When the snow starts to fall, you know what time it is. Time to pull out your winter toys and get them ready to shred the fresh pow. You may have a garage full of snowmobiles but you start to see pictures on the internet of people riding dirt bikes with snow tracks on them. Come to find out, they call it the snowbike. Well that looks interesting.
Snowbikes are the next big thing in winter sports. They provide you with a more aggressive ride in the snow and major maneuverability. Not many people quite know about them yet as they are still in the early ages of development, but soon you will be seeing them all up and down the trails. In order to get you more familiar with them, we created a short guide to the snowbike. So let’s get right into it.
The Brief History Of The Snowbike
Believe it or not but the first motorcycle on tracks was created by non-other than the nazi’s in 1936. It was basically one track on a motorcycle frame, with a seat and handlebars and a sidecar. The creation ended up being a failure because you could barely turn the handlebars to steer because of the track.
There was many companies and individuals that tried to bring this concept to life but kept failing. Until in 1973, a company called Advanced Recreational Equipment Corp. created the SnowJob. It was a conversion kit that would allow you to put a 2 track system where your rear wheel was located and a front ski for the front tire. They sold a handful of these kits but there was some issues within the company itself so they were never successful.
There were also a couple of companies overseas that took an attempt at this, but never really got the engineering and design right.
Now comes the present. Motorsports companies are creating these kits that would allow you to put a snowmobile track on the back and a ski in the front of your dirtbike and there you have it. The snowbike. One of the most popular companies out there now is called Timbersled. Timbersled is now owned by polaris and is what everyone is putting on their dirt bikes.
What Is A Snowbike?
A snowbike is something really simple. It is a dirt bike that uses a rear track and a front ski in place of the wheels and tires. You still use everything else on the dirtbike like the engine and suspension, just on a snowmobile track and skis. It is essentially a cross between a motocross bike and a snowmobile. You get the best of both worlds.
They offer the joy of tearing up the trails during the winter, with the adrenaline rush of only being on a motocross bike. You have a high rate of maneuverability with the control and speed of a dirt bike. Lets face it, there are dirt bike guys and there are quad guys. There is almost like a cult following of dirt bike guys and they want to be able to ride their bikes in the winter. This allows them to do so. The cool thing about these conversion kits that they sell is that after winter is over, you can just take off the track and the skis and just put the wheels and tires back on.
These machines are fully for adventure and sport. It’s not a utility vehicle whatsoever. They have snowmobiles that are for work and what they call “old man sleds” that have all of the bells and whistles for a comfortable and smooth ride down the trail. These are not made for that. They are created for speed demons and adrenaline junkies to reach high speeds and jump through the air.
How Do You Get Yours?
The easier answer is you buy a conversion kit from a reputable dealer like Timbersled and Mototrax. They have different sized tracks you can buy. The longer track is going to be used for really deep snow conditions and the mountains. Similar to how snowmobiles are. The normal sized tracks can be used wherever.
There is no option now to just go out and get an already built snowbike from a dealer. So when you buy the kit you have to install it yourself after reading the instructions. Grab a friend of yours and spend a couple hours in the garage. Either that or find someone in your local area that will install the conversion kit for you.
Riding Gear & Riding Conditions
You always want to wear the right gear for the job. But there really isn’t a “norm” now of what to wear when riding a snowbike. Obviously you want to have the proper gear on to stay warm during the cold, snowy conditions. There are also a lot of people that wear their motocross gear with layers underneath. This allows them to feel normal while riding their dirt bike in the snow and not be bogged down by big and bulky snowmobile gear.
From what I have heard, the best riding conditions for these would be semi-deep fresh powder. It’s easier to handle these things when you are in those conditions. It is a bike so you want to be able to ride it like you would a dirt bike. You want to be able to lean and cut sharp corners while you do it. The deep snow allows you to lean through your turn without completely tipping the bike over.
If you found this article on snowbikes useful, be sure to check out our other articles on snowmobiles here.
