Can-Am Spyder 2015

The new machine’s frame is a big departure from the previous “SST” frame (Surrounding Spar Technology, in Can-Am speak) and seems to use large-diameter tubes to hang everything together. The bodywork has been dramatically changed, nowhere more obviously than on the sides of the engine-transmission area, where, for the first time, significant sections of the powertrain are visible, in keeping with the traditional motorcyclists’ preferences. It looks as if the engine is the new-for-2014 1330cc inline triple, a transverse fuel-injected dohc powerplant that couples to either the SE6 six-speed electro-hydraulically shifted transmission or a conventional foot-shifted six-speed. But what is all-new is the position of the rider’s footpegs; rather than being under or just forward of the rider, they are now positioned farther forward, leaving the riders’ legs extended, with the shifter and brake lever positioned so that the rider’s feet are cocked up, a la a chopper.