REVIEW
stretching THE LIMITS
A lack of Field Days didn’t stop Farm Trader NZ’s Mark Fouhy from getting his hands on the new Can-Am HD10 Defender Pro DPS
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his year, the Can-Am HD10 Defender Pro DPS would have been one of the star attractions at field days around the country, but without that opportunity, we decided to take matters into our own hands and test drive the machine over a weekend of work and play time. Having been released to the New Zealand market a few months ago, this model is no muck-around toy. Can-Am has gone big with this machine, but just how big? With the rear tray measuring 4.5-foot wide by six-foot long (1.4m x 1.8m), there’s not going to be much you can’t haul on the back of this bad boy. Thanks to the team at NV Motorcycles in Morrinsville – the local dealer for Can-Am – we were lucky enough to get a demo model delivered to us for a long weekend of test riding.
PUT TO THE TEST
For every day running around, it tickles along without breaking a sweat in High.
In all honesty, it has to be said that first impression of the CanAm HD10 Defender Pro DPS is that she’s bit of an ugly duckling. Others on farm who shared their thoughts followed a similar vein, along the lines of it being ‘a bit of a bus or stretch limo’. There’s some truth to these comparisons, given that the chassis has come from the Defender Max range, which has the ability to carry six passengers, with a more standard size rear tipping tray. However, it’s a valuable lesson in not judging a book (or side by side) on first appearances, as once behind the wheel, it’s an absolute cracker. Our test location halfway between Matamata and Te Aroha meant we had a variety of terrain and conditions to challenge different features of the Defender Pro. One area in which I thought it would struggle was over rough undulating terrain. With the long wheelbase, I was expecting to get hung up and bellied at every opportunity. To its credit,
this only happened once (not that I didn’t provide plenty of opportunity for this to happen), and when it did, I just backed out, picked a new line, and it was no issue. Where the long wheelbase did shine was uphill and downhill. This machine climbs like a demon; wet, slippery hill climbs were no problem. With Maxxis Bighorn 2.0 tyres fitted as standard, they dug in and found plenty of traction and also cleared nicely in heavy mud situations. They also look pretty cool on 14-inch (35.6cm), black cast aluminium rims, providing strength without the weight. Plenty of power is supplied to the wheels by way of the 976cc, 82hp (61kW), petrol Rotax engine. With only a handful of bales on the rear tray, I was only using about half of that power, but it’s always good to have extra in reserve to get through challenging situations. Next up came some testing in the sandpit on some uneven heaps left by recent digger work. This is where I thought we would be stuck and bellied in no time, but to my surprise, the Can-Am Defender Pro thrived, with the shocks keeping the wheels on the ground, the Visco lock of the front axle providing drive to the front wheels as needed, and with four-wheel-drive engaged, there was no stopping the big beastie.
ENGINE There are pretty much two types of people when it comes to riding bikes – those who want the supposed low-down torque and economy of diesel and those who like the more instant power provided by a petrol power plant. I fall into the latter category, so in that regard, the Rotax power plant ticks all the boxes for me. Not only is it pumping out 82hp from a twin-
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