Can-Am MX 3 Motorcycle
July 14th, 2008
In 1973, Can-Am began producing motocross and enduro bikes using engines provided by the Austrian Rotax company, another Bombardier subsidiary. The machines made an immediate impact with riders winning Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the International Six Days Trial, a form of off-road motorcycle Olympics. The following year, the company swept the 1974 AMA 250 cc motocross national championship with Can-Am riders Gary Jones, Marty Tripes and Jimmy Ellis, finishing first, second and third. The bikes gained a reputation for their high horsepower outputs.
The Rotax motors used a slightly unusual style of intake. A rotary disc system was employed and this plate was altered repeatedly between T’n'T (track and trail) and MX models. This plate is accredited with the horsepower gain over conventional piston port motors used on Japanese motorcycles. The MX3 was the pinnacle of Can Am, produced in 1977 it produced 36 horsepower (27 kW), 6 more than the closest competitor.
However, soon after the Can-Am introduction, the Bombardier corporation shifted its priority from recreational products towards diversification into the transit equipment industry and then, several years later, into aircraft manufacturing. As a result, investments in the young Can-Am division were reduced substantially. In 1983, Bombardier licensed the brand and outsourced development and production of the Can-Am motorcycles to Armstrong / CCM of Lancashire, England. 1987 was the final year Can-Am motorcycles were produced.
-BRP
Entry Filed under: Transportation
3 Comments Add your own
1. Big Sven | September 3rd, 2009 at 10:38
Can-Am never made it big in Europe, for some reason. There was also something called a SWM (?) that might have been a rebadged Canny, but nobody bought that! Shame, for in hindsight the Can-Am polishes up quiet well. There were problems with handling, they were known as, er, a trifle ‘spritely’ when the throttle was opened. But it wasn’t a too-explosive engine, for it had about the same smooth powerband as the excellent Maico and Montesa VR, abeit with a few more horses on top: around 35bhp at the rear wheel. Everybody else made do with 27 or so. I test-rode the 30bhp/rear wheel Montesa with relish, a superb machine until you hit top speed, the Spanish demon of poor materials then made it a bit skittish on our rough Scandinavian tracks, why I eventually bought a 6-speed HVA CR250 in ’76. Brilliant bike, the HVA, with the optional Ohlins expansion chamber (30bhp/rear wheel) the best MX:er ever made.
Ohlin was starting out in those days, a young ginger-haired lad, he was often out at the races servicing his modded Konis and the odd gen-Ohlins, the first of his own design of fabulous shocks too expensive for most to buy.
Until they found they were worth 5 seconds a lap on the top Swedish tracks. They made you into a world champion with a mere twirl of shiny spanners!
The Ohlins give the answer.
Crap suspension on the Can-Am was why it felt like a hungry cobra in heat when the throttle was opened as it couldn’t put all those horses on the track. Gas Girlings – to hell with it, take out a bank-loan and go for Ohlins! – out back and a HVA fork on the front and some decent Metz/Trelleborg/Barum (on hard tracks they were very good) tyres and you would probably be ok, the frame looked ok. The Bings were ok, but there is no doubt once you’ve sorted a Mikuni they do carburate very well, smoothing response, so I suspect that’s a worthwhile mod too.
The pumped-oil system caused a few problems, I suspect it still needed a bit of petroil to bolster a weak 33:1 pump-oil ratio. I’d NEVER use a synthetic oil in a 2T, nothing but a 20-25/1 mineral oil in the petrol works.
I suspect the problem was Jeff Smith himself. He wasn’t up to speed on modern MX and didn’t take suspension too seriously. I was once told by an ex-world champion that I wasn’t the wally I thought I was, a mere junior-grade rider I was lapping faster than he had done when he won his last championship a mere few years before. My HVA bike looked about the same as his, but there was already light-years of difference between them.
In hindsight, I’d certainly give the Can-Am a go if we could turn that dratted clock back (am now an OAP).
2. Guy | December 8th, 2009 at 13:56
No I never heard and can-am and I have been around mx for about 30 years.
3. Greg Brown | December 28th, 2009 at 10:42
First, thank you for you web site. It is neat to look back thirty years.
I raced a 1977 MX3 250, at age 16-18, from October 1977-May 1979 in Virginia District 13 250C and 250B. The rear shocks were the first thing to replace; the springs were so soft you could bottom them out just accelerating! Hydrolic door returns would have been an improvement. When it ran slowly through the pits, it made a neat metallic whirring sound, I guess because of the rotary valve, and ran like a giant 125 on the track, which was ok for me as I was coming out of two years on 125s.
This bike was absolutely the horsepower king! Sometimes I would be first on the start of both motos, which was a great way to race-let’em all catch up. At one track with a long, long, uphill straight, I would gain 15-25 yards each time up the hill over the guy in second behind me.
There was one quirk to the Can Am. Sometimes, the front end would just tuck itself under and washout suddenly. Two of our top A class riders (one who became 1977 National Amateur Champion) raced these MX3s, and seemed to have the same issues. They just sometimes fell down, for no good reason.
It earned nicknames like “Darth Vader”, and “Canned Ham” from my racing buddies
Looking back, this bike had it’s flaws, but for this struggling 250C rider who was a crummy, timid starter, it was just what I needed to get me up front, and it took me from the bottom of C class to top ten B class racing (meaning 8th, 9th, and 10th usually!). By 1979, worn, old, and obsolete, it’s mission in motocross done, it was sent into a well-deserved retirement, and sold as surplus equipment, replaced by a 250 Honda.
I am so glad I had it, and of all the bikes I raced, I think it was my favorite.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed