Got the chance to take one of the 2moto kits out today. It was very fun, and if you have the cash for one, do it. Here's my impressions Cons: Hard pack is no fun! The ski wants to follow every groove in the snow from other sleds and this makes it very sketchy on hard pack. It settles down with just about 3 inches of fresh snow though so as long as you can ride on the side of the trail you will be ok. On a 450 at 10,000-12,000 feet it was really working the motor. Most of the time was spent in 1st or second. I only saw 3rd on a slight downhill. A 510 with that 530 big bore kit would be much better. It's hard to ride with snowmobiles. One machine always has an advantage over the other. On hardpack the snowmobile is much easier to ride. In the open, or on long straights the sled will gobble up the bike. But anytime the you have to cut across a hill the bike will leave the sled for dead. Trees are a no brainer on these things too. So if you are riding with a sled one person is often waiting for the other. Pros: Fun fun fun!!! With the exception of hard pack the bike is much easier to ride than a sled. Side hilling is a no brainer, no leaning and tugging fighting gravity, just point and go. We rode up a 4wheel drive trail that's cut into the side of a steep hill, so the snow is at an angle. I took off first up the trail. It's uphill climb for about 3-4 miles, and by the half way mark I was a good minute ahead of the sled and I wasn't even pushing it hard. Any time you have to cut across a hill this thing will run circles around a sled. Trees are suddenly fun. On a sled you avoid tight trees unless there is a good size trail that you know where it goes. Not on this thing, it turns so effortlessly that you find yourself riding into the trees full bore. In fresh powder you can ride wide open and then just lay er over and carve a nice turn. The feeling is so graceful and smooth it's like nothing else. So in conclusion, I will be looking for a TC or TXC 510 soon and will be putting the 2moto kit on. With everyone in the group on one of these I think you will be exploring trails and places you wouldn't dare on a sled. [/IMG] They do suck down some gas. [/IMG] A little air. [/IMG] Trying to bust some sweet berm snots. [/IMG] [/IMG] And failing, haha [/IMG]
Clay- You rock. And great pics. I've been looking at various versions of the conversion for a while. It's cool to read a real live review. paul
Wow...that looks awesome! Could you explain a little more about the hard pack? How sketchy? Did you lay it down a bunch of times on hard pack? David
here is my review from last year... http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=623641&highlight=snowbikes
I think you hit the pro's and con's real close! I rode one on a 530 KTM, but think the 505 sx with the 2 cams would have been better. Hard packed or icey trails it sucked. Trees and powder it killed the snowmobile. You also did want to just let off the throttle completely at speed, or the back end wanted to swap.
That might be a setup issue as the ones i rode did not do that. They were a little nervous at speed though.
Snowmobiles have a carbide runner on the bottom of the ski that bites into hard snow. These runners make grooves, or mini ruts in the snow. The ski on the bike also has these carbides, and they want to follow all the other grooves that are already in the snow. So the front end is always wandering back and forth following these other grooves. Also the steering on hard pack is VERY heavy. The contact patch for the ski is 18 inches long vs like 2 inches for a bike tire. So you can't just turn the handle bars like you do a dirt bike, you have to lean to turn. Similar to a street bike. Yeah, I didn't experience this either. Once I got it in the powder I felt like I could do no wrong on this thing.
Thanks, Kelly- don't know how I missed that one....nice write-up and pics. If only I still had the 510....(if I had a quarter for every time I thought that, I'd be able to buy it back!)
