[Swinglo]

I'm sure this topic has been covered before. I searched and can't find it, so here goes:

- State your case if the SS is a car or a motorcycle. Avoid the DMV descriptions - that's just gubmint stuff! Let's get the enthusiasts opinions.

I ask because I've seen it referred to as both on this site with no rhyme or reason. I also see the threads where people say they were looking at a C7 Vette or a Cobra as an alternative. Or a Can Am or a Ducatti, etc.

For me, it's about two columns and which column has more listed.

- Operator 'drives' the vehicle by sitting IN it. - he doesn't 'ride' the vehicle atop it. You can't fall 'off' of it.
- Two passengers sitting side by side
- Steering wheel vs. handlebar with a steering column/column switches/indicators
- Automobile engine
- Automobile transmission vs. sequential and features a stick shift and 3 pedals.
- The interior/cockpit is laid out as a car is, not a motorcycle - steering wheel, seat belts, footwell, etc.
- It has reverse!!!
- single rear wheel features a swing arm and driven by a belt (motorcycle)
- motorcycles don't weight 1750#

So, to me - it's a car. No one looks at a Morgan 3 Wheeler and says 'motorcycle'. They say 'three wheeled car'. By the same token, people don't look at a Can Am Spyder and say 'car'. They say 'three wheeled motorcycle'. The average lay person will look at it and say 'car'. I showed it to my wife as my next toy and she never said 'you're getting a motorcycle!!?!??!?!' Perhaps its like charging/blocking in basketball - depends on which side you root for. For me, it makes no sense when people refer to it as a motorcycle. I just don't see.

On a side note, was talking to the dealer and she said that, of her initial orders/deposits, probably 6 of 10 are 'car' guys and not motorcycle guys. Why is this relevant? Like me, the whole motorcycle license thing.

Will be interesting to see what the world things. Perhaps I'll just go with 'hybrid thingie'.

Discuss on...

 

[SAINT SS]

I Consider it a hybrid but more of a car.. When I talk about it with my biker buddies they kinda just smile and shake their heads

 

[Swinglo]

I Consider it a hybrid but more of a car.. When I talk about it with my biker buddies they kinda just smile and shake their heads

Short and sweet - makes sense.

My Lotus buddies are the same way - it's cool, but....they think they can't understand - and rightfully so - is, where is all the weight? If a Lotus Elise is 1,950# and Morgan Three Wheeler is 1,200# - how is the SS so 'heavy' at 1,750-ish? Fair question.

 

[Slingking]

I'm sure this topic has been covered before. I searched and can't find it, so here goes:

- State your case if the SS is a car or a motorcycle. Avoid the DMV descriptions - that's just gubmint stuff! Let's get the enthusiasts opinions.

I ask because I've seen it referred to as both on this site with no rhyme or reason. I also see the threads where people say they were looking at a C7 Vette or a Cobra as an alternative. Or a Can Am or a Ducatti, etc.

For me, it's about two columns and which column has more listed.

- Operator 'drives' the vehicle by sitting IN it. - he doesn't 'ride' the vehicle atop it. You can't fall 'off' of it.
- Two passengers sitting side by side
- Steering wheel vs. handlebar with a steering column/column switches/indicators
- Automobile engine
- Automobile transmission vs. sequential and features a stick shift and 3 pedals.
- The interior/cockpit is laid out as a car is, not a motorcycle - steering wheel, seat belts, footwell, etc.
- It has reverse!!!
- single rear wheel features a swing arm and driven by a belt (motorcycle)
- motorcycles don't weight 1750#

So, to me - it's a car. No one looks at a Morgan 3 Wheeler and says 'motorcycle'. They say 'three wheeled car'. By the same token, people don't look at a Can Am Spyder and say 'car'. They say 'three wheeled motorcycle'. The average lay person will look at it and say 'car'. I showed it to my wife as my next toy and she never said 'you're getting a motorcycle!!?!??!?!' Perhaps its like charging/blocking in basketball - depends on which side you root for. For me, it makes no sense when people refer to it as a motorcycle. I just don't see.

