Riding a motorcycle off-pavement is one of the greatest thrills you can experience without stepping into a flight deck or taking a car past 100 mph. Take a bike onto a fire road and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. But, riding off pavement brings new challenges and dangers in keeping the shiny side up without hurting yourself. It’s not for everyone. I think Canada has just come the closest to creating a vehicle anyone can take off-pavement without worrying about testing out just how good their protective gear is. I just rode the brand-new 2025 Can-Am Canyon three-wheel adventure bike, and it brings a whole new level of confidence when the road runs out.
It seems like everyone is obsessed with things advertised as being able to leave pavement. You can buy “off-road”-inspired everything from camping gear and RVs to crossovers. The motorcycle industry has embraced this trend to a comical level, and you can now buy more than one butch scooter with slightly more aggressive tires. Some of the most famous motorcycle videos of late include people taking sportbikes and heavy tourers places they do not belong.
Canada’s BRP has long been known as the purveyors of three-wheel Can-Am Spyder vehicles that have found themselves in an interesting place in motorcycle culture. Spyders are the perfect machines for the kind of people who want the fun of a motorcycle without countersteering and without needing to have good balance. In my experience, the Spyder is also so comfortable, it’s like a Cadillac minus a roof and a wheel.
Well, what if you took the cushy and easy ride of the Spyder, lifted it, and gave it aggressive tires? You get the 2025 Can-Am Canyon, and it might be the ultimate machine for the kind of person who wants to tackle fire roads in awesome comfort and security.
(Full Disclosure: BRP invited me out to Prescott, Arizona, to ride the new Can-Am Canyon. BRP paid for travel, food, and great accommodations in a vintage hotel.)
Going Off-Pavement Is Heart-Pounding
I try to be fluent in as many vehicular disciplines as I can be. I’ve driven everything from some of the tiniest road-legal cars to 40,000-pound trucks and 1,600 HP diesel-electric locomotives. I’ve strapped myself to 325 HP Sea-Doos and into the cockpits of high-flying Cessnas. Likewise, I’ve had the privilege of maxing out Harley-Davidson Road Glides on a racetrack and hitting near warp speed in an Acura NSX. Riding off-road ranks pretty high in experiences that’ll get my blood flowing. I like challenging myself to ride faster and faster off-road. I like taking things that don’t belong off-road, like scooters and Smart Fortwos, and then making those go fast off-road, too.
Many, if not most, riders will get years of experience never actually leaving the road. I’m not disparaging those riders; riding on the road is tough enough! You have to deal with seemingly every other driver whose face is buried deep in their phone screen, unpredictable traffic, high heat, road debris, and surprise dangers. Ride somewhere outside of America, and the streets might be pure chaos.
But it’s nothing like riding off-road. Taking a two-wheeler off-road almost requires you to rewire your brain. The things that signal danger on a road, such as wheel slip, are just things that are a normal part of off-roading. When you ride on the road, you will use the front brake a lot. That’s less so off-road because that’s a great way to break traction on the front wheel and throw yourself over. You’ll do a lot of sitting on the road, but do a lot of standing off-road. Riding off-road also requires heavy communication between your body and the bike, as you’ll move your body around to help optimize traction.
This can seem daunting to a rider who has never been off-road before or someone who is still relatively fresh to motorcycles. Of course, some people may not be able to ride off-road efficiently because of some physical limitation. Or, maybe you’ll find a rider who just isn’t that interested in learning how to ride off-road.
The 2025 Can-Am Canyon is the perfect machine for this task. The Canyon grants you access to off-pavement fun, but skill is not required.
Spyder, Extra Beef
I will cover the machine more in-depth in a full review, but here’s what you need to know. The team at BRP started with the Can-Am Spyder F3 series. The F3, shown above, is more or less Canada’s equivalent of a bagger motorcycle and I tested one of those last year. I maintain what I said in 2023: I’d rather ride a Spyder F3 from Chicago to Detroit than drive a luxury car.
