Six New Models From Can-Am
Six New Models From Can-Am
Proving once again that those who talk, don't know, the rumor mill last summer declared Can-Am out of the motorcycle business. All closed up, said the tipsters, and the trucks are carting off the machinery.
Wrong.
Instead, Can-Am is on the move. To prove it the company has introduced a 1983 line-up that includes three new motocrossers, a four-stroke playbike, a trials model, a 250cc road racer and the existing enduro bikes.
But first, the move. This is sort of confusing: Can-Am is a division of Bombardier, a Canadian company which also owns (among other operations) the Rotax engine works in Austria. For several years Can-Am has been buying back its engines from Rotax, so to speak, while the engine company also sells to other motorcycle makers, such as KTM and SWM.
Because shipping parts back and forth is a bother, and because the motorcycle business is a small part of Bombardier's overall operation, Can-Ams will be built under contract, in England, by Armstrong, a large English auto supply firm. (Meanwhile, Armstrong owns CCM, the specialist English maker of off-road bikes based on the former BSA Singles. But that's another story.)
The '83 motocrossers are the hot news. The MXers share frames made of 531 Renolds tubing, England’s equivalent of 4130 chrome-moly steel. The chassis have been prototyped by Armstrong and are sold in Europe as Armstrongs, in the USA as Can-Ams.
Rear suspensions use a single Ohlin shock, placed vertically in the frame behind the engine. The shock sports adjustable rebound damping and a remote reservoir. The rising-rate system has an aluminum rocker under the steel swing arm much like the system used on KTMs. Marzocchi forks with 40mm stanchions and 11.8 in. of travel are held in strong double-bolt triple clamps.
Wheels, spokes and hubs are Englishmade and appear strong and well designed. Both brakes use a single leading shoe.
Gas tanks, fenders, side panels and seats are also shared between the motocrossers. The seat extends up over the rear of the tank so the rider can move forward without sitting on the tank.
The Rotax engines are a combination of old and new: the 125 and 250 are water-cooled, the 480 air cooled. The 125 has a six-speed transmission, the 250 has a five-speed and the open bike a fourspeed. All three engines have more radical porting for '83. The 250 engine still has rotary-valve induction, the 125 and open use a reed. The open class bike has new engine cases and new cylinder finning, which gives it a more modern look. The radiator on the 125 and 250 is placed on the triple clamps with the water leaving the bottom of the radiator through an external rubber hose, then through the front downtube via a steel pipe and then into another rubber hose that takes it to the pump. After cooling the engine the water leaves the head through another rubber hose to a pipe welded through the frame where it goes into yet another rubber hose that loops over the steering stem and top triple clamp to the top of the radiator. It’s a complicated way to do it. Placing the radiator on the frame’s downtube would reduce the amount of plumbing required and keep the weight off the steering axis.
Rotax Engines In English-Made Frames Prove Can-Am Is Alive and Well.
Can-Am 125 MX
Sharing the frame and other chassis parts between the three models makes it simple for the manufacturer and dealer but means the smaller machines are going to be heavier than necessary. The open bike has a claimed dry weight of 249 lb., the 250 claimed dry weight is 235 lb. and the 125 is a heavy 218 lb. claimed dry weight.
Two models of the four-stroke Single are offered for ’83. One is unchanged and the other has a new single shock Armstrong frame. The one in the single shock Armstrong frame appears modern and strong. It uses the same wheels, suspension, seat, fenders and side panels as the two-stroke MX models. Claimed dry weight is 260 or 268 lb. depending on where you look in the literature. The frame is also 531 Renolds tubing and has basically the same configuration as the two-stroke motocrossers; 59.3 in. wheelbase, 28° rate, 39.0 in. seat height, 3.2521 front and 5.10-18 rear tires.
The road race Twin is a logical result of the Can-Am/Rotax/Armstrong connection. The previous version of this bike was seen in the August Cycle World but in brief, it’s a production GP racer.
The Can-Am 250 GP began as the Armstrong CCM. It has a Rotax inline, fore and aft that is, two-stroke Twin, water cooled, with rotary valves. Cast 18-in. wheels, single rear shock, anti-dive on the forks, all the normal road race specifications. It comes with fairing, 5.4-gal. tank, Michelin racing tires, with a recommended retail price of $6500. No, Can-Am doesn’t expect to sell them by the tens of thousands but because the engines, frames and other bits are already in production, and because the only other factory in the class is Yamaha, Can-Am figures it’s worth doing.
All prices could change a little according to Can-Am spokesmen. The 125 MX will go for about $2300, the MX250 for around $2700, and the open MX for $2800. The trials bike is also $2300.
The 310 trials doesn’t appear to have any Can-Am parts except the tank decal. The chassis, wheels etc. are made in England and the Hiro engine is Italian. Can-Am’s Jeff Smith said they were very embarrassed that the trials bike didn’t have a Rotax engine but it probably would have next year. Q
