There is a bit of a craze going on right now across both the automotive and motorcycle industries. Everyone’s a bit obsessed with taking something off-road, resulting in a slew of cars with off-road packages and new off-road motorcycles. Leave it to those mad engineers in Canada to find one of the weirdest ways to jump in. The new 2025 Can-Am Canyon gets trike riders into the wilderness with a lifted suspension, meaty tires, and the most butch looks this side of a BMW R 1300 GS Adventure.
Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) is rounding out its August with a flurry of new product announcements. Some of the new stuff isn’t much to write about, like how there are new colors for the Can-Am Spyder and the Can-Am Ryker. Then there’s the official launch of Can-Am’s first motorcycles in 38 years. However, Can-Am has been hyping those bikes for more than a couple of years now, so there’s nothing shocking there.
What did catch my attention was the announcement of another completely new model. BRP’s surprise announcement is the 2025 Can-Am Canyon, and it seems to solve one of the issues I had with the Ryker (below).
When the Can-Am Ryker launched in 2019 it was supposed to be a bit of a revolution for the BRP brand. The Spyder is ultra-cushy, but you don’t want to take one of those on anything more hardcore than a gentle dirt road. The Ryker, especially the Rally version, promised more off-road capability and crazy tire-shredding fun for half of the money of a Spyder. I’m a fan of the Ryker and how it’s just a total hooligan on three wheels, but I’ve always felt that BRP could have done better with the off-roading chops. The Ryker Rally goes way further off-road than you’d expect it to, but is held back by its plastic face and inadequate 4.8 inches of ground clearance.
Clearly, BRP has been listening because the Canyon is designed to be the most off-road capable trike BRP has ever built.
BRP doesn’t say much about how the idea for this trike came to be, but it wouldn’t be too hard to guess what BRP’s reasoning might have been. Slap the term “off-road” or “overland” to just about any product and people will go bananas for it. Are the majority of Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road owners going wheeling at their local off-road park? Probably not, but it looks really cool and rugged. Plus, the motorcycle world already has a proven three-wheel off-roader with the Ural.
The adventure segment is one that remains a healthy spot. Adventure bikes — machines that are generally good tourers and decent off-road — are so popular that even Harley-Davidson is in on the game. Now the Canadians have their adventure bike, but like all things BRP, it’s alternative.
BRP doesn’t tell us where the bones of the Canyon come from, but it appears to be similar in size and configuration to a Spyder. One part that’s definitely shared with the Spyder is the Rotax 1330 ACE inline triple. It makes 115 HP and 96 lb-ft of torque. That’s paired with a six-speed thumb shift semi-automatic transmission with a reverse gear. That sounds a whole lot like the Can-Am Spyder F3-T I tested last year and that’s good. I prefer this powertrain over the CVT setup found in the Ryker.
The departures from the Spyder come immediately with the looks. Squares are in right now from overland camping trailers and the Ford Bronco down to the new BMW R 1300 GS Adventure. Even Harley did the square thing with the Pan America. The 2025 Can-Am Canyon copies the homework of other efforts but cranks it up to 11. The Canyon is squares and rectangles stacked on top of squares and rectangles seemingly just for the heck of it. Oh and toss in some exposed hardware to enhance that rugged look. If Halo’s Master Chief rode a trike it would definitely be one of these!
Once you look past the looks, you’ll notice that you can spec your Canyon with more storage than you can get with any other BRP three-wheeler. Being able to carry around tons of stuff is basically a requirement in the ADV space and Can-Am says the Canyon carries up to 656 pounds on its own and it also has 400 pounds of towing capacity for an adorable trailer.
BRP says the real action happens at the three wheels. A Can-Am Ryker Rally has to off-road with 4.8 inches of ground clearance and about 7 inches of suspension travel. In my experience, wheeling with a Ryker Rally involves choosing your lines carefully.
The Can-Am Canyon sits a little higher at 6.3 inches off of the ground and the suspension, regardless of trim level, has 10.2 inches of travel up front and 9.2 inches of travel in the rear. That’s not a huge improvement, but I will also note that this is the size of a Spyder while also being more capable than a Ryker. It’s part of why the Canyon is such a laugh to look at!
The Canyon comes in three trim levels: Standard, XT, and Redrock.