Anyway, BRP’s engineers strengthened the F3’s structure in key points to deal with the extra forces the beast will be subjected to off-pavement. The suspension also got a huge upgrade. The base Canyon, which is more or less a base adventure three-wheeler without cases or bombastic flair, sports Sachs Big Bore shocks. The XT, which comes with a triplet of sizable storage cases and other handy features, also has the same shocks. Then there’s the full-bore Redrock, which gets a semi-active KYB suspension.
No matter your chosen flavor of Canyon, it comes with 6.3 inches of ground clearance. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a whopping two inches taller than a normal Can-Am Spyder. BRP also dramatically increased the platform’s approach angle, too. I’m still waiting to hear about what the exact approach angle is, but in my testing, the steep-ish rake of the front end actually made a huge difference.
Much of the bones of the Canyon are the same as a Spyder F3. That means a Rotax 1330 Ace inline-three pumping out a healthy 115 horsepower and 96 lb-ft of torque. It also comes with the Spyder’s six-speed hydraulic semi-automatic transmission. This transmission works a lot like the automated-manual transmission from a car. There’s a clutch, but you don’t operate it. Instead, all shifting is done through a thumb switch, not unlike a car with paddle shifters.
Now, you might be pausing here because what I’m describing doesn’t sound like a hardcore off-roader. I mean, 6.3 inches of ground clearance isn’t much. This is further reinforced when you flip through the spec sheet some more. The Canyon has a 4mm plastic skid plate, plastic covers that look like tow hooks but are actually cosmetic, and Kenda XPS Adventure tires that perform like 50/50 (road/off-road) rubber. It also comes with just rear-wheel-drive.
Off-Pavement, Not Off-Road
The folks of BRP stress that the 1,036-ish pound machine is not a real off-roader. If you take this to an off-road park, you will probably get stuck. Wait, scratch that. The engineer BRP had on hand was frank: “You will get stuck.” If you take it to Moab, you’ll probably have a bad time. Instead, BRP says that the Canyon is designed for the people who wish they could take their cruiser on a fire road without damaging it.
The Canyon is for the person who wants to take a trail to the top of a mountain and wouldn’t dare do it on their normal two-wheel bike. This is reflected in the trike’s marketing. BRP says that the Canyon is for “all roads,” regardless of whether they’re paved or not. BRP says if the path isn’t marked, the manufacturer doesn’t support you taking the machine down it.
The Canyon is also a step up from the Can-Am Ryker Rally, the compact and cheaper BRP three-wheeler with rally tires and a suspension lift. The Canyon has a 1.5-inch better ground clearance, a significantly more comfortable seat, a better fuel tank range, and a transmission that is actually fit for long-distance travel.
Of course, the design isn’t the only limiting factor. BRP’s reps claim that the U.S. government is still feeling a bit sore over the Honda ATC off-road three-wheeler scandal of the 1980s, and they don’t want to wake the beast from Washington. Thus far, BRP has decided to remain under the radar by making trikes that can play in the dirt, but make no real off-road promises. But we’ll get to that later.
As Easy As Driving
Our day started at the historic Hassayampa Hotel in Prescott, which sits at somewhere around 5,300 feet in elevation. Now, you, like me, might have expected Arizona in May to be hot and dry. Well, that was true for Phoenix, but not for Prescott. We walked outside to temperatures in the mid-40s and a constant drizzle. I didn’t bring my rain gear, so I zipped up my jacket, put down my visor, and saddled up.
Getting used to the Canyon was easy. In the past, BRP baked some security functions into its three-wheelers. The Spyder F3-T I tested in 2023 wouldn’t start unless I hit the Mode button first. The Can-Am Ryker won’t start unless you roll the throttle back first. You aren’t informed of this beforehand, so you sort of have to figure it out. The Canyon starts like a normal motorcycle. Put your foot on the brake, hit the start button, and you’re off to the races.
Commanding the Canyon is even easier. Electronic power steering makes maneuvering the beast as easy as driving a car. You just flick the three-wheeler into gear and off you go. If you want, you can play around with the buttons on the left side of the bar to find out that there are a handful of ride modes, including Rally mode, Sport, Normal, and All-Road. The Redrock gets a Custom mode where you can play with the level of stability control, suspension firmness, and engine output.
