Snow Bike Theory

[backcountryislife]

You know, I used to have the exact same opinion as you, until I actually tried one. Five minutes into the first ride I knew I was full of it, that my opinions about snowbikes were not based on fact, but rather the fear that I had spent money in the wrong direction.

YUP.


I'll admit the few I had seen before a month or so ago I thought were a bad joke. They were guys trying to ride them like sleds... and doing it poorly.

About 20 min into riding one myself, I did my 2nd climb, wasn't going to make it, and turned... yeah, right about then my ideas of bikes when POOF. HOLY CRAPBALLS BATMAN... these things can't climb in pow worth a crap... yet they can go up pretty much anything... how can both of those statements be true??

 

[egesledder]

^
Me and my group of sled riding friends thought the same thing for years, then we did a demo ride... I've ridden sleds religiously since I was 5, but I sold the turbo sled and rode a bike all this season along with another buddy, and now just about everyone I ride with is converting for next year. Even a bunch of people who ride moto but never wanted to get into sleds because of cost and the learning curve required are buying kits for their bikes.

 

[Snwbiker]

Something I'm seeing, feeling, and hearing is that, guys that think snowbikes are underpowered and can't be fun and won't last are the same guys that are not hardcore snowmobilers. They think they are!!! They think they do the most bad a$$ stuff but the truth is they don't get too for away from the trail and they will go high mark a hill to death and sit and chat about how Snowbikes suck and will make up resons for them sucking. I know two guys that love there 160hp sleds and love to hit small drifts and do power wheelies and think they are the baddest F-ears on the hill and they both talk crap about bikes and I won't ride with them anymore. But the fact is they suck at riding snowmobiles and they sucked at riding a snowbike when they tried it. They love there big fat sleds and they think sleds are the only thing for the mountains.
Theses two aren't the only ones out there That think like that. I see it in post here on SW and FB. I'm not trying to stick up for snowbikes as they can hold there own on any mountain. I'm just sick of hearing negative post about snowbikes.

 

[Jason4]

How are the bikes for doubling for sled accessed ski laps?

 

[Tride]

Not good, unless it's bomber spring snow. Even then, it's going to be very awkward and hard on the bike. It's pretty much the only reason I've kept the sled. The bike is much better for getting you to where you want to start skinning--at any rate, we always say that, but then end up riding instead of skiing.

 

[Tride]

Took the Pro out for skiing today, good times. Gawd, what a handfull. I haven't been on the sled for real for a year, and it beat me up. Lots of tree wells, streams, etc. All stuff I wouldn't even register on the bike. But, I was towing 2 skiers, not happening on the bike. Skiing powder on May 23rd!

 

[CO Powder]

Something I'm seeing, feeling, and hearing is that, guys that think snowbikes are underpowered and can't be fun and won't last are the same guys that are not hardcore snowmobilers. They think they are!!! They think they do the most bad a$$ stuff but the truth is they don't get too for away from the trail and they will go high mark a hill to death and sit and chat about how Snowbikes suck and will make up resons for them sucking. I know two guys that love there 160hp sleds and love to hit small drifts and do power wheelies and think they are the baddest F-ears on the hill and they both talk crap about bikes and I won't ride with them anymore. But the fact is they suck at riding snowmobiles and they sucked at riding a snowbike when they tried it. They love there big fat sleds and they think sleds are the only thing for the mountains.
Theses two aren't the only ones out there That think like that. I see it in post here on SW and FB. I'm not trying to stick up for snowbikes as they can hold there own on any mountain. I'm just sick of hearing negative post about snowbikes.

The one guy in our group who is a dirt biker and spent time on new KTM/Timbersled machines admitted that it wouldn't be any fun to try and ride the bikes where we like to ride our sleds. He does tell me that the bike is super easy, super fun and more capable than he thought.

I still can't get anybody to show up on one

I am sure it is because I only wheelie across the meadows, that is why I don't like snowbikes... I have been riding every weekend this season since mid Dec, save the one when my kids graduated. I have been doing that for a dozen or so years so,I am pretty sure I can ride, but the attempted insult was a funny read anyway.

 

[Jason4]

Thanks for making me feel better about getting a sled for the ski access than a bike.

I tour on skis a lot too so maybe a bike will still be in my future.

