(This is just a teaser. To see Brenda Priddy’s actual photo click HERE)
No… this isn’t the vile offspring of a Porsche 911 and a sport cruiser. It’s a spy photo of a Bombardier 3-wheeled prototype from Canada. The specs are impressive, but I’ll let you get the details, specifications and speculations from this site and this one over here.
This last bit may be of interest to you:
The vehicle could be marketed under the Can-Am brand, which, again, is owned by Bombardier. The firm is planning to launch the vehicle on February 7 at an airfield in San Diego, and it will be sold in mainland Europe and the United States, with deliveries starting in the first half of 2007.
29. December 2006 at 5:21 pm
But does it tilt and lean? If not, I don’t think I get the point.
29. December 2006 at 5:45 pm
No, it does not tilt and lean; it’s not like the Piaggio MP3. The Can-Am Spyder has a very wide front wheelbase and thus can be driven without a motorcycle endorsement in some European countries. The Can-Am Spyder uses the same Rotax 1000cc V-Twin engine as the Aprilia RSV-R sportbike. The Can-Am Renegade ATV uses the Rotax 800cc V-Twin mated to a CVT (high, low, neutral, reverse) and it’s likely the Spyder will have the same transmission. With legislation increasingly making ATV riding more sparse it appears that Bombardier intends to get back into the motorcycle business. By the way, Bombardier owns Rotax.
Previous concept drawings:
http://www.motodirect.net/forum/download.php?id=7836
http://www.motodirect.net/forum/download.php?id=7835
Upcoming bikes according to the rumor-mill:
* Can-Am Spyder 3-wheeler 130hp 1000cc with CVT
* Can-Am street-legal motorcycle 800cc (perhaps CVT)
* Can-am dirtbike 450cc
30. December 2006 at 12:47 am
If Can-Am/Bombardier wants to get into the automatic road motorcycle business they have some significant advantages. They have a large dealer network (for ATVs and Ski-Doos) and they have a range of Rotax engines in their ATVs from 250 to 800cc. The 250cc or 400cc size would make an attractive beginner/commuter bike.
So far, Japanese automatic motorcycle concepts like Honda’s DN-01 have been taking a long time to get to market, if indeed they will ever come to the U.S. The concepts coming from Aprilia and Gilera right now may never reach the U.S. either. The only automatic bikes on the market here are the enormous Ridley, the Helix-clone-based CFMoto/Qlink bikes, and 30 year old Hondamatics and Suzukimatics.
If Can-Am is willing to make the leap into this market they could easily capture most of it by offering some mid-size automatic bikes. The big question is whether the market for automatic motorcycles is big enough to bother.
31. December 2006 at 1:30 am
Couldn’t help but notice the passenger was wearing a WEIGHT BELT…
Can we hope they’ll work out the dampening issues or is this the start of a new designer trend?
6. January 2007 at 4:18 pm
this one does tilt and lean
us patent application
http://aiw2.uspto.gov/.aiw?PageNum=1&docid=us20060255550ki&IDKey=34AE6FDD3E9A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fappft1.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPG01%2526s1%3D20060255550.PGNR.%2526OS%3DDN%2F20060255550%2526RS%3DDN%2F20060255550
30. October 2007 at 6:44 am
Good read…See some porsche pictures at porsche cayenne s