On a side note, was talking to the dealer and she said that, of her initial orders/deposits, probably 6 of 10 are 'car' guys and not motorcycle guys. Why is this relevant? Like me, the whole motorcycle license thing.

Will be interesting to see what the world things. Perhaps I'll just go with 'hybrid thingie'.

Discuss on...

I have the exact opinion. I've argued this a bit on a couple other threads. Like SS said as well, it's a hybrid but more of a car.

I Consider it a hybrid but more of a car.. When I talk about it with my biker buddies they kinda just smile and shake their heads

I'm a motorcycle guy and car guy (more motorcycle than car.) Most of my motorcycle enthusiast friends scoff at the SS. "Dude it's going to be slow......You're going to regret taking it on our big ride.......That's not a motorcycle." So on and so forth. My car enthusiast buddies love the SS. Some of them however scoff at the price. They like to list what performance vehicles I can get on the used market with a roof and 4th wheel for the same money. However, it's my car enthusiast friends that are very excited to see it. They're constantly asking, "Did you get it yet!?......I showed it to the Wife and she didn't get pissed. I might get one too!"
So to reiterate, it's a cool car......Thing.

 

[Otter]

Of course it's a car.

And I applaud Polaris for exploiting the loophole that calls it a MC.

Yes, the price is crazy when you compare it to a car, only a low volume justifies 20 - 24K. The only thing that will KEEP it low volume is that 'Gummit' thing. It's a killer concept with a big maket that regulation has kept out of the market until someone had the balls to do it as Polaris has.

I hope it lasts!

 

[arizonapaul]

Strictly from a drivers perspective(notice I said driver), It is a car. Nothing about sitting in the 'cockpit' would give the feeling of 'riding' a bike. There is no lean when turning, which is a huge part of the riding experience. I agree that Polaris did a great job exploiting the loophole for a motorcycle to get it passed, well most states! I bought it as a alternative to a Ariel Atom or a Lotus Elise, of which I owned the latter in 05. It is absolutely the best bang for the buck in a fun, exhilarating experience for the money. Tired of hearing about all the other cars, with a roof and air/heat I can get for the same money. The Miata keeps popping up as a comparison. Its like telling me to sell my Benz and buy a Prius because I can get way better gas mileage, it just does not make sense.

 

[Swinglo]

You and me both!

Funny - I too am replacing a Lotus Elise with this (possibly). I'm coming off my second Elise ('05 NA and then an '08 SC). Sold a couple of weeks ago for $5K more than I paid for it with the intent of getting another 'toy' in the spring (avoids storage, etc). For the money, there's just no other alternative that can provide that raw experience - from a car perspective. I sold the Elise for $42K. My plan was to effectively pocket $20K and then spend $20-ish on another toy. Nothing in the car world fit the bill. The other option I love is a Beck 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder replica. Even those are selling in the $30-35K range. Just can't come to grips with spending that much on a bare bones replica - even if it's as fantastic as the Beck is.

Lotus guys are goofy (and I was/am one). They think you should drive naked because clothes 'weigh 2 pounds' or that your wife should get a colonic before a 'spirited drive' to 'shave weight'. As such, they have an issue (fairly so) with the 1,750# curb weight. However, like myself and evomind on the forum, I can see quite a few ex-Elise owners getting a SS. Just as the Atom or X-bow give that same vibe as an Elise (albeit more raw), the SS appears to be in the same neighborhood - at a fraction of the cost!

 

[arizonapaul]

Funny - I too am replacing a Lotus Elise with this (possibly). I'm coming off my second Elise ('05 NA and then an '08 SC). Sold a couple of weeks ago for $5K more than I paid for it with the intent of getting another 'toy' in the spring (avoids storage, etc). For the money, there's just no other alternative that can provide that raw experience - from a car perspective. I sold the Elise for $42K. My plan was to effectively pocket $20K and then spend $20-ish on another toy. Nothing in the car world fit the bill. The other option I love is a Beck 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder replica. Even those are selling in the $30-35K range. Just can't come to grips with spending that much on a bare bones replica - even if it's as fantastic as the Beck is.

