyder, I wasn’t worn out or fatigued like I sometimes get on longer motorcycle trips. Instead, I felt like I hopped out of a car. I still felt “fresh” and that if I had to, I could totally do another 300, maybe 500 miles. Maybe I could even do an Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000 on one of these!
Again, I’m going to have a full write-up on the 2023 Can-Am Spyder F3-T soon, but this is a very long way to answer the question so many riders have asked me. What are trikes good for? Well, for big boys like the Can-Am Spyder, it’s laying on a ton of miles in sublime comfort.
(Images: Author, unless otherwise noted.)
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A good aftermarket seat will solve so many comfort problems. Russell Day-Long live up to the name. Also, LD Comfort riding shorts made a huge difference until I got my Russell, and still useful on bad days.
I found that seat shape is more critical than padding or suspension.
Sort of off topic, but owning 20 motorbikes in 5 years (alongside all your cars) how can you ever get enough time on each of them to actually appreciate them and learn how to get the best out of them and so on? I’ve had 16 cars and bikes since 2004 and the most mileage I’ve ever done on any one of those vehicles was about 30,000kms and I still think there was more to learn about that car. The most I ever did on a bike was 4400kms in 2 years on a Yamaha MT-03. Commutes mostly around 20kms each way. If I’d owned 20 motorbikes in 5 years at a total of about 11000kms travelled soley by bikes then basically it means only haven ridden each bike about 550kms, or basically about a week and a halves commuting. Hardly enough time to learn each bike
Lots of them sit unused. She’s posted about having to clean out large amounts of mold.
Good post. I wouldn’t have read this had it been written by anyone else.
Agreed!
I saw some turkey trying to lane filter on one of these the other day, must have forgotten which vehicle they took out, cause it deffo didn’t filter well…
I am pleased with both of my trikes. But they are nothing like this vehicle. The main weakness of this sort of trike is the possibility of losing rear wheel traction. On a rear-drive configuration for a tadpole layout(tadpole is 2 wheels up front, one in the rear; the inverse of this is 1 up front two in the rear called delta), the rear wheel is providing lateral stability. If you lose your rear tire, be prepared to lose control and possibly crash. Having three tracks is a disadvantage going over potholes, but also compared to a 4-wheeled vehicle with the same front and rear track, having 3 tracks is a disadvantage in snow, sand, or mud, as your rolling resistance will increase.
For cornering, the ideal weight distribution of a tadpole will be 67F/33R. However, this is not ideal for traction if rear-driven. If there was ever a configuration where I’d prefer FWD as opposed to RWD, a tadpole trike with its weight distribution optimized for cornering is it. If you were to have most of your weight over the front wheels, and they were the drive wheels, you can also optimize acceleration. The Vanderhall 3-wheel sports car took advantage of this.
When my trike had a mere 4 horsepower, it was enough to do donuts and break rear wheel traction. I had the center of gravity so low it wouldn’t flip over in hard cornering or even get up on two wheels, as the narrow tires were the limiting factor to its traction and achievable lateral G forces. Now it has 13 horsepower, and is damned near uncontrollable at full acceleration. It takes off like a sports car. But mine’s also electric with 200 lb-ft of torque at stall and weighs less than 1/10th what this CanAm Spyder does, so that has a lot to do with the meagre amount of power allowing so much fun. A 108V battery to replace my current 48V and a PowerVelocity controller to replace my current controller will really make it come alive. 13 horsepower is the limit of what my single motor can take, and only for a few seconds at a time. When I decide I want more, I’m going to need to add a motor in each front wheel, which would make it AWD and completely stupid with regard to acceleration.
As a motorcycle guy, I really don’t understand why someone would get one of these instead of an MX-5. It seems like all of the downsides of a motorcycle with none of the benefits. Maybe I’ll change my tune when I’m older…
You might, I sure did. I’ve owned multiple convertibles too, and while they are great, I still long for something as open as a bike. So maybe this is close…
I feel like I am close to aging out of bikes. Injuries take so long to heal as you get older and I am grumpy when I’m hurt. Not that I’ve had a bike accident, knock wood.
There’s a lot of talk of multiple hundred mile trips in these comments, but what of the daily rides into town to get a couple groceries? Or to grab a quick ride on the good roads before dinner? Long motorbike trips are the stuff many of my memories are made of, but I just don’t have the time any more. I’m in the Mountain South so I don’t have to travel to good roads; they’re right outside my door. What I don’t want to do is put on Dyneema jeans, and boots, and a jacket before my gloves and helmet for a total ride of an hour or so at 90 degrees and decent humidity. This CanAm would do nothing for that. I’m just as vulnerable on a trike as I would be on two wheels so my major complaint is still there AND it would be less fun (saying this as a lifelong motorbike-person that loves to lean in the twisties).
