| Can-Am Demo Days at Carnegie
By Bob Balunda, Factory UTV After much eager anticipation, Can-Am finally introduced their Commander UTV Lineup to the public in early June. The Commander is Can-Ams first venture into the UTV marketplace after many years of success with their innovative ATV lineup. While production units are not scheduled to hit the showroom floors for a couple months, Can-Am is touring the country this summer with their Ride Says It All Tour, giving enthusiasts a first hand look at the new Commander lineup, as well as their full line of ATVs.
A little surfing onCan-Ams website took me to a list of dates and locations for the tour. I was happy to find a stop in my neck of the woods at the legendary Carnegie Cycle Park in Tracy California and made myself an online reservation. Carnegie Park gained notoriety in the early 1970s when it hosted the Trans-AMA series that brought the European Motocross stars stateside. Racing icon Roger Decoster famously crashed his Suzuki at Carnegie in 1975 landing face first when his bike broke in half on a high speed jump. The full-face off road helmet we accept today as the standard, is said to have been born that day at Carnegie. Decoster had actually been doing some testing on a the first prototype full-face off road helmet and after that crash never raced with an open-face helmet again, the rest as they say is history. I was like a kid in a candy store as Ive anxiously awaited the debut of the Commander after a couple years of rumors. After signing the obligatory forms, I received a one-on-one overview of the Commander’s features from a very nice Can-Am rep. They fitted me with a loaner full face helmet and assigned me a CamoCommander 1000 XT for my demo ride. We were sent out as a group with a leader to show us the course, but it was not a parade lap as we got to attack sections at our own pace. The course gave us the opportunity to get a real feel for these machines with a technical little hill climb, some whoops, jumps and a few straights where we could open things up a bit. It didnt take long for me to realize the Commander would be my next off road investment with its industry leading power to go along with a fit and finish that raises the bar for the UTV Industry. I also took the opportunity to test ride aRenegade 800R X XC. The XC is a 4wd/sport cross over ATV Ive had my eyes on and I had a blast putting it through its paces a bit on the demo course.
The Ride Says It All tour is really an excellent, innovative approach to showcase a product and an excellent opportunity for the buying public to check that product out. Yes there is an abundance of electronic and print media out there with all the specs and opinions one could ever ask for on any new ATV/UTV, however its true what they say, that one mans trash can be another mans treasure and what better way to decide for yourself than experiencing the ride first hand. I thoroughly enjoyed my demo day at Carnegie Cycle Park and for me The Ride did Say It All, well done Can-Am. ### Bob is the owner of Factory UTV in Sacramento California. Factory UTV is renowned for their UHMW UTV protection – skid plates, a-arm & CV guards and fuel tank guards. More Commander Resources: |
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