What mods are necessary for new snowbike? This is my first rodeo!

[Snowbikenewbie]

Just got a 2017 CRF450RX. Now to start putting it together for snow. What are considered necessary for a smooth snow biking experience? I’ve done some research but I am not certain which are mandatory or optional.

1. Track kit- looking at Camso or Timber sled. Trio system looks appealing.

2. Handguards and handwarmers- I consider these mandatory. Which brand do you like?

3. Thermo bob? Is this necessary?

4. Headlight- I’ll be adding items to make it street legal with flush mount turn signals, etc... which headlight do you guys prefer?


5. Wrap header pipe? I don’t know anything about this.

6. Block radiators to retain engine heat? Also don’t know anything.

7. ECU, looking at getting a PR2racing ECU for snowbiking. I like the increased fuel efficiency and the correct mix in cold temps to avoid fuel in oil hopefully.

8. Anything else? I’ve heard about snow proofing air boxes but am not sure what is recommended...

Any help before the snow flies is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

 

[SuperchargedWS6]

Just got a 2017 CRF450RX. Now to start putting it together for snow. What are considered necessary for a smooth snow biking experience? I’ve done some research but I am not certain which are mandatory or optional.

1. Track kit- looking at Camso or Timber sled. Trio system looks appealing.

Camso if you are looking to save money. timbersled if you have the money or if you are going to ride hard. dont get a trio. save money and get airpro if bottoming front forks.

2. Handguards and handwarmers- I consider these mandatory. Which brand do you like?

Really not required if you run handle bar muffs. AME if you need heated grips

3. Thermo bob? Is this necessary?

yes.

4. Headlight- I’ll be adding items to make it street legal with flush mount turn signals, etc... which headlight do you guys prefer?

I run a $25 6" led bar. depends of you plan on really riding at night. best setup is quality helmet lights if really riding at night.

5. Wrap header pipe? I don’t know anything about this.

not necessary. would do engine cover like PST for deep snow days.

6. Block radiators to retain engine heat? Also don’t know anything.

yes. cut up a crazy carpet and slide in front. adjust as required.

7. ECU, looking at getting a PR2racing ECU for snowbiking. I like the increased fuel efficiency and the correct mix in cold temps to avoid fuel in oil hopefully.

no experience. just ordered a raze ecu. will know in a couple months.

8. Anything else? I’ve heard about snow proofing air boxes but am not sure what is recommended...

snowproof airbox
tether (not necessary but like to have one)
2" bar risers. easier to stand
rad braces. trees
bar guards. trees
seat concepts seat. your *** will thank you unless you are a young hard ***
coolant temp monitor. vapor or voyager gauge are great
fork seal guards
rekluse of you like to spend money

Any help before the snow flies is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

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[SuperchargedWS6]

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and skid plate

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[Sketchy Red]

Just got a 2017 CRF450RX. Now to start putting it together for snow. What are considered necessary for a smooth snow biking experience? I’ve done some research but I am not certain which are mandatory or optional.

1. Track kit- looking at Camso or Timber sled. Trio system looks appealing.

2. Handguards and handwarmers- I consider these mandatory. Which brand do you like?

3. Thermo bob? Is this necessary?

4. Headlight- I’ll be adding items to make it street legal with flush mount turn signals, etc... which headlight do you guys prefer?


5. Wrap header pipe? I don’t know anything about this.

6. Block radiators to retain engine heat? Also don’t know anything.

7. ECU, looking at getting a PR2racing ECU for snowbiking. I like the increased fuel efficiency and the correct mix in cold temps to avoid fuel in oil hopefully.

8. Anything else? I’ve heard about snow proofing air boxes but am not sure what is recommended...

Any help before the snow flies is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

1. Buy the latest kit you can afford, older timbersled kits are getting harder to find parts for as polaris tries to phase them out. Heavy fork spings are awesome, can't speak to the trio but I doubt I will buy it.

2. Handguards are necessary, hand warmers are a luxury. I have 2 pair of gloves in my numberplate bag, a pair of thick warm gloves for the trail in and a pair of nice thin gloves for the technical tight stuff.