The suspension of the Standard and XT models include double A-arms with an anti-roll bar two Sachs Big Bore shocks up front plus Sachs shock in the rear. Opting for the XT gets you a self-leveling preload suspension. The Redrock is the flagship of the lineup and it gets a pair of KYB Piggyback Smart Shox up front and one in the rear. It also gets a semi-active suspension that adjusts damping based on the riding environment.
All trim levels get Sport, Rally, and All-Road riding modes as well as power steering, ABS, stability control, and traction control. All trim levels feature Brembo brakes with 270mm discs up front clamped on by four pots each and a 270mm rotor in the rear with a single-piston caliper. All trim levels also get two 16-inch wheels up front and a 15-inch wheel in the rear, all shod in XPS Adventure tires.
You also get anti-slip pegs, handlebar risers, and various protection devices. BRP says the Canyon has a metal grille, a drive belt protector, and bark busters on your handlebars. The accessory catalog includes extra protection for the headlights as well as a skid plate and a brush-guard-like aluminum front bumper. Finally, everything is capped off with BRP’s signature LinQ attachment system, so you can carry all kinds of equipment with you from extra fuel jugs to toolboxes and all points in between.
In terms of tech, all three modes get a 10.25-inch touchscreen with BRP Connect, Bluetooth, and wired Apple CarPlay. There’s also cruise control as well as a USB port. All up, you’re looking at a vehicle that weighs 996 pounds to 1,036 pounds empty and if it’s anything like the Spyder, riding it will feel like piloting a La-Z-Boy.
So, if all three trims of the Canyon are similar, what are you getting with them? The Standard Canyon (above) is about as stripped down as you can get. There’s just one color, no cases, and the passenger seat looks to be made more for punishment rather than a fun ride. BRP is pitching the Standard Canyon to the solo rider who wants to do their own customization. An example buyer of this one would be someone who already has their own side and top cases.
Stepping up to the Canyon XT (below) gets you heated grips, heated holds for your passenger, a passenger backrest, and aluminum storage cases. The skid plate also comes standard with this one as well as a comfort seat and comfort pegs. As noted earlier, the XT also gets the nifty self-leveling rear suspension.
Stepping up to the Redrock (below) adds the KYB semi-active suspension setup I mentioned earlier plus a customizable drive mode, a backup camera, and a green color.
Another Patented BRP Oddball
I think what I love most about this thing is that like most BRP products, it’s a total middle finger to expectations. Admittedly, I never thought BRP would try to make its own BMW GS, yet here we are and it’s delightfully weird.
Unfortunately, I must point out one major area I think is flawed and if BRP is reading this, I hope they fix this before putting the Canyon on the market.
I have a problem with the skid plate. It looks like metal in press imagery, but a little digging reveals it to be made out of 4mm plastic. A plastic skid plate isn’t going to protect much when you’re doing anything harder than a fire road. BRP is charging a lot of money for these things (more on that in a moment) so I’d love to see more metal underneath. There’s also no mention of other underbody protection which is important when you’re doing any real off-roading. It’s also a little odd because the Ryker Rally has a substantial metal underbody skid plate.
To be clear, I’m not singling out BRP here. I thought the Ford Transit Trail’s plastic skid plate was a joke and David Tracy famously judged the Subaru Crosstrek Wildnerness’ poor excuse of a skid plate. If you actually expect your customers to take your stuff off-road, don’t skimp on protection.
Otherwise, I like the idea of what’s going on here. I thought about criticizing the 6.3 inches of ground clearance and the lack of two (or heck, three) wheel drive, but I’ve also gotten Smart Fortwos some incredible distances off-road with less ground clearance and worse tires. I think the Canyon will do fine so long as you don’t get too crazy.
Still, BRP is still reading this, three-wheel-drive would be so fun with one of your three-wheel vehicles.
So here comes the potential shocker. The 2025 Can-Am Canyon starts at $25,299, and that’s for the standard model. Tossing $29,799 into the pot gets you the XT while a whopping $32,299 gets you the Redrock. That’s about what BRP charges for a Can-Am Spyder RT Limited and less than a Spyder Sea-To-Sky, but that’s still some pretty hefty cash. Consider that a base spec Jeep Wrangler is $31,995 and a Harley-Davidson Pan America is $20,000.
So you really have to want one of these to pony up the cash being asked here. If you do want one, the 2025 Can-Am Canyon begins showing up at dealerships in spring of next year.
