Wanted Can Am Sonic 500

[Moto North]

Hey Guys,
Kind of a long shot here but looking for any leads (in North America) if you or somebody you know has a Can Am Sonic 500 (enduro model) that they may want to sell. Not really looking to do a complete resto so would prefer something in fairly decent shape and mostly all there. Any info would really be apreciated.

[AustinJake]

pretty cool bike

[Moto North]

Its a bit of Canadian history. This was the last year they were made in Canada before production swithched to England. I still remember drooling over one at my local dealer when I was a kid.

[MacNoob]

Same engine

[Moto North]

Not quite made in Canada though.

[MacNoob]

Originally Posted by Moto North

Not quite made in Canada though.

Not at all, but still cool. I've never seen that Can Am model before. I'm only slightly familiar with the old two strokes.

[singletrak]

I remember when they came out.... I really wanted one! Never did get one

Singletrak

[techforlife]

There was one on Ebay i was looking at not long ago...it was bought and stored in a basement,,about 500 miles on it..........man was it minty...just like freekin new..nice ride..

B

[BIG ED XT FAN]

Originally Posted by techforlife

There was one on Ebay i was looking at not long ago...it was bought and stored in a basement,,about 500 miles on it..........man was it minty...just like freekin new..nice ride..

B

Why? I had one for about 3 years. Brakes were junk. Handling was bad. Bike was to tall. Side panels would break if crash. Lights were only there for looks. Muffler was big heavy. Your kicker was on the wrong side too.
I loaded her in my van drove to bike week. Started the enduro and got 12 miles. My kick-starter broke and the inter gear broke into small parts. That happen 2 times to me. Sold the bike to a flat-tracker he just push starter her.
I know of a shop who has about 20 gas tanks, and frames. Good Luck!!! ED:f reaky

[cyclewizard]

Originally Posted by BIG ED XT FAN

Why? I had one for about 3 years. Brakes were junk. Handling was bad. Bike was to tall. Side panels would break if crash. Lights were only there for looks. Muffler was big heavy. Your kicker was on the wrong side too.
I loaded her in my van drove to bike week. Started the enduro and got 12 miles. My kick-starter broke and the inter gear broke into small parts. That happen 2 times to me. Sold the bike to a flat-tracker he just push starter her.
I know of a shop who has about 20 gas tanks, and frames. Good Luck!!! ED:f reaky

did yeah have to go and say that, you took the wind right out of my sail...

[Moto North]

Yea, I know about all the faults. I had other Can Ams for years groing up and still have a couple so the left side kick start is normal to me. There's also a couple of trick to keeping that kicker from stripping or breaking. As for the handling...I'm not planning to run any six days enduros on it, just want it as a collector bike to ride around on the odd Sunday so it will do just fine. Thanks for the insight though. Wish you still had it and wanted to get rid of it.

[BIG ED XT FAN]

Originally Posted by Moto North

Yea, I know about all the faults. I had other Can Ams for years groing up and still have a couple so the left side kick start is normal to me. There's also a couple of trick to keeping that kicker from stripping or breaking. As for the handling...I'm not planning to run any six days enduros on it, just want it as a collector bike to ride around on the odd Sunday so it will do just fine. Thanks for the insight though. Wish you still had it and wanted to get rid of it.

Yes, I also had a 500 2 stroke Cam-am too. We put lights on it , and added weight to the flywheel. I had a 3 1/2 gallon gas on her too. She drain fuel like to 25 miles per gallon!!! Always had extra gas on the trail for me. She was a west coast bike for sure.!! She like wide open places to open her up!!
My local dealer rode a Cam-Am 500 2 stroke in a local flat-!!track. A rider name Fran Brown rode it. A national rider. A worst track to ride on it too. Canandaigua New York was the track. I think he won too.
BIG ED XT&TT 600 FAN!! And a Cam-am rider too!!

[Foot dragger]

Originally Posted by Moto North

Its a bit of Canadian history. This was the last year they were made in Canada before production swithched to England. I still remember drooling over one at my local dealer when I was a kid.