Most people will probably switch between Rally mode, which is pretty much Sport mode but with the traction control and stability control nannies backed down (but doesn’t turn them off), and All-Road mode, which automatically adjusts vehicle and suspension settings on the fly based on what the trike thinks you’re doing. I spent most of the day with my Redrock in Custom mode with the nannies turned down, power set to normal (the only other choice was Eco), and suspension in Sport.
The nannies baked into the Canyon are just as impressive as they are in other BRP three-wheelers. The first thing I tried to do with the Canyon was rip a burnout. The Canyon seems ok with that. But the nannies panic a bit once you start drifting. They won’t completely kill the drift, but you can feel the Vehicle Stability System taking in data from the vehicle’s IMU and using it to apply individual brakes to make sure I don’t spin out.
Speaking of the brakes, they’re all linked together through a single foot-actuated pedal. In the past, slamming the brakes on a BRP three-wheeler meant all three brake discs fighting each other for supremacy. Now, they all lay down quick and stable stops. Dare I say, I miss the old way because the silliness of the brakes fighting each other was part of the fun.
Once I had enough giving a middle finger to the nannies, our small convoy rode out of Prescott and onto the highway. This bit wasn’t the least bit surprising. Yes, the Canyon has a blocky body, like something the UNSC from the Halo universe would have in its inventory, but it was still a Spyder at heart. So, it was supremely smooth and comfortable. I cranked up my windshield, turned on my bar warmers, and settled in for a great ride.
Hooligan Machine
After some miles on the road, we turned off and hit the fire roads, headed for the Prescott National Forest. Normally, here’s where my concern would start to kick in. While I have off-road motorcycle experience, there’s always a thought at the back of my mind. I try to keep myself from being too silly or too much of a daredevil. I have a wife who wants to see me at the end of my ride, and I want to get back to her in one piece. Being a daredevil off-road can see you go from zero to injured quickly, so I keep my hooligan urges down.
That wasn’t a worry here. As soon as the Canyon left pavement, I ripped a fat burnout and a drift, something I’d never do on two wheels. Did I anger the nannies? Yup. Did I have a ton of fun, anyway? Absolutely! All of the shenanigans that I wouldn’t do on two wheels were welcome on the Canyon because of the awesome stability of having the extra wheel.
I spent much of the early part of the day kicking the rear end out just for the giggles. Time and time again, the other journalists heard my Rotax spin up and a huge rooster tail emerge from my rear tire, followed by my characteristic laughing.
When I wasn’t having so much fun converting gasoline into clouds of dust, I was pretty impressed. My Canyon Redrock had the aforementioned KYB semi-active suspension, which automatically adjusts damping multiple times every second to provide a smooth ride. I got to witness this in action when we hit some washboards and didn’t slow down. My two front wheels jiggled up in down in an almost enchanting rhythm, yet, so little of the action actually reached my butt. Seriously, I’ve captained cars, trucks, motorcycles, and SUVs that were far rougher on washboards than this trike.
Early in the day, we also tackled a track with huge dips, divots, and off-camber turns. Truth be told, none of this was more hardcore than what my stock Smart Fortwo on snow tires could handle, but the Canyon did it in total comfort. I also intentionally took it into rougher terrain and tested out the skid plate, ground clearance, breakover, and approach angle.
On one hand, the approach angle is much improved over a standard Spyder. I was able to clear obstacles that would have caused thousands of dollars of damage to a Spyder. The plastic skid plate also brushed off a couple of hard-ish hits. On the other hand, the Canyon doesn’t really have much of a departure angle unless you remove the mud flaps, and the approach angle is perhaps best comparable to a Subaru Outback rather than an off-road motorcycle. Anyone on a Yamaha TW200 will stomp the Canyon off-road, and the demolishing will be so bad it would be like the Rockies going up against the Yankees today.
Why The Canyon Exists
The real challenge for the Canyon came later. We somehow managed to escape the rain in the morning, but our ride after lunch was a soaker. As we weaved through the Prescott National Forest, we got to gaze at pine trees of so many different species and rock formations that towered above our three-wheelers. It was natural beauty that no desktop wallpaper could match.