All of that being said, I love goofy offbeat machines like this. In a world where almost everything is so serious, I like silly endeavors like this. Yes, the Can-Am Canyon is expensive and the skid plate seems suspicious, but the Canadians sure know how to have fun.
Summer Snowmobile!
No, Trophy Trike!
No, Alpha-pattern ATV!
Honestly, it’s kinda brilliant, especially if you can get over 100 on fire roads without flipping on the first bump… But for that money I want a 3×3!
I don’t think I’ve seen anyone comment about this but unless I’m crazy, 10 inches of travel with it sitting 6 inches off the ground implies it is really deep into its travel. And the next question is how much clearance does it have with say 400 lb payload (person and gear)?
If you assume it stops at say 3 inches (I hope it isn’t lower than that at maximum), it is designed to be at like 70% sag nominally. That sounds crazy to me as an uninformed person. Realistically means only 3 inch of downward squish.
This thing is $25-32K?! What a ripoff
“I thought about criticizing the 6.3 inches of ground clearance and the lack of two (or heck, three) wheel drive”
Well if you won’t I will. For my imaginary $32k I demand a couple of very real extra driveshafts.
“but I’ve also gotten Smart Fortwos some incredible distances off-road with less ground clearance and worse tires. I think the Canyon will do fine so long as you don’t get too crazy.”
You also were supplying torque to half the footprint whereas here it’s going to a third. Unless that rear tire is off a tractor I think mud will not be this thing’s friend and if they are marketing this as an off roader it needs to work in mud.
JMHO.
This is definitely more of a higher speed, gravel road touring machine vs a rock crawler.
Basically, this is something for BRP dealers to sell in the summer to the demographic of snowmobile tourers. These are older folks who only ride on groomed trails- They aren’t fit enough for ADV bikes, and find ATVing too messy and limited in scope.
I’d have a lot more confidence in that rear finding traction if it had a tank track rather than a wheel.
That’s the only explanation that makes sense. Something for snowmobile riders to ride on snowmobile trails in the summer that snowmobile dealers can sell them in the summer.
Got it, thanks.
From that point of view, it’s brilliant actually.
It is clever on BRP’s part, they are certainly inventive trying to come up with new machinery.
To me, this feels like the first Can-Am trike that is beginning to figure out the formula. The Rally was a step in the right direction, but with only 4.5” of clearance, is still basically a pavement machine. The next step would be a de-contented version of this Canyon, with less weight, power and cost.
The other angle for BRP is that snowmobiling as a sport/industry is struggling. Many riders are aging out, and there is climate change to contend with. Mountain sledding is a haven for now, but is a small niche compared to the trail sledding in Quebec, Michigan and northern Ontario. A good chunk of these areas only had enough snow/freezing weather to open trails for a few weeks this year. Lots of opinions and bickering on the subject, but any snowmobiler (who isn’t lying to themselves) realizes the endless winters of the 1970s and 80s aren’t coming back.
This might be a fun rig to explore Labrador and Newfoundland, but that is a lot of cash.
Summer level (?Snow?)Mobile?
Yup, this is basically my Skidoo Expedition with wheels.
I’m curious how the Canyon’s basic layout would adapt to actual overlanding, if it ever comes to that. As Mercedes hints, adventure bikes offer the most flexibility in choosing your line, and with 1-wheel drive, that’s super-important on rutted back roads.
4-wheel vehicles do best when they can slot into existing wheel tracks. 3 wheels are the worst of both worlds: given the track width, probably one of your front wheels will find a slot, the other will be high, while your drive wheel bounces around on the center.
That was exactly my thinking.
Counterpoint- With three wheels, every tire is always in contact with the ground.
3 wheeled ATVs exist, you know. I own a couple, and the tracking issue is not as bad as you’d expect. I’d say it’s more difficult to choose a line than a four wheeler, but much easier to navigate ruts than on a dirt bike.
are your 3 wheeled atvs driven by the one odd wheel? that could make a difference?
Is there an available tow hitch? That way you could pull your same-brand electric adventure bike to where the adventure starts (slash where you would not want 3 wheels) without worrying about range.
The article mentions a 400 pound towing capacity so I assume a hitch must be available.
Most factory underbody skid plates are junk, even ones made out of metal. It’s usually thin stamped metal that won’t hold up to an actual rock hit.
