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hey guys,
just wanted to do a quick short thread on the Explorer kit that I finally got to try at Hawkfest.
It's a lot of fun and it goes through deep snow (16" probably) pretty darn good. Throw a leg over and there you go, not as tricky to ride as a Snow-Hawk because of its lightweight ! Explorin' through the trees on a sidehill on virtually any type of snow is what this kit does best I think. And it works.
Of course, me being a die-heart 800cc Snow-Hawk rider, I still think a Snow-Hawk (or should I say a nicely tuned Snow-Hawk) will remain the best thing on snow. But these bike kits and Snow-Hawks hardly compare, yes the'yve got one ski, a track and a twist throttle but that's about it.
The CVT on the Snow-Hawk, big HP and the belly pan is what makes is so different that the bike kits I think. I'll tell you why according to my 15 minutes experience on the bike (!) : I was going up a pretty steep hill with the Aprilia equipped bike, I ended-up over-reving the first gear because the second was a bit too high for what the motor could crank out and motor was dying. I went up the hill no problem though but actually, I would have like to shift half a gear ! And that's where a (nicely tuned) CVT makes all the difference. You'll go through pretty steep stuff, decently deep stuff you will just do it way slower than a Hawk. Big HP needed here: Powering a track is more HP hungry than powering a wheel, I should have thrown a leg over Cailen's KX500... but anyway... I figure if a guy could get to the 80-85HP mark, then we'd start talking ! Belly pan: that's totally because of my riding style : I throw my hawk pretty hard on each side of the belly pan and I use the Hawk belly pan as my "2 additionnal skis", when my main ski is off the ground, I use the corner of the belly pan to "hold the edge". That ain't happen with the bike kit though ! I got to go down twice instead of holding the edge ! That's totally my fault : these 2 machines don't handle exactly the same.
Would have liked to try a couple of different bikes to see where exactly the bike itself is the limitation of the kit but I was a bit too busy riding my Hawk & chatting with the other Hawkers !
Bottom line, I'd say it's really up to what you want to do with your Machine:
-Want something easy to ride, heavy and hard to get unstuck with with limited sidehilling capabilities (compared to 1 skis), can get drunk while riding it: go for a 2-ski.
-You're a biker in the summer who's looking for something to do in the winter ("and damn if that something to do could involve a twist throttle" kind of thing), want to go out tight trees & trails, make your way through decently deep powder, sidehill as hell, you have a bike and want to have a blast in the winter (and can't convince your wife (or your wallet) that a second machine would fit great in the garage) : The bike kit is for you, go ahead, no hesitation. (Now, the "hesitaquestion" is : Explorer or 2Moto !!! I Would have like to try the 2moto but no one had one saturday. I don't want to reopen the debate here... but I wouldn't like to pick one because I wouldn't know which one to choose.)
-Want the best of both worlds (except the ability to get drunk and still be able to ride, if that's not a con) : Throw a leg over a Hawk and learn to ride it. I hardly think you'll get back to anything else. (I know a guy made the switch from Sled to Hawk to Bike kit but I consider that to be the exception that confirms the rule !) It's got the most potential of all three types of machines... but it needs a bit of tuning/work. Don't expect your "right out of the box" Hawk to perform as it should in the mountains unfortunately. Ask for some support on this forum !
Here's a decent shot my girlfriend snapped of me, having fun with the bike kit.
Thanks Mike for the opportunity to ride it.
Peace !
Thierry
just wanted to do a quick short thread on the Explorer kit that I finally got to try at Hawkfest.
It's a lot of fun and it goes through deep snow (16" probably) pretty darn good. Throw a leg over and there you go, not as tricky to ride as a Snow-Hawk because of its lightweight ! Explorin' through the trees on a sidehill on virtually any type of snow is what this kit does best I think. And it works.
Of course, me being a die-heart 800cc Snow-Hawk rider, I still think a Snow-Hawk (or should I say a nicely tuned Snow-Hawk) will remain the best thing on snow. But these bike kits and Snow-Hawks hardly compare, yes the'yve got one ski, a track and a twist throttle but that's about it.
The CVT on the Snow-Hawk, big HP and the belly pan is what makes is so different that the bike kits I think. I'll tell you why according to my 15 minutes experience on the bike (!) : I was going up a pretty steep hill with the Aprilia equipped bike, I ended-up over-reving the first gear because the second was a bit too high for what the motor could crank out and motor was dying. I went up the hill no problem though but actually, I would have like to shift half a gear ! And that's where a (nicely tuned) CVT makes all the difference. You'll go through pretty steep stuff, decently deep stuff you will just do it way slower than a Hawk. Big HP needed here: Powering a track is more HP hungry than powering a wheel, I should have thrown a leg over Cailen's KX500... but anyway... I figure if a guy could get to the 80-85HP mark, then we'd start talking ! Belly pan: that's totally because of my riding style : I throw my hawk pretty hard on each side of the belly pan and I use the Hawk belly pan as my "2 additionnal skis", when my main ski is off the ground, I use the corner of the belly pan to "hold the edge". That ain't happen with the bike kit though ! I got to go down twice instead of holding the edge ! That's totally my fault : these 2 machines don't handle exactly the same.
Would have liked to try a couple of different bikes to see where exactly the bike itself is the limitation of the kit but I was a bit too busy riding my Hawk & chatting with the other Hawkers !
Bottom line, I'd say it's really up to what you want to do with your Machine:
-Want something easy to ride, heavy and hard to get unstuck with with limited sidehilling capabilities (compared to 1 skis), can get drunk while riding it: go for a 2-ski.
-You're a biker in the summer who's looking for something to do in the winter ("and damn if that something to do could involve a twist throttle" kind of thing), want to go out tight trees & trails, make your way through decently deep powder, sidehill as hell, you have a bike and want to have a blast in the winter (and can't convince your wife (or your wallet) that a second machine would fit great in the garage) : The bike kit is for you, go ahead, no hesitation. (Now, the "hesitaquestion" is : Explorer or 2Moto !!! I Would have like to try the 2moto but no one had one saturday. I don't want to reopen the debate here... but I wouldn't like to pick one because I wouldn't know which one to choose.)
-Want the best of both worlds (except the ability to get drunk and still be able to ride, if that's not a con) : Throw a leg over a Hawk and learn to ride it. I hardly think you'll get back to anything else. (I know a guy made the switch from Sled to Hawk to Bike kit but I consider that to be the exception that confirms the rule !) It's got the most potential of all three types of machines... but it needs a bit of tuning/work. Don't expect your "right out of the box" Hawk to perform as it should in the mountains unfortunately. Ask for some support on this forum !
Here's a decent shot my girlfriend snapped of me, having fun with the bike kit.
Thanks Mike for the opportunity to ride it.
Peace !
Thierry
