In classic Chris Cope style, I’m behind the curve on this one, and writing about a thing that (probably) no one else cares about. Still, I find myself really intrigued by the new Can-Am Canyon ─ if not simply because I’m surprised it’s taken the brand this long to make such a thing.
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The Canyon was unveiled back in August to minimal fanfare. Driven by the same cc inline triple found in the brand’s Spyder F3 and Spyder RT models, it is large, expensive, and niche ─ but with more ground clearance than Can-Am’s other large, expensive, and niche offerings.
I feel like some readers may need some background information at this point. Can-Am is a Canada-based brand that was created in as a way for snowmobile makers Bombardier to sell motocross and enduro motorcycles. The bikes were reportedly excellent, winning all kinds of kudos, but within 15 years things had gone south and Bombardier sold much of its motorcycling assets to UK-based CCM.
In the early s, the Can-Am name was resurrected to sell ATVs, side-by-sides, and, eventually, unique on-road three-wheelers, like the Spyder F3-T that I got to ride back in . Unlike trikes, which have one wheel up front and two behind the rider, Can-Am’s three wheelers put two wheels up front and one at the rear, improving stability, rider situational awareness (it’s really easy to bang the rear wheels of a trike into stuff because of the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ problem), and the overall riding experience. They are large, expensive, and niche, but they are also a lot of fun.
In some sense, Can-Am’s three-wheelers are a genie’s response to a person wishing they could ride their snowmobile in the summer. Which is why I say it’s surprising that Can-Am has taken this long to create a vehicle like the Canyon.
At one point during my time with the Spyder F3-T, I took it down a long dirt road to get to a swimming hole and came away thinking: “If this thing just had a little more ground clearance it would be soooo much fun on dirt roads and fire trails.”
Clearly, I’m not the only person to have made this observation, hence the Canyon. Can-Am offers the vehicle in three flavors: the Canyon, the Canyon XT, and the Canyon Redrock. The differences in the three come down to accessories. The most expensive, the $40,500 Redrock (£33,499 in the UK) comes with hard luggage capable of swallowing 120 liters of stuff and various other ride-enhancing accouterments.
At this point, you might be thinking: “Why would anyone choose this over an ATV or side-by-side?”
That’s a good question. I’m able to come up with two possible answers. Firstly, as I mentioned, this three-wheel set-up is a lot of fun on dirt. Give it a good bit of throttle and you can get the back end to squirrel around on loose surfaces. And, hey, who doesn’t like doing donuts?
Secondly, unlike an ATV or side-by-side, you can take this thing on a highway. So, if you don’t live near the kind of place where a Canyon would be the most fun, you don’t need a pickup truck and trailer to get it there.
Still, it’s pretty damned niche. Especially since the additional ground clearance doesn’t appear to be that much. I can’t find any statistics that compare the Canyon and Spyder, but visually the difference seems to be a matter of a few inches. So it’s not something you’re going to use to scramble up mountainsides. Meanwhile, you can already get a Spyder down the kind of farming dirt/gravel roads shown in Can-Am’s promotional video for the Canyon. Is there extra clearance worth the extra money?
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I’m probably overthinking it, though. Practicality is only loosely relevant to motorcycles, why should it apply more strongly to three-wheelers? I certainly wouldn’t criticize anyone for owning one of these and if I had one to hand for a cross-continent adventure I’d be pretty happy.
The Quickshift
Can-Am has always been about its interesting, sometimes odd, three-wheelers. And while models like the Ryker and Spyder have become fairly popular thanks to their on-road capability, Can-Am thought it would be a good idea to take its three-wheelers off the beaten path.
The result is the all-new Can-Am Canyon, a three-wheeled motorcycle that Can-Am says is their most rugged and adventure-ready model to date. The Canyon sports pretty much what you’d expect from an adventure motorcycle, except for the fact that it has three wheels. So yeah, long-travel suspension, anti-slip footpegs, knobby tires, you know the drill.
On paper, it seems like it's ready to take on some serious terrain, all while being comfy enough for long stints on the highway, and perhaps even a bit of city riding if you ever find yourself feeling frisky on the way to work.
Can-AmAt its heart, the Canyon is powered by Can-Am’s 1,330cc ACE engine. The high-displacement triple churns out 115 horsepower at 7,250 rpm and 96 pound-feet of torque at 5,000 rpm. It sends power to the single rear wheel via a clutchless six-speed automatic tranny.
Depending on how adventurous you are, Can-Am offers the new Canyon in three trim levels—Standard, XT, and Redrock, along with a whopping 25 accessories designed specifically for this three-wheeler. So yeah, you could deck this thing out to do pretty much anything—from hauling your gear, to three-wheeled overlanding escapades, the Canyon’s pretty much got you covered.
But here’s the thing, big-displacement adventure bikes on their own tend to be way too big to fit into single tracks, hence the growing popularity of the middleweight ADV segment with bikes like the BMW F 900 GS and Aprilia Tuareg 660 enjoying great success right now.
So a 1,000-pound three-wheeler like the Can-Am Canyon?
Can-Am Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox.Objectively speaking, the Can-Am Canyon is more like a three-wheeled, street-legal ATV, except it isn’t. It doesn’t nearly have as much ground clearance as any ATV, and surely, its one-wheel-drive rear wheel will easily leave it stuck in any and all sticky situations.
As such, it’s more than likely that folks who buy this thing will ride it on the road 99 percent of the time, save for some gravel roads and fire roads perfect for that adventurous Instagram aesthetic.
At the end of the day, the Can-Am Canyon just might find its niche. It could be a gateway drug for folks looking to get in on the adventure lifestyle, but for whatever reason, just can’t do so on two wheels. Its 400-pound cargo capacity is also a huge plus for folks who carry a lot of gear with them. And of course, it’s bound to attract folks who think a rugged-looking three-wheeler simply looks cool.
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