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How to get a broken snowbike out

RMK935VA

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Jan 14, 2008
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See attached photos. Some fueling or electronic glitch caused me to have to leave the bike overnight. Fortunately, I was able to barely limp it to a road but not one that wheeled vehicles could yet travel on. A friend came through with a tracked RZR and we were able to retrieve the bike

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A
Jun 23, 2004
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Black Diamond, WA
That's towing it in style! Cocktail hr in the rzr for the tow out.....
I got my first shot at being on the wrong end of the tow rope on my TS this year. Was on trails, thank god, but was surprised how easy it was to be towed out. (Track spinning, not on a sled, so still had brakes and traction, no slip n slide.)

Idk how one would tow out of the back country without some sled assistance. Wouldn't want to try to tow a bike with a bike....
 

snowrydr

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Jan 31, 2012
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You were lucky to have those resources available. I fabricated a long skid from 3 toboggans and utilized a tow strap from between the triple clamps connected to a touring snowmobile. Some steep side hills we ride make me question how we could get it towed out. Luckily we had a trail network we were able to stay on for the retrieval. Downhills can be sketchy though, especially if you run over the tow strap with your front ski.
 

RMK935VA

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We tried towing it with a sled. It threw me down hard after about 50'. Another guy made it about a half a mile and he had arm pump so bad that we gave up. Regardless of where we put the rope (ski, spindle, triple clamps), it didn't work. The skag on the ski just dug in and went where it wanted and trying to steer it was very difficult.
 
T
Mar 9, 2012
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Man your making life way to difficult.

Just hook onto the foot pegs and go out through the forks. You were towing from the steering that is a great way to get hurt man!!

These things tow so easy it is silly. They tow fine with another bike and towing on a sidehill ie easy peasey.
 

RMK935VA

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Man your making life way to difficult.

Just hook onto the foot pegs and go out through the forks. You were towing from the steering that is a great way to get hurt man!!

These things tow so easy it is silly. They tow fine with another bike and towing on a sidehill ie easy peasey.

Good to know for the future. Used to towing sleds from the front (spindles or ski loops). What you suggested makes sense. Next time but hoping that there won't be a next time.
 

idaho_adventure

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Feb 27, 2015
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Since I didn't see anyone mentioning it I thought I would share another idea. I broke down last year and the only way out had some steep hills and whooped out trails with lots of sharp turns. No matter what we tried pulling it behind turboed long tracked sleds they would trench out and get stuck. We even tried 2 sleds tethered together with a good run.

Instead of towing we went to hauling. We thankfully had an older sled in the group to use for this experiment. With the bike on its side we put it on the sled's seat and tied the bike's skid and ski to the sled's running boards. I recommend taking the foot pegs off and putting something over the seat to protect it. The sled rider has to sit on the bike. The sled did great and tractored right up the hills. Getting the weight on the sleds track makes all the difference.

It also helped with the whoops and tight turns. Whoops tend to produce a lot of jerking on the tow strap and the tight turns cause off angle pulling on the tunnel.

We had to manipulate the sled and bike a couple of times to get through tight trees. Long side hills would be a problem since you can't get the sled on one ski. Short tippy sections can be handled by another rider holding down the end of the bike on the uphill side. There is a lot of leverage to take advantage of. For longer side hills I would consider going go back to towing.

The foot peg did tear the seat but the there was no other damage to the sled. Since you can bend a bumper or tunnel on a sled towing I think hauling may be a lower risk to the sled.

The tie down straps are already off in the picture but it gives the basic idea.

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