Purchased a used kit and it has the stock ski and a yamaha ski. I am wondering if there are better options for hard pack trail and powder riding??
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
best ski for timbersled bike kit
- Thread starter yukondood
- Start date
ski mod
http://youtu.be/A4lbF_BhDXg ck out the fast way ski mod for your stock simmons ski. so far the reports are quite good.
http://youtu.be/A4lbF_BhDXg ck out the fast way ski mod for your stock simmons ski. so far the reports are quite good.
Simmons Gen II in the powder
A group of us (15 now in the Priest area), between us have had a lot of skis.
The best I have ridden on was the Bovin Exployer ski for all conditions.
I use a 2Moto Gen II (10" wide) with 2motos "shark fin" and "out side runners". Works alright in the powder but washes out on the trail.
The stock MH Gen I ski works on the trail but sinks in the powder.
We rode with the FastWay ski mod and it rocks on the trail but was always loading up in the fluff.
Going to mod a Gen II like Allen did last season. He said it worked better than anything so far.
A group of us (15 now in the Priest area), between us have had a lot of skis.
The best I have ridden on was the Bovin Exployer ski for all conditions.
I use a 2Moto Gen II (10" wide) with 2motos "shark fin" and "out side runners". Works alright in the powder but washes out on the trail.
The stock MH Gen I ski works on the trail but sinks in the powder.
We rode with the FastWay ski mod and it rocks on the trail but was always loading up in the fluff.
Going to mod a Gen II like Allen did last season. He said it worked better than anything so far.
R
Rush44
Well-known member
Do you have any details on what was done and the performance?
yamaha ski works awesome in the powders, however had some epic tumbles on the hard packed trail. Going to need some ibuprofen!!!
was the fast way kit loading up from wet sticky snow or dry powder? If the hawk ski is the best all around it should be perfect if you add the widening kit the Thierry has made us to use on the hawk. http://backcountryrebels.com/showthread.php?t=13907
Two of us with MH kits will be running the gen 2 in the powder this season. I think we are going to run them in stock form the first trip out and see how they do then mod them from there. I have a pretty good idea of what needs to happen to make them work properly but it's going to take a little work. What I want to do is take a grinder and remove the plastic keel's where the scags are mounted all the way down flush with the rest of the ski. I then want to take some solid aluminum stock and replicate the keel's and mount them w/the scags to the out side edges of the ski. Basically I just want the added floatation with the same handling as the gen 1. I think by doing this you will probably get even better floatation with less drag in the deep powder.
this will make it float very well but will steer very heavy on the packed snow because the scags are so far apart. I did this with 2 stock hawk skis. If you have it mounted solid so it cant pivot it is extremely hard to trail ride. Just my experience. maybe add the fastway mod down the middle that might work well then?
I am not to concerned about the handling on the trail as long as it's doable. I have looked at the fastway mod and it looks like it would work awesome but off trail performance is going to suffer. The whole reason for moving to a gen 2 is for powder performance so I don't want to screw that up. Most of the places we ride require pretty minimal trail riding and I will only be running this ski on deep powder days which means the trails should have a decent amount of powder on them to. I think regardless of what ski or mod you come up with it's going to have down falls either on or off trail.
T
TLKDPROD
Well-known member
Already solved problem for us...
The Boivin Explorer ski is the best all around ski ever made for a single ski machine, Period. It never washed out on me in 5 seasons of riding, you're 100% in control with this ski on the trail, you can feel your front end at every moment. Many, many Hawk guys have tried lots of weird & silly things to make the gen2 to work and they couldn't get it to really work good for both, hardpack & powder. There was always a drawback somewhere. The way I've approached the problem myself is to start with something trustable that's got A LOT of bite (the Boivin ski) and add flotation to it. Easier to do this than trying to have the Gen2 to bite properly & add a twin axis for it to work great in the trail. So, add this 10.5'' wide ski insert to the Boivin ski with a twin axis lock and you truely have the best of both worlds. Ride the twin axis unlocked on the hardpack just like you would on a standard Boivin ski & snowtracker setup & lock the twin axis when you ride in the powder. The results have been amazing. Plus the shape of the insert has a lot to do with the front of the ski to come up the snow. The 3 other guys beside myself who tried this mod last year all ditched their Gen2 that they've tried to make work for 1 + year. Nuff said.
Anyhows, just my .02$ but I beleive it is a waste of time to try to make a Gen2 to work good both on trail & powder.
Good Luck !
Btw liking that there's so many Bike kit builders out here, it's awesome ! Lots of neat stuff being built, and it's nice to see some unique creativity in every kit ! Feels like we're in the 70's and every guy in his little garage builds a sled ! Watch out before one of the big 4 decides to jump in the game ! You guys are creating a new market !
Thierry
The Boivin Explorer ski is the best all around ski ever made for a single ski machine, Period. It never washed out on me in 5 seasons of riding, you're 100% in control with this ski on the trail, you can feel your front end at every moment. Many, many Hawk guys have tried lots of weird & silly things to make the gen2 to work and they couldn't get it to really work good for both, hardpack & powder. There was always a drawback somewhere. The way I've approached the problem myself is to start with something trustable that's got A LOT of bite (the Boivin ski) and add flotation to it. Easier to do this than trying to have the Gen2 to bite properly & add a twin axis for it to work great in the trail. So, add this 10.5'' wide ski insert to the Boivin ski with a twin axis lock and you truely have the best of both worlds. Ride the twin axis unlocked on the hardpack just like you would on a standard Boivin ski & snowtracker setup & lock the twin axis when you ride in the powder. The results have been amazing. Plus the shape of the insert has a lot to do with the front of the ski to come up the snow. The 3 other guys beside myself who tried this mod last year all ditched their Gen2 that they've tried to make work for 1 + year. Nuff said.
