What's New For Eighty-Two Can-Am
WHAT'S NEW FOR EIGHTY-TWO can-am
Can-Am's 500cc Four-Stroke Is Here; Motocrossers Vanish.
Can-Am is undergoing the most dramatic change in models since the small Canadian company began making motorcycles. Biggest news of the year is the arrival of the long-awaited 500cc four-stroke model, the Sabre.
Initially the Sabre will be an enduro-equipped model but with serious suspension and lots of horsepower. The engine is a thoroughly modern sohc Single, with a belt-driven overhead cam and a gear-driven counterbalancer shaft. The single cam operates four valves through short rocker arms. There is a manually-controlled compression release.
Bore and stroke is 89 x 79.4mm for an actual displacement of 494cc. The engine is kept compact by the dry sump lubrication system and the frame becomes the oil reservoir. Carburetion is a 36mm Mikuni, ignition is Nippondenso electronic.
A five-speed transmission is in unit with the engine and uses lefthand side primary kickstarting like other Can-Am models. Lefthand kickstart on a 500cc four-stroke may sound a bit unusual, but because of the enormous suspension travel of the Sabre the engine is quite high off the ground and starting the bike from the saddle would be difficult for riders anyway, Can-Am felt.
A horsepower figure of 40 bhp to the rear wheel is claimed. While that is more than competitive power for the class, hop-up kit w'ith larger 38mm carburetor, camshaft and silencer will be offered and it increases power to 46 bhp.
The packaging of this engine is every bit as exciting as the powerplant. Rather than turn out another plavbike with playbikesuspension, the Sabre has suspension components the equal of most motocrossers.
Up front are the 42mm Marzocchi forks with air bladder reservoirs. Until now the largest forks on Can-Ams were 38mm models used on the 400cc CanAms. Suspension travel of the forks is 11.8 Small bolt-on air reservoirs mount low behind the sliders where they are protected from rocks or trees. Pressurizing these reservoirs controls compression damping. Air caps are installed and giant double-bolt triple clamps are used.
At the bottom of the sliders is CanAm’s 6-in. drum brake reversed so the backing plate is on the lefthand side. That changes the routing of the front brake caeliminating the cable binding that’s been a problem with past Can-Ams.
Rear suspension is provided by a pair of piggy-back Ohlin shocks that provide 12.9 of travel at the end of the 21 in. extruded aluminum swing arm. Tying the suspension and engine together is a 4130 chrome-moly frame.
Because the frame is used as an oil reservoir, there’s a single front downtube, which fits nicely between the pair of exhaust ports. The frame splits at the bottom the engine, holding the bash plate and engine in twin tubes. A head stay mounts at the top of the engine, but the engine isn’t used as a pure stressed memanywhere.
This new frame doesn’t use a large backbone for filter air flow because the frame is back to holding oil. Instead, tiny louvered side panels below the seat feed into the airbox beneath the seat. There no conventional side panels, instead number plates are molded in with the rear fender in a modern and attractive package. A 2.6 gal. plastic gas tank sits as close as it can to the steering head and still leave room for the oil tank cap at the top of frame.
A number of detail changes to Can-Am parts are found on the Sabre. A rod now actuates the rear brake, replacing a cable that frequently bound on the swing arm. The airbox is conveniently serviced through a plate inside the wheelwell. Not having sidecovers over the carburetor makes it that much easier to service, too. There’s a resettable odometer, Magura levers and enduro lighting. The front number plate and light are a new style this year, and the throttle is a straight pull model. The front fender is louvered, too.
This is the most serious four-stroke dirt bike produced yet. It has a claimed dry weight of 269 lb., but with the suspension and frame of custom-framed models. List price will be $2999.
Besides entering a new market, CanAm is leaving an old one. There will be no motocross bikes from Can-Am in 1982. That’s right. None. Only enduro models will be produced. The motocross wars have been hard. Styles change quickly and development costs are high. Can-Am has been more successful with enduro bikes and will concentrate on them, instead.
Some of the changes that benefit the Sabre are also incorporated in most of the two-stroke Qualifier models, including the lefthand pull front brake, rod actuated rear brake, new styling with number plates moved to the back fender, new number plate and headlight, louvered front fender and aluminum swing arm on models larger than the 125.
At the top of the Can-Am line is the 400 Qualifier. It gets the improvements of all the Qualifiers plus a new frame shared with the 250 and 175. The new chromemoly frame is still a double downtube
model and they retain the large diameter backbone used as an air breather. But the maze of tubing behind the engine and near the upper shock mounts is replaced with a more conventional design using a pair of tubes wrapping under the engine and back up to the backbone. The new frame makes carburetor access much easier. New headstays provide the strength that came from the extra tubing.
The 400 Qualifier is still the only CanAm with a reed valve motor. The smaller models still use the rotary valve motors, but with Mikuni carburetors replacing the Bings.
Many of the better parts from the 400 have found their way to the 250 Qualifier, such as the 38mm Marzocchi forks with 11.8 in. of travel and the 12.8 in. of travel from the Ohlin piggy-back shocks and aluminum swing arm. The 175cc Qualifier gets the 35mm forks shared with the 125, but gets the long travel Ohlins and the aluminum swing arm, while the 125 uses the old-style frame and S&W shocks providing 10.4 in. of travel.
All Qualifiers are equipped with Sun rims, Dunlop tires, a 3.4 gal. plastic gas tank, louvered front fenders and the new quick-service airbox with access just ahead of the rear tire. ES
