Can-Am’s Hub-steered Motorcycle

Admin · March 8, 2023

History has shown that engineers love to experiment with a replacement for the conventional telescopic fork. Few have succeeded in the mainstream of production. (Can-Am/)

The Can-Am name is returning to two wheels with the launch of the Pulse and Origin electric models in 2024, but a paper trail shows that the company is also working on a radical hub-steered gas-powered machine.

Bombardier Recreational Products, Can-Am’s Canadian parent company, has applied for a patent on the front suspension system for this new machine. It’s only recently been published, but the earliest paperwork relating to the application dates back to 2019 and shares nothing with the relatively conventional-looking Pulse roadster and Origin adventure bikes. Instead it’s more akin to a two-wheeled version of Can-Am’s Ryker trike, which is far longer than a conventional motorcycle and breaks with all the norms in terms of construction and layout.

Can-Am’s Ryker trike. (Can-Am/)

The design is the work of Bombardier’s Advanced Concept Engineer Daniel Mercier, who’s also been responsible for a variety of other unusual ideas over the last couple of decades, including a leaning version of the Can-Am Spyder trike and a snowmobile with tracks at the front as well as the rear. He’s also been involved with the Can-Am Spyder project since long before its official unveiling back in 2007; his name appears on patents showing a finished-looking version of that machine as early as 2003, four years before production started.

Can-Am’s version of the hub-steered front suspension. (Can-Am/)

Can-Am’s take on hub-center steering uses a pair of single-sided front swingarms, one above the other and running in parallel between the frame and the front hub. These appear to be slim, cast-aluminum parts, with the spring and damper unit mounted at an angle between the upper arm and the bike’s frame. By making the lower arm longer than the upper, conventional rake and trail is introduced to the geometry, but as with most hub-steered motorcycles the design can separate braking and suspension forces in a way that telescopic forks can’t. That means brake dive can be eliminated or reduced, allowing the suspension to absorb bumps better even when you’re hard on the anchors.

From this view, you get a good look at the unequal length arms and the mounting point for the single shock. You can also see the large brake disc and radial-mount caliper. (Can-Am/)

The brake itself is a single, large disc with a four-piston radial-mount caliper, mounted deep inside the heavily dished front wheel. The wheel needs to be dished to ensure the steering axis—where the front upright pivots on the upper and lower swingarms—is on its centerline.

Bimota’s Tesi uses a twin-sided swingarm, with a series of complicated linkages. (Bimota/)

Where the Can-Am design starts to get less conventional is in its steering layout. Normally, hub-steered bikes—perhaps most famously Bimota’s Tesi—attempt to put the rider in a conventional position, with the bars situated where they would be found if there were a normal telescopic fork. That might be a benefit in terms of weight distribution on a sportbike, but it also introduces complexity in the steering linkage, with multiple bearings and joints between the bars and the front wheel. Any slack in the system introduces vagueness, and the setup is often blamed for a reduction in feedback between the front wheel and rider.

Can-Am’s concept uses an automotive-style steering column that attaches to a pitman arm and a tie-rod to control steering movement. (Can-Am/)

Can-Am’s design still has linkages, but fewer of them. Like a Can-Am Spyder or Ryker, the rider sits farther back than on a conventional bike, and the wheelbase is longer. This means there’s a car-style steering column running down from the bars to a lower pivot point just behind the front wheel. At the bottom there’s a pitman arm extending to the right of the column, attached to a tie-rod that transfers steering movement to the front upright. The design is intended to reduce the overall width of the front suspension, increasing the potential lean angle before any part of it can touch the ground.

Top view of the layout. (Can-Am/)

While the patent’s focus is on the steering and front suspension, the rest of the bike is equally intriguing. First off, there’s a combustion engine, and while it’s not clearly visible in the images, it appears to be borrowed from the Can-Am Ryker. That means it’s either a 600cc inline-twin or a 900cc inline-triple, mounted longitudinally in the bike’s frame. Behind it is a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which the patent specifically mentions. The frame itself has a similar construction to that of the Ryker, with trellis-style tubular chassis elements low down on either side of the engine. Like the Ryker, the rear end uses a single-sided swingarm incorporating a shaft final drive.

Although Bombardier has a history of filing patents for wacky ideas that don’t reach production, there have also been occasions where the company’s IP filings have shown the direction it’s taking in the future. Patents last year gave us a look at the upcoming electric bike project before it was officially confirmed, for instance, and the first look at the Can-Am Spyder came from patents long before it was launched. Whether the latest design ever sees the light of day remains to be seen, but it would certainly be interesting to find out if Can-Am’s take on the hub-steering idea can succeed where others have failed.

Top view with the wheel removed. (Can-Am/)
Side and top views of the entire machine. (Can-Am/)