What do we get out of it... & Misconceptions....
The big problems facing snow biking and this is from a production stand point and directly from the dirt bike manufactures I have had conversations with Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha it is always the same "whats in it for us". Meaning that exact thing they look at this sport as well you are selling the systems not us the dirt bike manufacturers so why would we want to support it. That is the response you get since they are not making the money on the system.
Secondly there is currently a back push from the snow mobile mags due to them not being snow mobiles and they look at it in the same light that now there is NO snow mobile sale for the guy riding the snow bike so they have an even tougher stand point and don't want to jeopardize there relationships with the snowmobile OEM's that are paying the marketing for the mags. I cant say I blame them as they are there to make money as well....
In the last year I have not seen this move from this position very much. That being said there is currently a little shift going on with one of the OEM's that you may see get involved shortly this year or the next as we work forward on this exact thing, creating awareness and understanding.
As an industry we just have to continue to grow a little and I think the biggest part is to represent ourselves as "part of the winter sports community" period not just snow bikes. MWR has been a huge help in the short run to help us gain a little momentum getting this out there but other races or events either feature snow bikes and don't include snow mobiles which perpetuates the problem as I see it because if we are going to separate the bikes from sleds then we are going to continue to grow at a ridiculously slow pace as an industry and negatively affect said industry.
I embrace the challenge of growing the industry and know it is here to stay. However the track record of snow bikes in the past is not so solid. When you look at the history of snow bikes they have been around since 1942 in Nazi Germany. In 1974, I believe it was, the Chrysler car company actually had a production unit that sold it was the Snow Runner. The name was changed to the Snow Rabbit and the decline began with Chrysler leaving the industry. So we are not the first to go down this road and are dealing with some of that histroy I believe as well while manufactures set by and watch to see what happens in the next few years. As long as we continue to build the industry over the next several years 2-3 and get units out we will create the solid foundation that is needed to continue to develop the relationship with the winter sports companies.
Frozen MOTO is currently working with some major venues to get this out and will be doing some exhibitions this year on some bigger stages as we leave the west and head out into other regions of the US. There is further this belief that these are just mountain machines which not true at all, snow bike companies need to focus on and disprove this as an industry. Frozen MOTO welcomes riders from all sorts of background and doesn't just focus in the few western states that think they dominate the market. There is a reason sled companies are in the middle to eastern US and not in the west. But again this forum is on sno "west" and not a fully national interest because of the misconception previously created that these are just for mountains which again is understandable due to previous snow bike company marketing and interests. We have done a lot of market research and data analysis and have found some really interesting anomalies that we plan to capitalize on now and into the future.
I find it further comical that this can be proven right here at snowest if you look back through posts objectively you see a lot of critics of some companies here because of the interests and relationships they have with a specific company and the money they make from that company which drives negative or skeptical posts by those industry companies that they are not affiliated with. That being said it is not that snow bike companies fault for marketing but the individuals that make assumptions and then post those assumptions without ever having seen the other technologies in person let alone ever thrown a leg over one and rode 5 feet to have an actual and factual basis. Don't get me wrong when someone finds something they like they tend to stick with it, but again they are not fair assessments when you haven't done your due diligence and are actually educated yourself on the other products out there before you simply assume due to ignorance and make a blanket statement that is false. This has been another factor I believe in the extremely slow growth of the industry as a whole. When you again look at this site for example and read the posts it is basically a Timbersled blog with cynical posts about the other companies however if any of those individuals would have been at events like the Big Nasty you will see nothing but fun and support for each other as companies. If some one breaks something for example and a company doesn't have the tools to fix it you don't see Frozen MOTO snubbing them or not helping them. You see companies Frozen MOTO, Timbersled and 2 Moto actually helping each other and smiling while they do it.
Not trying to run on here but that is how FM sees it currently and the snow bike industry must take a long hard look at how it wants to be involved and create a community not a individualized thing as we head into the future with different technology from our perspective industries that is Timbersled is influenced by their previous experiences snowmobile part manufacturing which is apparent when you look at the system, Frozen MOTO's dirt bike background which is again apparent when looking at the technology we use, etc... no offense to anyone's direction or design just different disciplines being incorporated and advanced in different directions which is going to be the foundation of the industry just like sleds you don't see Polaris just making the PRO RMK but a complete line from trail to extreme mountain. Time to take notice and build this industry right!
These are the things we need to focus on as an industry, the positives all the way around and not the personalities or negativity towards each other as that will ultimately limit the industry. It is up to you as customers and dealers to help the manufacturers not hinder them if you really want this to grow.
Dan
