Here Mick Matheson tests the Can-Am Outlander Max 650 XT. Pics Matheson and Juris.
The two billies were way up the mountain. Officially it was a hill, but from down the bottom, looking up at the bearded beasts with their winter coats and decent horns, it was a mountain and I would normally have thought twice about shooting simply because of the hard yakka I’d face afterwards. I was on a mission to get two adequate billies for someone else. If it hadn’t been for ATV mobility this day, these two would have lived on while I looked for easier prey.
The Can-Am was their bad luck. I don’t usually have the pleasure, riding Shank’s pony in this up-and-down country and often being a bit lazy about it. I decked both billies and was scooting up the hill on the quad a minute later.
As ATVs go, I was on a good one. The Can-Am Outlander 650 is the most powerful in its class, has pretty high-tech running gear and in, Max XT form, carries a lot of standard features that add to its versatility. Even in this very steep region, where doing a Jack and Jill was a real danger, I felt confident and secure.
The risk here was rolling over, but as long as I kept it pointing straight up or down, and only turned around on flatter sections, it was as surefooted as the goats. This Outlander is powered by a Rotax 650cc V-twin with fuel injection, single overhead cams and a constantly variable transmission (CVT) featuring high and low range as well as reverse. The donk received a 7% boost in power to 60hp for this year and it’s all good power, accessible from take-off to beyond 80km/h in high range. In low range, it’ll carry plenty of weight up slopes without hesitating.
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