Now guys, this would be "da ****" as a base for a snowbike 
Maico 700 cc 2-stroke at 100 hp
Maico 700 cc 2-stroke at 100 hp
Monster 2-stroke!
- Thread starter Telekiter
- Start date
That would be the shizz. Right hand drive. Maybe adapt a 650 Berg MH 137" to it.
I can't even imagine how bad that thing vibrates. My CR500 vibrates enough I bet you couldn't even hold on to that 700 for a day. Would be fun to ride though.
looks sweet but i would want an aluminum frame
is it a cr or kx bigbore?
edit....
http://youtu.be/4OC-k9k41U0
is it a cr or kx bigbore?
edit....
http://youtu.be/4OC-k9k41U0
Last edited:
Then there must be something wrong. My 01 doesn't vibrate anymore than the typical fart-noise-making 4 stroke. Or the 3 others I've owned in the past.
The only two stroke I can compare it to is my KTM 300 (have ran my MH kit on both) and the vib's are much more noticeable on the 500. I have also ran my kit on a 525 and rode several other 4 strokes and they have less vibration no doubt about it. If you are riding one of these big two strokes on dirt I doubt you would notice the vib's much because you can't hold the bike wide open for very long on the dirt but in the snow you can keep it to the stop for a long time and that's where the vibration get bad. I don't think there is anything wrong with my 500 it's pretty much new I don't think it has more than 50hrs on it. Aside from the vib's these big 2strokes are a lot of fun in the snow.
Having the pipe exposed to the snow doesn't seem to effect performance at least as far as I can tell.
If you check out their webpage they have a video of the changes for 2011 which include frame, suspension, and F1 inspired design to their engines...intriguing this is....
Yes. I have one full season with 2 different 2 smokes and a full season on a four stroke and having snow on the pipe doesn't seem to effect either. I am sure the 2 strokes would have a little more power if the pipe was warmer but they seem to run really well.
What he said?
maico back ?
Had the first models in the ealry 60's, junk !'
Had Macio gp's in the 70's great bikes but fragile! Maico breako
Not sure I could tolerate one in the 20's. in the snow 40 miles from the truck
Had the first models in the ealry 60's, junk !'
Had Macio gp's in the 70's great bikes but fragile! Maico breako
Not sure I could tolerate one in the 20's. in the snow 40 miles from the truck
From my experience most days I am enjoying the 2stroke, with that said I have not had a 450 race bike so my opinion does not reflect what many consider to be the best bike option. Here is some background on what I have rode, experienced, and the direction I am going with snobiking. I am probably going to give you more info than you want to know but I don't want be miss leading anybody on what might be their next bike choice and it would be hard for you to understand why I have gone the route I have without know where I have been.
My snobike experience is limited to the MH kit and of course since it's only been out 2 seasons I wouldn't say my knowledge is very broad. My first season (about 13 rides) I rode an 06 KTM 525 and of course with any first year kit there are kinks to be work out and although I had 3 seasons of snowmobiling under my belt it was my first season of snobiking so I had a lot of learning to do. The 525 seemed to run ok but as I compared it to the other bikes I was riding with it became very evident that it was sucking in a big way, my buddies 08 KTM 300 (rode with the 300 most of the season) was out performing me in the powder and my other buddies 11 Honda 450 was making it look like I was on a 250 (only rode with the Honda twice and both times were in the powder). Had I known then what I know now I think changing the way my kit was setup would have made the 525 perform better in the powder, the bike had too much ski pressure which caused a lot of drag in the powder keeping the kit from really getting up on top of the snow and working like it should. I also had several other bike issues throughout the season that kept the bike from performing like it should have. The spark plug cap kept getting water in it causing the spark to short out and the bike to die which took me quite a while to figure out but was remedied with a wave runner spark plug cap built to keep the water out. I also had issues with snow ingestions, on the deep powder days my airbox would be completely full of snow and would choke the bike out. I finally got the airbox sealed up good enough to keep most of the snow out but never completely solved the problem. When the snow got harder and heavier the 525 did much better allowing its torque to really shine. By the time the end of the first season had come to an end I had made up my mind that the 525 was getting sold and a 300 would be my next bike.
I am an avid dirt biker and had got some seat time on a 300 the fall before which was a mistake cause after that ride I had to have one for the dirt and after seeing how well they did in the snow it was a no brainier. I picked up an 09 300 XC that spring and sold my 525 shortly after, all I can say is riding a 300 on the dirt is like heaven compared to that heavy 525. You would think that with the 300 being my first 2 stroke bike that there would be a big learning curve but there wasn't at all.
So last season I started out riding running my MH kit on my 300 the bike really turned the kit good especially in the light fluffy powder it got up on top the snow and made the MH kit perform like it should. The nice thing about the two strokes is how fast you can get the power to the track I think this is one of the characteristics of the two stroke that make it shine for this application. Despite sealing the airbox up really well and adding vents I was still fighting snow ingestion so I ended up deleting my airbox and built a snorkel which has worked flawless and I would highly recommend doing. Another problem that seems to be mainly be related to the two stroke is carb icing I think the problem is that the two strokes don’t generate enough heat and the carburetors get so cold that the moist air coming in condenses and just freezes to the slide basically plugging everything up and keeping your bike from running. I tried to remedy the carb icing by installing a carb heater (ktm part) but the heat probe doesn’t even come close to putting out enough heat so don’t waste your money. I ended up fighting the carb icing as it wasn’t an issue some days but other days it was terrible. Overall I was pretty happy with the way the 300 was working the ski felt really light on the snow and the bike was really flick-able and fun to ride but then I threw a leg over a CR500. My buddy that had ran his 300 the previous season decided he didn't want to hammer on his 300 during the winter so he bought a 1998 CR500 for the snow. As the season went on I started feeling pretty bad for my 300 because it was constantly wfo and after getting a little seat time on that CR500 I was longing for that added hp.
