Tag: Telluride

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Snowbike Project – Part 1

From dirtbike to Timbersled

Snowbikes are every bit as fun as they look like on the internet, and then some.  We all know that dirtbikes are an absolute hoot to ride, and few things in life are as excellent as a bottomless powder day on your favorite ski resort.  So, if you can image what enjoying both of these activities at the same time is like, you’ll have a vague notion of how awesome snowbikes can be.  Freeriding in a winter wonderland has never been more free-to-ride, as you can go just about anywhere you want to.  And thanks to several companies, getting setup for snowbiking has never been easier.  This is the first article in an ongoing project that will show you what it takes to gear up for snowbiking, how to ride safely in the backcountry, and get you inspired to explore a winter world with a snowbike.

Wrench Time

Timbersled’s ARO (pronounced “Arrow”) systems make turning your dirtbike into a snowbike easier than ever before.  The days of spending hours cutting airboxes and bleeding brakes have been replaced with a (nearly) bolt-on system that you can install in just a few hours.  We installed Timbersled ARO 137 systems on a 2017 KTM 500 EXC-F and a 2012 Yamaha WR450F.  Here’s how the process went, going from knobbies to a track and ski.

Dirtbikes aren’t designed to operate in snow, so you need to add a couple of things to enable the dirtbike’s motor to run well in a winter environment.  Snow is much more effective at cooling than air, so the problem becomes keeping your bike up at operating temperature when you’re bombing around in the powder.  The first part you need to add to any dirtbike that’s going to become a snowbike is a thermostat, exactly like what would be found in your car.  Thermo-Bob makes thermostat kits for almost every dirtbike that can be turned into a snowbike, and when your engine starts to cool off the Thermo-Bob will cut off coolant flow to your bike’s radiators to help conserve engine heat.

Thermo-Bob installation on both bikes was straightforward and allowed us to install a Trail Tech TTO Temp sensor, so that we could monitor engine temps in real time.  Yet even with a Thermo-Bob, snow flying onto your engine can keep the temperatures too low, so we picked up engine jackets from Power Sports Tech (PST) to keep snow off our engines.  Just like a ski jacket, the PST Engine jackets can be adjusted and vented to allow air and snow to contact the engine or keep it off depending on riding conditions.

Other than the Thermo-Bob thermostats and the PST Engine Jackets, we switched to 0W-40 Shell Rotella T6 synthetic oil to allow for easer cold starts and to help with lubrication in low temperatures.  If your bike doesn’t have a header guard, pick one up to protect your expensive snow pants from melting on a hot header.  Converting your dirtbike to a snowbike is also a great excuse to go through your bike and grease everything in addition to performing any maintenance tasks that you may have been putting off.  Spending a few bucks on parts is a much better deal than having to walk out of the woods in the dead of winter.

In addition to a Timbersled ARO track system, you’ll also need to get a fit kit, which has specific reducer bushings and other parts for your bike.  The Timbersled system also replaces your bike’s rear shock, and we highly recommend the Timbersled Strut System (TSS) which is an airshock that replaces your stock coil unit.  Likewise, the Timbersled TRIO is a great alternative to having to sink money into constantly re-valving your forks for snowbiking and then back to dirt settings.  Snowbiking places different loads on your fork than dirt does, and the TRIO helps your fork better handles those loads.  Like the TSS, the TRIO is an air shock, so you can dial-in the air pressure in to get the exact damping performance you want.  A wheel kit will make moving your Timbersled around much easier on dry land, and a snowbike ramp is also a good buy if you’re going to be transporting your snowbike in the back of a truck as we did.

Installing the Timbersled system on your dirtbike will take a few hours for any experienced wrench.  We installed the kits on both of our bikes in a single day, working at a leisurely pace and stopping to take photos.  Check out the official Timbersled YouTube channel to familiarize yourself with the install process, and look up the part numbers for your specific bike’s reducers before you hit that step in the install process to speed things up.  On both of our bikes, the correct reducers were not stamped with any part numbers, but this was a minor snag that was resolved with test-fitting to check for proper clearance and alignment.  Use common sense if you run into this problem and don’t sweat the extra parts left over – the fit kits are designed to work with more than one model of bike.

We also had to cut off the kickstand bracket on our WR450F to clear the track, so if you’re working with one of these bikes, pick up a spare before you plan on riding dirt again.  Other than that, everything goes together without much hassle, and not having to hack up an expensive airbox or deal with brake fluid makes your time in the shop that much better.  The ARO kits make it feasible to ride snow one weekend and dirt the next, with just a few hours of wrench time in between.

Gear For Your Comfort and Safety

With your snowbike all sorted and ready to ride, you’ll also need to make sure that you’ve got good gear for yourself to stay warm and dry while out riding.  Cold and wet can turn into a serious situation fairly quickly, which is why we recommend quality riding gear, such as the Adrenaline GTX BOA boots, Havoc Pants, Valdez Parkas, Togwotee gloves, and Oculus goggles we used from Klim.  All this gear worked brilliantly, and kept us warm and dry on bluebird powder days and during obscenely windy blizzards.  Riding gear will be covered more in the next article.

If you’re going to be riding anywhere near avalanche terrain, you absolutely must pack and know how to use avalanche gear: A beacon, probe, and shovel.  It’s also worth picking up an airbag backpack, such as the Black Diamond Jetforce Saga 40 which we’ve been using.  Airbag backpacks have been shown to reduce the chances of burials in avalanches, potentially protect the wearer from injury, and in the case of the Black diamond Jetforce packs, provide a pocket of breathing air should a burial occur.  Jetforce packs use a ducted fan to inflate a 200 liter airbag with atmosphere, unlike other packs that use a CO2 cartridge.  We’ll be covering snow safety in depth in the next article.

