it's pretty cool that you two are getting togethor and riding on a friendly basis. sometimes this board can seem a little too brand polarized. you couldn't get snowhawk addict there with one of his snowhawks???? lol. anxiously awaiting videos and bench racing
We had more of a friendly ride with a lot of Q and A; instead of a knock-down let's see who wins type deal. There were 3 of us from 2Moto, 2 from their Team, and 2 snowbike customers that brought their own units. We rode several miles of trail, did some drag races, played in a powder meadow and took turns trading between bikes, and then headed up higher for some deeper powder. Mike even adjusted his track back and forth so we could all feel the differences in how it handled.
The Radix and Explorer handle completely differently in both the front end, and the rear. How am I doing staying objective? It's dang hard to do. Here goes-
Weight- as previously stated, we weighed both brands with the same scales at the same time. 40-45 pounds heavier for the Explorer on the Berg 650-
Traction- 2+ inch deep lugs will always win over 1+ inch lugs. There is a huge traction difference on the trail, sidehilling, and in the soft. One of the customers that came helped me understand how to ride the Explorer on the trail. He said it felt like riding a back tire in slick mud. Once I thought of it that way, I got it. You power-slide corners, instead of railing them because of the small paddles, and narrow track pressure point.
Acceleration- This is a combination of traction and efficiency. Let out the clutch on the Explorer RMZ and you can tell a big difference in harder initial motion. Mike mentioned they'd already burned out a clutch on his Aprilia. We've not burned out a stock clutch. The RadiX also pulls one to two gears taller, on the same bike. I had to keep telling Mike, while he was on the Radix- "shift up into 3rd or 4th". On the trail I got the Explorer 650 Berg into 3rd gear, but it would only pull low rpm and bogged in 4th. On our Berg, I've done 6th at 92mph on GPS in 6 inches of pow, and was dragging the bars for Mike in the deep powder meadow in 4th gear. Drag racing was Mike (big guy) on his 650 Berg, and me on a 450 Suzuki. Let's just say I had a weight advantage, and traction/efficiency advantage.
Front ski- I was impressed with the Explorer front end feel in one condition- packed trail with good biteable snow. We had ice under 6 inches of pow, and then got up into packed snowmobile tracks with fresh pow on each side of the trail. In the track forward position and staying in the packed part, the Explorer ski was great at 2nd gear or slower speeds. It really had a good stable feel. Drift out into the pow, and it was unpredictable, and you lost any "feeling" in the front end. In the powder meadow (about 2 feet of heavier fluff), it was impossible to lay it over and drag the bars in a 360. We shot lots of video of this. When you lay the Explorer over to turn, the ski stays flat and goes straight, while the bike is trying to turn. Not being able to have any "carving" g-force resistance, you wash the ski and fall over. Mike tightened the front ski axis bolts and suggested I try again and not let off the gas. I cobbed his RMZ in 2nd (wouldn't pull 3rd) and tried to carve a powder turn 3 times. Best I got was a face plant. You could watch the front ski change angles as you leaned. We noted the same thing in our sidehill powder testing- the ski will not hold a good edge, it lays down (parallel to) the hill, and pulls the front end downhill. This is more apparent in firmer snow. I still have to restate that I was impressed at how the Explorer front end felt at slow speeds on the packed trail. Mike also raised the front end. I could not tell any difference in the powder, execept that it felt like it turned slower. On the trail, it was sketchy with the fork angle that flat.
Suspension- We did quite a bit of comparison here. We found a good flat section of trail with some smaller whoops and a few turns in it. Mike was great, and set the Explorer track in each of 3 positions so we could feel it out. In the trail (far back) setting, you get the most of the stock swingarms' suspension. You couldn't take the bumps without swapping. The front ski pressure was increased, and the initial light steering/confidence feel was gone. Taking it into the powder, you could feel it wanting to bury. In the middle track setting, it was better on the trail. You still had some suspension, but it felt more predictable at the front ski. This was agreed the best rear suspension setting, but riders still could not hit the bumps hard. I think "pogo" was the term used. (trying to be nice
) Moving the track into the powder (forward) position the front ski felt the best. The front of the track sits up under your feet, and has about 3 or so inches of travel before it bottoms against the engine case. Suspension motion is severely limited. I rode Mikes 650 Berg 5 or 6 miles in on a bumpy logging road following sled tracks through the powder. Standing up in the bumps is the only option, and bottoming on every bump is the norm. This reduced speeds to 2nd and sometimes 3rd on the smooth parts. On the RadiX there's 10.5 inches of travel (on it's own shock) at the front of the track, and up to 15 inches (ohlins shock) at the back of the track. Both motions move independent, or at the same time. Rather than toot my horn here, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
Getting unstuck- The Explorer will not stand up on it's own when you stop. If you can't touch, you tip over. Mike said this is a pain in the a**. Then Mike kick started his RMZ with
his hand, and moved his bike forward to find better footing, then did a pretty cool side-saddle-jump on trick. I can't hand-start a bike, or touch my feet well in the powder. When I got the Explorer stuck on a sidehill, I jumped off to pull the ski around. It fell over down hill on me. It really has no stability when stopped, because the front ski can pivot, and the track sides fold into a "U" shape. I blew some blood vessels in my forehead pushing that bike back up into the sidehill so it didn't crush me. I was pulling the front end around, because the Explorer grab handle is too far forward, and too slippery to use. The RadiX is designed to stand up when stopped, and has a tacky grab handle at the far rear of the track. We got lots of video of this, too. You can still tip it over, but you can also stop, get off, get back on, kick start it,-whatever- and the RadiX doesn't tip over. Mike did have a set of their "sidehilling wheels" on his RMZ. He said they're $300 extra, and you add 8 more bogey wheels (22 bogeys total) to the side plates. They help hold the sides of the track better. Everyone that rode the one with the sidehill wheels liked it better off trail. On trail, we were divided.
Fuel range- Explorer now offers a fuel can/rack for $300 (was told) Mike left his RMZ with the new Nitrous system at the truck because he had no way to bring fuel. He rode the Berg with a bigger tank. 2Moto sells lightweight fuel systems for about $70 that pop on/off by pulling a pin.
Tried to stay objective, which I know is impossible.
Would like to thank Mike again for adding 6+ driving hours to his trip and coming out to Boise. He's a great guy, and a good voice for Boivin and the snow bike community.
