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Just Might Be Done With Sledding


Pete Z

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Went to a snowbike demo day yesterday in Kearney sponsored by Rally Connex,  Flybyu,  Klim and Beta motorcycles. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement.  Tried the Camso and Yeti snowbike track kits on a few different bikes and had an absolute blast.  Much more motorcycle-like to ride than my Snowhawk ever was and it was immediately apparent the ability of these things to climb and boondock far surpasses that of any sled I have ever been on. I have no doubt that if I had one of these in the garage my sled would be collecting dust.  I'm thinking that one of these kits on a big bore Euro dualsport (think KTM500EXC or similar) might just be the ultimate year round toy. I could even ride it to work on nice days in the summer to save on fuel and wear & tear on my truck.

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12 minutes ago, Pete Z said:

Went to a snowbike demo day yesterday in Kearney sponsored by Rally Connex,  Flybyu,  Klim and Beta motorcycles. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement.  Tried the Camso and Yeti snowbike track kits on a few different bikes and had an absolute blast.  Much more motorcycle-like to ride than my Snowhawk ever was and it was immediately apparent the ability of these things to climb and boondock far surpasses that of any sled I have ever been on. I have no doubt that if I had one of these in the garage my sled would be collecting dust.  I'm thinking that one of these kits on a big bore Euro dualsport (think KTM500EXC or similar) might just be the ultimate year round toy. I could even ride it to work on nice days in the summer to save on fuel and wear & tear on my truck.

Watching vids of those has always got me itching to try one. The only thing about them, is where do you ride them? If I had acreage/places to ride one, there is no doubt I'd have one or would have converted the YZ 250 that I sold to Stoney.

They definitely look like a hoot. 

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20 minutes ago, irv said:

Watching vids of those has always got me itching to try one. The only thing about them, is where do you ride them? If I had acreage/places to ride one, there is no doubt I'd have one or would have converted the YZ 250 that I sold to Stoney.

They definitely look like a hoot. 

There are tons of places to ride in my neck of the woods.  Several pits to play in, unpopulated lakes and 1000's of acres of Crown Land virtually across the road from my house.  Plenty of trails that have been abandoned by the local snowmobile club too. In fact the way things are going there's not going to be any  OFSC trails left out this way. 

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1 minute ago, Pete Z said:

There are tons of places to ride in my neck of the woods.  Several pits to play in, unpopulated lakes and 1000's of acres of Crown Land virtually across the road from my house.  Plenty of trails that have been abandoned by the local snowmobile club too. In fact the way things are going,  there's not going to be any  OFSC trails left out this way. 

That is a scary thought, and you could be right so maybe these are the future for those that still want to ride in the winter time? I am curious what the range is on them? Bigger tank needed for sure but maybe after blasting around on one for a bit, the stock gas tank would be big enough?

Being where I am located, Pete, there isn't much around here anymore. All the good old riding places I use to venture too are long gone, unfortunately. 

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2 minutes ago, irv said:

I am curious what the range is on them? Bigger tank needed for sure but maybe after blasting around on one for a bit, the stock gas tank would be big enough?

 

Most enduro bikes have pretty big tanks, but the Camso kits have a built in cargo rack that will easily hold a 2 gallon jerry can if not two.

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11 minutes ago, Pete Z said:

Most enduro bikes have pretty big tanks, but the Camso kits have a built in cargo rack that will easily hold a 2 gallon jerry can if not two.

That'd give it a lot better range as I am sure, with these tracks, it would take a fair amount of power/fuel to get them moving/rolling? 

I was wondering, thinking back in the day, when we'd burn a tank of gas, we were pretty much pooched! These maybe a bit easier to ride, but then again, maybe not? 

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2 minutes ago, irv said:

That'd give it a lot better range as I am sure, with these tracks, it would take a fair amount of power/fuel to get them moving/rolling? 

I was wondering, thinking back in the day, when we'd burn a tank of gas, we were pretty much pooched! These maybe a bit easier to ride, but then again, maybe not? 

The way they are geared it doesn't really take a lot to get them rolling. We were playing around in a pit and it was all 2nd, 3rd & 4th gear work with really no need to lean on the throttle too heavily at all. That was one thing that I was curious to see - how badly the track kit taxed the bike's engine and driveline. I would say that it wasn't a whole lot harder on the bike than regular usage and in some ways it's even easier on them. 

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Join the revolution!   The camso kit seems to be working well, and at a decent price.  There is a dealer in eastern Ontario selling 5199 tax in.  Budget at least another grand on mods to make the bike run well in the winter (stiffen forks, intake, thermostat, etc).  The 500 exc is an awesome platform, my bud has his setup for super moto, dirt, and snow.  I prefer to build timbersled with 450 race bikes, and leave it as snowbike all year long.  I've got oversize tank, and tunnel can - my range is about 100-130 km.  I'm always looking for riding partners.  

IMG_1704.JPG

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24 minutes ago, Pete Z said:

The way they are geared it doesn't really take a lot to get them rolling. We were playing around in a pit and it was all 2nd, 3rd & 4th gear work with really no need to lean on the throttle too heavily at all. That was one thing that I was curious to see - how badly the track kit taxed the bike's engine and driveline. I would say that it wasn't a whole lot harder on the bike than regular usage and in some ways it's even easier on them. 

