DARTMOUTH – Three-wheel motorcycles are becoming popular, and Safety Services Nova Scotia says it will soon offer a training course for riding them.
The instructors are now being trained so they’ll be prepared to instruct the course in the spring.
Herve Breton, the chief instructor for Bombardier Recreational Products, said they’re not like traditional motorcycles.
“It doesn’t drive like a motorcycle, it doesn’t ride like a motorcycle,” he said.
Breton is in Dartmouth where he is holding three days of training for instructors at Safety Services Nova Scotia. He did three hours of classroom training with four instructors before they got hands on experience of the three-wheel Spyders from Bombardier.
The popularity of the Spyder, manufactured by Bombardier in Quebec, caused Safety Services Nova Scotia to decide to develop its own riding course.
“We’ve had requests and demands for this type of training…and we’ve partnered with them to bring this course to Nova Scotia,” said Ed Snow, the motorcycle training manager at Safety Services.
The vehicle has a single rear wheel and two wheels in front for steering, similar in layout to a snowmobile, and Breton says it’s very safe.
“Compared with a motorcycle, I would say it’s about 70 per cent to 75 per cent safer than a motorcycle, only by it’s construction,” he said.
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Snow said accident rates are very low on the three-wheel machines.
“You don’t have that balance fear factor that people have on a two-wheel motorcycle,” he said. “If you lean the motorcycle or you hit something that throws your balance off, that’s normally when you’re going to have an accident.”
John Stone, an instructor, said manoeuvering the vehicles is different than on a regular motorcycle, “but it comes very quickly.”
Snow said the heavy weight of many motorcycles has made the three-wheel variety more attractive to some people, including elderly riders and those with physical disabilities.
Safety Services Nova Scotia will develop the course over the winter, and must get approval from the province before offering it to the public.
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