Can-Am Launches Back Into Motorcycles, Expands Into Three-Wheeled ADV Machines

PHOTO CREDIT: All photos Can-Am

It’s been a huge summer for Can-Am! Nearly 40 years after the brand’s last two-wheeled motorcycles were built, the BRP-owned brand is back in business with two new electric motorcycles finally released to market, as well as new trikes in the adventure-riding world.

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Can-Am Pulse and Origin

Exciting as it is to see our national powersports manufacturer building bikes again, remember that these machines are actually manufactured in Mexico, not Valcourt, Quebec. But still, even the original made-in-Canada Can-Ams had lots of offshore-made parts.

Both of the new electric bikes are available in multiple trim levels, allowing for a swankier look if you spend more cash. This is the Can-Am Pulse ’73, with paint that honors the original series of MX bikes from the company more than 50 years ago.

The Pulse and Origin are new motorcycles, but their powertrain has been around for a little while—it’s the liquid-cooled Rotax E-Power design that incorporates battery, charger, inverter, and motor. Can-Am uses this same powertrain on its electric snowmobiles. It’s not the muscular motor that you see on halo products from Europe; Can-Am says it makes peak power of 47 hp, but is rated for 27 hp of continuous output, with 53 lb-ft of torque. That’s good for a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds on the Pulse model (with its naked bike chassis), but the dual-sport Origin model stretches that 0-60 time to 4.3 seconds.

It’s a twist-and-go design, with no clutch and a single-gear transmission, with a reverse function as well. Normal, Eco and Rain, riding modes are standard on both bikes; the Origin has Off-Road and Off-Road+ modes available, while the Pulse has Sport+ mode.

The Origin has modern rally-inspired styling, but it’s too heavy for the Dakar. And, its battery limits it to very short-range adventures.

The Rotax E-Power’s battery has a capacity of 8.9 kWh; it’s a lithium-ion battery, with claimed range of about 145 km of city riding for the Origin, 160 km for the Pulse. In mixed highway-city riding, it’s about 115 km and 129 km respectively—but that’s a broad generalization. That battery comes with a five-year warranty, which gives you some peace of mind if you’re concerned about the vehicle’s longevity.

Top speed for the bikes is a claimed 129 km/h.

The built-in 6.6 kW liquid-cooled charger (with Type 1 J1772 connector) is compatible with Level 1 and Level 2 systems; Can-Am says a Level 2 charger can get the battery from 0 to 100 percent in 90 minutes, or 20 to 80 percent in 50 minutes. A standard 120V Level 1 charger will go from 0-100 percent in 5.25 hours, or 20-80 percent in just over 3 hours. The bikes also come with active and passive regeneration systems that put braking energy back into the batteries (twist the throttle forward to start active regeneration, similar to a single-pedal EV car).

The Origin is named thus due to Can-Am’s original motorcycles being off-roaders. This is more of a street machine, but it’s certainly a much different chassis than the Pulse.

The final drive is a sealed chaincase design built into the single-sided swingarm. Driveline maintenance needs should be minimal, with oil lubrication system and an auto-tensioner built in. It’s also supposed to be very quiet, which is even better when you consider the motor is basically silent as well.

Moving on to the chassis—we see the powerplant serving as the main component of the frame, similar to modern superbike design which uses the engine as the core of the chassis, and other important parts bolted on.

The bike’s brakes are from Spanish manufacturer J. Juan, with a floating two-piston caliper biting on a single 320 mm disc up front; in back, there’s a single-piston floating caliper mated to a 240 mm disc. Of course, the Can-Ams come with ABS, and we’ve seen no mention of an option to shut it off on the dual-sport Origin model—both machines come with the same brakes.

They differ greatly in the suspension department, though. The Pulse is made for the street, and comes with 140mm of travel at front (KYB 41mm inverted fork) and rear (Sachs twin-tube coil-over shock, preload-adjustable). As for the dual-sport Origin, you’ve got nearly twice the suspension travel, at 255mm front (KYB 43mm inverted fork) and rear (KYB HPG shock with full adjustability).

Obviously, Can-Am is serious about giving the Origin off-road capability—it even comes with a 21-18 wheelset (with spoked rims), while the Pulse makes do with street-friendly 17-inch wheels. However, in some riders’ eyes, the Origin’s 187 kg weight is too much. we’ve already seen that complaint in comments, although we might reply with a “So what?”. The new KLR650 and Himalayan 450 are in this same rough ballpark, and nobody thinks those bikes can’t handle off-pavement action. The key is just to remember that the Origin is not a dirt bike, it’s an electric dual sport, and that means compromises even beyond the limited range. Note that it runs on Dunlop D605 tires, which are middle-of-the-road rubber (the Pulse runs on Dunlop Sportmax tires).

A set of accessories transforms the Origin into a much more useful machine, although again, its battery limits its range.

The differences between the bikes result in a 864 mm seat height for the Origin, but only 785 mm for the Pulse. Ground clearance is just under 275 mm for the Origin, but only 145 mm for the Pulse. Even though they have a lot of engineering in common, they are very different bikes.

Pricing for the new bikes: The Pulse is $18,299 plus taxes and fees (more info here) and the Origin is $18,799 plus taxes and fees (more info here). That MSRP is going to drive a lot of potential customers away, but remember that these are bikes you can actually buy, unlike the much-hyped Damon models which have yet to materialize in showrooms. Also remember that Harley-Davidson’s electric motorcycles, probably the closest machine to compare these bikes to, have equally high price tags. They’re in good company, and H-D sees enough future in the battery bike business that it’s converting its York, PA factory over to EV production…

Into the world of ADV

One other big step forward for Can-Am is their movement into the adventure bike scene. Or rather, adventure trike. The new Can-Am Canyon series (including the base model, and XT and Redrock variants) are the first proper adventure-oriented machines from Can-Am’s three-wheeler lineup, considering the Ryker Rally was really a street trike at heart.

The Canyons come with more ground clearance and more suspension travel than the Ryker Rally, and more general ADV capability—the XT and Redrock versions come with upgraded suspension and panniers as well. Admittedly, that is basically a styling choice, but still, if you want to do the Trans Labrador Highway, this would be a much better choice than the previous Spyder models.

The new lineup: Base model on left, XT on right, Redrock variant in the middle. Pricing is going to rule many buyers out of the market, but currently, unless you count the Ural sidecar series (also expensive), there’s nothing else like this on the market today.

Speaking of which: The Canyon uses the same 1330cc Rotax ACE triple that other Spyders, although it has a semi-auto six-speed transmission, not a CVT. It’s supposed to make 115 hp, 96 lb-ft of torque. Although the dry weight of 452 kg (and that’s for the base model, the lightest version) means this trike is not going to compete with a two-wheeled flagship adventure bike in the get-up-and-go department, that’s certainly enough power for the kind of riding that most users will put this machine through.

A lot more ground clearance than the old Ryker Rally, but don’t expect to do hard enduro. These trikes weigh well over 400 kg *dry*.

While some accessories come pre-installed on the XT and Redrock variants, you can add lots more officially-approved Can-Am farkles via the LINQ attachment system. No doubt the aftermarket will also soon mobilize to adapt ideas from the two-wheeled world.

The Canyon lineup won’t be cheap—MSRP is $30,999 for the base model, $36,999 for the Canyon XT and $40,499 for the Canyon Redrock. See more deets at Can-Am’s website here.

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