Motorcycles + Snowboarding = Snowbikes!

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Lightcycle

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The early morning air around us is translucent white with slow-falling snow, as we drive up north. This is our last day in Kelowna and we're preparing to return to our grand motorcycle trip. While the rest of Canada complains bitterly about the ceaseless snow, we are having a blast in this winter wonderland! The Okanagan has collected over two meters of base, which has made our snowboarding vacation quite successful! It's also made conditions perfect for gradually easing us back onto two wheels - because we're trying out snowbiking today!

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We've rented a couple of snow bikes in Vernon, about 45 minutes north of Kelowna. We follow the pick-up truck, loaded with our new steeds, further north towards Silver Star. There's a snowmobiling area just outside the ski resort called Sovereign Lake, where we park and unload the snowbikes.

In my mind, I'm mentally tallying the cost of owning and running these machines: long-bed pick-up truck, ramps, wheel kit for the front ski. Not to mention the cost of the snow bikes themselves! The nice thing about snowbikes over snowmobiles is that you can cram a whole bunch into the back of a truck without having to install a deck if you want to carry more than one.

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So... what exactly is a snowbike?

It's a dirtbike with a couple of modifications to make it similar to a snowmobile: a single ski attached to the front forks and a narrower rear track system. So basically a single track snowmobile which can lean and go places the wider snowmobile can't!

Sounds right up our alley!

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We've brought a variety of bikes up to the trails. The most common snowbike is built around a four-stroke 450cc dirtbike. It's nice to have the linear predictability and tractability of a four-stroke plus the grunt of a 450 to power the rear track through thick powder! Today, we're testing out a KTM 450, a Husqvarna 450 and another Husky 350.
 
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There are a couple of other minor modifications to the dirtbike. The engine is shrouded with a plastic wrap to keep it warm in cold weather and to keep the snow out.

Speaking of snow, the bikes all had aftermarket ECUs installed, which re-programmed the EFI to account for the additional weight of the rear track, starting and running in cold temperatures and high altitudes.

The bikes are also kitted out with smooth custom plastic skid plates, more to allow the bottom of the bike to glide over snow as opposed to just protecting the engine.

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As you can see, there is no rear brake pedal! And because the front wheel is removed, there is no front brake either. So how does this thing stop? The lever at the handlebars is rerouted to a caliper at the rear track, so the "front brake" is now the rear. But, as we'll find out later, we'll rarely have to use that brake lever at all...

We're told that the Huskies and KTM make good donor bikes because they have hydraulic clutches which make them easier to operate than the Japanese bikes with cable clutches, and since there's no rear brake, you're using the clutch 100% of the time to modulate your speed.

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Interesting where the shocks are mounted on the rear track

There are a few snowbike conversion kits, the two biggest names in the industry are Yeti and Timbersled. Kits start around $7K CDN. We're trying out both today. The rear track can be made of steel or a more fancy carbon fiber, and can be of different widths and lengths to vary grip and nimbleness.

With a bit of practice and experience, you can switch and convert back and forth between dirtbike and snowbike in about half and hour.

Another important mod: Jerry can mount on top of the rear track. It is imperative to carry extra fuel with you because you're always on the gas to power the rear track and the tiny dirtbike tanks drain quite rapidly.
 
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Typically snowbikers wear the same outfits as snowmobilers, but because we've done neither, we just wear our snowboarding gear. Snowboard boots are actually quite suited to snowbiking, giving both good protection and adequate flexibility. The only thing we had to rent were the dirtbike helmets.

We are also outfitted with an avalanche backpack (they call them avy packs) which typically contains an airbag, a rescue beacon, radio, poles, etc. We just carry shovels because as beginners, we're just tooling around on the trails today. No chance of avalanche, although the snow keeps falling steadily as we unpack the snowbikes.

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Getting on the snowbikes takes a bit of a different technique... These bikes don't have a kickstand and because of the fat ski up front and the wide rear track, the bikes are able to stay upright if you plant them just right in the snow. However, since they are single track, they will tip over eventually, so to clamber on, you need to throw a lot of your body weight over the other side of the bike to balance everything out.

Initially, we both had a bit of difficult mastering this technique on packed snow, tipping the bikes over quite often. And it gets worse in deeper snow because the seat could be at eye level when you're standing waist-deep in the pow!

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Once you've mastered getting on the damn thing, riding the snowbike is exactly like a dirtbike! In fact, you have to exaggerate your dirtbike techniques to turn the snowbike, shifting your bodyweight to the outside of the turn to push the bike down into the corner. Counter-steering works a little bit, but it's just not as effective as getting that rear track on it's edge and sliding it around the corner with a liberal dose of gas. This rear-end throttle steering that's so intuitive to dirtbikers might be a bit more difficult to get the hang of for street riders.

But it doesn't take that long before you implicitly trust the stability and grip of that rear track. There's so much more contact patch than the rear tire of a dirtbike, that it's easier to swing the rear around with the throttle.

