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/126851
divide it into your own. Dilute all victory claims bythis number. The Winds of Change Rule Ifyou can'tget reliable results information, oreven ifyou can, take a good look atwhathas been done to the bike since lastseason's campaign. If the changes are small, the manufacturer is probablyrefining a successful machine.Ifthe changes are major, he'sprobably re-designing a failure. Big New Features are tempting,but could blowyourseason. Leave NewTechnology testing tothefactories. . You're a Privateer, nota pioneer. Now thatyou know the Rules, here'swhatyou should know aboutCan-Am for 1 986: ยท..continued time racing instead ofwrenching. Andyourmoneyonsomething besides enginerebuilds. That's one aspect ofCan-Am that nd has neverchanged.A while we've finetunedourfatpowercurves over theyears, whatwe'veconcentrated onwas improving ourhandling. You needtwothings tobesuccessful The payoffforyou is thenew atmotorcycle competition.Ability Can-Am bikes for1 986.The same and money. The proportions can vary. And having a lot ofonedoes not incredible performance.Thesame bulletproofreliability.And now,with lead inevitably totheother. When the first Can-Am bikes explodedonto the scene adozen or soyears ago, they seemed a prayer answered for riderswith lots of ability, but little money. Herewas a motorcycle thatwas blindingly fast. Yet it delivered that performance with absolute bedrockreliability. Youcould actually spend your The Can-Am Creed: We never forget whowe build bikes for. TheC an-AmTest Bed: There will never be a perfect motorcycle. But the closerours gets, the harder it is to make better. So, after the suspension designersand the engineersand the power specialists at Rotax have had theirsay, we reallyget down to it. In our laboratory. Obviously,the onlyplace to develop a motorcycle is where ourcustomersride it. That's why, every year, oursmallbutdedicated bandoftestersattacks the National HareScrambles circuit. Hare Scramblescompetition is the absolute worst of both worlds. It combines the speed and handling requirements of motocrosswith the punishment and manoeuverability demands size).And hiding behind John's waterproof nylon, lined Can-Am riding jacket isa 100%cotton -shirt. (The really Can-Am T excellentwhite leather boots are byGaerne). Can-Am riders are proud to be V ourCan-Am dealer has allthis Can-Am riders.Vou can tellthat neatstufforhe'll get itforyou.And, bythe waytheygoon and on likeridingyour Can-Am itself, it's praising their bikes to anyone who notan expensive wayto lookgood. listens. Orjust bylooking at their gear. GeoffBallard wearsthe new racing jersey andsatin Corduranylon pants.Theyboth have "Can-Am" written proudly all over them. John M artinis not wearingthe nylon meshvented Can-Am racingpants but the same Cordurapants as Geoff (ina smaller The Can-Am Look: Anotherglorious day in the laboratory! ofan enduro. And it offers us a tough, compactlearning ground to find ways ofimproving our bikes this year. So thatyou don't find them next year. GeoffBallard,John M artin and Can-Am Product Manager JeffSmith spend theirweek-ends riding theirbuns offall over the country. Then theyspend theirweeks examiningand analyzing the results. Ourgoalis to learn, not to win. But lookwhat's happening! Last year, Ballard picked up the National Hare Scrambles title with Martin third, Jeff - Smith winningtheSuper Senior crown. Thisyear, at lastreport,John and Geoff had sewnup twoof the top three places. And Jeff had taken SuperSeniorfor the third straightyear. Are they doingsomething wrong?Oreverythingright? their Quad Link II rearsuspension, G rimeca disc brakes andremarkable newMarzocchi MI front forks ,it seems like theygo where youwant justbythinking themthere. While this kind ofprogresswas taking place atC an-Am,mostofour competitionhad a differenttask.The Search forMajorPower.And, inthat quest,reliability hasall-too-often beenleft lying inthedirt. Can-Am development has progressed from the pointwhereithelped to have factory talenttorideour machines.Some ofourcompetitors have proceeded tothe pointwhere youalmost needfactory moneyto maintaintheirs. Fromthe privateer's pointofview, thedifference issignificant: we haven'tforgottenwhowe build our bikes for. Aperfect way to show your true colors.