A friend bought one brand new,I mainly remember things cracking and falling off the bike,and it was Heavy with that big square Rotax engine. Kinda how many old bikes were. It did look cool sitting there. The fiberglass tank falling to pieces was a distraction for sure,then the seat base cracked all to bits.

[Penguin74Q]

I bought a Sonic new in '82. It is a tall bike, but you get used to it, and it was nice having the 13" of travel on both ends- way more than a stock XR or TT. The stock Ohlins on the rear worked good though I had to play with the forks. Now a Gold Valve would be the perfect fix. Stock, the power is ok and on a par with a stock XR or TT. I rode mine once and then sent the head off to Ron Wood who opened up the intake. After putting in a hi-comp piston, different cam, a 38mm DelOrto and ditching the stock muffler for a SuperTrapp it was a whole new motorcycle. Very wide powerband that pulls hard from idle right to the top. The brakes weren't any better or worse than any other drum brake. All of the '82s I've seen had plastic tanks. The louvered side panels under the seat were very fragile fiberglass.

I rode that bike for 10 years in everything from the Virginia City GP, to Enduros, Cross Country's and Flattrack. And thousands of mile of trail riding. For short track and TT I put on one short shock to pull down the rear, and then slid the forks up in the triple clamps to get the front right. That worked okay on cushion tracks where the bike could slide around, but the available traction on a groove track made for a very exciting ride.

Keep good quality oil in it (I usually used Chevron Delo 15w-40), change it every couple of hundred miles and the Rotax engine will outlast any other engine. I know some other guys who broke the kick lever, but that was only because they swung their boot at the lever like a 2 stroke. Put it over TDC and push it through properly and there is no problem. In fact most of the problems incurred by other riders always seemed to be because they rode the bike like a 2 stroke.

As you already know, finding a complete 82 twin shock Sonic will be very difficult- most were cannibalized for dirt trackers. I still have my original Sonic, now a rolling chassis since I put the engine into a C&J frame (1 of 2 twin shock frames made for ATK in 82 for the 4-Stroke Nat'ls). I searched for several years before I found another complete '82 to restore. Good luck.

[BIG ED XT FAN]

Originally Posted by Penguin74Q

I bought a Sonic new in '82. It is a tall bike, but you get used to it, and it was nice having the 13" of travel on both ends- way more than a stock XR or TT. The stock Ohlins on the rear worked good though I had to play with the forks. Now a Gold Valve would be the perfect fix. Stock, the power is ok and on a par with a stock XR or TT. I rode mine once and then sent the head off to Ron Wood who opened up the intake. After putting in a hi-comp piston, different cam, a 38mm DelOrto and ditching the stock muffler for a SuperTrapp it was a whole new motorcycle. Very wide powerband that pulls hard from idle right to the top. The brakes weren't any better or worse than any other drum brake. All of the '82s I've seen had plastic tanks. The louvered side panels under the seat were very fragile fiberglass.

I rode that bike for 10 years in everything from the Virginia City GP, to Enduros, Cross Country's and Flattrack. And thousands of mile of trail riding. For short track and TT I put on one short shock to pull down the rear, and then slid the forks up in the triple clamps to get the front right. That worked okay on cushion tracks where the bike could slide around, but the available traction on a groove track made for a very exciting ride.

Keep good quality oil in it (I usually used Chevron Delo 15w-40), change it every couple of hundred miles and the Rotax engine will outlast any other engine. I know some other guys who broke the kick lever, but that was only because they swung their boot at the lever like a 2 stroke. Put it over TDC and push it through properly and there is no problem. In fact most of the problems incurred by other riders always seemed to be because they rode the bike like a 2 stroke.

As you already know, finding a complete 82 twin shock Sonic will be very difficult- most were cannibalized for dirt trackers. I still have my original Sonic, now a rolling chassis since I put the engine into a C&J frame (1 of 2 twin shock frames made for ATK in 82 for the 4-Stroke Nat'ls). I searched for several years before I found another complete '82 to restore. Good luck.

Thanks for posting. Nice to see you rode your Cam-am. Cheers BIG ED XT&TT 600 FAN!!! and Cam-Am rider!!!