I was changing the oil after a Colorado trip in my Xterra, which I had put rock rails on but still had the factory engine and transfer case skid. Found the corner of the engine skid bent back and a nice dent in the oil pan, and that was from something I hit light enough to not even notice.
the ones on my Colorado ZR2 are more than adequate. I’ve also seen stock skid on Fords that were fine. Junk? That’s a Nissan thing.
No, they’re not. I have a ZR2, the only decent one is the rad skid. The TC skid is a joke, engine skid not much better. No trans skid stock. Replaced mine with the AEV stuff.
ha! what else is in your fleet? I’ve found it more than adequate. I’m not rad like you.
690 Enduro, that also had a shitty plastic skid plate from the factory. Replaced that with a 9mm thick UHMW plastic skid, mainly because I read that aluminum or steel skids tend to amplify the box o’ rocks single cylinder.
I’m not rad, and I don’t even do crazy off-road stuff that often. But it only takes one rock in the wrong place to ruin a trip.
I’m glad this exists for the people that want it. It’s an unfortunate side effect of the market that vehicles that cater to an incredibly small niche don’t usually get to exist. I’m happy for all 10 people that want this.
I like the way it looks. No fake aggression, the looks convey just function over form (mostly).
Way better than that insect/alien looking plasticky thing we had here a few weeks ago.
I want to like it a lot. A base model jeep wrangler with the top and doors off for the same money will be much safer and much better off road. I worry about getting this heavy thing stuck with one wheel drive. Imagine the front wheels in ruts, the back tire on the grassy or muddy center of the two track and needing a winch badly. I wonder how fast someone will create an aftermarket atv winch bumper for these.
I don’t hate it, but why don’t we just make a street legal ATV already?
This is where my mind always goes when I see these. What’s the point in having one wheel in back? It’s not like you can lean into turns anymore. That rear tire has basically a flat profile like a car and the front has anti-roll bars.
All I can guess is that is has something to do with laws and how they apply to motorcycles compared to 4 wheeled vehicles or something.
That’s my best guess. In NC I believe that 2-3 wheels are considered a motorcycle and have less stringent regulations. But 4+ wheels are considered a normal vehicle. I would happily do my commute on an ATV with street tires.
Can’t you plate a side by side in NC now?
They’ve opened up restrictions to allow them on some roads. Can’t be on interstates/major highways. I think it’s stupid they’ll allow a 200 hp SxS with a quicker 0-60 time than sports cars but not an ATV.
I think it’s stupid they’ll allow a 200 hp SxS with a quicker 0-60 time than sports cars but not an ATV.
You’re telling me. I don’t think Virginia’s in ANY danger of ever letting a SxS on the road.
The guys that I have talked to about these went this way because they were afraid to learn to balance on a motorcycle.
yeah, that makes sense. But If laws allowed it I’d go all the way to a quad. Inverted trikes just seem like a compromised product of some arbitrary state vehicle motor laws. A great option given the current state of the law though.
Some UTV’s are street legal now, mostly depends on the locality. That being said I did see a Subaru 360 body on a 900 Razor carriage after the cage was cut off and used as hard points to mount the body. It was somehow licensed and driven on the road.
Vehicles this small with 4 wheels are quite unstable, there is a reason most ATVs top out around 45mph from the factory.
And the 4 wheels = automobile safety standards issue.
With the minor caveat that most ATVs don’t actually top out around 45mph from the factory…….
Even utility quads can usually go at least like 55, even old ones. I have gone like 70mph on a four wheeler, they do not have any inherent stability issues at speed. You can buy utility quads capable of over 100mph.
Not sure where you got your 45mph idea.
There’s a reason every ATV manual warns riders to stay off paved roads. Twist the bars while travelling at speed, and the machine will roll in a heartbeat. End of the day, a tall skinny wheelbase can only handle so many lateral Gs before tipping over.
Sure, my Rubicon 520 will do 80km/h, and I guess the 1000cc Outlanders will do 100km+, but neither are really designed for it.
The fastest Can Am Spyder will do 200km/h, 125mph- Entirely different beasts.
“but neither are really designed for it”
That’s where it’d be nice to have more open regulations where some ATVs could be designed for street use. But right now they fall into the same classification as standard automobiles and good luck getting any ATV to pass crash safety standards. I would see a street legal ATV as having a lot of the benefits of a motorcycle with some extra utility added.