3. A thermostat of some kind will help keeps your temps up but you will need to shield your cases from dragging in the powder to really help keep temps up. A temp gauge to monitor your coolant temp is very helpful to see how well your shielding is working,Trailtech TTO is a great product to monitor temps.

4. Lights are cool

5. header wrap makes pipes ugly, don't think it is necessary

6. Radiator blocks helped me out a lot when combined with shielding and a temp gauge to let me know when to put them in and take them out. I made mine out of thin uhmw plastic and they slide between the radiator and the factory plastic louvers. I would not run them without a coolant temp gauge.

7. If you can keep your temps in check and you aren't super hardcore you might be able to live with stock ecu. Hondas could be a different story though? Maybe some honda guys can chime in

8. Ditch your air box and make a snorkel using silicone tubing and a hydrophobic pre-filter. You will need to make a cage and backing ring to have some support for your pod. If your not into building and tinkering there are companies making intake fixes to help you remove the airbox.

9. Radiator braces are a good investment , extra fuel storage is mandatory on the rides I go on, Storage is an issue on bikes a numberplate bag is pretty handy, Friends with bikes are a huge bonus you wont have fun riding with the sleds all year.

 

[XP_posterchild]

I have the same bike, first imo the must haves are

Thermobob t-stat
TTO temp gauge
PST Engine blanket

Hondas really like to over-fuel if they run cold, check/change oil often

Here's a list of other things on the bike

AME heated grips
Cyclops headlight
Fastway hand guards
Fastway adventure pegs
Airpro fork bottoming kit
PR2 ecu
Modified stock intake
Yoshimura RS9 full exhaust

An ARO LT LE will be hooked up to it this season.

 

[rhino89523]

Probe, shovel, Beacon.

Bike wise I know nothing about 4 strokes.

Handguards are necessary for everything I ride, love them on the snow bike, I'm a Cycra guy because of the way they mount allowing a heavy bash.

I love my AME heated grips, while maybe not necessary I love them and couldn't go back.

Lights I have never left on a ride thinking I would need them, I have twice.

ADV pegs again maybe not needed but the way the kit mounts and the size of my feet I feel like it is required.

I think fork mods are required, after seeing everyone dig the front end off of jumps and poor fork set up mess with handling I think to enjoy the ride you need to address the front end. While I personally wouldn't want the Trio thing, for a bike that the plan is to go from snow to dirt it seems like a quick and easy swap out fix, might be the way to go. My bike is snow only.

You need to address the intake in some form. I found any foam filter even unoiled does not work. I ended up with a completely cut up airbox with only the sides remaining and a filter skin over a custom cage, works great. There are many ways to deal with the intake and some bikes are more sensitive than others to changed intake flow.

Skid plate...I made a pretty big one out of a cutting board with a heat gun, keeps the snow from building up super heavy and sinking all the heat out, I was pulling it in the spring to try to make it do the opposite.

Different bikes do different things but my CR500 had heating issues that I am still kind of messing with to get it to heat/cool properly.

 

[AZ800]

That's the awesome part of snowbikes. Where sleds have gotten so powerful, lightweight and dialed in that anything other than a turbo is pretty much useless bling. Us sno bikers have a great ecuse to spend stupid amounts of money on meaningful and necessary mods again.........

 

[IShartd]

2 days of riding in the trees will take care of the pipe wrap for you.
AirPro is #1 mod
Wrap around guards are#2, fastway, cycra probends. Alot of nice ones out there.
Engine temp! #3, I personally have no need for the thermobob with my PR2 ecu. Simple rad blocking of some kind can work amazingly well. And can be a no fuss option if you have a temp actuated fan. I don't really live in a cold place relatively so I don't feel the need for the blanket.
Pegs#4, a nice big adventure/rally peg is a great mod.
Outerwear filter#5, if you can use your stock box with your kit, get on eBay spend 25 bucks for a outerwear filter for your bike, pull off the foam and throw the outerwear right on your cage and reinstall. Really doesn't get any easier.

I've had lights and grip heaters, I don't need them. Ame grip heaters never really worked well, and the off chance I get caught out at night I carry a head lamp. No need for a $400 snowbike specific light that needs a hi output stator to run. Fxr makes a nice 100g thinsulte glove, and fly makes a great 40g glove that I wear almost exclusively.