More than two years ago, Canada’s BRP made an exciting announcement. Its Can-Am division, which is currently known for building three-wheel motorcycles and wicked fast side-by-sides, is going back to its roots and will be making motorcycles again. It’s been a long wait since then, but now BRP has finally unleashed the full details about its first motorcycles in 38 years and they’re pretty awesome, with one big caveat. Meet the 2025 Can-Am Pulse and the 2025 Can-Am Origin, two electric motorcycles that look like a riot.
Decades ago, the name Can-Am wasn’t one associated with tire-shredding weird trikes, but that of a dominating force in motocross. Canada’s machines made so much power that nobody could touch them. Can-Am’s reign came to a sad ending, leading to the brand disappearing entirely and then shying away from motorcycles. So, this is a huge deal. The orange and red will be on two wheels again!
BRP first teased this project two and a half years ago with some renders. Some called the new bikes vaporware, but BRP pulled it off. A year ago, almost to the day, Can-Am shared some details and tantalizing photos. Now, these electric motorcycles are going into production this year and Can-Am is finally giving us all of the details we didn’t know before. Even better, I will be getting you a ride report in about a month from now!
Powering Forward
Can-Am’s return to motorcycling will be on the tires of the 2025 Can-Am Pulse and the 2025 Can-Am Origin. BRP is covering most bases here as the Pulse is designed as a sort of urban warrior while the Origin is for when the going gets dirty off-road.
The Pulse and Origin share a platform that includes a Rotax E-Power drive system plus an 8.9kWh battery. That Rotax drive system features a 47 HP and 53 lb-ft torque electric motor capable of accelerating the Origin off-roader to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and the Pulse city bike to the same speed in 3.8 seconds. The 47 HP is a peak number and the motor is able to put out 27 HP of continuous power.
This drive system includes liquid cooling for the battery, charger, motor, and inverter. The idea here is that by liquid-cooling everything the Can-Am electric bikes will be able to mitigate battery degradation. BRP also says this system also allows for faster charging. How fast? The battery will go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 50 minutes on a Level 2 charger. A full charge on a Level 2 charger will take around 1 hour and 30 minutes. If you have nothing but a household outlet nearby, expect a full charge to take over 5 hours.
The motors and drive systems are the same across both models. The battery is a structural component of the frame while the drive motor is attached to the front of the swingarm. Speaking about that swingarm, it’s special on its own as it’s actually a sealed case for the final drive chain.
BRP claims enclosing the chain in a case will make maintenance easier. Not only will the chain be protected from the environment, but the chain’s lube should last longer and the chain is even self-adjusting. The company says the bike’s first service will happen at 5,000 miles and then every 10,000 miles after. While the 10,000-mile service remains a contentious topic in the car world, I see no reason why these electric bikes can’t go that far between maintenance.
This drivetrain is the most brilliant part of these Can-Am motorcycles. Forget about getting your chain caked up with mud and dirt. Forget about firing lube off on a regular basis, and forget about rust, adjustments, or getting things caught in the chain. The crazy minds of Rotax essentially fit an entire electric motorcycle into a swingarm and that part is fantastic. In theory, BRP could slap this drivetrain onto so many different electric vehicles.
There’s also “Passive” and “Active” brake regeneration. BRP says the Passive mode is supposed to work like typical brake regen while Active mode, which is activated by twisting the throttle backward, offers up to four times the regeneration power. However, the strong regen cuts off below 10 mph, so you still need to hit the traditional brakes to come to a full stop.
Both bikes also get a 10.25-inch display with wired Apple CarPlay and Bluetooth. Both motorcycles also get a 1.7-liter box for storage. However, you can expand on storage and add a huge list of accessories to your motorcycle through BRP’s tool-free LinQ Nano mounting system. The Can-Ams are also like many electric bikes and have a super handy reverse mode.
So, at these new electric motorcycles are the same at their cores, which is great because that helps BRP save on weight and costs. However, BRP has baked in different riding experiences.
Pulse
We’ll start with the Pulse, which BRP says is supposed to be an agile naked bike for the city.
This one goes 100 miles on a charge in stop-and-go traffic or 80 miles if you manage to hit highway speed in between getting stuck in traffic. The range plummets to just 55 miles if you ride at a steady state of 50 mph. So, it’s not even worth taking this on the highway unless you want range like David’s Nissan Leaf.
