With more carrying capacity than ANY motorcycle on the market — even some automobiles —- Can-Am sent touring guru and friend-of-MO, Fred Rau, on a tour of Canada and the United States to promote the new 5-speed luxury touring roadster. For those of you not following Fred’s blog @ SpyderFred.com, here’s a little taste of the scenes and opinions he encountered on his great many miles.

In the last year, more than 100,000 test rides have been given at events like these across the country. Many of the interested buyers are current touring bike owners  — Ultra Glides and Gold Wings — and Can-Am has “reinvented riding” so as to get you on board. You might be next!

Two weeks ago, I took a break from my regular duties gathering news for Motorcycle.com to fly to Germany to cover the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show for our sister site AutoGuide.com.

For two hectic days, AutoGuide editor Colum Wood and I scrambled across the massive 6.2 million square foot Messe Frankfurt trade fair compound, running from press conference to press conference to get the latest on exotic sport cars, futuristic concept models and international unveilings from the automotive world.

It was heaven for car lovers, but for me, it meant fighting my way through hordes of photogs, auto-journalists and car show models to get the first photos of four-wheeled goodies from MINI, Ferrari and Lotus. Okay, I didn’t mind the car show models that much.

But I didn’t forget my day job with MO. Through this Cagers’ Paradise, I managed to find some gems for the loyal Motorcycle.com Readers.

Check out the photo gallery after the jump.

BMW, Suzuki and Can-Am displayed some of their latest two-wheeled (or in Can-Am’s case, three-wheeled) vehicles. The Big Red was a no-show unfortunately, but it wasn’t a surprise as Honda seems to be pulling out of everything lately. But I did manage to find a customized Harley-Davidson V-Rod at one of the vendor booths.

But a picture is worth a thousand words, so I think I’ll let the photos do most of the talking.

BMW displayed their new S1000RR Superbike as well as the K1300S.

BRP Germany had an exhibit for the European introduction of the Can-Am Spyder RT. A BRP rep told me the new trailer hasn’t been homologated for Europe yet. BRP also had a Spyder hanging from the rafters, and thankfully, its “webbing” was strong enough to provide a rare view of the three-wheeler’s underbelly.

Suzuki had the largest display of motorcycles. The highlights include MotoGP racer Loris Capirossi’s GSVR and World Superbike racer Max Neukirchner’s GSXR.

Suzuki also had some of their Euro-only models such as the 2010 GSX1250F and the Bandit GSF1250.

Check out the gold details on this white Harley-Davidson V-Rod.

For more pictures, visit the Gallery page. And if you are into cars, don’t forget to stop by AutoGuide.com for our coverage of the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show.

There’s a difference between what you believe and what you know. Nowhere in the construct of the word motorcycle does it suggest a limit on the number of wheels. Are you riding motor-bicycles? Are you riding at all? KPaul? The very ‘first’ motorcycle had 4 wheels by the way. Damn you facts!

What would be your opinion on the Enicycle? Or a trike? Don’t answer that….

How about we just call the Spyder a motor-tricycle? Better yet, let’s call it a Reitwagen (riding car) from now on. And, yes, I got that from Wikipedia.

Although motorcycles are most commonly two-wheeled motor vehicles, they can be so much more. The world isn’t flat anymore!  And if you don’t like choppers, sport bikes, dualies or whizzers, don’t ride ‘em. That just leaves more for me to ride!

Irish-American actor John Cusack recently completed a tour of Ireland on a Can-Am Spyder roadster.

The star of such films as Runaway Jury, High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank was in Ireland for his grandmother’s 80th birthday. After the celebrations, Cusack hopped on his Spyder and toured Ireland with his family, visiting places such as Dublin, Kenmare and Galway.

“Ireland is a beautiful country and I have been amazed by the history and scenery,” says Cusack.  “The Spyder roadster is best experienced in open countryside and Ireland offered the perfect opportunity.

“The Spyder is all about speed, power, control and freedom. When I bought mine I discovered it was so easy to operate and maneuver and by the end of the day it was like I had been riding for years.”

Check out our own reviews of the Can-Am Spyder Roadster:

• 2009 Can-Am Spyder SE5 Review
• 2008 Can-Am Spyder Review
• 2008 Can-Am Spyder Test

The Can-Am Spyder is an interesting beast (arachnid?).  A snowmobile for the road, one might say.  In any case, it’s automotive spectacle that is hard to ignore.

Do you love it, or do you hate it?

If you are at all curious about this beast, head over to the Can-Am Spyder Forums and have a look around.  People have already been posting their pictures, reviews, questions and rants about their Spyders.

If you’re an interested buyer, or just plain curious as to how much you could snag one of these things, why not get a free price quote?

Price quotes for:

2009 Can-Am Spyder Roadster SM5 (Specs)

2009 Can-Am Spyder Roadster SE5 (Specs)

Check out the rest of the article for Motorcycle.com’s video review of this … thing!  Head over to Motorcycle.com for a full written review.

