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riding on ice trails?

ive got a 17 yeti and its an absolute joke on the ice trails. zero confidence with the ski and it always seems to want to wash out and wipe out. I can barely even turn the thing, it just wants to go straight, then when I really muscle and force it to turn, it slides out half the time. very frustrating.


tried riding last week... wiped out 3 times on the ice road in at full speed within 10 mins, slid about 80'. bent my bars, rage quit and went home and want to sell this fking thing now. riding just isnt fun anymore. the conditions need to be PERFECT otherwise the snowbike is an absolute nightmare in anything less than deep pow. once again, first impression ride with some guys and they were NOT impressed with me, or my snowbike. pretty sad.

bridge crossings, road crossings, wind swept spots, ice patches... all scare the **** out of me and make me not even want to ride this thing anymore. I think the end is near.

am I the only one that struggles like mad on the ice roads?

heres a short little video of my last ride... went down within 2 minutes of each other on the trail in. in the video it seems like I hit a chunk of dirt and made me wipe out, but the other two wipeouts (not on camera) I didnt hit anything. either way, my 17 yeti SUCKS on the ice roads and anything thats not deep powder it seems.




 
They are all terrible on ice. Its hard to offer advice without being there, but one thing I always do is try to ride the edges (not the middle) in slippery conditions like that. Seems like there is a bit of an edge to ride on almost all trails, and even if you are in it only a few inches its enough to give you traction.

My first ever ride was on an icy trail up to the top and the whole way up I was asking why I had spent money on a bike... why do people like to ride these things? It was downright frightening!
 
once again, exact experiences as me. my first ride was like that too. talk about scary. it did well though that day.

and yeah I was staying on that snow on the side but it still sucked there too. just too early in the season I guess. all of last winter was a fail and this winter has been a lot of fails too so its pretty discouraging so far. we got no snow locally and nothing but machine problems.
 
You might have too much ski pressure.... I would try moving your triples up to relieve the pressure... if you need to adjust more out you can mess with the strut... (triples are a little quicker to mess with in the field... if that does not work you can go the opposite direction... for me it is hard on ice but not uncontrollable...

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Have you tried shimming your ski in the back so the front points a little more up?
It's definitely an improvement.

no. and on that subject, the rubber in my ski is definitey a tad soft and wobbly. I have a new rubber here just too lazy to put it in and didnt think it would make a big difference.
 
Sounds like all bikes. ride slower, ride the edges or keep it in the truck and keep driving until you find snow. These kits are for snow, the deeper the better.
 
hmm. interesting. good to know im not the only one. guess these are fairweather machines only good for the mid winter when its deep, start and end of winter suck with these things.
 
Don't know guys yes in crappy conditions go slower... but 60 mph is not out of the question on the road with the group I ride with... set up is so bike specific... it is worth spending the time... I would say it is the most important part...and the hardest because there are so many combinations...

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I'm from a dirt background with only one season on a snow bike so take this advice with a grain of salt. My experience with low traction on dirt or snow has been similar. The less weight put on the front the better. Bikes handle poorly in low traction the more weight is placed on the ski\front tire. In these conditions I shift my weight back, grip harder with my knees, and loosen grip on handlebars. It's important to keep a steady throttle as it keeps the front light. When cornering in these conditions I try to stay vertical on top of the bike rather than leaning with it.

Like mentioned earlier it's worth adjusting the forks and track to shift weight off the ski and toward the track.

I understand the frustration as I'm feeling it in a different scenario. Trying to Learn snowmobiling off trail and can't make sense of how it reacts. It seems like everything I do causes the machine to react opposite of what I'm trying to do. Trying to stay positive and remembering the learning curve of riding a dirt bike.
 
Yeah, I hate those conditions as well, won't ride icy, muddy, or road surface if can avoid it. Leaves, clay, snow stuck on ski gives similar results. One the four kits I've owned I had to mod the ski to get better wash out resistance on all of them. On my timbersleds removing the center half pipe runner and replacing with the triple point carbide made big difference. On the yeti ski I left worn center runner in place and drilled and bolted triple point carbide to that center runner. Center triple point carbide makes contact on ice and much more stable and predictable than stock. I could not ride stock yeti or timbersled in those conditions. One face plant was enough.
 
The Yeti ski is great in deep powder. Other than that it’s not so great. All setups are going to suck on ice. Your best bet is a Timbersled ski with triple carbide.
That’s what I’m thinking also. The mountain horse ski with the triple carbide. Probably the best for those conditions and still works decent in deeper snow up higher. Later in the season go back to your yeti. I also remember some guys putting the triple carbide on the outsides also. Kind of a spendy solution though.
 
60mph?? we got out early a few weeks ago, no whoops, the trail in was a smooth, snowy highway and my bike would only go 60kmh. 70 maybe if I over revved it.
17 450sxf with 6th gear installed.. cams, ported, dynoed ecu, exhaust......

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Yeti ski + full lock left, + leaning left + road maybe sloping a little right puts the ski on plastic only and goes from bad to worse real quick. I've been there and felt your pain.
 
On the Yeti ski I took a timbersled triple carbide and cut the studs of and welded it to the Yeti center runner after doing some trimming to it. Its a lot better than going without any carbide.
 
Why are you riding on the road? Can't everyone just unload and go 6ft to the goods! :p
ARO ski is better that Yeti on Ice but they all suck if you have to cross any pavement or ice field!
 
Why are you riding on the road? Can't everyone just unload and go 6ft to the goods! :p
ARO ski is better that Yeti on Ice but they all suck if you have to cross any pavement or ice field!
That is probably the best answer ever.
 
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