Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126847
The 600 ASE (Air- cooled, Single-shock Enduro), like all of the '86 ASE and MX models, has been fitted w ith a 9 .4-inch Grimeca front disc brake. A single-shock f rame/ suspension, rotary-valved 276cc Rotax engine and M iche lin ti res highli ght the new addition to the trials line, the 300 Trial. New machinerY-lor '86 Three motocross, four enduro & two trials mounts from Can-Am Changes on the 660 Sonic fo ur-stroke motocrosser include a new cam design fo r easier starting and a switch to a flat-slide Mikuni carburetor. A pair of new machines highlight the CanAm stable of off-road machines for 1986, while refinemen t is the byword for the rest of the line. Marketed by the Recreational Produ cts Division of Bo mba rdier, In c., th e lin e consists or nine mach ines : three morocrossers, fou r en d u ros a nd two tri als Th e new enduro mo unt , the 360 ASE , f eatures a 277cc eng ine , a dry weight of 228 pounds (one pound more tha n the 260 ASE ) and six speeds . 20 Can-Am 's smallest enduro offering, the 200 ASE , gets a new cylin der design, f r.ont and rear fender extensions and a neVI( air .bQx arrangen:'ent. bi kes . T he two new namepl at es in th e fa mil y incl ude th e 350 ASE (Aircoo led, Single-shock End uro), which is basicall y a 250 ASE wit h a lar ger bore, a nd th e sing le-shock, ro taryva lved 300 Tria l. All model s i n th e MX and ASE lines have been filled wi th front dis c brakes, and most o f th e o ther cha nges are centered aro u nd th e front and rear sus pens io ns . Can -Am 's line o f ASE models has been well acce p ted by th e enduro co m m u n ity over th e past seas o n , an d th ey have chosen to sta y with th e si m p ler air-cool ed mot ors across th e board. Wh ile one wat er-cooled end u ro mount was a va ila ble in 1985 - th e 250 ASE LC - tha t m odel has been dropped from th e line-up for '86. Th e cha nges tha t have been mad e are the result of a cooperative effort betw een th eir off-road develo p m en t rid ers J ohn Mart in and G eoff Ba lla rd a nd en g ineers at parent co mp any Bo m bard ier and Great Britain- based Arm strong Manufacturing. All four ASE mod els (200, 250, 350 a nd 500) as well as th e th ree mo tocro ss m odels (250 MX LC, 500 MX and 560 So ni c) are filled w it h th e 9.4-inch G rimeca front disc brake setup , T he system feat ures a vented di sc, twin- pis to n ca liper (well tu cked in behin d th e fork leg ) a nd a compact h andl ebar-mou nt ed reservo ir. The d isc sho u ld be a welcome addition ; mos t o f o u r co m p la in ts a bo ut CanAm 's h av e ce n te red a ro u n d th ei r former front drum brak es, which were o fte n wea k a n d requ ired a hi gh erthan-normal a mo unt o f pressure at the lever. All ASEs and motocross models get th e new Marzocchi M I fork, wh ich features 42mm tubes a nd 11.8 inches of travel. Wh ile the motocross mode1s use a co nven tio na l version of th e fork (w ith springs a nd da mping co mpo ne n ts in both legs), th e ASEs get th e no vel version wh ich features on ly o ne spri ng - th e rig h t ha nd leg conta ins th e spri ng a nd compression da mpi n g m ech an is m s. w hil e the " sp rin g-less" righ t leg han dles th e reb ou nd da mp in g ch ores . Accordin g to Ca n -Am , th e system is sim p ler to tun e a nd a llows for th e use o f tw o differen t viscos ities of oil - one for rebound a nd th e othe r for da mpin g . J o h n Martin a nd Geoff Ba lla rd have bee n using the system a ll through th e '85 season . The rea r suspens io n o n all ASE and MX models is a modified version o f th e sing le-shock Quad Link II system. Can -Am 's engi neers wo rk ed clos ely with White Power, th e manu facturer o f th e sys tem's shock, to modify th e damping cha racteristics for a pi ush er rid e th rough all 12.6 in ch es of trav el. R u bber o n both ends o f th e ASE a nd motocross mod els are Metzelers, with standard 3.00-2 1 units o n the front a nd metric-sized items o n th e back . Th e ASE and motocross models all share th e sa me bas ic fram e design introduced in '85, whi ch fea tures a removable rear su b-fra me. T he seat ing p osit io n has bee n cha nged for '86, wit h th e foot pegs moved for ward a h alf in ch. The han dl ebars have , been res haped a nd mounted in a new tri p le clamp design, a nd th e cu m ula tiv e result o f th e cha n ges, according to Ca n -Am , h elp s to put mor e weig h t on th e fron i tire co n tac t p at ch to produ ce m or e precise steer ing. Th e safety sea t is now more sum p tuous, with over three fu ll inc hes o f