The biggest differences between the Pulse and Origin come down to styling, wheels, tires, and suspension. The Pulse rides on 17-inch cast wheels Dunlop Sportmax GPR-300. There’s a non-adjustable KYB 41mm inverted up front and a Sachs twin-tube coil suspension with preload adjustment in the rear. Both ends have 5.5 inches of travel.
Braking is handled by a 320mm disc up front clamped on by a two-piston J.Juan caliper. A 240mm disc brings up the rear with a single piston J.Juan caliper. The whole motorcycle comes in at 390 pounds and the seat height is a comfortable 30.86 inches. Other chassis stats include a 56.6-inch wheelbase and a 5.7-inch ground clearance.
In terms of technology, you’re getting Normal, Eco, Rain, and Sport+ riding modes plus ABS and traction control. Sadly, those latter two cannot be defeated on the Pulse.
Origin
Now let’s move to the Origin, which BRP is pitching as a motorcycle that can adventure outside of a city.
The Origin’s suspension mirrors its urban explorer mission. A 43m KYB inverted fork is up front and it has a whopping 10 inches of travel. A fully adjustable KYB HPG shock follows in the rear and it also has 10 inches of travel.
The brakes are the same as the Pulse, but the wheel and tire arrangement is something different. You get a 21 inch wheel up front and an 18 in the rear shod in Dunlop D605 tires containing tubes. The chassis is also a bit different as you get a longer 59-inch wheelbase, a tall 34-inch seat height, and 10.8 inches of ground clearance. Weight is also a bit higher at 412 pounds. Other differences include the fact that you can turn off the Origin’s rear ABS and you can turn off traction control. The Origin also gets the aforementioned ride modes plus two off-road modes.
The geometry is ever so different, too. The Origin has 30 degrees of rake and 4.6 inches of trail. The Pulse is more aggressive at 27.2 degrees and 4.0 inches, respectively. Otherwise, the Origin is similar to its Pulse stablemate right down to the big screen and the tiny storage box.
Now let’s talk about pricing. The Origin starts at $14,499 while the Pulse comes in at $13,999. The closest competition I can think of are the Zero FX and Zero FXE. Both Zero motorcycles have specs similar to those of Can-Ams, but with a lower sticker of $12,495.
BRP is taking pre-orders right now and both the Origin and the Pulse are being offered in standard models or special Pulse and Origin ’73 models. If you order your Origin in ’73 flavor, you’ll be paying $16,499 and getting signature LED lighting, a LinQ windshield, wheel stripes, ’73 badging, silver paint, and a cover. The 2025 Can-Am Pulse ’73 is the same package for $15,999, but with a LinQ gauge spoiler instead of a windshield. Toss another $500 on the pile if you want Carbon Black paint.
Making A Big Bet
Canadian journalists are getting the chance to ride the 2025 Can-Am Pulse and the 2025 Can-Am Origin right now. Sadly, you’re going to have to wait a month to read my own words on it.
The biggest review out now comes from Fortnine and Ryan doesn’t hold back any punches:
In case you don’t have the time to watch that, I’ll tell you a quick version. Ryan doesn’t like the Pulse because he feels the swingarm, and thus the wheelbase, is far too long to live up to BRP’s nimble handling claims. But worse than that is the tiny storage compartment, which won’t even hold a single shoe, and the fact that you don’t even get a pillion seat unless you buy it as an accessory. Ryan has other complaints, but it’s clear he isn’t a fan of the Pulse.
Despite that, Ryan thinks the Origin is the best adventure bike he’s ever ridden. That’s high praise from one of the famous names in modern motorcycle media. It’s also amazing because again, these are both based on the same platform with the same guts.
Alright, so what’s the problem? Well, the Origin’s range maxes out at 90 miles, and that’s when you’re barely moving in city traffic. From there, the range falls to 71 miles in mixed riding before plummeting to just 52 miles if you’re rolling at a sustained 50 mph. Try to hit the top speed of 80 mph and you’ll be walking in even fewer miles.
You may wonder why BRP has even bothered to do this. A lot of electric motorcycle manufacturers are having a rough time moving product and currently, electric motorcycles just can’t come close to matching gassers on range. It seems like engineering a new set of bikes to enter into a struggling market is a bad idea.
