Snowbike for someone short!!

[Pazzoguy1983]

Hi guys Evan here. I am planning on moving to the Pocono Mountains or somewhere near there in the future!! So after seeing countless videos I want a snowbike! The only problem is I'm too short for the faster cooler dirtbikes!! Experience isn't a problem been riding since I was a kid and have owned many dirtbikes quads dune buggies and motorcycles over the years!! The point I'm trying to make is experience isn't a problem!! Oh and I like my toys to be fast!! I was thinking of building a cr500 snowbike!! Only transplanting the motor in my sized bike!! I figured a 2 stroke would be good due to power and weight!! Also 2 stroke motors tend to enjoy long periods of heavy throttle!! Just wondering what everyone else thinks. I'm sure I'm not the first short person to want a fast snowbike!!! Any and all information would be appreciated
Thanks
Evan

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[bighuckpunk]

I'm over 6' tall and my legs don't reach the ground! The good news is I ride mostly powder and you can't put your foot down in these conditions anyway. Maybe you Moto guys need to dab once in a while? I also like my pegs up high to keep my feet from hitting obstacles. Perhaps it's a terrain dependent set-up, high for powder/backcountry and low for slush/Moto?

 

[Pjjansson]

Seen short people ride the hell out of full sice snowbikes! You dont need to reach the ground. Even a tall peeson can not use their legs to stop the bike from faling over in powder. They have to balance it up when stoping just as everone else.

 

[eric82930]

Wow I lived in the poconos for 25 years and don't remember much snow worth swapping a kit on for. It always rains after the big dumps. But just north/west is the snowbelt. Timbersled is making shorter models next year and camso is the shortest now. 2 strokes are way more fun and solve some of the top heavy/stall related tipovers But Don't waste time on a cr500. At that altitude you will have plenty of power with a stock 250sx 2003-2020 and still have a good bike for summer use.

 

[eric82930]

Oh forgot to say the way you talk about wanting speed you might want to rethink. Snow bikes are the low speed surgeons of winter sports. Even if you had the power to go fast it's not much fun and kinda scary. You should really just buy a sled if you want to go fast especially if you enjoy quads and dune buggies.

 

[CB-BLR]

Timbersled is introducing two S models for 2021, that are 3" shorter than the standard versions. From the people who have ridden them, including tall people...they handle better, and climb better than their taller cousins. They do not however have as much suspension...and therefore don't land from big jumps as well. As far as your CR500 idea...while a two stroke is light and fun...I would highly recommend a fuel injected bike due the jetting issues you run into with both drastic changes in temperature and elevation. The guys I know with carburated bikes are always messing with them a lot while riding. Fuel injected 4 strokes are plentiful and easy to find. These bikes are nowhere near as fast or quick as a snowmobile, but are much more nimble and sidehill easily. I would recommend a 450 for the torque factor.

Hope this helps,

Chris

 

[Pjjansson]

Oh forgot to say the way you talk about wanting speed you might want to rethink. Snow bikes are the low speed surgeons of winter sports. Even if you had the power to go fast it's not much fun and kinda scary. You should really just buy a sled if you want to go fast especially if you enjoy quads and dune buggies.

In my world the speed in the woods are the true pros of driving a snowbike!

 

[raleigh111]

Ricky Carmichael 5-5 maybe 5-6
Forget about putting your feet down. Nothing but a hindrance. You will learn how to stop and start in time and where to stop and how. Just go ride it and you will see. After falling over a few times its start to click.

 

[tribalbc]

The good thing is snow is malleable so it is easy to build a booster step to get back on. Even being 6' 3" I still often have to use my feet to build up some snow to remount in deep powder.

 

[wwillf01]

Ricky Carmichael 5-5 maybe 5-6
Forget about putting your feet down. Nothing but a hindrance. You will learn how to stop and start in time and where to stop and how. Just go ride it and you will see. After falling over a few times its start to click.

My 13 year old is 5-5 no issues you figure it out.. he only has a Kickstart also on a 2 stroke with a smartcarb... we never touch the thing.

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[Hawkster]

........

 

[yooper01]

........

What, where, when?

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[cbc76am]

I couldn't wait to build a cr500 snowbike. It was a lot of fun and completely unpractical. The fuel consumption, vibration, short power band, low rpm redline (8500) and narrow transmission don't give it any advantage. It feels way faster than a 450 due to the surge of the motor, but at the end of a field the 450 is right there with you. 8500 vs 13000 RPM across the same transmission = you shift a lot and your arms get yanked off but you are going the same speed. Just a note... my 500 is full mod, case and cylinder porting, welded and balanced crank , head mods, lectron 44hv carb, digital 250/125 ignition, 75+ HP monster, and it's still not faster than a stock 450 snowbike.

I built a yz450f kit this year also and rode both... then stopped riding the cr500 and now I just tore it down and started converting it into a super moto.

My 2 cents with 5 seasons of snowbiking under my belt on 4 different builds: for the ease of use, reliability, fuel savings, and over all functionality... buy a 450 and a riot S and know you built the best snowbike you could have.

