I always wish that sellers would provide photos of VINs or serial numbers or any tags that can help identify the exact year, model, or other attributes of a vehicle, but this seller has provided good photos for this 1975 (’74?) Can-Am 250 T’NT, so I can’t complain for once. It’s listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Purdy, Missouri, and the seller is asking $1,700. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Terry for the T’NT tip!
A Canadian motorcycle is like a picante sauce from NEW YORK CITY?! (old Pace picante commercial). Having grown up about 2.5 hours from the Canadian border, I should be more tuned into Canadian vehicles, and Can-Am is one that should be toward the top of my list. Bombardier Corporation was founded in Valcourt, Quebec, Canada in 1942 and is now located in Montreal. The company was in almost everything at one point, including motorcycles, beginning in the early 1970s. Can-Am went away in 1987, but came back in 2006, and is still around today, and they’re still making motorcycles. Although if you want one with two wheels, it’ll have to be battery-powered.
The seller says they bought this Can-Am 250 T’NT (Track and Trail) a few years ago but haven’t gotten around to it yet, so it’s been sitting. I know the feeling, I have a 1983 Honda Motra that I bought a decade ago and have never even gotten around to putting gas or oil in it, that’s embarrassing. People get busy and keep hoarding/collecting, and they get lost. If this Can-Am 250 was in the same condition as my oddball Motra, I’d trade in a heartbeat. Can-Ams stick out at vintage motorcycle shows with the fantastic graphics and beautiful engines. You can see the hanging, broken rear turn signal in the photo above. They’re in a weird spot on these bikes, well forward of where they normally are on the back.
This 250 T’NT appears to show 2,300 or so on the odometer, which I’m assuming is kilometers, but I’m not sure. They were sold for the U.S. market, so maybe it’s miles. The seller has this one listed as a 1974, and it could be. A lot of the information I found says that production was from 1974 through 1977, but most of the charts or other pages say that the first model year was 1975. That’s where a VIN or other data tag photo would come in handy. This bike is missing the headlamp assembly and part of the taillight, unfortunately. Add those to the restoration list.
The engine is a Bombardier, as you can see, but they were made by Rotax, a Bombardier subsidiary. This is a 247-cc two-stroke rotary-valve single-cylinder with just under 28 horsepower and 18 lb-ft of torque. Backed by a 5-speed manual transmission, the seller says it turns over, but they haven’t attempted to start it since they’ve owned it. I’m sure most Barn Finds readers could get it running again. Have any of you owned a Can-Am motorcycle?
Neighbor had a cool Can Am bike like this when I was a kid in 🍁 . He was all smiles when he rode by. 😎
I remember the Can Am’s, they were very fast in the dirt. They were the Can Am MX2 250. Competed against a couple of them in the local motocross. Seems we both kept getting beat by the Bultaco’s though. Lots of fun though.
What a cool find. I lusted after Can-Am’s when I was a young teenager. Haven’t seen one of these in decades!
I bought a TNT 250 new in ’75 #5861000750.I decided that I was going to buy a bike,& started walking out of the dealership (Richard Miller Motorcycles)
when I didn’t like any of the bikes I’d looked at when the salesman stopped me
& said “Try this”,showing me the 250.I was blown away by the power it had,plus many of the innovative features.It was also fairly expensive,costing something like $1750,which was a fair amount of money back then.
On trials tires,it was also a much better handling than a lot of street bikes,due to it’s low weight.
This one still has the original “Bazooka” exhaust.Can Am recalled these as they were deemed as “too loud” by the Government.
I ended up selling it & buying a Suzuki 550-4 street bike in Black.
It was a really nice bike,but not a lot of fun to ride.I eventually traded it & a couple hundred dollars for a ’64 Lotus Elan project that I eventually lost money on.
You pick the coolest bikes to write about, SG. Around here these were ridden by the well heeled, more serious riders-they cost 3 times that of the very well used old Bultaco 200 I tried to compete with and it showed. Maybe because I wasn’t all that and a bag of chips might’ve been part of the equation too LOL).
Looks fixable and it’d be worth it to any of the AMA Vintage off road events-but I’d go for the Beezer next to it that’s not easily recognizable. Looks like there are a few other real classics in there worth checking out too!
I was thinking tge same thing about the BSA, it looks like it’s in nice condition.
Actually, Can-Am was relatively well known in Wisconsin,, I’m pretty sure a place in Milwaukee called “Competition Cycle” sold these along side Bultacos and other “obscure” makes. I remember them with yellow and red stripes, and that speedo with “50 mph” at high noon, it’s miles. This was as big as I remember, a 250, and Can-Ams entry into the on/off road group. Most I encountered were stripped, and trail only. I saw a few at the “tracks” I rode on but I wasn’t too impressed. Like Nev.^ says, my Bultaco 200 Pursang could beat it. What these didn’t have in speed, they more than made up for it in reliability. Around this time, everybody tried the dual sport game, and quite frankly, none succeeded and most faded from view. Oh, but don’t feel bad for Can-Am. I read, they have sold over 100,000 3 wheelers, far outpacing any motorcycle, and gives people that have issues with 2 wheels, like me, a chance to keep riding. That, my friends, is job security for the great folks in Valcourt, Quebec, Canada,,,hey. Cool find.
We went to the East Coast (all the way to Bar Harbor,Maine) in 1979.
On the way back we stopped at the factory outlet store across from the
Bombardier facility in Valcourt.
I asked one of the guys there about the problem with the kick starter
looseness (a common problem).He spoke French,& I spoke English,but
we somehow managed to understand each other.I also bought a pair of
gloves while I was there.
I still have the factory issued poster from ’75 of all the CanAm models
in a tube that I should probably sell to someone who’ll display it.
It seems with the Vintage Ski-doo crowd today that these Can Am’s are somewhat desirable. I live in central Minnesota and I remember back in the days when I had Suzuki off road bikes these Can Ams were popular and fast.
Cycle World magazine (and the website) has been shut down. 😥There are a whole lot of us here who spent hours and hours waiting for and reading that magazine.
There was an article in either Cycle World,or Cycle Guide years ago
where the author took a TNT 125 & ran all different kinds of racing with it,
& actually did quite well overall.I was puzzled as to why he chose a 125,
rather than a 250.
Back in the late ’60’s/early ’70’s those magazines were really cool to
read,as were the ads in them.
Sad to see them gone.
GAAAA! You scared me for a minute, Rob!
https://www.cycleworld.com/ Is that not the website?
Neat looking bike!!
I had the MX175 when it ran it was great but the motors were plagued with problems. And the dealer could never get the parts. But found memories of when it did .
I cannot remember any problems with these motors they were bulletproof and parts were not hard to get.
I have two Can-Ams and three swms which use the same rotax motor. I vintage race them often handling them out to friends to ride. Back in the day they were extremely popular enduro bikes. On the motocross track this suspension and handling or perhaps not quite as good as the Japanese but the rotax motor made up for it with horsepower. There are lots of parts available for these the motors are indestructible.
Left side kick start, like my old Super Pioneer and Plonker. Loved both of those old bikes.
I still have a 1972 Ossa Mar