What is a snowbike like compared to a sled?

I have never ridden the YZ. I have a 06 KTM 525 with a 2moto kit. It is the only snowbike I have ridden.
The wide ratio trans could be a little tall I suppose. The trick is going to be being able to hit 3rd without bogging a little. Again I havent rode a yz.
My riding area is steep, deep and tight so I never hit 5th or 6th.

No experience in sand.

Power should be fine. Hey if I had 80, i'd want 100. We always want more for all machines. When I get out of the deep and on to the pack I tend to wheelie up hills and even on the flat some. Ice screws on the 2moto are awesome!

Absolutely no comparison to a sled. Youll see some, but you can ditch em real easy and ride places they cant. The might be able to go up or down but they cant just play around and stay on a side hill like a bike can.
In most conditions I can lay it over far enough to drag my bars. You end up taking a different line than you would on a sled. If the terrain is really uneven, your dont have to favor the gullies, just take any ol line you want. Great for boondocking.

The power to weight isnt as good as a sled but its not about highmarking and going sraight up hill all the time, Its about finesse and picking the right line.......and Advil.

They generally suck on hard icy trails though. You gotta ride loose in those conditions. The dual carbide skis have a tendancy to steer YOU instead in those conditions.

As far as maintenance, my kit has zero grease fittings, all sealed bearings.
I just check my valve clearance every 15hrs. after that, regular bike maintenance.

My bike will generally stand up on its own except for hard flat surfaces like my shop, the road etc...You'll want a kick stand but my stock one is about 3 in. too short. I just bought the 10 in. wide ski but havent tried it yet. The bike sits even taller with the kit on. Its good to have long legs. Timbersleds kit sits like 3 in. shorter I believe.

My suggestion is to ride someone else's. I've rode my m1000 and many other sleds with the big dogs for years and years but this snowbiking is a welcome change. Ill never be without a sled and a oneski.
Hope this helps.

Oz

I bought a kit just before christmas and have mounted it on a YZ450F -05, so the exact bike you have. For me who like boondocking in between the trees and not much going straight up steep shutes the bike kit outperforms my old 144" mountainsled everywhere. The fast 1st gear is a problem though when it gets technical, so I have decided to buy a WR450F instead so I get the low ratio first gear and most important of all. The electric start and light. It's a world of fun though and if you ride in pow with some base beneath you will have the time of your life all the time. On hardpack its quite nervous, but gets better when you learn to relax more.

I have dragraced against a friend with a 136" Apex and I'm not that far behind. I easily hook up with really fine tuned 600 2-strokes in acceleration and when the trails get bumpy and a lot of curbes you can leave any sled behind easily. Only if it is very flat and super high speeds I have to let go of the throttle, just because not yet used to how the bike performs in high speed. A used rider I guess have no problem in beating the sleds there too.

Only thing a sled can do better that I have found so far is stopping and starting in deep pow. I have so far found it a bit more easy to get stuck then with the bike. Maybe someone else can say if that is just a learning curve or?

Rob

I got the 2Moto Radix kit. The Mountain Horse is too much of a buss looking. Too long and too heavy with the snow conditions that is here in Sweden. I wanted a lighter feel so the 2Moto was the only choice for me.

The YZ is also very nervous, throttle wise, since every movement of the right arm makes the engine wanna explode with power when very bumpy. I really miss a more calm feel of the bike. This can partly be solved by riding on a higher gear so the engine almost stalls and therefore is not that nervous, but then you have the problem with stalling instead so...

If you really wanna boondock and just have a blast in the pow you can't go wrong. If you wanna glimb shutes etc, a sled is the tool you want.

I personally can't se myself going back to a sled for my boondocking rides. Too much fun with the bike.

Only thing to fix is a Acer tank for 22 litres instead of 8 litres, and a gasrack at the kit with another 10 litres. Then I can go for +250km rides without getting scared of getting stuck with no gas. =)

Rob

Im on a KTM 520 EXC 2moto kit that I picked up this summer. With no test ride or demo I bought it. The most fun i've ever had on a bike in the 40 that i've been behind bars. They will run and hide from a 600cc sled in the trees. I've not riden the Timbersled But have talked to a few guys that have and they get up on the snow better than the 2 moto. There seams to be some problems with jumping them hard like a moto cross bike,and landing a little sideways. since the track adaptor is ridged mounted. At the swingarm pivot and a strut is in place of the factory shock. This is info that I got from rider with lots of hours of both kits.

Snow bike what bends

Now with people having some experience on snow bikes what are the weak spots on the 2 moto or Mt horse.

Does anyone have stuff to watch for.

Rumor has it that som Mt horse kits give when jumping ????????

How about the 2 moto.

powdermuncher said:

Now with people having some experience on snow bikes what are the weak spots on the 2 moto or Mt horse.

Does anyone have stuff to watch for.

Rumor has it that som Mt horse kits give when jumping ????????

How about the 2 moto.

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Where did this rumor come from? I've seen a mountain horse take some brutal hits and come out damage free.

I've owned a 2moto and a timbersled. I could never go back to the 2moto. The only advantage that the 2moto has is sharper/quicker turning. It can't even come close to he mountain horse in the steep and deep.

i seen 2 husabergs with mtn horse kits, talked to the guys and they used to run 2moto kits and they said mtn horse is better by far. I watched them ride and unless its vertical they can go anywhere!

teal_210 said:

Where did this rumour come from? I've seen a mountain horse take some brutal hits and come out damage free.

I've owned a 2moto and a timbersled. I could never go back to the 2moto. The only advantage that the 2moto has is sharper/quicker turning. It can't even come close to he mountain horse in the steep and deep.

Click to expand...

Internet rumour like usual.

I did have a good look at the mountain horse kit and the only weak spot I could detect may be right on the attach point where the rod replaces the shock. There is a lot of leverage into that very small triangle.

That is the only reason I took that rumour somewhat serious.

I may not be able to spring for it this winter but definitely looking at it for next winter

Just to give you guys a little background. This is only by 4th season of riding snow and I had never rode a snobike prior to this season. 3 years ago I started off buying an 08 M1000 and I added all the high performance bolt on's and its putting out close to 200hp and is about 85lbs lighter than stock, its a blast to ride. With that said I bought a timbersled kit in November and put it on my KTM 525 and I can not believe how much fun I am having with this kit. I have rode the bike and the sled about equal amounts this season (I think I have 10 or 11 trips so far this season) and everytime I take the bike out I have more fun. Snobiking is not the same as snowmobiling though and if you really like to boondock like I do than riding with sleds is not going to work very well. These snobike kits go where sleds will never go and they go through the trees fast. As mentioned above though the snobike will not climb with a performance mountain sled or go as well in the extremely deep powder but you can't have your cake and eat it too. I see myself doing a lot more snobiking than sledding in the future.