 

[backcountryislife]

The one guy in our group who is a dirt biker and spent time on new KTM/Timbersled machines admitted that it wouldn't be any fun to try and ride the bikes where we like to ride our sleds. He does tell me that the bike is super easy, super fun and more capable than he thought.

I still can't get anybody to show up on one

I am sure it is because I only wheelie across the meadows, that is why I don't like snowbikes... I have been riding every weekend this season since mid Dec, save the one when my kids graduated. I have been doing that for a dozen or so years so,I am pretty sure I can ride, but the attempted insult was a funny read anyway.

I ride in much the same terrain as you, and someone saying that it wouldn't be fun to ride a bike WHERE you ride sleds imo is off their rocker. The whole thing about it is you can ride wherever you want but the HOW is what changes. I'm still riding here, going out day after tomorrow, and I'm a little too lazy to convert my bike back to snow for one more weekend, and just way bummed to be stuck riding a sled.

I think most folks that don't enjoy a bike or don't think they'll be fun are simply not understanding how they work & what they can do. In comparison the sled feels like driving a bus compared to a bike to me now.

 

[Wheel House Motorsports]

I ride in much the same terrain as you, and someone saying that it wouldn't be fun to ride a bike WHERE you ride sleds imo is off their rocker. The whole thing about it is you can ride wherever you want but the HOW is what changes. I'm still riding here, going out day after tomorrow, and I'm a little too lazy to convert my bike back to snow for one more weekend, and just way bummed to be stuck riding a sled.

I think most folks that don't enjoy a bike or don't think they'll be fun are simply not understanding how they work & what they can do. In comparison the sled feels like driving a bus compared to a bike to me now.

You hit the nail on the head, if you go out and try to ride your snowbike (like I did) the first few rides sucked pretty bad, just felt like i was trapped and couldnt do anything and I was begging for my sled back. I went on a few bike only rides chasing seasoned riders and It was a seriously eye opening time. You just go wherever you want. Don't limit your riding to how you do it on sleds.

Once I learned to look at the mountain differently when on the single ski I have just as much fun if not more. But it took me a while to get my mindset swapped.

Also I found a huge help was not riding areas I knew well. When I got to places I had sledded a ton before I tended to follow my "sled paths" which are developed as the easy ways to get around on sleds through terrain. On bikes they are not needed!

 

[boondocker97]

I guess I'm in the minority here. The snow bikes just don't have much excitement for me. Granted I've only ridden one once. It was at a Timbersled demo on spring snow in a pretty flat, treed area. KX450 with a LT kit I think. I'm 260lbs in street clothes and that 450 was just not enough to be fun for me. It was very easy to tractor around between the trees but that was it. Just felt like a one-trick pony for me in the snow. My 150lb friend thought it was a blast weaving in and out of the trees though. I demoed a Pro-lite sled at the same time in the same area and that's where my money went.

I guess I don't get that excited about riding my bike through slow technical sections in the summer like I do with my sled in the winter either. Maybe it has something to do with the excitement of making the sled do something that you or others didn't think it could do?

Also, when I'm out riding I like doing technical lines the best, but I don't want to give up climbing, jumping, or hammering a rough section of trail on the way up or down either.

I ride a 450 bike and race quads in the summer so I know what maintenance costs on that kind of equipment are like. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be any cheaper on bike with a kit either.

ST kit with fit kit - $5,600 + 500 KTM bike - $9,900 + Turbo kit - $5,000 = $20,500.
New pro-lite big bore sled = $19,600

I'll stick with the sled for a little while longer.

 

[Rush44]

Your weight and bike choice isn't a problem.... it's where you demo'd and what terrain you rode it in. Come over West to the Flathead and I'll take you up lines that are impossible on a sled and you'll see why we like these. The first time I rode a Horse I hated it but my friend, who I trusted, told me I needed to sell my M1000 and get on the bikes. After my 2nd ride it was all over and I realized how much more capable the bike is over the sled.

We have very steep and very tight terrain around here and when I first started to bring my bike with sled groups everyone was pissed cause they figured I would slow them down. To this day I have only found 1 draw that a sled could get up that I couldn't and it's because it was lined by rocks on both sides of the chute and was the only way over the drainage without a several mile backtrack. Since then nobody comments when I show up with sled groups and I spend a lot of timing waiting on sleds... they never wait on me (unless I goobered it up in a creek or something). Most everyone wants a bike now.

