I got a new snowmobile this year and I am in the process of selling my old sled. My plan was to get a new bike with the money from my sled. My buddy offered me a pretty good price (I think) on a 2011 yz450 with a dts129. 5500? Is it worth the blunge with that bike and track setup? I haven't ridden a snowbike before but I've been around them. If I didnt like it how much could I get out of the track setup? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Debating snowbike
- Thread starter Brent7
- Start date
go for it
great way to get your feet wet in the sport !
great way to get your feet wet in the sport !
C
my snowbike is down right now so I went and rode my 12 summit with a buddy the other day... man sledding sucks!!! doesnt help that im a super beginner with broken knees and ankles, but theyre hard to ride, tippy when you dont want them to be, not tippy when you need, got stuck too often, couldnt go very cool/tight places. theyre heavy and exhausting to muscle around all day long and jumping from running board to running board riding one legged. I just didnt have fun and I can NOT wait to get back on the snowbike.
one thing about snowbiking though is it takes 2 or 3 rides to get comfortable on it.. it did for me and a co-worker at least. feels funny at the start. maybe the snow conditions I learned on sucked and the bike wasnt set up the best, but the ski and riding in hard pack takes a little getting used to before you trust it. takes a few rides to learn what it can and cant do. they really are unstoppable once you trust it and figure it out. we both had the "man, maybe this isnt for me and I just wasted $18,000" moments on our very first day. now that we got a few rides under our belt, we wouldnt trade it for the world.
other than that, I guarantee youll love it and have more fun than you did sledding. it just doesnt compare.
one thing about snowbiking though is it takes 2 or 3 rides to get comfortable on it.. it did for me and a co-worker at least. feels funny at the start. maybe the snow conditions I learned on sucked and the bike wasnt set up the best, but the ski and riding in hard pack takes a little getting used to before you trust it. takes a few rides to learn what it can and cant do. they really are unstoppable once you trust it and figure it out. we both had the "man, maybe this isnt for me and I just wasted $18,000" moments on our very first day. now that we got a few rides under our belt, we wouldnt trade it for the world.
other than that, I guarantee youll love it and have more fun than you did sledding. it just doesnt compare.
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I'm with you on this. Sure, a snowbike(slowbike) is not remotely as fast as a powder/mountain sled, but I could not care any less. Not needing to carry a shovel or ever have to dig-out, unstuck/help a buddy get unstuck-the whole deal with the way it is with off-trail snowmobile riding.
I don't mind not needing to carry all the gear, all the extra fuel, and the amount of energy it takes to ride the thing. I love the ease and where we can go on the snowbikes. That and the shifting part, it is just a lot more fun being able to carve here, there, and everwhere and the effortless float that the bike has in the powder with NO worry about trenching or getting stuck or needing to sidehill. Point and shoot, twist and go=EZ. Just the way I love it.
I will say, it is fun riding the sleds on our tracks as then there is still no real worry about getting stuck. Stuck sucks.
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Well I wont be giving up snowmobiling. Absolutely love snowmobiling. I also just bought a 2019 so I'm not looking to throw it away. I was just was wondering if this was a fair deal on this setup. Figured I'd give it a try since I can trade my old sled for it unless someone talks me out of it and wanted some other snowbiker opinions.
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If it is all in good shape that looks like a decent deal.
Have a good look through the bike and Kit take the Yamaha tuner along to look at the hours on the bike when was the last top end (good for 100 hrs )
Or do a leak down. Just the basics if it all checks out go for it.
I have a 850 doo and love it and a 2014 YZ with a ARO 120 and love that too
Pick your poison for the day. Anything over 2 feet fresh sled all the way any less than a foot bike for sure. Sled ski 850 tight trees bike and so on.
Have a good look through the bike and Kit take the Yamaha tuner along to look at the hours on the bike when was the last top end (good for 100 hrs )
Or do a leak down. Just the basics if it all checks out go for it.
I have a 850 doo and love it and a 2014 YZ with a ARO 120 and love that too
Pick your poison for the day. Anything over 2 feet fresh sled all the way any less than a foot bike for sure. Sled ski 850 tight trees bike and so on.
Sorry thought I posted the hours. 44 hrs. On bike says just over 10 rides on the kit
Cam chain
Solid setup, but I would consider changing the cam chain at least once a season. Cheap insurance, and the crank gear isn’t available without buying an entire crank, unless the aftermarket has stepped up. The Yamaha is a very reliable platform, change oil every ride & go
Solid setup, but I would consider changing the cam chain at least once a season. Cheap insurance, and the crank gear isn’t available without buying an entire crank, unless the aftermarket has stepped up. The Yamaha is a very reliable platform, change oil every ride & go
Just depends... If you had taken the time to learn to sled well you may have a different opinion. I dont ride dirt bikes, I have but definately not my cup o tea. Bikes on the snow are really slow compared to sleds. They are also high maintenance mostly because the bike was never intended for this use.
