The hotly anticipated Can-Am electric motorcycles—the Can-Am Origin and Pulse—were finally revealed this week. Meanwhile, WalzWerk’s ‘Schizzo’ BMW boxer range continues to expand with a host of new parts. We also take a look at an AC Sanctuary Honda CB1100R and a rare Excelsior racing replica.
Can-Am Pulse and Origin 2025 Electric Motorcycles The last Can-Am motorcycle rolled off the production line in Valcourt, Quebec, in 1987. The Rotax-powered dirt bikes were an instant hit with riders, winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the International Six-Day Road Race.
The bikes are small and lightweight, with standard frame sizes that can accommodate engines of all sizes. This means there is a Can-Am for riders of all sizes, ages and experience levels.
Back today, BRP just announced the all-new Can-Am Pulse and Can-Am Origin electric motorbike. The new Can-Am models are powered by the same Rotax engines as the older bikes, but each is equipped with an all-new Rotax E-Power transmission.
Can-Am Beats [above] Built with the city streets in mind. Its nimble, stripped-down style is perfect for commuters and weekend warriors. KYB suspension with 140mm of travel up front and a low center of gravity and seat height make it an extremely easy-to-ride street machine.
Origin of Can-Am [above] It shares much of its structure with the Pulse, but gets a mildly adventurous treatment. It has higher ground clearance, dual sport tires and 255mm of front suspension travel. The bodywork adds a neo-Dakar rally look and there are two additional driving modes for off-roading.
On both bikes, the Rotax E-Power motor is cleverly mounted inside the swingarm. This means that the connection between the incredibly small power unit and the rear wheel never changes shape (unlike a traditionally mounted chain-drive motor). This also means a fairly low centre of gravity.
The Rotax E-Power system features a liquid-cooled battery, charger, inverter and motor, to limit battery degradation while optimizing range and charging time. Another interesting feature is the reverse function, which will certainly help with urban mobility.
These aren’t big bikes, so Can-Am has had to make sacrifices in the battery department. The 8.9 kWh battery is good for 100 city miles on the Pulse and 90 city miles on the Origin. Not a lot of miles, but we suspect Can-Am is hoping battery density and efficiency will improve over time.
The range may be small, but the style and convenience are big. [Can-Am Motorcycles]
WalzWerk’s BMW ‘Schizzo’ café racer Marcus Walz and his shop in Hockenheim, WalkWerkproduces over fifty custom BMW R-series cars each year. Incredibly, Mr. Walz and his team still find time in their busy schedules to develop their own line of custom parts.
This murder BMW Cafe Racer Derived from the ‘Schizzo’ line made to order by WalzWerk and representing the company’s best components.
Schizzo bikes can be ordered directly from the WalzWerk website, where an online configurator allows customers to choose their bike’s specifications. Each Schizzo starts with a BMW R100 or R80and comes in five base models and three trim levels, each with its own component specifications.
This particular boxer sports WalzWerk’s ‘Pro’ cafe racer specification and is equipped with a host of newly developed components. The headlight and bikini fairing are new to the catalogue, and it even comes with a screen that MRA has built specifically for WalzWerk.
The lower part of the engine is equipped with a WalzWerk expansion oil sump; modeled after the Fallert units of the 70s and 80s, designed to increase oil capacity and aid cooling.
A WalzWerk seat and subframe sit behind an OEM tank, and the lighting setup is minimalist but completely street-legal. A pair of Dell’Orto carbs are mated to the cylinders using WalzWerk billet racing manifolds—eliminating the need for rubber mounts that fail over time. The exhaust is built by SC-Project and is short, sharp, and punchy.
WalzWerk has taken much of the stress and uncertainty out of the design process, which is just one reason why they are masters of their craft. If you need us, we will be on site, drink in hand, filling your dream garage. [Source]
AC Sanctuary’s 1983 Honda CB1100R With its big inline four-cylinder engine, endurance-inspired bodywork, and proven reliability, the Honda CB1100R has been on our classic sportbike wish list for quite some time. In our opinion, the CB1100RD in particular looked almost perfect when it rolled off the production line in 1983. The key word is ‘almost’—and we share that sentiment with Hiroyuki Nakamura and the legendary AC Conservation Area.