But things also got soupy. The rain became cold and steady, with the ground below us turning more into mud than dirt. The Canyon never gave up. If anything, it became even more fun as it was now easier than ever to live out my Tokyo Drift dreams, but in the mud. Our ride group tackled some sharp rocks that pebbled the road, extremely soggy off-camber turns, and glorious mountain climbs. Sometimes things got hardcore enough for me to stand, and the Canyon’s enduro-style pegs kept me planted while its handlebar risers helped me maintain control.
This is also where cracks began to appear in the Canyon’s ability. As we climbed higher and higher, things got drenched and soaked from our bodies to the ground below. Suddenly, I felt the rear tire give way and completely slip now and then, leading to some uninitiated sideways action. Now, if I were on a street motorcycle or a motorcycle with iffy tires, I would have been thrown to the ground in a painful slide.
In this case, I eased off the throttle, got the tire to catch, and continued with my ride. If things got way out of control with all three wheels losing traction, the nannies got me back on track. This became especially important as my group eventually found ourselves on a one-lane track climbing a mountain with huge cliffs off to our side. I’d never go 30 mph or faster in these soupy conditions on a regular motorcycle, but the Canyon handled it. Our tires constantly slipped on that path, but I never felt that I was in danger.
This was another one of those limitations that make the Canyon not a true off-road vehicle. The tires are at least halfway biased toward road use, and that meant that things got slippery when the clay got wet. Yet, the Canyon remained more planted than a regular motorcycle on the same tires would have. Had you asked me to take my old Triumph Tiger up that mountain on the same 50/50 tires, I would have said no. I know that I would have wiped out my Triumph on the same roads, and I would have had a really bad day. But that wasn’t the case with the Canyon.
With that being said, I think there is some sort of real off-road vehicle hiding in the Canyon. Remove the plastic fenders and you’ll be able to fit the front wheels with big, knobby tires.
There’s even some clearance in the rear to do the same with the rear tire. A tire upgrade alone would make the Canyon far more capable. Understandably, BRP’s engineers say they cannot support this, but I can see it. The bones are there, someone just needs to take it further. Hear me, YouTubers? Moab is calling!
An Equalizer, Of Sorts
When all was said and done, we rode nearly 200 miles, and most of them were off-pavement. As we rolled down the highway one last time to get back to Prescott, I realized that the Canyon is a genius product. The Canyon is not for someone who would otherwise buy a farm bike or a Kawasaki KLR 650. It’s for the kind of person who wants to take a Honda Gold Wing or a Harley tourer off-road. It’s for the kind of person who is invested in three wheels, but doesn’t want to be stuck on blacktop.
One of the other journalists at the event, Janaki Jitchotvisut of RideApart, voiced that she had been riding for almost two decades, but had only a small amount of experience off-pavement and not a ton of confidence doing it. The Canyon allowed her to see some great wilderness that she probably wouldn’t have seen on a two-wheeler. Boom, the Canyon is perfect for her.
The price of admission for the 2025 Canyon experience is $25,299. That gets you the bare-bones standard model without the fancy suspension, cases, or even heated grips. You can fill it with factory accessories or buy the XT for $29,799 if you want most of the goodies ready to go. Finally, the Redrock is $32,299. That one gets you the KYB suspension, a backup camera, and other small upgrades. Personally, I’d go with the standard model and just buy your own cases. Or get the XT. The Redrock is awesome, but not necessary. You’ll read about that more in my full review.
I won’t lie, these aren’t cheap machines. Personally, I’d have loved to see the base model in the teens. That would have made the Canyon’s price competitive with two-wheel adventure bikes. However, I also understand that BRP manages to sell lots of its Spyder model for similar prices, so people are willing to pay for it. I also understand that BRP isn’t trying to compete with the likes of the Harley Pan America or the BMW GS, but is trying to carve out its own thing.
