Purpose built, or try to cover it all????

[WingNutRacing]

So, with all the hype, discussions and a bunch of b. s.?

Does anyone else see the bike kits starting to trend into a one kit for everyone to try to cover all snow conditions and terrain...scenario....


Which of course will appease most all of us, the same as the first few "long track" sleds did back in the day..



When will we start to see the RMK, and Summit versions of bike kits, you know, dedicated to working well in the deep...?

I understand from a marketing and sales point of view the sport is young and dedicating retooled production lines and manufacturing processes is relatively unfeasible.

Or,,,,,,,,, is what we have coming out the absolute best we can get....
Or,,,,,,,,, is anyone even interested in a "deep snow" version, or would they really be any different....?
Or,,,,,,,, are the bikes we like to bolt these babies to limiting the actual performance gain that would make a deep snow version even worth building...


Or,,,,,,,, does anyone actually care...

Or,,,,,,,, what do you "experts" think????

 

[rhino89523]

It's a bit of a quandary for me. I do think the bike is what limits it for me, I could use easily double the HP, but the weight of the bike is what makes it easy to get unstuck, the original build quality of a bike is what makes these things minimal maintenance and when you crash not cost money to fix. You just scoop some snow out of the frame and ride on...they don't ghost ride down the hill costing you A arms, tunnel replacements, or hood replacements/Frankenstein zip tie repairs between replacements. I like the width of the bike and all the purpose builts look more like a sled with a ski. If I could pack 100hp into a dirtbike frame, only add maybe 20lbs I'd be all over it. I know after a year on a 120 that I need some more track for my weight in the deep. My bike is only for snow I have another bike for dirt so in some ways mine is purpose built...the thing is a riot!!!! but all that said I am now looking at a sled for the deeper days. Not getting rid of the bike, just think I might like to have both.

 

[NEWDUCK]

You have the group that loves the bike. You have the group that wants more power and are putting sled engines in a bike. Then you have the hawk guys(all 10 or so of us left).

Say if the hawk wasn't released tell now. 800 ccs of fuel injeted power. 3 year warranty. Make a few minor changes to the original design hawk to get the rider up and forward. 400 lb dry weight. I think it would sell. They just got to bad of a name from the OG design. And before you say ah way to heavy. Sleds weigh more and you can throw those around jumping form side to side looking like a dang monkey.

Now the bikes. Im so anal I could never use my summer bike for a winter bike. So that lets out the great "Hey one toy that does it all". For me anyways.

Like rhino said the original build quality of the bikes is awesome. Which is great you dont have to wrench on the heart of the platform constantly. The bikes handle the slow moving terrain awesome. But I think the rider position could be improved.

Now how about a bike hawk hybrid. Use the bike enigne and Just the idea of the hawks track placement and belly pan. Make it tube frame. Would be super skinny and Lighter than a bike. You are now using the frame to hold the enigne and the skid.

In all honesty I think we will have the bike kits for another 5 years at least.

 

[CATSLEDMAN1]

move'n along

looking back at sled evolution

we built 400 lb sleds 25 year ago
what we didn't have was 160 easy reliable smooth hp
what we did't have was really good tracks

I see the same with the bike kits right now

we are easy reliable 2 stroke hp deficient.........as long as most have to buy a 4 stroke 60 hp bikes the whole situation is handicapped, turbos don't, nitros can't, and power every other stroke kills up onto the snow performance.......... its a snow thing.

tracks are coming along nicely, that's great, biggest improvement
on the kits in the last 6 years is tracks.

more reliability.... good, flashy designs all good, same shocks better setting all good.

BUT..........advancement will be 2 stroke power...............40 lbs lighter won't help a helpless 4 stroke in the snow, done put a fork in it. We dicked with 4 stroke power in 1968 when KOHLER made the ultimate sled motor.........oh it was bad. Yamaha is still the laughing stock of western powder riding.........yeah, 4 strokes are a huge disadvantage when you have SOFT SOFT conditions, put a fork in the 4 stroke.

 

[Guitarman]

My 2 cents

The track kits seem to be, for the most part, reliable and capable. What we all seek is a bit more horsepower. If KTM, Husky, etc. bulit a bike specific to the snowbike rider, ready to bolt your kit to, they would have the market cornered. It would have all the accessories we are adding after the fact, I.E., Thermostat, engine covers, temp gauge, high output stator. It would hit the 100hp mark at least. It would also have a Rekluse type clutch or an even better design for our use. Shipped sans wheels and swingarm. Seems reasonable to me, but, I was wrong that one other time.

 

[Norma Stitz]

I'm going to take a whack at it but I think it will still be 4 stroke. I dunno can't decide between 700cc twin 4 stroke or cr600 big bore 2t. I'm a lanky guy who can be strong in some ways but dead lifting a bike stuck in snow isn't one of my strongest points so I'd hate to gain much metal on it. Titanium frame anyone?