I think a sporty ‘vert gets me mostly there. The wife was even on board with selling the bikes for the last Exocet that was on CarsandBids, but it went higher than I could stomach.
I’ve got some yelling at clouds to go do.
I think in the grand scheme of things an ATV still beats this trike in counterintuitiveness, but they seem to be fighting real tight.
As a motorcycle guy, I know one thing: if you have a seat between your legs, not under your butt, and you use handlebars to turn – then, when you take a curve and your vehicle doesn’t lean you’re already in the process of falling, and you’re toast.
I have friends who became extremely good with ATVs. What was common to all of them was that they had never touched a bike in their life before, and were car guys.
I guess they simply didn’t have the “turning + not leaning = falling” reflex stamped in their brains.
PS: Benefit of the doubt to something as wide and low as this thing, but still – puzzles me as to any potential advantages it might have vs a Miata or similar.
I needed this article. Less than a week ago I sold my last motorcycle. Age and some niggling aches and pains caught up with me. The most bitter pill to swallow was admitting that my skills were slipping. This reminded me that I like the Spyders. Something to hang a little hope on. Look forward to your review.
The helmet and other safety gear required for riding a motorcycle feel really enclosing and oppressive to me. I feel a whole lot more freedom driving a Miata sized convertible, where I can feel the wind in my hair, smell the outdoors, and see more then just a plastic helmet slot of view.
True Autocars like the Morgan Trike and Vanderhall seem like the way to go, not much larger and heavier than a big bike, but you can drive off in reasonable safety with the wind in your hair and without 20 minutes of finding and putting on safety gear.
Sorry road trips like a car? Maybe a Model T. But the problem with the 3 wheeler is you absolutely cannot miss a pothole. On the left, bang, on the right, bang, in the middle of the road bang. And the ride, suspension, tires, shocks, are so puny you aint get that Cadillac feeling. I bet a K-Car gives a smoother ride.
My dream trike was and will always be the Carver One. It’s a tragedy we never got these in the US either from Carver or from the complete failure that was Fly The Road or whatever the hell that was supposed to be. I heard someone is trying to do an electric version but we probably won’t see that vapor bike either. If I could work out how to import one of these I would just start chucking cash in their general direction. https://youtu.be/TK4wzBYmTIo?t=13
My hard steering Super Tenere with sidecar and no cruise control has been beating up my arms and shoulders, so I looked into the Spyder. Tempting, but too expensive, far less cargo space than a sidecar, and MPG no better.
But seriously, you choose a sidecar for the ridiculous cool factor, right?
No, to hold the bike up at stops and carry my wheelchair.
“Trikes tend to come in three configurations. Harley-Davidson trikes are rear trikes, where you have one wheel up front and two in the rear. Many aftermarket trike conversions are also rear trikes. Can-Ams are known as reverse trikes, where you have two wheels up front and one in the rear. Urals and other sidecar rigs will have two wheels in parallel like a regular motorcycle, plus a third wheel off to the side.”
I have not ridden a sidecar since 2005 but, back then, I never heard a sidecar referred to as a “trike.”
Sidecars are a lot of fun and I recommend them frequently. I was able to take a sidecar training course, if you can find one in your area, consider this way to enter the sidecar life. This is a good way to get an idea of whether or not you might enjoy a “rig,” without making a big investment.
I rode a fairly heavy, but not powerful, rig (BMW R100/7 attached to a Jupiter [USSR] sidecar.) I would recommend considering a lighter rig to anyone who is worried about any significant physical problems, especially in a rig that does not have a reverse gear as it will need to be pushed backwards occasionally. Another advantage of a lighter sidecar is that it is easier “fly” the sidecar in tight turns.
A reverse trike always seems like the perfect thing to use as a camera platform for those low to the pavement high speeds in traffic shots.
The tadpole trike (two in front) is definitely the most stable and safe 3 wheeler compared to a conventional trike or a sidecar and the not having to put a foot down is a definite plus. If we had more time to ride and the money for a new machine I would definitely get a Can Am for my wife because her short legs severely limit her motorcycle choices.
I rode a Can Am a few years ago and it seemed fine but required me to forget everything I knew about riding a motorcycle since you don’t countersteer, and every control except the throttle and brake pedal was missing or relocated. (it was an automatic so no clutch, no foot shift, and no front brake lever). I would adapt but it’s something to be aware of.
I haven’t ridden a Spyder in over a decade, but the only thing I remember being just a little unsettling was that the rear tire could get a little wandery as it’s riding a crest in the middle of the lane – not dangerously so, just enough to be a little quirky. But while I’m not comfortable riding in the wet or on gravel/dirt roads, I’d be willing to take a trike in either, which helps their case as a road trip machine.
