In 1973, the most horrifying flick ever, The Exorcist, hit the movie screens, the man of steel, Bruce Lee, passed away and the counterculture grew up and traded its flowery love-and-peace mantra for a regular job. But outside of the mainstream news, a small Canadian company called Bombardier set out to defy all odds and make its mark in the motorcycle world. Under the name Can-Am, short for Canadian-American, the company anxiously entered the motorcycle market. Initially, Can-Am struggled to successfully promote its products to the American consumer. However, the lessons were quickly learned and in short order it assembled what would later be referred to as "The Dream Team." Can-Am signed legendary MX racers Gary Jones, Marty Tripes and Jim Ellis to win titles and prove Can-Am to be a serious contender with competitive off-road machinery. To the amazement of most, the victorious Can-Am team walked away with the top three plates for the '74 National motocross season. The honeymoon ended by the mid-'80s as a shift in focus for the Canadian company led to the last Can-Am motorcycle rolling off the assembly line in 1987.
Now nearly two decades later, Bombardier has resurrected its Can-Am name with a fresh commitment to pushing the boundaries in technological advances. And it will be ATVs, not dirt bikes, wearing the Can-Am logo, as the former BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) ATV lineup undergoes more than a name change. BRP President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Boisjoli explained, "We believe the Can-Am brand better represents the positioning of our products in the marketplace and provides the perfect platform to reach out to and attract power-sports enthusiasts."
Since this was a touch before my time, I did a little research to find out what Can-Am was and what it had accomplished. My Google search resulted in an unexpected insight to Can-Am's exciting history and a much-improved perspective as to where Bombardier was headed with this new branding.
The Renegade may not be intended for MX racing, but it possesses more than enough power to sail over jumps and quickly sweep berms.
There's the history lesson-I was more interested to sample the new models joining the now Can-Am line. Since the company picked the Durhamtown Plantation, I had a home-court advantage. My intimate association with these trails meant I could pinpoint the performance characteristics of the new models in the brief amount of time the factory honchos let us ride their handmade specials.
| + | > Effectively tackles tough terrain due
to 4x4 and IRS
> Massive powerplant |
| - | > Steering is a bit tough
> Heavy |
| = | > The new Can-Am Renegade could
bridge the gap between utility and
sport riders—it does everything all in
one package | 2007 Renegade 800 H.O. EFI 4x4
As the new Can-Am ATV sat on stage waiting to be revealed to the collected press, I just knew it would be a new 450-and could not have been more off track. When the cover came off, I was shocked to see a shiny yellow Renegade 800 4x4. At first glance, it bore more than a passing resemblance to the Kawasaki KXF700 (a.k.a. V-Force). It didn't take long for me to realize this could be the machine to fill the gap between recreational sport and utility ATVs. Can-Am basically shaved 42 pounds from the Outlander 800 and gave it a sportier look and feel while maintaining all its utility benefits. The Renegade's 597 pounds of goodies include high-tech components, such as EFI, four-wheel-drive with Visco-Lok, Independent Rear Suspension (IRS) and, best of all, that scary-fast 800cc motor.
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