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Joel, our guide for the day, showing us how it's done

Unlike dirtbiking, you stay planted on the seat for most of the time, only getting up on the pegs when riding over bumps and whoops. Also, you sit further back on the seat as opposed to right up on the tank, dirtbike style, getting your weight over the rear track and letting the front ski do what it wants, bouncing and skipping over irregularities in the snow. Exactly like snowboarding in fresh powder!

Body english and the rear track are your steering wheel.
 
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Another major difference is slowing down. There is so much drag on the rear track in the snow that simply letting off the throttle will dramatically slow the bike. You only have to pull in the brake lever if you want to come to a complete stop.

And that's where the other significant change to motorcycling comes in. I had to override years of motorcycle muscle memory that instinctively made me want to lean the bike at a stop and put my left foot down. If you do this, your foot will sink in the snow and you'll find yourself covered in powder and snowbike. And then good luck trying to get back on again! The proper technique is to find level ground and when you come to a stop, wiggle the front ski to dig a nice hole so the bike gets planted and then you just keep your feet on the pegs like a snowmobile or three-wheeler.

You just have to trust the snowbike won't tip over, which goes against every motorcycle instinct.

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Since we were here mid-week, the trails were pretty much empty. We had the whole Sovereign Lake area to ourselves! And the snow kept on falling, so when we returned back to the same trails we were just on 10 minutes later, our tracks were completely covered. Fresh pow all day long!

There is a main 15 km loop which we got familiarized with how to operate the snowbikes, but once we were comfortable, Joel took us out onto to a frozen lake where we could practice tight turns and figure eights amongst the trees.

He told us we were picking up snowbiking quite fast, which made us feel proud. :) Then he rode tight circles around us while we were practicing, which made us feel like newbs all over again... :(

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Neda trying out my KTM

The Huskys were fitted with handlebar muffs which blocked a lot of the cold air hitting the gloves, but the KTM that I was riding had an awesome mod: they had pipes rerouting the rad fluid through the handlebars, so it acted as hand warmers! Cool! Er... warm!
 
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It's something that looks fun if you have good powder and that's great that you got to try it out.
 
looks fantastic, thanks for sharing

last I was in Kelowna you couldn't see the sky for the smoke
 
That looks awesome. Very jealous.

Although not as much fun I am headed out for a snowshoe adventure with the pup, she is 30+ pounds already!
 
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Taking a quick lunch break out on the lake

This was so much fun!!! Although the idea of putting skis on a bicycle frame has been around for over 150 years, the modern snowbike has only come into its own since 2011. It's exciting to feel like you're on the vanguard of some new sport!

We've never snowmobiled before, but I can see how this would be so much better. You can navigate through tighter trails (one of the snowbike company's slogans is: "Anywhere You Want To Go"), keep upright when you're traversing sloped terrain, and best of all, these bikes LEAN! Joel was doing turns so tight his handlebar was almost touching the snow!!! #goals

Actually, "best of all" should be that when you crash in powder, it's like falling into a bed of feathers. No Consequence Crashing on snowbikes! Well... unless you hit a tree (which I did). Or a rock. Or go over a cliff...

We managed a few hours out on the snowbikes before fatigue set in. Our neck and arm muscles were sore from muscling the handlebars - and picking up the bikes when we tipped over in deep powder. When we watched Joel effortlessly hoon around the lake, we noticed he was using his body more than his arms to turn. Something we've got to work on the next time!

But enough boring talk and pics. Here's a riding video!


We've really enjoyed our time in the Okanagan Valley. We've discovered our new favorite winter sport and we're probably going to move out here when our trip is over. But our motorcycle travels aren't over just yet.

We're back to being nomadic.

Or snowmadic, as it were...
 
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JavaFan said:
last I was in Kelowna you couldn't see the sky for the smoke
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Typically there are a few forest fires at the end of each summer, but they had a pretty bad one last year.

Still, you've got 10+ months of great weather left in the year. Average hovers around 0C in the winter, never gets colder than -10C.

Scorching hot summers...
 
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That looks like a blast and thanks for the awesome review. Makes me want to go on a trip out west.
 
Lightcycle said:
Typically there are a few forest fires at the end of each summer, but they had a pretty bad one last year.

Still, you've got 10+ months of great weather left in the year. Average hovers around 0C in the winter, never gets colder than -10C.

Scorching hot summers...
Click to expand...

lovely area, I really like Penticton
would be a great place to semi-retire
could ride most of the year round

south of there in the desert is also interesting
there is a really nice track down there, Area 27
 
There is one for sale on faceboork marketplace. In barrie. Search for crf 450R. 2004 $4200
 
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Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy your perspective on things. I'll definitely have to try it next time I'm out there. I understand that Silver Star and Revelstoke are the only places where you can rent them. For now, I'll just have to stick with ice tires here in the East. The technique sounds quite similar.
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