If you’re looking for a real hardcore three-wheeler, there’s also the Ural Gear Up, which has on-demand two-wheel-drive. However, some might point out that sidecar rigs handle very differently than a Can-Am Spyder. Likewise, Ural charges at least $20,000 for even the most basic of its sidecar rigs, so it’s hard to dodge paying a lot for three wheels. But, the Ural will go deep into places where BRP’s engineers say that will make the Canyon stuck, so there’s that.
If anything, the Canyon is a sort of equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you started your riding experience on dirt bikes or have never touched dirt in your life; the Canyon will get you off pavement. Just keep expectations in check, or be ready to start modding. Still, I think the Canyon could be a hit. I suppose it’s going to depend on how much spending cash people are going to have in the near future.
But I think the concept is sound. The Canyon is an adventure trike for people who, for whatever reason, won’t or cannot buy a regular adventure bike. It’s also for weirdos like me who can’t stop banging off rev limiters and doing burnouts. In other words, if you’re the kind of person who might be in the market for a three-wheeler and want to be comfortable leaving pavement, I think a Canyon might work.
Well, it looks and reads like you had a blast! I’ve read reviews of more road-oriented Can-Am three wheelers in the past. One point several reviewers made is how different they are to ride anything on two wheels. And they have a tendency to jink to one side or the other when one of the front wheels hits say a pothole, or a frost heave and the other one doesn’t. And the physics of not leaning into a turn would feel really weird. Other than when the rear tire slid out, did it feel like that was going on.
And I bet all those Canyons were a pain to clean after all that mudding.
I’ve got the “butchy” ADV 160 and once broken in took it up to 65 mph on a four-lane highway. It’s remarkably stable but the suspension is not as supple as one might expect. Imperfect transitions from one slab of pavement to another are barely filtered. And there are a couple of places around town where I stand to take the impact.
I’m 6’2″ and it’s plenty roomy and the windshield does a decent job of deflecting the airflow, but it hits me right in face shield due to my height.
It has a fair amount of storage, but sadly, not quite enough to stow a full-face helmet. If I park in a sketchy area, I just take it in with me.
I’ve taken on some tame dirt and gravel back roads and it does ok, I don’t do anything crazy. I had a Suzuki VStrom 1000 before and the ADV is more fun on gravel due its CG being so much lower. I should’ve tried to find a used VS 650, but at the time I thought bigger would be better.
I don’t know, it reduces the many ways to fall off a motorcycle to one, but it’s high siding and having a 1,036-ish pound machine landing on top of me is unappealing.
All the unpaved roads I am familiar with are two tracks with a ridge of bumps and big rocks in the center. I see photos of smooth graded dirt roads in advertising, but have never encountered one in real life. The Ural would be better for that.
This seems a little wide to go out in the woods or share a one lane road with logging trucks (getting the hell out of the way in practice)
On the other hand, I bet it’s a hoot in the snow, although probably not as practical as a Ural.
Its such an odd in-betweener. Highway legal, but less than either a bike or SxS off-road. I just said goodbye to a friend on a GS650 who’d been touring by himself around the west and we were talking about risk of doing that kind of thing by yourself. Mostly the risk of injury, but this allays that fear at least a little.
It will absolutely make you look like a dork, but the idea of carrying a fair amount of gear and not needed to worry about the strength needed to right your bike is pretty appealing.
I have owned numerous motorcycles, including dual-sports, and I love an interesting three-wheeler. I had an insanely good time driving the T-Rex on a visit to California a few years back. It was tremendous fun.
The thing that has always kept me from embracing the CanAm trikes is that I don’t want to sit on something like a motorcycle if it doesn’t lean. If it generally corners flat, I want to be in a seat with bolsters. I just don’t want to be forced to fight physics to stay in place. With bikes, leaning is part of the control mechanism, not simply a way to keep from being ejected from the machine.
I assume that a major limitation to cornering is the driver’s ability to hang on. It provides significantly more grip on the road, and the rider will need to expend significantly more energy holding on.
I started riding off-road first and then went to street after a few years of that. Street was a walk in the park after riding tight singletrack on a 2 stroke.
