You’ve seen the machines out there, they look like a cross between a dirtbike, and a snowmobile. Often they will be referred to as a snow bike, timbersled, snowmoto, or snow mx bike. These conversion motorcycles with a track appeal to folks for many reason. A rider may be interested in having a dual purpose summer / winter riding machine, increased handling performance over snowmobiles, or trying something new.
While a snowbike retains some dirtbike handling characteristics there are a few things to be acquainted with before riding these machines. Snow conditions are an important factor that play into how the bike will handle terrain, and affect any learning curve you may experience.
To begin, a snowbike sits a few inches higher than a motorcycle with wheels. What this means, is you typically start with both feet on the pegs as it is further to reach the ground. Compared to a motorcycle where you leave one foot down to balance the bike so you don’t tip over, a snowbike balances itself fairly well when just sitting in place. This allows you to put both feet on the pegs for starting.
The next step is taking off, and this may be the most challenging one until you get some practice. On a wheeled motorcycle, you can leave one foot down and ‘walk’ the bike until you get enough momentum to get your balance. However, this technique doesn’t translate so well to the snow bike, as you may barely be able to reach the snow with your tippy toes. So how do you do take off on a snowbike, and not tip over?
Many times a slow speed start is too slow to reach the balance point and the rider will tip over.
Trust, confidence, and a smooth burst of throttle! You must trust in your throttle control and clutching ability to smoothly and quickly get the machine moving to reach it’s balance point where you feel confident in it’s handling. A new rider will often try to feather the clutch and gain their initial speed slowly as they get a feel for the machine. Many times a slow speed start is too slow to reach the balance point and the rider will tip over. If the machine is moving too slowly, it will be more difficult to balance. The track creates more drag on the system than a typical rear wheel, so using slightly more throttle than you would on a dirtbike will compensate for this difference. The quicker you can get the snowbike moving, the more balance you will have.
OK! you’re off and cruising over the snow, nice work! Now comes time for some handling technique. Similar to taking off, the snow bike handles significantly better with some forward inertia. At a slower speed, steering & balance is more difficult, so using your body weight to lean the bike will help keep your balance. As your speed increases, you can steer with the handlebars more, but you will still lean towards the direction you want to travel. Practice with the hand brake to see how much force is needed to slow the bike. Shift through some gears, and let off the throttle to see how much speed is lost through engine braking, snow conditions, and track drag while free coasting.
Remember to plan your stopping areas where it will be easy to start up again
Now comes time to stop, and you go to jam down the rear brake with your foot, and you frantically step down again because it feels like you missed! Well you didn’t, your brake is on your right handlebar. Snow Bikes, only have one brake, compared to two on motorcycles, so you must train yourself to use the handbrake in all stopping situations. While it may be tempting to follow your guide or riding partner and stop in their tracks, choose to stop beside your riding partners, rather than directly behind them. As you are rolling to a stop, right before you loose all momentum, grab the hand brake firmly to ‘seat’ the track into the snow. Minor steering inputs, keeping your core centered over the machine, and keeping both feet on the pegs will help you maintain your stop and keep you upright.
Stopping: Right before you loose all momentum, grab the hand brake firmly to ‘seat’ the track into the snow.
Once you nail the rolling stop with feet on the pegs, you’re doing pretty good. Practice your snow bike start and stop technique as much as possible. Remember to plan your stopping areas where it will be easy to start up again. Learning this fundamental is very important, and will make your entire day of backcountry riding more enjoyable.
Key riding take aways:
- Start with feet on pegs
- Quick acceleration to find balance point
- Lean and steer in combination to navigate
- Plan your stop where it will be easy to start up again
- Brake is located on right handlebar, NO foot brake!
- Slow to a stop with both feet on foot pegs
- Stop next to riding partners, never directly behind
Learning and practicing these fundamentals will shorten your learning curve, and will enable you to navigate more technical terrain with more ease and less fatigue. We hope these riding tips are helpful and help you have an enjoyable snow bike tour.