Lotus guys are goofy (and I was/am one). They think you should drive naked because clothes 'weigh 2 pounds' or that your wife should get a colonic before a 'spirited drive' to 'shave weight'. As such, they have an issue (fairly so) with the 1,750# curb weight. However, like myself and evomind on the forum, I can see quite a few ex-Elise owners getting a SS. Just as the Atom or X-bow give that same vibe as an Elise (albeit more raw), the SS appears to be in the same neighborhood - at a fraction of the cost!

Yep, Agree, it comes down to the bang for the buck. I will soon have two Sl's in my garage. The slingshot, and my current 13 sl550. Twin turbo, 429 horses and monster 518 pounds of torque. but on that one, it was the reverse of the Slingshot-I GOT BANGED FOR MY BUCK----LOL

 

[Swinglo]

Good stuff. My daily is a '14 Audi S4 that I have chipped. 3 kids so need to be able to haul people around.

I love my toys. In the last 24 months, I've owned '05 Lotus Elise, '08 Lotus Elise SC and a fun little 1969 Mini Moke that I restored. All 3 of those are gone, so my barn is empty. Will remain empty until spring.

My attention turns from fun cars, track days and spirited drives in the spring/summer/fall to hockey, hockey and more hockey in the winter.

 

[Otter]

Funny - I too am replacing a Lotus Elise with this (possibly). I'm coming off my second Elise ('05 NA and then an '08 SC). Sold a couple of weeks ago for $5K more than I paid for it with the intent of getting another 'toy' in the spring (avoids storage, etc). For the money, there's just no other alternative that can provide that raw experience - from a car perspective. I sold the Elise for $42K. My plan was to effectively pocket $20K and then spend $20-ish on another toy. Nothing in the car world fit the bill. The other option I love is a Beck 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder replica. Even those are selling in the $30-35K range. Just can't come to grips with spending that much on a bare bones replica - even if it's as fantastic as the Beck is.

Lotus guys are goofy (and I was/am one). They think you should drive naked because clothes 'weigh 2 pounds' or that your wife should get a colonic before a 'spirited drive' to 'shave weight'. As such, they have an issue (fairly so) with the 1,750# curb weight. However, like myself and evomind on the forum, I can see quite a few ex-Elise owners getting a SS. Just as the Atom or X-bow give that same vibe as an Elise (albeit more raw), the SS appears to be in the same neighborhood - at a fraction of the cost!

All similar to my thoughts. I considered Elise, Exocet, Atom and X-Bow as alternatives. And yes, every ounce counts!

I hope to get my SS soon but a few weeks ago I had to do something to preserve my sanity while waiting so started on something I call the "What The" to get the SS experience at minimum cost. I'm stripping an 1988 RX-7 of every possible ounce (including the doors for the 'open air feel of the SS), the rear glass hatch and putting in a removable sun roof panel. Weight coming in around 2000 lbs with 200 HP so HP per pound will be same as the SS. Will be interesting to compare them.

Hoping I get to drive my SS before 'What The' is done but I'm starting to wonder.

 

[Shatneyman]

Good stuff. My daily is a '14 Audi S4 that I have chipped. 3 kids so need to be able to haul people around.

I love my toys. In the last 24 months, I've owned '05 Lotus Elise, '08 Lotus Elise SC and a fun little 1969 Mini Moke that I restored. All 3 of those are gone, so my barn is empty. Will remain empty until spring.

My attention turns from fun cars, track days and spirited drives in the spring/summer/fall to hockey, hockey and more hockey in the winter.

happy birthday swinglo, I play hockey myself, plus I teach the youth team. Have a great day bud

 

[arntufun]

If the Government calls it a motorcycle, it's a motorcycle..........:smug:

Obama is never wrong............

 

[Shatneyman]

If the Government calls it a motorcycle, it's a motorcycle..........:smug:

Obama is never wrong............

rrrriiight!

 

[Tango]

Add and remove a wheel/tire and see what you get. Add a rear wheel to the SS and you have a car. Add it to the Spyder and you have a four wheeled motorcycle.

Likewise, remove a front wheel from the SS and you have... nothing. Remove a front wheel from the Spyder and you have a motorcycle.