Interesting. I thought it would be the opposite, actually.

9 minutes ago, dirtybeacher said:

Join the revolution!   The camso kit seems to be working well, and at a decent price.  There is a dealer in eastern Ontario selling 5199 tax in.  Budget at least another grand on mods to make the bike run well in the winter (stiffen forks, intake, thermostat, etc).  The 500 exc is an awesome platform, my bud has his setup for super moto, dirt, and snow.  I prefer to build timbersled with 450 race bikes, and leave it as snowbike all year long.  I've got oversize tank, and tunnel can - my range is about 100-130 km.  I'm always looking for riding partners.  

IMG_1704.JPG

Do you find them easier to ride than a full on Moto-X bike? I assume arm pump and the like would be about the same, but then again, especially based on Pete's info above, maybe they are a little easier on the body? Like in your pic, it looks like the balance/tippiness would be a lot better? 

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Ya, really easy to ride.  Takes about 5min to go from zero to hero.  Out west there are guys in their 60's that switched to bikes because muscling a sled around is too tiring for them.   As long as you have your transfer dialed in, stiffer forks, and good snow, there's no arm pump.  You ride sitting most of the time.  

I would say Derek (flybyu)  will demo his bikes anytime, just give em a call.  Treeriding adventure in Quebec has rental bikes as well.  

Quick vid of this season with a few 3rd gear pulls in some singletrack.  

 

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7 minutes ago, dirtybeacher said:

Ya, really easy to ride.  Takes about 5min to go from zero to hero.  Out west there are guys in their 60's that switched to bikes because muscling a sled around is too tiring for them.   As long as you have your transfer dialed in, stiffer forks, and good snow, there's no arm pump.  You ride sitting most of the time.  

I would say Derek (flybyu)  will demo his bikes anytime, just give em a call.  Treeriding adventure in Quebec has rental bikes as well.  

Quick vid of this season with a few 3rd gear pulls in some singletrack.  

 

Interesting, and all the more reason why I'd like to try one. :bc:

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10 minutes ago, irv said:

Interesting, and all the more reason why I'd like to try one. :bc:

If we ever meet up, I'd let ya take er for a rip.  Everything you need to know about every bike and kit on this forum.  Including building your own kit "tedesled". 

https://www.snowest.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=178

Timbersled page on Facebook is a good resource for up to date info as well   

🍻

 

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From my limited exposure to snowbikes I would agree with everything dirtybeacher posted.  I didn't experience any arm pump at all and it's been a  few years since I have ridden a dirt bike in any significant way. One other thing he didn't mention is that they are ridiculously easy to side hill with. 

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15 minutes ago, ArcticCrusher said:

At least you're steppin up the game Pete.

I love the winter and sledding but sadly the trail system just isn't what it once was. I'm glad that I was riding during the mid-90s heydays, but those days are long gone. In my area less than half the trails we had back then remain today and many of them are also in peril of being closed. Throw the aggravation of invasive OPP trailside paperwork checks, spotty grooming, oncoming boneheads on the wrong side of the trail and so on and getting a snowbike seems that much more attractive. Getting a snowbike is almost like a return to my roots of just playing around on sleds without need of any sanctioned trails. The ability to use it year round is icing on the cake.

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11 minutes ago, Frostynuts said:

Are they legal to run on OFSC trails ?

If they continue to gain in popularity, I wouldn't be surprised to see them allowed on the trail some time in the future.

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23 minutes ago, Pete Z said:

If they continue to gain in popularity, I wouldn't be surprised to see them allowed on the trail some time in the future.

Sounds good. Do they need to have such a noisy muffler to run properly, or is that just an attention getter, albeit, the wrong kind of attention ?some sleds ?

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3 minutes ago, Frostynuts said:

Sounds good. Do they need to have such a noisy muffler to run properly, or is that just an attention getter, albeit, the wrong kind of attention ?some sleds ?

no noisier than a sled, most bikes are limited to the noise level to ride on the trail system in the summer. and if they break that barrier than they are not able to run the trails 

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44 minutes ago, dirtybeacher said:

Fixed it for ya. 

I don't see it changing any time soon. It would require the province to amend the MSVA and they don't really move to quick on much unless it's how to waste more money and take more from us. I can see it perhaps changing one day... just not soon.

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3 minutes ago, 02sled said:

I don't see it changing any time soon. It would require the province to amend the MSVA and they don't really move to quick on much unless it's how to waste more money and take more from us. I can see it perhaps changing one day... just not soon.

It could happen overnight.  All it would take is one of the manu's to build a msva approved snowbike.  Which arctic cat has been working on   

I do agree that amending the msva for the current kits could take years though.   But coupled with increased popularity, and the massive market in the east, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the major players forced the legal issues to be resolved sooner than later.  I believe cat had tried in Minnesota already, but were unsuccessful.  

I do know that kit bikes are legal on trail in New Hampshire when properly plated, insured and with trail permit.  

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