Most people associate Nakamura-san and AC Sanctuary with their morbidly desirable Kawasaki recoverbut sometimes they turn the wrench on other Japanese bikes. This is AC Sanctuary’s ‘RCM-630’ build, and it’s based on a 1983 Honda CB1100RD.
Luckily, the AC Sanctuary workshop had stockpiled some factory CB1100 parts in case of rain or wind, so when the opportunity arose to build a new bike, the team jumped at it.
As with any AC Sanctuary project, suspension was first on the upgrade list. A pair of Öhlins forks were fitted to the front end, while the rear of the frame was widened to accommodate a reinforced Sculpture swingarm and twin Öhlins shock absorbers. The 17” wheels are from OZ Racing and the brakes are from Brembo.
The engine was rebuilt from the ground up, with a sleeved and dynamically balanced crankshaft. New valve guides and precision bores kept the tolerances tight. The intake was fitted with a speed stack bracket and a custom Nitroweld titanium pipe was installed on the exhaust side.
The front end has been lowered by 10mm and the dashboard has been custom-made, complete with triple Stack gauges. The colour scheme is similar to the factory paint, but the red and blue have been given a candy treatment for added pop. Finally, the chassis has been treated to the usual AC Sanctuary reinforcement process.
With CB1100R parts becoming extremely hard to come by, Nakamura-san fears this may be the last CB1100R they ever build. If that’s the case, at least they went out with a bang. For us, the RCM-630 is the pinnacle of classic Japanese sportbikes. [More]
Paul Brodie’s 1919 Excelsior Skateboarding Replica At one point, Excelsior motorcycles were regularly competing with Harley-Davidson and Indian on the skateboard racing circuit. The Chicago-based company began manufacturing bicycles and was acquired by Ignaz Schwinn (of Schwinn Bicycles) in 1911. Schwinn used the Excelsior brand to start racing, which is how their skateboard bikes were born.
Back then, safety was not a top concern for most people, and the sport was extremely dangerous. It is said that due to rider injuries and deaths, Schwinn canceled its burgeoning racing program and ordered all Excelsior racing motorcycles to be destroyed. (This may be one reason why Excelsior racing motorcycles only exist in pictures.)
Back in 2004, a guy named Paul Brodie thought he could revive the Excelsior name with some period-correct replicas. Starting with just a set of Excelsior engine covers, four photos, and a dream, Brodie set out on his quest. Luckily, he had a good imagination, because the engine covers he was given were all in poor condition—and he only had one good photo to use as an example.
Over the next few years, Brodie devoted his entire working life to reverse engineering the Excelsior engine. The end result was an exact replica of the 1000cc, 53-horsepower Excelsior V-twin with a single-speed direct-drive transmission. It’s a shame to sum up Brodie’s long and difficult years in just a few sentences, but we’re really enamored with the fruits of his labor.
Brodie continued to rebuild the frame and suspension from the ground up. The rear end is more bicycle-like than motorcycle-like, with the front end using a single leaf spring for a whopping 1.25 inches of suspension travel.
Our favorite part of this build is the throttle and ignition linkage. Like an old Indian from the same era, one side of the handlebar controls the throttle and the other side controls the advance and retard of the ignition.
Luckily for us, Brodie also decided to document the build on his YouTube channel, and it’s absolutely fascinating. As he narrates, Brodie puts the entire bike together, and it fits so well that he installs most of the bolts himself before tightening them down with hand tools. This makes it even more amazing that Brodie made most, if not all, of the parts himself.
Brodie built a total of five replicas—this is the fifth and is currently for sale through Iconic Motorcycle Auction. If you are looking for a fully functional, handcrafted piece of history, you should act fast.