You just need one good day in the saddle. We can get you a demo over here and I can take you out for a serious day.

 

[Wheel House Motorsports]

Ill admit, im still a sucker for the power of sleds. But like Rush mentioned, the demo you did most likely in the meadows around West Yellowstone @ expo are a pretty poor showing of what they can do. Those tiny scrubby little trees around there are annoying and really not that enjoyable. I was suprised they were even doing demo's this year as I think it did more bad then good giving the poor snow and conditions.

I see your in Billings, get ahold of the guys @ ICEAGE in Bozeman, they can take you out next year sometime for a ride and Im betting it will change your mind about what a 50hp dirtbike can do in a hurry.

 

[scottbilt95]

keep it in perspective

i have only ridden a snowbike 1 time. liked it enough to want to own one this next season. that being said, the one's i rode wouldn't have a prayer climbing the stuff my turbo sled can nor did i expect them to. no where near the hp/burst speed needed. maybe a turbo snowbike would...would have to try one. i don't doubt there may be snowbikes with great riders that could switchback up some of the steep stuff but if you can't switchback, then what? i'm not getting a snowbike to replace my sled, they just do things differently which i liked. if i want to get through the tightest trees possible on the steepest inclines that will still hold snow, i'll snowshoe. i guarantee you couldn't follow on anything motorized. i guess it depends on what level of difficulty you want to take it to and certainly to each his own. snowbikes will never replace sleds and vice versa. give credit where it's due and keep it real. these conversations remind me of:

1) my short track will go anywhere a long track will
2) my NA sled will go anywhere a turbo will

get there? maybe. how you get there? dream on

 

[boondocker97]

Ill admit, im still a sucker for the power of sleds. But like Rush mentioned, the demo you did most likely in the meadows around West Yellowstone @ expo are a pretty poor showing of what they can do. Those tiny scrubby little trees around there are annoying and really not that enjoyable. I was suprised they were even doing demo's this year as I think it did more bad then good giving the poor snow and conditions.

I see your in Billings, get ahold of the guys @ ICEAGE in Bozeman, they can take you out next year sometime for a ride and Im betting it will change your mind about what a 50hp dirtbike can do in a hurry.

It was at expo a couple years ago. The snow there this year wasn't something I wanted to be riding anything on.

Thanks for the riding offers guys. One of my sledding buddies is going to set a bike up this fall in addition to his sled so I'm sure I will get a chance to ride his more. With my luck I feel a little better about breaking his than a total stranger's .

I definitely don't doubt the capability of where a snowbike will go. I just kind of feel the same way scottbilt95 does in that they are just different. This winter I was following a track across a burnt out hill that I thought was a pretty sick line. Eventually I got to a point where the sled just wouldn't fit. That's when the light bulb came on: snowbike track. On the other side of things, there was a pretty decent sized uphill step-up I was hitting wide open on my sled that I doubt would have been done on the snowbike.

 

[n16ht5]

If you ride a bike like a sled you will be underwhelmed. Go deep, go steep. I have an Apex for big pow sled skiing days, otherwise the bike is king.

 

[backcountryislife]

i have only ridden a snowbike 1 time. liked it enough to want to own one this next season. that being said, the one's i rode wouldn't have a prayer climbing the stuff my turbo sled can nor did i expect them to. no where near the hp/burst speed needed. maybe a turbo snowbike would...would have to try one. i don't doubt there may be snowbikes with great riders that could switchback up some of the steep stuff but if you can't switchback, then what? i'm not getting a snowbike to replace my sled, they just do things differently which i liked. if i want to get through the tightest trees possible on the steepest inclines that will still hold snow, i'll snowshoe. i guarantee you couldn't follow on anything motorized. i guess it depends on what level of difficulty you want to take it to and certainly to each his own. snowbikes will never replace sleds and vice versa. give credit where it's due and keep it real. these conversations remind me of:

1) my short track will go anywhere a long track will
2) my NA sled will go anywhere a turbo will

get there? maybe. how you get there? dream on

I'm always waiting for the long tracks to keep up... Not sure what you're getting at here bro????

Unlike the short vs long or boost vs N/A things... the bike can literally do things a sled simply can't. I'd say I'm pretty good on a sled, and in about 6 hours of seat time I can EASILY do things I can't on a sled. Two different things for sure, but for me the bike easily replaces the sled.

Btw, you got your kit yet? Going riding in a few hours...