Oddly, that makes the Elio closer to a MC than the SS - which, with inline seating, a case could be made for.

It is a fantastic use of a loophole.

 

[Shatneyman]

Add and remove a wheel/tire and see what you get. Add a rear wheel to the SS and you have a car. Add it to the Spyder and you have a four wheeled motorcycle.

Likewise, remove a front wheel from the SS and you have... nothing. Remove a front wheel from the Spyder and you have a motorcycle.

Oddly, that makes the Elio closer to a MC than the SS - which, with inline seating, a case could be made for.

It is a fantastic use of a loophole.

with owners making mods to their slingshots, they may change the status to something else... adding a roof, doors, changing the center lights. Should be interesting to see what happens

 

[Swinglo]

Thank you sir

And I too coach - my twins Squirt team.

My attention is now on my backyard rink - 30x50 with lights, corners, etc. Warming up this weekend, so waiting a couple of weeks for a few straight 20 degree days so I can flood the rink and start skating. Looking forward to layers of bruises as my kids always make me play goalie. One timer rib shots hurt!

 

[Stan]

More of a car. Much more. There's two ways to arrive at the finished product as we have it. You could take a large and powerful motorcyle and fabricate the heck out of it to create a reverse trike with side-by-side seating, a full dash, frame to support it all, and no telling what other unexpected obstacles. And good luck with the handling, responsiveness, and safety! Or, you could take a small sporty two-seater roadster, and simply modify its rear axle to be trike. NOTHING would have to be done to the engine, transmission, cockpit, seats, etc and with a better outcome in the performance and safety dept. From the reviews and tests I've read, a person could actually get in a Slingshot (never having seen the rear) and drive it like the car they've always had, and never be aware that it's a trike. To me, that speaks volumes that this is more of a modified car than any motorcyle ever conceived. I'd bet a year's salary, that if you surveyed 1,000 people after a drive and asked them "does the vehicle you just drove feel, look, drive, handle, shift, steer, and control more like an automobile, or a motorcycle?" All 1,000 people would answer "automobile". Despite all the automotive DNA that is the Slingshot, I love the loophole that Polaris has exploited to bring us this awesome roadster, er, uhm, I mean "motorcycle".... Fun topic!

The Spyder, on the other hand, will always be a cycle. The center mounted frame that one straddles is the basic building concept of all cycles. Uni-cyle, bi-cycle, tri-cycle, quad-cycle, motor-cycle, they're all straddled in the same fashion.

 

[Shatneyman]

Thank you sir

And I too coach - my twins Squirt team.

My attention is now on my backyard rink - 30x50 with lights, corners, etc. Warming up this weekend, so waiting a couple of weeks for a few straight 20 degree days so I can flood the rink and start skating. Looking forward to layers of bruises as my kids always make me play goalie. One timer rib shots hurt!

me too! how cool is that? my back yard rink is 35x90 with boards, lights, the works.... no score board though, sorry for being off topic, that's just cool... simple things for simple minds, reference me

 

[evomind]

Im not sure why it really matters.
I guess its more car like than bike, but its not quite a car.
Elise vs Slingshot......I guess one is a toy car and the other is a toy of a car.

I cant figure out why the thing is 1700 lbs either, but Lotus guys havent figured out that there are more ingredients to the recipe of a great car than just "lightest weight."
Yes, Ive owned an Elise also. Cool car, its the owners that are quirkier than the car.

 

[Stan]

Short and sweet - makes sense.

My Lotus buddies are the same way - it's cool, but....they think they can't understand - and rightfully so - is, where is all the weight? If a Lotus Elise is 1,950# and Morgan Three Wheeler is 1,200# - how is the SS so 'heavy' at 1,750-ish? Fair question.

Read String's cold weather riding impression. He talks about feeling EVERYTHING. The road, the tranny, the gears, the pistons... everything! Solidity and rigidity at this level will have some weight to it. It's that tubular reinforced space frame, with even more reinforcements to the reinforcements! Every top-down roadster suffers the compromise of frame flex and cowl shake. Not the Slingshot. Stiffness like this usually indicates an overdose of Viagra! Some added weight would be expected in order to achieve such rigidity.