I barely have had time to ride and that means even less time to write about riding. Last weekend I rode for about 3 hours and cruised the river road. I was feeling adventurous and got the bike up to 95 MPH WOOT what a blast!! Of course my ass was sore ALL week from this ride. Luckily the big Harley book of wishes just arrived. There is a seat in there that looks promising but I still need to see if the dealership will let me test drive it or at least return it if I'm not happy. I don't mind paying for a good seat but I don't want to waste money either. Today was just a short hour or so ride because I still had a lot to do at home.

Found this on my How To of the day and it's pretty damn informative. I know it drives me crazy to get stuck at a light that won't change when I'm on the bike and there are no cars behind me.

Trigger Green Lights

So after trying Wordpress for awhile, I have gone back to b2evolution for my blog software. It's just better software and easier for me to use. I couldn't find a Wordpress skin that could properly handle in post images by DEFAULT and none of the 'hacks' seemed to work. B2evolution handles this effortlessly, as it should. So while I am reconfiguring the site, some of the in post images are unavailable, they were integrated into the WP install so I have to upload them through B2evolution. B2evolution is the only software I've ever used on my main blog and on All Things Crabby.com and it's still the best in my eyes after testing WP for an extended period on multiple domains. The WP dashboard has taken on a little too much of a MySpace type look, too simplified almost. I don't need big giant buttons to help me find my way around. Maybe it's better for beginners... I dunno. Anyway I'll be tweaking here and rebuilding so pardon any hiccups.

We received a promotional flyer in our mail, inviting us to Nashville IL for an open house to show off the new Can Am Spyder Roadster. I hadn't heard of this new toy but when I found out that it was a three wheeled motorcycle, with two front wheels, I knew I wanted to check it out. We headed over to Nashville around 11:30 this morning. I expected Holzhauer's to be overrun with people but there was just a small gathering. We looked over a few of the Spyders and then sat down to register for the demo ride. BPR has a great set up for taking demo rides. You register, get a pass card and a free photo on one of the Spyders and they assign you a group time. If you don't have a helmet they provide them. If you aren't wearing long pants you can't take the Spyder on the highway demo. So we had about 30 minutes to kill before our group so we enjoyed some of the free BBQ and went inside to look over the other bikes.

12:30 came quickly and we were invited to watch a short video on the Spyder Roadster. While watching we were also given a quick breathalizer to make sure everyone was fit to ride. BPR is obviously pretty serious about rider safety.

I arrived at the demo expecting to ride a three wheeled motorcycle but the Spyder Roadster is not a motorcycle. I would liken it more to a four wheeler BUT with very advanced handling and braking and of course much more powerful and sleek. It is a very intuitive and easy to ride once you stop thinking of it as a motorcycle.

The Spyder Roadster has a sportscar suspension, making it very comfortable riding even on our rough country roads. It has a semi-automatic transmission with 5 speeds and a true reverse. There is no hand brake, just a foot brake that controls the front and rear anti lock brakes. The engine is a V-Twin 990CC that is very powerful and responsive. On the high way you will feel like you are on a motorcycle again and the Spyder is capable of running 100 MPH.

BPR's committment to safety extends beyond the demo ride when you take a look at the features built into the Spyder to increase rider safety:

VBS...........................................Vehicle Stability System
ABS...........................................Anti-lock Braking System
TCS...........................................Traction Control System
SCS...........................................Stability Control System withRoll-Over Mitigation
DPS...........................................Dynamic Power Steering
DESS.........................................Digitally Encoded Security System

The gas tank holds over six gallons of gas and the front of the Spyder opens for storage. This mini trunk will hold 2 full face helmets with a bit of a squeeze.

I don't see this as a replacement to a cruise bike, it's not quite that comfortable. My left hand also was feeling a bit overworked. I think that is because you sit leaned forward as you would on a four wheeler and all the turning is done with the handlebars, not by leaning or shifting your weight as you do on a two wheeled bike.

To check out a Spyder you can visit Holzhauers in Nashville, IL, Ted's Harley Davidson in Alton, or West County Powersports in Valley Park MO.

Our videos are below and a few pics I took at the open house.

Before I went riding today I took a pic of my pipes and a little video (for the sound only) and I thought I'd share.