Unlikely to ever see actual production, this one-wheeled concept uses gyroscopic technology to balance its rider. The vehicle was allegedly designed to demonstrate what we bipedal humanoids might be using for transportation in the year 2025.

Not only is the Embrio fascinating from social and design perspectives, but also due to its use of innovative technology. The 360 lb machine is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, created by mixing hydrogen and oxygen meaning that the exhaust by-product of such a reaction is pure drinking water. The Embrio also has infrared night vision and an active suspension, which can vary its damping rates based on riding conditions. If you still aren’t convinced, the Embrio is also able to carry passengers. Not like anyone riding a Segway would need to worry about carrying a date anyhow.

Source

Rumor has it that his sinuses have been taking a hit this winter season. With ground travel being so much slower than the standard issue sled the man in red uses, it won’t be easy to deliver all of his packages on time this year. Especially with DHL dropping it’s service, he’s really behind the eight ball.

What The???

Keen observers (and marketing geniuses to boot) spotted jolly old Saint Nick on the streets of Manhattan this week. Sighting reports from Times Square and 34th street have come in to us at Motorcycle.com because we’re tight with Santa and motorcycles alike. Good reporting has taught us that he was spotted riding the 2009 BRP Spyder Roadster, in atomic red of course.

Being the good boy that Santa is, he started with the Northeastern states and was seen today on his way to the “Marine Toys for Tots” toy drive which began Monday in Manhattan.

Discuss it on the Can-Am Spyder forum.

If you are interested, you can enter the contest mini-site here. Or you can read our 2009 Can-Am Spyder SE5 Review. When you’re all done that, check out the Specs on the 2008 model and leave your own review.

Discuss it on the Can-Am Spyder forum.

I remember my first bicycle. A blue frame with white handlebars and a long white banana seat for comfort. I was riding a Smurf. While I waited for my inner ear to develop, my dad strapped on training wheels to my two wheeled Smurf to keep me from face planting.

The comfort and safety of those training wheels… Riding with those on was like being back in the womb.

But, my co-workers here at work started making fun of me for being in my late 20’s and riding to work on a blue and white banana seated bike with training wheels so I decided to throw that bike into a river and never speak to my co-workers again.

Walking to work sucked so I did a little research on some more manly machines that didn’t need my inner ear and balance to stay up.

Here are 7 bikes I am looking into:

Pal-V (Personal Air and Land Vehicle)

Holy crap! Not only will this cut my commute time in half but it will probably cut off my head when I forget there’s spinning helicopter blades coming out of my motorcycle. Check the site for a video of the land version. Unfortunately they haven’t been able to splice their gyro-copter with the 3 wheeled ground vehicle yet ( I think the key is to get them both drunk ) . Till then, I’ll be working on painting a giant ‘H’ on the roof of my apartment building. I also have a strange craving to bust out my old M.A.S.K. toys…

2008 Victory/Lehman Pitboss Trike

Here’s something a little more normal. It seems Victory knew there were people like me out there and wanted to help us unbalanced folk out. I am especially excited to see in that article “No need to worry about balance, just keep your legs on the floorboards and enjoy the comfortable ride.” Ahhh, what a relief! It also reminds me of the Big Wheel I had before my Smurf bike. I wonder if I can enter this gas powered version into the Big Wheel race down Lombard Street?

Harley-Davidson Tri-Rod

Two wheels on the front, one in the back. I could get used to that though being able to lean into turns like a normal two-wheeler might freak me out a bit. I might put training wheels on the back of this one to keep me upright.

2008 Can-Am Spyder

Whoa, wait a minute. Didn’t we just look at this thing? Oh, I see. Can-am, the maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles decided to strap on a couple of wheels to one of their rides. It doesn’t have the leaning capabilities of the Harley-Davidson but according to this video footage, you can still pull off burn-outs in residential areas.

The Uno

This makes perfect sense. Instead of having MORE wheels to keep me better balanced, let’s take away a couple! The Uno, designed by an 18 year old student, has the technology and, I would say, black magic to keep you balanced on two wheels sitting side-by-side. While the Segway seems like fun to scoot around in airports and show off your black magic powered ride, I don’t know about traveling 60 mph down the freeway on something like this.

2008 GG Quadster

Do you know why tables are so stable? 4 legs, my friends.. Also, because the word “table” is in the word “stable”. Now take that table and stick a 167 hp engine on it and slap a tire on each leg and you have the GG Quadster… or a weird looking table… This is more what I’m talking about!

Projet K-Pteron

I thought I saw one of these trimming the greens around the second hole of the golf course near my apartment while I was snorkeling for expensive golf balls. With a motor like that, it seems that keeping the course well kept would only take a few hours a week though all the grounds keepers would surely be fighting to cut the grass that day. I would’ve taken a closer look while at the golf course but I was chased off the premise by old men in plaid pants.