 

[eric82930]

I couldn't wait to build a cr500 snowbike. It was a lot of fun and completely unpractical. The fuel consumption, vibration, short power band, low rpm redline (8500) and narrow transmission don't give it any advantage. It feels way faster than a 450 due to the surge of the motor, but at the end of a field the 450 is right there with you. 8500 vs 13000 RPM across the same transmission = you shift a lot and your arms get yanked off but you are going the same speed. Just a note... my 500 is full mod, case and cylinder porting, welded and balanced crank , head mods, lectron 44hv carb, digital 250/125 ignition, 75+ HP monster, and it's still not faster than a stock 450 snowbike.

I built a yz450f kit this year also and rode both... then stopped riding the cr500 and now I just tore it down and started converting it into a super moto.

My 2 cents with 5 seasons of snowbiking under my belt on 4 different builds: for the ease of use, reliability, fuel savings, and over all functionality... buy a 450 and a riot S and know you built the best snowbike you could have.

Did you dyno it at 75hp? something must be wrong. My 360 will wax a 450 with some aggressive clutch and my 380 wax them with no effort or skill. They both Rev high and feel like a really wide power band for a 2 stroke. Took me 3 seasons of tuning to get there. I'm guessing they are low -mid 60s hp. The stock 450 do have super broad power but broad power can't make up a 20hp deficit.

Sorry don't mean to second guess your tuning skills I'm just really curious. I've owned stock k5 and ridden ported cr5s and they both seemed like the power output was lower than I expected and super narrow. My guess is they had trail porting and crappy trail pipes that are only good for trail bike in dirt...I used to think high rpm was everything but I think it's more important that the peak hp is fairly high plus it needs some over rev past the peak before falling off. That's the part that's tough to get on a 2 stroke. and 500s ain't got it.

 

[cbc76am]

I haven't dyno this motor, but this build has been dyno many times but the guru cr500 engine builder - MRE. it's his general numbers i'm speaking to. The 500 makes 450s feel like a xr100 when swapping back and fourth... but it's really not faster in a flat out race across a field running through the gears.... i mean... it will catch a big bore 500cc 4 stroke.

450s make 60hp generally speaking, what 20hp deficit are you talking about?

 

[eric82930]

So then a 60hp 450 would be a 15hp deficit if the cr5 had 75hp. The k5 I had felt miserably hard to keep in power band it was just too narrow and the clutch was a pos.

 

[wwillf01]

Unless you have a special 450

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[powdermuncher]

If you take ride ability into account the wide spread of power the lack of vibration and very little extra usable power (the 450s simply outperform the CR500 in 80% of its power band) It is a no Contest 450 all the way.And Never Mind the E start that is just Icing on the cake
Unless you are looking at a straight hill climb on hero snow the 450s have an edge just about everywhere.
Even there the outdated frame of the CR is a limiting factor as soon as you throw a few turns and jumps into the picture. There is a reason why most guys that build them have gone back to 450s
Great idea, but not that awesome to live with

 

[eric82930]

So now we are way off topic I'm going to make it worse. These are old 450s against a stock 380, the new ones are at least 5hp more except Suzuki. My 380 was nothing special stock. I rode it stock for a long time and it was no better than my 300. but it's up at least 10hp now and way more over Rev. Which you can see would follow fairly close to a new 450 until I'm guessing about 10k then it's over quick. But look at how narrow the 5s are. That's why I haven't yet considered a BRC. I keep trying to convince my self but still not there. There is just something wrong with the curve on the 5s that doesn't go well with snow biking. Just like an m1000 against a modern 800.

 

[rhino89523]

I love my 500's. I ride a cr500 in a 250x frame for singletrack and rocks....everyone I ride with is on a 300 with electric start.
I have a 500 all ported out I ride dunes on a couple times a year.
And I have the 500 powered snowbike. Obviously the vibes of 500's don't bother me, I've been on them since 87/88. The bolts don't vibrate loose on me on any of them...not sure why but they don't. The power is narrow compared to the 450 I guess but I weigh 265...I feel like without that explosion of power I would be hurting. In the hills the 500 rips. I ride with all KTM 450's or punched out big bore KTM's and the 500 hangs...they all weigh much less than me. I don't find it to drink substantially more gas. I run a big volcano tank and the 3.5 jumper, I drink a little more but not much. It turns and does everything well for me...took me a couple years to get it right but it works perfect for me now.

Modifications I had to make to get it right were mostly cooling related. The 500 needs a tunnel cooler. I run one oversize radiator, and an overflow bottle with a thermostat and a carb heater. I run a PWK carb, I run near Tahoe and jet for 7000-10000 ft and 30ish degrees. I don't fiddle with it at all while we are riding. I put really stiff springs in the fork...thats about it.

This thing will get blown out in a flat out race across a lake bed, I really don't care how it works on trails or lakebeds because if thats all I rode I would do something else. This thing in the hills is a riot. Everyone I run with is on a 2018 up bike, and all of them run Yeti. CR500 on a 137 timbersled kit is where its at for me.

As far as the original post...wanting a shorter bike. I'm 6'4" tall built like Fred Flintstone. I have a 32" inseam and I'm all torso. You can't touch the ground anyway, you have to balance, so don't worry about height. I've always said I would probably be faster on some other bike, but the 500 gives the greatest returns for me when it comes to smiles per mile.