This made me miss Metro Detroit. I used to sit by hunter house during the dream cruise. Last year I did an Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000 to Auburn Hills but I really didnt get to enjoy the area since I was on a tight schedule. I need to go back, maybe for the Dream Cruise or Concours D elegance
I find it odd that I can take the test for my motorcycle licence on one of these and it would allow me to drive any motorcycle
That depends on the jurisdiction. Washington, for example, has separate testing requirements and licensing endorsements for two-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicles. The latter includes bikes with sidecars, too.
This is Alberta, there is a place that does all their lessons on these and the tests too
+1 for Hunter House!
I was hoping that skill would be donuts, but I guess long-range comfort is nice too. 🙂
Well, it will do quite a long peel out if you try hard enough, but that’s something to talk about later. 😉
(I’m also still trying to see if the stability control can be defeated)
I suspect the front brakes would win that 2-on-1.
Looking forward to additional details. 🙂
I tend to go with the fairly widely adopted terms “delta configuration” for one wheel in front and “tadpole configuration” for one wheel in back. I’ve seen “reverse trike” used frequently but I don’t think I’ve seen the term “rear trike” before. Usually I’ve seen the opposite of “reverse trike” described as “conventional trike” or “standard trike” which, of course, only helps if one already knows which way is considered to be conventional and/or standard.
Tippy-over trike vs… uh, not tippy-over? Yeah, your taxonomy is better.
Deltas are tippy if one makes the foolish mistake of slowing down while turning. Tadpoles are tippy if one makes the awesome decision to speed up while turning.
I would have said this makes the proper choice abundantly clear but then I’d have to come to terms with the fact that I own one of each.
You also neglected to mention that a delta is an understeer machine if you try to accelerate hard while turning.
All kinds of tradeoffs.
Lots of go traction with a tiny steering contact patch. Who would’ve thought?
My tadpole HMV Freeway is powered by a 12 hp Tecumseh and my delta American Microcar Tri-Ped is powered by a 1.9 hp Minarelli, so it really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that I failed to mention, or indeed even consider, the consequences of hard acceleration.
I don’t know how to do fancy inline quoting, but I will say this about flying from Chicago to DTW – there is a train that goes from Detroit to Chicago like 3 times a day. It looks like you may have even taken a picture in front of it. It is pretty nice.
The Wolverine. A great way to get from Detroit to Chicago and back. Or Chicago to Detroit and back.
Taking the Amtrak through northern Indiana is a NEVERAGAIN for me. There is so much fucking freight traffic, you can get stuck sitting for hours just a few miles from your destination. It makes me sad because I would vastly prefer rail to air, but too many bad experiences on that route.
(All that said, I would rather drive than fly that distance!)
Spyder FT-3: Your can am still happy after a long ride.
Great write up! Only part that stood out…man I miss Casey’s pizza.
If they offered a removable closed cabin for foul weather, these would have a much wider audience, I think.
Yeah but a vehicle over 1000lbs with three wheels and an enclosed cabin is called an Elio.
The key word is “removable”.
If the Can-Am Spyder had a removable cabin, or even a good rain top of some sort, I would probably own one. I like the way they ride on the highway, and I’m immune to the douchebags who harass you for not owning a “real motorcycle”.
But they’re way too expensive for the way I would use one.
I like motorcycles better for twisty roads, but I’ve found that I really hate being rained on while out on a tour. Especially if you’re on the way home and already running late. (My own fault, I know.) My motorcycle is mostly for local travel. Vacations are done in a convertible or the minivan.
I’m not sure how this would fit into my garage without a top of some sort available, so I’ve never seriously considered one.
Miata
Is
Always
The
Answer
Cool Can-Am, but I’m just here for this:
Please be V8 Bronco, please be V8 Bronco, please be V8 Bronco, oh and 2 door too, thanks.
Its going to be the Raptor R. Unfortunately.
Why would that be an embargoed review, in fact a review of that vehicle has already appeared on this very website.
My actual guess is the GM competitor to the Raptor R.
I hope they put the Z06’s V8 in whatever it is
It’s probably the Ram REV or Silverado EV or Hummer SUV or some other electric stupidity
The folks from Detroit know what the truck is, because Mercedes drove it to the meet-up. It’s none of the things mentioned so far.
Interesting, what prevents you from spilling the beans then?
Nothing really, other than I didn’t want to mention it if Mercedes didn’t. I’m also enjoying the guesses. It’s not electric or a hybrid. There’s photos of it in the Discord under Detroit.
It’s the [redacted]