BRP is making a bet on the future. The company is expecting the electric motorcycle market to pick up and when it does, BRP wants to be in the front of the pack. In a way, Can-Am has always been about big bets. The brand has been around for over 70 years and the last time it made motorcycles it beat the world. Here’s a clipping from my history of Can-Am’s explosive past:
Thanks to a 1970 acquisition of Austria’s Rotax, Can-Am’s motocross bikes would benefit from two-stroke engines with oil injection and rotary-valve induction. Can-Am pinched skilled engineers, including World Motocross Champion Jeff Smith, to help develop its motorcycles. Riding the machines would be two-time AMA 250cc National Motocross Champion Gary Jones with teammates Marty Tripes and Jimmy Ellis. Can-Am’s motorcycles saw immediate success on the racetrack, with Ellis riding a Can-Am to an AMA National MX win in 1974. The bikes would continue winning, dominating the field to the point of an AMA 250cc National Motocross Championship sweep that same year. That set a record that would take until 1986 for Honda to break.
The secret sauce to Can-Am’s domineering success was a factory team of skilled riders and motorcycles that made crazy power. As Can-Am continued to crank up the power, they earned a reputation, from my piece on Can-Am history:
[B]y 1977, Can-Am’s bikes were so fast and so wild that some riders refused the challenge. Bikes like the MX-3 threatened to kill so much that after factory rider Jimmy Ellis hit a spectator he allegedly called it a “Black Widow.” And yet, Can-Am went on to win race after race for years.
To further illustrate just how crazy fast Can-Ams used to be. In 1973, Can-Am also swept the Six Days Trial, taking gold, silver, and bronze. Oh and that Black Widow thing? Yeah, that motocross bike was so terrifying that Bombardier had to make sure the things weren’t sold with spider stickers on them.
In other words, Can-Am motocross bikes were simply absurd. But this wouldn’t last forever as by 1980, Japanese brands caught up. In 1983, Bombardier sold the Can-Am division to England’s Armstrong/CCM, which killed Can-Am in 1987. These new Can-Am motorcycles aren’t seriously quick machines riding on smart engines. Instead, BRP has created a genius platform for an electric future.
So, Can-Am is making a big bet again, nearly 40 years later. Time will tell if battery tech will catch up or if the electric motorcycle market wakes up. Until then, we have what we see here and most of the ingredients are right. You’ll hear about these again when I get to ride them a month from now.
My Empulse has a very similar range to the BRP bikes, and I’ve been riding that as a city commuter bike for going on 10 years now. It’s a perfectly reasonable range for a day of commuting and errands in a city.
Battery energy density is the issue the smaller the vehicle the larger the issue. This is why large electric vehicles pull off reasonable ranges and small electric cars struggle. Eletric motorcycles are the most extreme example there is just no way to add range without adding weight that makes them impractical. I am glad they are trying but until battery tech catches up these don’t make a tone of sense.
Pass….but the weirder adventure bike version of the snowmobile styled trikes is at least interesting. though I would definitely be curious how stable it is on fire roads and low level dirt trails.
man those two wouldnt even be able to get me to work and back in a day. at least the livewire and s2 could do that. they are cheaper but if it doesnt work then the price doesnt matter.
Can-Am motorcycles – “The older I get, the better I was.” Like the high school jock that made a game winning touchdown years ago and has done nothing since and that’s all he can talk about now. Completely irrelevant today.
High prices and miserable range don’t entice me to plug in.
About the “The crazy minds of Rotax essentially fit an entire electric motorcycle into a swingarm and that part is fantastic. In theory, BRP could slap this drivetrain onto so many different electric vehicles.”
Imagine a rock crawler with four of these much like portal axles.
A couple of those swingarms out back in a Subaru 360 would, I think, be scary fun!
Peel P50!
No.
Realistically nobody’s ever going to need to turn off ABS or traction control on a street bike—I mean, why would you? It’s much safer to ride with them on given the unpredictable nature of riding in traffic.
BRB, gonna buy a bit more BRP stock. (DOO.TO for anyone wondering, currently $92.85, about 25% off its 5-year peak)
“I laid it down so I wouldn’t crash.”
Hey! you can’t just breeze past that F9 video without delving into WHY he thought it was amazing as an adventure bike! The reactive torque moment of the drive motor, being swingarm mounted, actually helps with off-road traction and anti-dive. It’s super interesting.