That being the case, I had zero issues exploring the dirt Nevada roads on my old Ninja. Well before there was social media to brag on. I once caught up to and passed a group of guys on enduros in the desert around Bodie. We all stopped in the same spot to rest and I have a pic somewhere of my Ninja surrounded by those bikes. That was so damn funny. The looks on their faces haha.
As far as this article goes, I have zero interest in trikes. I’d rather take a Jeep if two wheels aren’t an option.
I just can’t get over the prices of these things…. Looks like an absolute hoot and I would love to hoon one, just not spending 25k for one. At least it’s not a one trick pony and fully highway legal.
I’ve said that to myself, and then I looked at prices people already pay for touring bikes.
And think that maybe it’s my reference point that’s wrong.
Ah yes, all the disadvantages of a car and the limitations of a motorcycle combined into one stupid product.
There are going to be a lot of products targeted at the tidal wave of boomers nearing retirement age who want toys to play with
Mercedes, I remember your video on that hot rod jet ski. I cannot WAIT for your maniacal laughter on this thing!
one of these isn’t my thing if I’m gonna spend that much on something, but it does look like you had a ton of fun
Seems like Can-Am should have put a little thought into Canyon aero.
Love the cat ears on your helmet! Were those factory or add ons?
The ears have magnets that stick them to little bases on the helmet. 🙂
I should get a pair for my racing helmet!
I love off-road riding, but a big part of the fun is the sheer economy of footprint and maneuverability afforded by two wheels. These just seem fundamentally clunky and cumbersome and overpriced and… dorky. Even if I could justify the configuration, I absolutely would not be caught dead on one.
I love how people can gatekeep driving off road
I’m sorry but I stopped reading after I read this.
Interesting. I also have an “offroad inspired” vehicle with KYB suspension and approximately 115 hp. It’s my goddamn Chevrolet Tracker, it cost me 1000 dollars and has gone and will go places this thing never will. Also came in a convertible if you wanted that open air experience. I hate to be “that guy” but I really struggle to see the inherent value in stuff like this, or the incredibly expensive SXS’s that have become so popular.
I see this as a gravel road vehicle but not a,true off road vehicle because it will be hell on double track with brush in the middle. I’d sooner have a small dirt bike and something to transport it to the trailhead, just like I do with mountain bikes now
The product lost me at cosmetic tow hooks.
Looks like a fun trip, though.
perfect for the 65 year old tacticool bros who buy the testostrone supplements that have the ripped grandpa in their ads
Pro: It looks pretty badass, like something from a Star Wars series (Andor)
Pro: Stability
Pro: Room for two and gear
Con: It’s not of-roady enough, people are likely going to end up miles from pavement and encounter a washout that they can’t navigate (but could with a two wheeler)
Con: It cost up to $33k!
IMHO, this doesn’t add enough value and adventure… it’s an incremental enhancement.
I didn’t bring my rain gear
I have learned over my years of playing in the outdoors – always, ALWAYS bring your gear for inclement weather, even if it’s just a rain jacket. Rain jackets are also generally pretty good windbreakers even in dry conditions.
Likewise, even for short hikes out in the boonies I have my essentials: rain jacket, first aid kit, light source, some water and food. You never know what will happen.
I like the idea of these I wonder how they would do in forests 2 tracks. Is there an issue with the 2 front wheels in ruts and back center wheel up on the center berm?
This was my thought exactly. They specifically took journalists on flat fire roads, probably BLM. And it’s fine for that. I don’t think you’d want to ride this on a two track path.
Things did briefly turn into a two-track during the trip, though nobody got any sweet pictures of it. In my experience with the Canyon and in taking a Ryker Rally off-road, things are ok until the ground gets wet. Then the rear tire sort of slides into one of the two tracks, and things get weird as you sort of just crab your way through the trail until the tire picks itself up onto the top again.
Sadly, I haven’t had the chance to test one of these with a proper off-road tire to see how that changes things. That being said, the RevZilla guys certainly took Can-Ams where they don’t belong and had great fun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDuGC22anBo
Revzilla / CTXP did a pretty neat vid on this a few months back:
https://youtu.be/wDuGC22anBo