Everybody I know that invested the time into becoming a competent back country sledder and has tried a bike, has come back. I know of three guys in our group that went snow bike for a season or two. All three have sold the bikes and gone back to sleds. Bikes for summer, sleds for winter...
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M
With all due respect, sorry big Tenner, IMHO you're wrong! With a few tweaks there is definitely both a place for snow bikes and a place for sleds. It's kind of like the same difference between dirt bikes and quads in the summer. It all depends on what you start out doing as a kid then you'll find your natural progression. Perhaps you need to take the time to become a competent dirt rider then try snow biking again.:face-icon-small-hap
M
You haven't mentioned if the Camso kit is a 17 or 18. The 17 kit had a bunch of issues that were resolved for 18, any failures were covered under the 2 year warranty. The 19 kit has more changes yet but with the exception of the re-enforcements on the tunnel sides most are directed at performance not durability. So if the kit is a 17 you may end up with cracks in the tunnel sides, plus the track tensioner and limiter straps were changed. The cracks actually aren't fatal they just kind of crack then stop. Any issues with an 18 will still be under warranty.
As for the bike, its bomber. Most changes from that generation to the 14-17 were for the dirt the engines are almost identical. That's the exact bike I built up last year with the exception that I have a GYTR CNC ported head and race cams on mine. You will need to seal off the air scoops or run a pod filter, add a thermostat and engine shrouding. Other than that at 44 hours I would just run it. Mine at 90 hours the valves were in spec rings were good. I did a top end piston rings and timing chain just because. I like the pigtail pipe of the 10-13 YZ for a snow bike, no more burnt pants.
They can be hard to start hot but there's a trick which is actually in the service manual. If it doesn't start on kick 1or 2 just slowly kick the motor over 8 -10 times without trying to start it, then go TDC and kick it hard. starts every time.
All in all it sounds like a pretty solid deal to me depending on the kit
M5
As for the bike, its bomber. Most changes from that generation to the 14-17 were for the dirt the engines are almost identical. That's the exact bike I built up last year with the exception that I have a GYTR CNC ported head and race cams on mine. You will need to seal off the air scoops or run a pod filter, add a thermostat and engine shrouding. Other than that at 44 hours I would just run it. Mine at 90 hours the valves were in spec rings were good. I did a top end piston rings and timing chain just because. I like the pigtail pipe of the 10-13 YZ for a snow bike, no more burnt pants.
They can be hard to start hot but there's a trick which is actually in the service manual. If it doesn't start on kick 1or 2 just slowly kick the motor over 8 -10 times without trying to start it, then go TDC and kick it hard. starts every time.
All in all it sounds like a pretty solid deal to me depending on the kit
M5
A
^Thanks for the starting tip! Have to kick the snot out of mine when it's hot, seems if I kill the engine by accident. If I stop, and use the kill switch it starts right back up.
To the OP, I've had good luck with my 2011 YZ450. Probably have more than 40 hours on it and no issues and I wouldn't take anywhere near 5500 for it and the 2013 TS kit. Sounds like a good deal.
To the OP, I've had good luck with my 2011 YZ450. Probably have more than 40 hours on it and no issues and I wouldn't take anywhere near 5500 for it and the 2013 TS kit. Sounds like a good deal.
I do not have any intention of trying to deny you your right to screw up a perfectly good dirt bike trying to make it a snow machine. I do not understand it, especially as good as sleds have become over the last ten years but, it is your right to give it a go!
What I do know is that if you want to bike, you better find more bikers to ride with because bikes and sleds do not mix very well. Bikes just can not keep up, especially if the snow is deep.
I tried picking up dirt biking since we have some great places around here to ride but, it hurts too much to fall off of one anymore. Everybody that I know that has been riding dirt bikes for any length of time has been pretty busted up at least once. Just not worth it to me.
M
Basically when you kill it leaves it flooded, doing the kick thing you are cleaning out the fuel rich mixture. Don't touch the throttle tempting as that may be.
As for sledding vs biking, I'm all for guys staying on sleds. 5 or 6 years ago we could go anywhere and never see a track now there are so many guys biking our spots are getting hit. WTFs with that. LOL
M5
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That's likely a function of your map vs mine.
M5
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