Anyhows, just my .02$ but I beleive it is a waste of time to try to make a Gen2 to work good both on trail & powder.
Good Luck !
Btw liking that there's so many Bike kit builders out here, it's awesome ! Lots of neat stuff being built, and it's nice to see some unique creativity in every kit ! Feels like we're in the 70's and every guy in his little garage builds a sled ! Watch out before one of the big 4 decides to jump in the game ! You guys are creating a new market !
Thierry
+1000 on the Hawk ski.. Works fantastic on a bike or hawk..
Right on ---- thought the same thing.
And don't use aluminium, it will ice up and stick.
Use a rail slider instead and cut it to size.
Make sure the centre runner is taller then the outside ones.
R
Rush44
Well-known member
That is saying quite a lot. Have you heard from anyone that tried it on the Mountain Horse?
S
snowhawkaddict
Banned
Short story, long title.
Once upon a time:
And so even after offering the factory reps @ 2Moto to borrow my extra Twin Axis Snow Hawk ski with plenty of daylight left in a perfect powder day, they "NEW" mo better and kept with their Simmons Gen II.
I believe that was back in the 07/08' riding season at their big DEMO ride, yes I crashed their party, won over their top prospect too.
Sometimes mixing the best flavors of each brand together makes for a cool tasting fountain drink. I remember wondering amongst my friends who dragged me kicking and screaming into Twoskis why diehard Polaris on the outside fellas had Rotax's on the inside. Back when the COUCH's were really revolutionizing through the 90's, each one of the OEM's had one real weak link and it was accepted amongst loyalists of the brand. In a way they still have their issues but no body can really putt a finger on a brand because the moment they get it licked their competition seems to get sucked down with the same problem.
Anybody remember the lawsuit between Vern Simmons the OEM Ski-Doo copy and our loved Hawk/Explorer larger scale piece of plastic?
This ski thing is a pain in the ars, if molders/manufacturers would just get over their hang ups about pattents and high pricing, they could focus on the big picture and make the next best tread pattern for these " replacement front tires".
Dealers could even offer free install if purchased through them.
Once upon a time:
And so even after offering the factory reps @ 2Moto to borrow my extra Twin Axis Snow Hawk ski with plenty of daylight left in a perfect powder day, they "NEW" mo better and kept with their Simmons Gen II. I believe that was back in the 07/08' riding season at their big DEMO ride, yes I crashed their party, won over their top prospect too.
Sometimes mixing the best flavors of each brand together makes for a cool tasting fountain drink. I remember wondering amongst my friends who dragged me kicking and screaming into Twoskis why diehard Polaris on the outside fellas had Rotax's on the inside. Back when the COUCH's were really revolutionizing through the 90's, each one of the OEM's had one real weak link and it was accepted amongst loyalists of the brand. In a way they still have their issues but no body can really putt a finger on a brand because the moment they get it licked their competition seems to get sucked down with the same problem.
Anybody remember the lawsuit between Vern Simmons the OEM Ski-Doo copy and our loved Hawk/Explorer larger scale piece of plastic?
This ski thing is a pain in the ars, if molders/manufacturers would just get over their hang ups about pattents and high pricing, they could focus on the big picture and make the next best tread pattern for these " replacement front tires".
Dealers could even offer free install if purchased through them.
Once upon a time:
I believe that was back in the 07/08' riding season at their big DEMO ride, yes I crashed their party, won over their top prospect too.
Sometimes mixing the best flavors of each brand together makes for a cool tasting fountain drink. I remember wondering amongst my friends who dragged me kicking and screaming into Twoskis why diehard Polaris on the outside fellas had Rotax's on the inside. Back when the COUCH's were really revolutionizing through the 90's, each one of the OEM's had one real weak link and it was accepted amongst loyalists of the brand. In a way they still have their issues but no body can really putt a finger on a brand because the moment they get it licked their competition seems to get sucked down with the same problem.
Anybody remember the lawsuit between Vern Simmons the OEM Ski-Doo copy and our loved Hawk/Explorer larger scale piece of plastic?
This ski thing is a pain in the ars, if molders/manufacturers would just get over their hang ups about pattents and high pricing, they could focus on the big picture and make the next best tread pattern for these " replacement front tires".
Dealers could even offer free install if purchased through them.
We can lead a horse to water but cant make them drink..
Sometimes others have a problem taking advise from those that have been there and done that. Thats all fine, it leaves the good stuff for us..
To that note.. The explorer/hawk ski sucks
dont overlook this comment from a timbersled rider. I'm just trying to help. I do want to ride with everyone someday and have the best setup we all can have. try it all
T
TLKDPROD
Well-known member
We can lead a horse to water but cant make them drink..
Sometimes others have a problem taking advise from those that have been there and done that. Thats all fine, it leaves the good stuff for us..
To that note.. The explorer/hawk ski sucks
QUOTE OF THE MONTH !!! HAHAHAHAHAH !!! LMAO !!! You made my day Darryl !!!
T
TLKDPROD
Well-known member
That's a very good review right there.
Now take this best ski setup, add a twin axis lock, make it float better than a Gen2 and away you go, you solved the problem forever. This is the last ski you'll ever want, whatever the type of riding you're doing.
So here is something that hasn't been talked about. How much is this hawk ski with the twin axis setup and the added wings? The reason I am going with the gen 2 is because the price is right (about $100 used) and it's the widest ski on the market w/o mods. As a said before I don't really care if it handle's like sh*t on the trail I want deep snow performance. I am guessing that by the time you track down a used hawk ski if you can even find one and add the twin axis kit along with the wing kit for the floatation you are probably going to be at the very least $500 into a ski.
