Spyder Club

By Kevin Ash

Pictures: MV Agusta Press, Milagro, Gary Freeman: Redeye
Click on images for full size

If you ache for just a go on a really expensive, exotic, high performance motorcycle such as a Ducati 1198 S, MV Agusta F4 R312, Suzuki GSX-R1000, or maybe something unusual like a Benelli Café Racer or KTM Supermoto 950, there is a way you can do it without keeping your fingers crossed for a lottery win. The Spyder Club offers provides an opportunity to ride all of these machines and many more which makes good economic sense as well as broadening thekinds of bikes you can try.

Get your kicks on a KTM 950 SupermotoIt’s run along the same lines as similar established car clubs: you pay an annual fee for which you’re allocated a number of points. You then use these to ‘pay’ for riding time on the Spyder Club bikes. The more popular times of year cost more points – the year is split into low, mid and high seasons – and the superbikes in the first group cost more than Group 2 machines such as the Triumph Speed Triple or Honda CBR600RR. The costs include comprehensive insurance cover.

Troy Bayliss on the Ducati 1198S. Okay, so not everyone needs to join Spyder Club...Usually bikes are booked for several days at a time, although shorter periods are sometimes possible, and normally they have to be collected from a Spyder Club base. During 2008 this meant Donington Park, but for 2009 a second base is opening in Maidenhead.

The fees are due to rise in 2009, but book in 2008 for the old prices and you can still defer the start of your season. Prices currently stand at £950, £1,800 and £2,600 annually, depending on how many points you go for. The highest fee provides 50 days a year riding and up to 5000 miles, which is more than many riders cover in a year anyway, and that’s where the economic sense comes in: buy a new superbike for £10,000 and you’ll likely lose £3000 in the first year in depreciation alone, and that’s before the cost of tyres, servicing and insurance. MV Agusta F4 R312. Stop drooling, start riding...The downside of course is that you have to book ahead, and the bike you want might not be available when you want it, so there’s no spontaneous popping out one Sunday because it happens to be sunny.

Still, in the current economic climate the Spyder Club makes a lot of sense as an alternative way of sating those superbike urges.

Contact the Spyder Club on 01332 850344, or go to www.spyderclub.co.uk