After keeping an eye on craigslist for a couple months I found a mint 2001 CR500 in Portland and picked it up for $2100. I bought the bike sight un-seen and had buddy coming through Portland haul it back to Idaho for me, after looking the bike over it had a little surface rust but everything was original including the bore (rare for a CR500) and the bike didn’t appear to have more than maybe 1000 miles on it. I decided I might as well strip it down to the frame and get it powder coated while I was waiting on Timbersled to make my fit kit. After doing quite a bit of research I ended up ordering a newer carburetor (PWK 39.5) for the bike promising better performance and fuel mileage, I cannot confirm either as I never rode it with the stock carb. The snorkel I had built for my 300 (for sale if anybody wants it) would not fit on the 500 so I had to build another. The only other aftermarket part on the bike was the exhaust, it came with a pro-circuit pipe and silencer which as it turns out sucks for snobiking (more on this later).
The maiden voyage on the 500 did not disappoint the power difference between 300 is substantial and the bike handles very similar to how the 300 did. After a few rides I started finding things that I wanted to change to make it even better. The gearing was not tall enough for the snow conditions I was riding in and I couldn’t hold the gear I wanted at the rpm I wanted (I build an excel spreadsheet to help me with this) so I changed up my gearing. I also found that to stay in the power I had to keep the rpm’s really high (caused a lot of vibration and numb hands) so I borrowed my buddies FMF gnarly pipe and I couldn’t believe the difference just a pipe made, I will be running one this season. As for carb freezing which I failed to remedy on my 300 I bought a welding blanket and wrapped basically the entire motor, pipe, and carb and that completely eliminated the carb freezing issue but keep so much heat in that the bike started over heating on long pulls. I ended up taking the blanket off toward the tail end of the season because it was so warm out that carb icing was not even possible and that seem to help keep the bike cooler but I think I still need to revisit my jetting to help it run cooler.
I didn’t get the chance to ride with very many different bikes while I had the 500 on the snow but I did get about 6 or 7 rides with either a 12 KTM 350 or 12 KTM 500 and some snowmobiles. From what I can tell the CR500 will out pull the KTM 500 if we are riding in powder but as the snow gets heavier the CR500 has trouble staying on the pipe without shifting which makes you lose a lot of track speed and momentum. My last ride out in mash potatoes the KTM 500 was out pulling me, it’s tough for a 2 stroke to complete again the 4 strokes in these conditions. I think the powder is where this CR500 is really going to shine but I didn’t get to ride it in any really deep powder so I will have to wait and see. So far the only thing I don’t like about the CR500 is the vibration at the handle bars that really becomes noticeable by the end of the day, If anybody knows a remedy for this please let me know. I have filled the bars with spray foam but other than that I don’t know what to do but deal with it.
So if you’re tired of reading my long winded response by now or have skipped all of my rambling here is a summary of what I think about bike choices. As with anything in life there are pro’s and con’s to both the 2stroke and 4stroke, duh right. The biggest reason I am riding a CR500 is cost, they are cheap to buy, maintain and rebuild. I wanted a bike that I could keep as a dedicated snobike because the 300 imo is the ultimate single track slayer but lacks a little bit in the snowbike department and owning another expensive bike just for snobiking wasn’t an option, the CR500 seemed to fit the bill the best for now. For the dollar the CR500 offers more hp (rated at 64.6 HP and 55.7 ft-lbs) than any of the 450 race bikes with very few disadvantages. The great thing about snobiking is that a dirt bike with the latest and greatest chassis and suspension doesn’t mean shat in a snobike configuration it’s just extra money sitting in your garage during the winter.
If you’re the rider that wants electric start, grip warmers, head light, fuel injection, and a rideable bike for the dirt then I would recommend a 4 banger. Throwing down 6-10k on a 450 is going to offer you the most versatile and user friendly bike. I hear a lot of good things about them and I ride with quite a few and they do very well in every snow condition but I am not quite ready to bow down to them yet.
The problem with any power snow sport is that hp is almost always king (not the case on dirt) raking just barely above weight. My main problem as a power sport user in the winter is that I am 6’1” and 215lbs making me at least 250lbs fully geared which is at least 50lbs heavier than almost every other person I ride with so when I make a performance comparison of bikes the playing ground is not even and I am almost always at a disadvantage.
Hope all this info helps somebody because it feels like I just wrote a book. If anybody has any questions I would be happy to try and answer them.
To help with da bad vibes:
http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/43/53/218/947/-/31888/Fasst-Flexx-1-1-8%2522-Handlebar
http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/43/53/218/947/-/31888/Fasst-Flexx-1-1-8%2522-Handlebar
Great write up!!!
Great write up, very detailed and informative 
But I will have to say that I love the KX450fi they are exellent bikes for snow and I picked my 09 KX450 for $3,900.00 and it had 50 hrs on it. Installed My Mountain Horse kit a KTM thermostat, some foam in the air box and got in 16 rides on it this winter and no problems.
But I will have to say that I love the KX450fi they are exellent bikes for snow and I picked my 09 KX450 for $3,900.00 and it had 50 hrs on it. Installed My Mountain Horse kit a KTM thermostat, some foam in the air box and got in 16 rides on it this winter and no problems.