Also, subscribe to Fortnine. Easily the best quality 2-wheeled videos on Youtube. All of their stuff is so enjoyable to watch.
Seconded! Their videos are *art*.
Ryan F9 has always praised EVs on dirt because of its continuous power too (instead of however many power strokes you get per rotation on an ICE).
Electric road bikes are still friggin pointless, unless you commute on them which few do. I am an avid rider and rarely commute because it sucks riding a bike in stop and go and running on congested highways between distracted drivers in 2-ton vehicles. Road bikes are made to get away and wander. Even running slower speeds on backroads would eat the stated range up in an hour or so. I’ll stick with my old airhead for now, thanks.
I see tons of UberEats and other delivery riders on electric road bikes in the city.
Counter point. I bought an electric motorcycle specifically for commuting. My clutch wrist was tired as hell from sitting in extra bad stop and go traffic from an accident on my KTM 990 and I thought, “there has to be a better way”.
Electric bikes are an absolute delight in traffic. Stupid acceleration to squeeze in the faster moving lanes. Easy one-handed operation. No V-Twin baking your fucking balls off. And the biggest motivator of all is being able to use the carpool lane!
You are 100% right on with this. I don’t have to worry about my electric overheating in traffic. I don’t have to worry about waking up my neighbors when I leave for the office. If Oklahoma had HOV lanes, I could use those. It’s much less fatiguing to ride than any of my gas bikes. Even when I had a couple more gas bikes in the garage, the Brammo was my default choice because it was just so effortless.
I always wanted to ride a Brammo! I know the gearbox is basically irrelevant on electric, but I’ve always wanted to try it.
Also, the smug satisfaction of passing an overheated Harley in traffic, silently, is one of my greatest pleasures in life.
I don’t really get the people who say the gearbox is irrelevant. Sure, you can start off in whatever gear you want because you can’t stall the thing, but changing the drive ratio makes a huge difference in the acceleration rate. I drive mine like a regular motorcycle, going through the gears to keep the motor in its happy place (4K RPM, according to the manual). It’s definitely not the slickest gearbox I’ve ever used, but it definitely works.
I appreciate this old-school approach.
Origin with supermoto tires and rims please.
A true urban vehicle.
So – take a couple of these Rotax motors and attach them as trailing-arm rear suspensions/motors for a Polo-sized hatchback or Suzuki Capuccino-sized roadster:
That’s cumulative 94 HP and 106 lb-ft torque – more than my old ’89 Mercury Tracer.
With a decent-sized battery pack – giving about 200 miles of range – this could be fun….
“The Dream” for me is a commuter bike that can do 75 miles of mixed city/highway riding on a charge with a removable battery I can carry into the office and charge at my desk. Oh, and I’m not interested in paying $20K for it. That’s not going to happen in my lifetime though, so I’ll just keep sipping dinosaur bones on my old Honda.
I think the removable battery pack is the hardest to achieve. The 13kwh battery of a Zero motorcycle can give you the range, but it not removable and at 140lbs you probably don’t want it to be lol
Ryvid are close
I have no idea when it comes to motorcycles, but from mtb riding, 140mm travel (5.5inches) is right around what I consider the sweet spot for fun both on the road and off it. Obviously 180m+ superenduro/DH bikes are more capable, but underbiking is a blast.
I think e-bikes have done too good a job of occupying the short range electric two wheeled vehicle market. I don’t think anyone wants an adv bike that can only go 50 miles on the highway, but I also don’t see many people wanting an urban motorcycle that requires insurance and a motorcycle license when they can get a premium ebike for a couple grand. I think dirt bikes are the only slam dunk proposition for electric motorcycles at the moment.
Until E-motorcycles start to get more range at elevated speeds, they’re not something I’m willing to pursue.
It’s also impressive how much you can actually ignore chain maintenance before it actually becomes a problem. So a bump to 5000/10000km is refreshing – but without regular oil change intervals, likely means it won’t get the attention it needs.
“Build something decent and wait for better batteries” is a wise strategy right now. This is a very good first try for their engineering and product teams.
The single-sided swingarm with enclosed chaincase is a great idea both visually and mechanically. I assume there’s a gear reduction in there as well.
BRP is the ONLY company producing exciting recreational vehicles at a price point that younger generations/the working class can still afford.
