Snow Riding

[08KX250-F]

Hello all, i'm wanting to ride my bike in the snow this winter, but what i need to know is are there any modifications needed for the bike for it to be ridden in snow? Thanks.

[IdahoThumber]

Here you go.This is all you need to make your Bike a snow monster

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/20/2289/Motorcycle-Article/EXPLORER-Snow-Bike-Conversion-Kit.aspx

Here is a Vid

[Spare Parts]

Those are a little pricey... Just pick up some spikes and screw them in. Remember snow riding is for the sake of snow riding. The learning curve is steep, but that's part of the fun.

Get waterproof undies.

[KJ55]

Ice screws in your tire or a track kit.

Or do this:

And here is a video that shows a bike without and with ice studs:

[08KX250-F]

So it's only the tires that need work on then? Nothing engine-wise that needs changing for the snow?

[JS264]

You will need to jet your carb richer to make up for the increased oxygen content in cold air temperatures.

[CousinLarry]

I rode last year with just some ice screws.. It's good fun..

Just don't ride on a frozen lake, drift around a corner, hit a root and highside it.. Danger to shoulder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtrMAzvHcKA

[qwkiy]

hows riding with snowmobiles on trails? i just got my wr250f rebuilt and want to ride it!?

[tl1000rlt]

Just buy a snowmobile. It looks like a lot of unneccesary wear on the dirtbike.

[FIVEWIDE]

I ride in 6" of snow and under, anything over that you need carrage bolts through our tire. The cold kutter screws are beter suited for ice, theory no better than knobbies once he head fills up wih snow.

[stlavsa]

do a search for tire studding.

What kind of bike do you have? a bike with any kind of power will shed the screw in studs fairly easily. To do it right you need to do bolts thru the inside of the tires thru the knobbies and then put two nuts on each bolt/stud.

Its a real pain in the but and takes forever and isnt cheap. Make sure youre serious about riding in the snow before you do this, and you wont really be able to ride on the rode or on hardpack trails without show once its done.

[GSP2]

Used to run cold cutters on my CR250 during the winter. More for screwing around on the lakes. Can't remember tossing a single screw after a winter of riding. It hooked up real well.

I know here in Michigan you can't ride a bike on snowmobile trails in winter. You might check the regs before gearing up for a trail ride in your area.

[stlavsa]

we put em in 250s back in the day and half of them were gone after the first ride. Werent using them on an ice lake though, tried running them on the trails in the snow.

[GSP2]

we put em in 250s back in the day and half of them were gone after the first ride. Werent using them on an ice lake though, tried running them on the trails in the snow.

May come down to thread length you used. I think they come as short as 3/8" up to maybe 1.25". It's been years, but I want to sy we used something in the 3/4 - 7/8" range. No issues. I think there would be more loading on a stud from direct contact with the ice but who knows...rocks and frozen dirt could do damage a well.

[stlavsa]

ya i duno I cant remember either we were kids when we did it. Went to the local dealer and thats what they sold us. It stands to reason that there would be more loading on the ice, but if i understand it right theres also more traction on the ice. We were trying to climb power lines and stuff and spinning everywhere and it just shed them all.

[SnowMule]

Ice studs rock on a dirt bike.

As long as the studs can dig into something that's frozen or packed onto the asphalt, they rock on the street. 4" or more of snow and you'll slide around all over the place with studs.

The explorer kit.... well, if it were up to me I'd buy a Timbersled kit for the bike.

On one end of the spectrum there's a dirt bike, on the other there's a snowmobile. Towards the dirt bike side, there's studded tires, ice screws in the tires, then the track kits. There's a little cluster with the 2moto and explorer kit, then moving towards the snowmobiles there's the timbersled kit. As you keep going, just inside the Snowmobiles there's a little bird known as the Snowhawk.

I've never owned a snowbike kit (yet), but I've been on them before. In the mountains/deep snow, I'm not sure how well a 250 would do. Pretty sure I'd miss the torque of a big-bore. My 525, however, should do pretty damn well in the snow.

I'd still prefer a snowmobile though.?

[stlavsa]

ya in colorado u can get away with a snowmobile. Around here the snows not deep enough.

[qwkiy]

well the trails me and my friend are riding are on crown land so riding on it wont really be an issue, i'm only asking how feasible is it to ride a dirtbike on the packed down snow from a snowmobile? i'm asking because my friend and I are going camping for new years and his dad has 2 sleds, but if my bike will work on snow, then i might as well bring it?

[BoxcarWilly]

i went a little while ago. dont let your wheel spin. thats all i can say?

[SnowMule]

Might also look into tire chains.

Good info here: http://dr650.zenseeker.net/Tires.htm