Can-Am Origin electric motorcycle review: Good for a fun time, not a long time

It wasn't until your average electric car started managing 200 miles on a charge that the buying populace started getting over their range anxiety. That means electric motorcycles, with ranges often measured in double digits, remain a bit of a tough sell for mass-market buyers. 

The focus, then, seems to be "for a good time, not a long time," and that's very much the case of the Can-Am Origin. This $14,499 battery-powered dual-sport is a fun, flickable, go-anywhere two-wheeled smile factory that I sadly managed to run dry of electrons in under 45 miles. 

Thankfully, there's a lot more to the story than just that.

Forward-looking

Can-Am has been around since the early '70s, offering a series of two-, three-, and four-wheeled vehicles, most focusing on extreme performance over extreme terrain. Since the very beginning, Can-Am has worked with Austrian engine gurus Rotax, and that trans-Atlantic partnership enters the EV age with the Origin, a dual-sport motorcycle from Can-Am built around a powertrain developed by Rotax.

The result is an 8.9-kWh battery (about 10 percent the size of the one in a Tesla Model 3) serving as the core of a motorcycle built to be just as capable off-road as on. The Origin sits squarely in the dual-sport category of motorcycles, and its skinny, nobbily tires and wire wheels definitely fit that template, even if the single-sided swingarm with its integrated chain is a novelty in this segment.All of that is wrapped in just enough bodywork to give this thing a decidedly futuristic vibe, especially that upright fairing with the blunt, stacked headlight that makes this thing look like an escaped drone from Valve's Portal series.

My test bike had just a bit of color, the battery pack itself providing a splash of yellow to stand out from the otherwise dark frame and fairing, but the brightest part is actually the 10.25-inch LCD that serves as the cockpit. It even supports Apple CarPlay, in case you're into that sort of thing.

Brightness needed

I've ridden a fair few electric motorcycles over the years, and many of them are cursed with dim LCDs that make it a struggle to see how fast I'm going on a sunny day. That's not what you'd call safe.

Thankfully, the Origin does not have that issue. The LCD here is not only massive but bright and crisp, and serves up a software interface that's mostly intuitive and easy to use at a glance. My only complaint here is the giant warning disclaimer that pops up every single time you fire up the motorcycle. I suppose such a thing was inevitable, but it does take away some of the purity of the ride experience.

But then the Origin isn't afraid to throw out convention. The throttle is the best example of that. It actually twists both ways. Twist it in the traditional direction, pulling your hand towards yourself, and it, of course, applies throttle to the bike and accelerates you forward.

But you can also twist the throttle away from you, which boosts the regenerative braking to the rear wheel. You can also toggle the bike into reverse mode, where that backwards throttle enables you to creep the bike backwards. That’s useful because at 412 pounds, the Origin is about 50 pounds heavier than a comparable dual-sport bike with an engine.

The motorcycle also features a bevy of controls on the left grip, starting with standard fare like headlight flasher, horn and turn signals. But there's also a rocker switch for changing drive modes and navigating through menus, a button that cycles through various views on the display, and a back button in case you dig a little deeper in a menu than you meant.

There's even a full series of media controls. There's a button to toggle the voice assistant on your phone, buttons for adjusting the volume of media playback and even buttons to skip forward and backward in your current playlist.

Personally, I'm the kind of rider who likes to listen to the wind, my thoughts and the ominous sounds approaching SUVs driven by morons browsing TikTok. But if you have a riding playlist that you like to spin, you'll have full control here.

Ride time

I don't often fit well on dual-sport machines. I stand six feet tall, but do it on disproportionately short legs. That usually leaves me tottering on tiptoes whenever riding an off-road-minded motorcycle. I cringed when the Origin rolled off a truck and into my life for the evaluation period, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I could straddle it with no problem.

A 34-inch seat height enables me to stand flat-footed without having to break out platform boots, and on the go, I found the Origin's ergonomics to fit me just about perfectly. The pegs are wide and grippy, so standing up on them is no problem, and while I'd probably prefer it if the bar stood a fraction of an inch taller, it was close to perfect whether sitting on or standing over the saddle.That saddle is a little on the narrow side compared to your average street motorcycle, but wider than those found on many dual-sport machines, striking a good balance between narrowness for standing and comfort for sitting.

About the only complaint I had was wind buffeting. I generally prefer riding bikes without fairings, but somehow the wind coming off that big, wide display caused some awful turbulence on my helmet when seated in my usual riding position. The $175 optional windshield would be, for me, well worth it.

And what's it like to ride? This thing is a blast. At 47 horsepower and 53 pound-feet of torque, it's far from the quickest electric motorcycle on the market, but it has plenty enough twist to beat everything on four wheels at any light, or scrabble up a steep incline.

Even more impressive is the traction control system of the Origin. It's easy to be a little over-eager when accelerating on an EV, thanks to their instant torque, but the Origin always ensured I neither did an unintentional burnout nor tipped over backwards. It simply managed grip and power to ensure that I accelerated smoothly away, whether I was on asphalt or gravel.The bike has adjustable levels for ABS and traction control, and yes, you can turn them off if you want.

Overall, the Origin was also easy to ride. Those knobby tires do make for a loose feeling on asphalt, the bike moving around a bit thanks to the extra tread, but it's a worthy tradeoff if you'll find yourself hitting the dirt on a semi-regular basis.

What you probably won't find yourself doing is going on long rides in the Origin, sadly. Though Can-Am says you can do up to 90 miles on a charge in the city, even when riding gently on rural roads using the most economical mode, I struggled to get 60 miles. Ridden more aggressively (which is to say, normally), I burned through a charge in less than 45 miles. 

That's the bad news. The good news? There's an onboard level two charger on the Origin. L2 charging on a car usually means overnight, but since the Origin's pack is so small, it'll go from empty to full in under 90 minutes, and you’ll be stopped for less than an hour if you only need a partial charge. 

Wrap-up

The relatively quick onboard charging of the Origin does open the door to some longer rides if you can time your meals and charging stops appropriately. And, if you're doing lower-speed off-road riding, you could realistically go for hours and hours on a charge. Still, this sadly isn’t a long-distance high-speed cruiser.

But it’s rare for a dual-sport machine that's comfortable enough for you to want to be in the saddle on the highway for that long anyway. For short blasts up the trail or high-speed sprints home after a long day in the office, the Origin is a real treat, and a stylish one at that