A lot of the giants in the offroad/marine industry are just so far behind, because they’ve been chasing quarterly profits by extracting wealth from boomers, and completely ignoring growing their userbase. Meanwhile, BRP is pretty much dominating snowmobiling, the sea doo switch is a refreshing breath of fresh air for the pontoon market, and now they’re setting their sites on electric motorcycles.
Harley should be very worried. Doesn’t their ebike effectively cost 30k?
no, their (Livewire) S2 models that started coming out last year are more like $15k. I have the Del Mar and it’s crazy good….but severely limited range. I get a real-world 60 miles out of mine.
I really wanted to like those switches, but I have read too many bad reviews.
The problem is their commitment to jet drives. If they went with a prop, it could be so much better. Jets just are not efficient, and honestly terrible in lakes with any sort of weeds.
BRP is all about innovation. I’m in Québec, so a local market for them, but there are A LOT of spyders out there. I must admit, I didn’t think it would catch on when they first showed them. They actually have a R&D facility in partnership with a university (my alma mater), so I’m sure that helps.
I hear they got great companies in k-beck. How are you now?
I want an electric motorcycle so bad. Unfortunately the only thing I want more than an electric motorcycle is to not pay $15k+ for one.
Ryan has mentioned it before in previous videos but it bears repeating – an electric drivetrain + traction control = an extremely efficient and capable off road machine. The Origin looks so cool and promising, I wouldn’t even mind that I had to trailer it to the trailhead. It’s a shame it is still too expensive.
Same. But on road for me. The Metacycle was super tempting but I wanted to wait a couple years, and then they folded and I was glad I hadn’t tried to buy one. The range wasn’t enough, but the price was excellent! Now someone needs to pick up where they left off.
Yeah, I had paid in full up front for a Metacycle, then cancelled and spent the money on a fixer Zero S from Copart. An FX would’ve been even better.
Is the caveat that it needs to be brand new? You can get used Zero’s for <$10k and with limited wear parts I’m way more eager to buy a used electric since they don’t suffer from neglected maintenance like an ICE bike.
I’m really over these “urban bikes” with absolutely no storage. Whether you’re commuting or running errands, you need a place for “stuff”. Backpack? Sure, unless you’re doing some shopping, most retail stores frown upon bringing a backpack inside.
Meh, I had three bikes, none had any storage. I never had any issue bringing the backpack along wherever I needed to go. I have never felt the need for storage on a bike. Mine were always commuters, I didn’t go long distance and that would change things dramatically, but as a commuter/daily it was never an issue.
Well, folks can do whatever they want to do. And I absolutely get that most Americans think motorcycles are cool and scooters are not. But for *my* needs, the scooter format just makes more sense. Gimme a 2-wheeled EV that looks like a PCX or a Burgman, please.
Agree 100%. Scooters are the answer, people need to get over themselves. I have a 2012 Buddy, and it’s amazing how easy it is to zip into town for errands. A LOT more stuff fits in that underseat storage than people think.
The PC800 is a serious outlier.
Dedicated urban bikers will add luggage. Whilst a convenient hidey-hole or pet-carrier might be nice: tank bags, top boxes, backpacks, saddlebags are really what you use day-to-day.
I had a PC800. I loved that I could ride it to the grocery store and load it with bags.
I DIDN’T love that it was covered completely in 35 year old extremely brittle plastic. Anything that needed doing to it, like oil changes, required removing plastic panels that would probably snap their mounting tabs. And nobody makes replacement panels for it.
Also heavy all over and too much of that high. Great economy, too. Too bad we can’t get new bits of Tupperware.
It was really heavy! But I rode that thing in all kinds of weather, and it had great protection!
I did hit a dead armadillo that exploded all over my boots though…
they will almost all let you bring in a backpack and not say shit if youre also carrying your helmet. i only rode a cruiser with no bags for daily transportation for almost 3 years and never once got stopped when i carried my bag inside stores with me to shop.
I can get Husqavarna styling with an electric drivetrain?! Yes, please.
If well priced, this is fine. 50 miles is plenty for your average commute, and it’s meant as a city cruiser anyway so then you’ll get closer to the 80. The caveat to that is that it cannot be $15k for 50 miles of riding.
Missed that the pricing was in the article. Yeah it’s better than expected, but still more than I would spend for that low of range.