It only took Free Press photojournalist Boris Minkevich an hour to spot Greg McTavish tooling around town on Winnipeg's first 2008 Can-Am Spyder Roadster. It should be noted, however, that Boris spent 10 minutes of that hour trying to catch him.
The low-speed chase occurred last week when Minkevich was out cruising for news in a Free Press Jeep. With a student photographer along for the ride, Boris was no doubt schooling his young protégé on the importance of paying close attention to his surroundings when a space-aged-looking snowmobile on wheels whizzed by.
Greg McTavish, above on his premier edition 2008 Can-Am Spyder Roadster. This revolutionary machine is the first of its kind to hit city streets.
Being the proverbial newshound that he is, Boris told the kid to hang on.
They almost lost McTavish in the Exchange District, but thankfully McTavish spotted the Free Press decals (and Boris grinning from ear to ear) in his rear-view mirror and pulled into a parking lot to let him snap a few photos.
Apparently the resulting encounter had a profound impact on Boris, who is a motorcycle and snowmobile enthusiast.
"Willy, you gotta see this thing, I've never seen anything like it in my life," he excitedly told to me during a phone call moments later. "I actually followed the guy for about 10 minutes before he finally pulled over."
So what the heck is it?
Part snowmobile, part motorcycle, the Spyder is all fun.
Built by Canada's own Bombardier, and billed as the next dimension in open road riding, the Can-Am Spyder Roadster GS is a revolutionary machine that is best described as a street legal, three-wheeled, two-passenger motorcycle. The Ski-Doo roots are apparent, it looks strikingly similar to a snowmobile. Ultimately though, it's classified as a trike. Unlike a traditional trike with one front wheel and dual rears, the Spyder reverses this configuration, with two small but beefy front tires, and a big fat rear tire. This combination results in the performance of a motorcycle with the stability of a sports car. Powered by a 106-horsepower Rotax V-twin engine that is similar to the potent mills found in Italian-built Aprilia motorcycles, the Spyder can accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in a blistering 4.5 seconds and boasts a top speed in excess of 200 km/h. It also features ABS brakes, power steering, and a computerized stability control system.
McTavish, a 31 year-old HVAC engineer with AHS Testing and Balancing, is the first Winnipegger to own a Can-Am Spyder.
He first spotted one in a motorcycle magazine last year. "The moment I saw the pictures I knew I had to have one," McTavish recalled. "It was love at first sight."
At the time, no local dealers were selling them, so McTavish headed to Martin Motorsports in Edmonton and placed a deposit on his Spyder six months ago.
With a price tag of $18,995, McTavish, who previously owned a Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle, saw the Spyder as a hybrid that fulfilled all his open road requirements. "I really enjoyed riding my Harley," he said. "But I found that bringing along luggage wasn't an option and I really wasn't ready for a fully decked-out touring bike yet.
"The Spyder really is the best of both worlds," he beamed. "It is much faster than my Harley, more comfortable, and has plenty of room for storage."
Because the engine is mid-mounted like a motorcycle, the front section, which resembles a snowmobile hood, is actually a cavernous 44-litre cargo trunk with enough room to hold two helmets and jackets, or as McTavish recently discovered, enough space to pick up a few items at Home Depot.
Aftermarket goodies have already started to appear. There is a kit that offers touring bags for the rear, and McTavish is eyeing a new performance exhaust system.
So how does it ride?
"It's very similar to riding a quad," McTavish said. "I got the hang of it almost instantly."
He also reported that the acceleration is amazing, the handling is razor sharp and it stops on a dime. McTavish anticipates he will be able to ride the Spyder for two more months each season, earlier in the spring, and later in the fall. "It performs well on gravel, so it will probably be more stable than a motorcycle in the rain or on small patches of ice," he said.
Another cool element is the fact that it can be fitted for disabled riders, apparently a man in Ontario with limited use of his legs is already on the road.
McTavish trailered the Spyder in from Edmonton last month, arriving at his Transcona home in the middle of the night. Following a few hours of sleep he was out on the road.
"I was just dying to ride it," he said. "The reaction was amazing, if I had a dollar for every head it turns I could have paid for it twice already."
Boris isn't the only one who has followed McTavish on the Spyder. "Just the other day I pulled into my driveway and there were two cars behind me," he said with a grin. "It takes me two hours to run a quick errand, everywhere I go people want to talk about it."
Many think the Spyder is custom-built and ask McTavish if he modified a snowmobile himself. Closer inspection reveals a host of modern engineering. It meets all Department of Transport regulations, and McTavish reported that the cost of insurance, roughly $1800 for the year, is on par with motorcycles of similar value.
If you'd like to lay eyes on a Can-Am Spyder without having to follow Greg McTavish around, Enns Brothers Winnipeg at McGillivry Boulevard and the Perimeter Highway is now an authorized Spyder dealer.
You better hurry though, they are going fast -- real fast.
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