Also, I don’t feel as if my ATV is any more of a rollover risk than the Wranglers on 40s I see often. And this is coming from a prior CJ-5 owner.
A backup camera? Really?
The camera is quite practical when compared to the poutine-warming glove box available in the Canuck package.
I’m not at all the market for this thing, but I love it.
They safari’d a trike! What’s not to love?!
6.3 inches of ground clearance isn’t bad, even a little. That’s more than my ATVs have, and they go everywhere. 6.3 may sound like nothing compared to Jeeps and Raptors, but it’s different with a narrow track vehicle.
This thing is gonna suck in the soft stuff as a 3×1, and 1000lb. And you can’t manhandle it out of its hole because it’s 1000lb.
650lb of payload but only 400lb of towing is interesting. I’m guessing it just doesn’t have a very strong hitch structure? Or maybe a towing stability issue.
There’s a reason that every vehicle you’ve ever heard of has a greater towing capacity than payload capacity: if the drivetrain and brakes can handle 650lb of payload, then it can definitely handle 650lb of trailer. And because a trailer doesn’t put(very much) load on the suspension, it’s typically significantly more.
But with three wheels you could install a UTV winch. That would make up for things a bit. also older Adventure rider might appreciate the difficulty of dropping this one on their legs in a slippery turn I suppose.
I bet the engine and chassis of this machine could control 1500-2000lb without strain- The problem is definitely the structural compromises needed to transfer that weight to the chassis.
BRP goes to lengths to centralize mass on their performance machines, which is why only their utility snowmobiles like the Skandic are rated to tow at all. Even then, towing the maximum 1500lbs involves additional steel reinforcement plates. ATVs are a whole other conversation, they are slow and intended for utility use. The hitch can be mounted directly to the steel frame between the rear tires without any compromises.
Adding a 1.5” hitch receiver to this 3 wheeler would add dozens of pounds of steel exactly where you don’t want it- Cantilevered out past the rear wheel, unbalancing the suspension. Adding it to the swing arm would solve the suspension loading issue, but would ruin rear ride and traction with massive amounts of unsprung weight.
Neither compromise makes any sense for a machine BRP knows will be sold exclusively for leisure.
Why are the cases so tiny if it can carry 656 lbs.
That’s about $750,000 worth of gold.
Screenwriters are already at work on “The Canadian Job”
I might be talking out of my butt here, as I’m not an offroad enthusiast. I’ve seen single-track trails, and I’ve seen two-track trails, but I’ve never seen a triple-track trail. I think that if you took this on the trails, at any moment at least one of the wheels is going to be in a very bad place.
I own several three wheeler atvs. They’re the other direction, but the same tracking issue applies.
It is surprisingly not a big deal in most cases. On badly rutted trails, it can be annoying to have to put your middle wheel in the center of the rut, but that’s about it. You definitely choose lines differently than on a four wheeler, but it doesn’t stop you from going anywhere.
I never rode the spyder nor the Ryker, but was under the impression that the Ryker is do be driven like a snowmobile rather than a bike like a spyder.
I thought I heard they made it like it was a snowmobile for the summer. Snowmobiles and hockey are like a religion here.
Enclosed three wheeler car like things I get. Three wheel Morgans I get. Three wheelers where you’re about eye-level with the top of the tires I would actually like to have. F1 sidecars make me wish I was 20 again, and wonder why they aren’t the worlds biggest spectator sport.
These three wheelers where you are sitting on a motorcycle saddle and have handlebars seem like less safe than a motorcycle less maneuverable than a motorcycle slower than a motorcycle, can’t go places that a motorcycle can go.
What’s the appeal?
You can’t drop one of these at a red light?
That seems like the sort of problem that if you are worried about it you probably should reconsider the entire situation.
If you fall off a three wheeler, I can’t imagine how it would not be a high side – run over by your own bike situation.
High-sideing at a stoplight might not happen.
Maybe they should put ejection seats on them?
The only time these make sense to me is if a rider can no longer hold a bike up on their own due to health and or age.
Hard pass for me. My 2 wheelers can pretty much go anywhere that isn’t a deep bog.
Having laid down a few bikes on muddy back trails, I prefer trikes and quads in the rutted back country.
We have fire. We can kill it.
Please proceed.
Somebody should tell Can Am/Ski Doo that if they put skis in place of the front wheels, and a long rubber belt like a tank tread in place of the back wheel, this thing would be great in the snow!