Can-am or CCM
Pick a name, almost any name
Er… it's both actually and a very nice job it is too, a far cry from the starting point Chris Marsh acquired.
Badge engineering is a marketing tool that we equate with modern retailers where a manufacturer makes identical products sold under different brand names – but it's far from new. In fact in the Sixties the British motorcycle industry was the master of the concept with AMC as an example badging a range of models as AJS, Matchless and Norton to capitalise on brand loyalty. Roll on to the Eighties, when Britain was reduced to having virtually a sole manufacturer, and the Armstrong corporation decided to enter the motorcycle market. Although a successful automotive component manufacturer, Armstrong was new to the motorcycle market. In the early Eighties it diversified into the electronic microchip market and the motorcycle industry, a strange combination at the time.
In 1981 Armstrong acquired the Cotton and
CCM businesses to form Armstrong Competition Motorcycles in the hope of leading a resurgence of the British motorcycle industry. By combining all the makes it acquired into one, it sold newly designed bikes under the Armstrong brand.
At the same time Canadian industrial giant Bombardier, the original developer and manufacturer of the Can-am range of bikes, decided to exit the motorcycle business. Some swift work by Jeff Smith, who was then the product manager for Can-am, cut a deal with the Armstrong company to adopt its designs and rebadge the bikes as Can-am for the North American market.
But the history of Can-ams in the UK goes back to 1978 when Andover Norton became the official distributor. They only had limited success in the UK due to the competition of other Europeanbased manufacturers and a declining interest from Bombardier. Similarly, the exit from the market in 1983 did not see the true end for Bombardier as it owned, and still owns, the Rotax organisation which supplied engines to the Armstrong range.
On the announcement of the move to Armstrong, Jeff Smith commented in the official press release: “We're confident the arrangement for production of our Can-am motorcycles will provide a top quality product to consumers and dealers in North America.” Unfortunately it wasn't to be, with Armstrong ceasing production early in 1987. Bombardier retained the ownership of the Can-am brand, relaunching in 2000 for a range of four-wheel ATV products. On the demise of Armstrong, CCM was resurrected by Alan Clewes, reviving the CCM name once again for the same model bikes.
Sometimes we choose the bikes we ride from brand loyalty, other times for childhood wishes that remained unfulfilled; at other times fate plays a large part in the choice, in that bikes sometimes find us. If you were to interview anyone and ask why they choose and ride a particular bike, you would get an individual answer for each bike. Sometimes fate rather than the enthusiast plays a big part in why we end up selecting and restoring a particular bike.
I am well known for restoring and competing in Vinduro events for the past seven years on a 175 Can-am Qualifier. This came to an end in November last year when, for the first time in 30 years, my workshop was burgled, with the bike being stolen and later destroyed. The thief, on realising they had a bike which would be impossible to sell, callously torched the thing instead of letting it be recovered. Luckily DNA evidence will ensure they spend some time contemplating their life in a small concrete room. Having been through this and suffering from the three As that most classic riders suffer from – age, ache and arthritis – I had consigned myself to not building another bike… and then fate stepped in.
It's probably an understatement to say I'm a bit obsessive over Can-ams and have quite a collection, with one of my prized possessions – a 125 T'N'T Canam trail bike, serial number 10 – being one of the first bikes to be built. So, when I took a call from Paul Wilkinson of Military Can-am, who asked if I was interested in one of the last Can-ams made so I could have both ends of the Can-am story, I was more than interested. The bike in question was actually a CCM 30 Fun Single, one of 35 made by CCM on the demise of the Armstrong brand, a unique combination of a monoshock enduro frame combined with trials motor.
There is no getting over it: this machine can be best described as a ‘parts bin' special as it truly uses the leftover components of the Armstrong era. Obviously when Clewes bought the CCM name back from Armstrong it came with a certain amount of parts left over from the previous models. X