This may all sound like a bunch of work just to be able to ride your dirtbike in the snow, but I’m here to tell you that it is worth every penny and worth every second of your time.  A Timbersled allows you to explore a wintry world better than anything else designed to go over-snow.  It combines all the best parts of dirt biking with the experience of big mountain powder skiing all without the crowds or the lift lines and at half the price of buying a new mountain snowmobile.  A Timbersled system is the key to unlocking a whole new world to ride in.

 

FULL DISCLOSURE:

Timbersled provided demo units for this series of articles.  The motorcycles and all other accessories are owned by the author.  Klim provided all of the riding gear used for this project at no cost to the author or American Adventurist.  Likewise, Black Diamond provided the Jetforce Packs at no cost to the author or American Adventurist.

 

 

 

 

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Klim 626 Collection

The folks at Klim have created something in the world of technical riding gear that blurs the lines on exactly who this gear is made for – and that is precisely what makes it so good.  Think worn-in work wear all-day comfort fused with the technical function and performance you would expect from Klim, yet priced to fit in any rider’s budget.  It‘s gear that goes great with any motorcycle, on just about any ride, and looks so good and is so comfortable that you may find yourself wearing it when motorcycles aren’t even involved with whatever you’re doing.

According to Klim, the 626 collection is “less about what you’re on, and more about what you’re doing. 626 is about riding. And riding gear that can do anything.”  You won’t find the uber high tech materials and every last feature that some of Klim’s most iconic pieces of riding gear have, but what you will find in the 626 collection is timeless design, function, and style.  If you’ve ever felt like a power ranger decked out in your adventure riding gear, the 626 collection will have you looking great in addition to keeping you comfortable and well protected.

The 626 collection is currently a line of two jackets, a pair of pants and a pair gloves.  We’ve been hard at work putting this gear through the ringer over the last few months doing just about everything we can while wearing the gear.  We’ve built and cleared single track.  We’ve ridden on cold spring mornings and hot afternoons under the Arizona sun.  We’ve spent time wrenching and working hard, and we’ve spent time enjoying adult beverages and holding the bar down.  After all of this, the gear is no worse for the wear, and just as double knee work pants get better with each use, so does the 626 collection.

REVENER JACKET:

A jacket with classic four-pocket military style gets a healthy serving of technical function to create the Revener.  A fully featured Gore-Tex Performance Shell keeps you dry when things get wet outside, and Klim’s awesome plaid lining keeps things super comfy on the inside.  Think of the comfort of a flannel shirt and you’ll get an idea of what being in this jacket is like.  D3O CE Level 1 Armor on the elbows, shoulders, and back provide impact protection and four large vents in the torso move a great deal of air when you need to vent.  A double zipper allows you to open things up even further for more airflow, and magnetic snaps are used all over the jacket to close pockets and the zipper flaps on the front of the jacket.

In use, the Revener jacket seals up tight when the weather gets ugly, and it’s here I need to mention the collars on the 626 jackets are awesome.  If you’ve heard bad things about Klim collars in the past, the Revener and the Drifter jacket both have great collars that won’t chafe your neck, or affix themselves to your base layer no matter how you run the collar.  Long, hot days battling stupid amounts of wind didn’t faze the Revener, and with the cuffs on the sleeves opened up, I felt like I was getting more than enough airflow to stay cool.  We haven’t been able to give the Revener a proper monsoon rain test, but a spirited ride in a spring storm didn’t end up with any water making it’s way past the jacket.

The Revener packs a great feature set into a jacket that looks terrific and works just about anywhere, in any weather.  All day rides that start with a cool morning, get warm at lunchtime, and then wet in the afternoon are no worries in the Revener.  The jacket moves great and fits quite well, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself kicking back by the campfire still wearing the Revener jacket.

DRIFTER JACKET:

When I first handed the Drifter jacket to one of my riding buddies, his response was; “Wow.  This thing is awesome!  What a cool jacket.”  Made from a waxed cordura cotton canvas, and sporting the same magnets and D3O CE Level 1 elbow, shoulder, and back armor as the Revener, the Drifter jacket is an excellent choice for spring and fall riding.  I say spring and fall because a double zipper and pit holes are going to be the only ways to move air through the jacket, which can cause things to get a bit warm when it’s hot out.  Like any tool, the Drifter has a best use case, and as long as it’s not too hot out, this jacket is quite comfortable.  Klim’s super-comfy plaid is also used for lining the inside of the jacket, and after an entire day riding in the Drifter, you’re still happy to hang out with it on.

 

The Drifter jacket is at home on any bike going on just about any ride.  The jacket looks great, so you can take the dirt on your way to work, hop off your bike and walk right into the board room for a meeting without having to stash your riding gear.  The waxed cotton canvas offers an impressive degree of water resistance, and the jacket moves and fits great thanks to an action back and a cut that works with your body’s movements.

OUTRIDER PANT:

Double-knee work pants have officially become riding pants – and they may just happen to be the most comfortable riding pants that I’ve ever worn.  The Outrider pant is the type of pant that you can do just about anything in – I’m pretty sure Klim’s gear designers cherry-picked their favorite features from existing work pants and then applied the Klim technical wizardy treatment to make the Outrider pant.  From a few feet away, the Outrider pant looks just like any five-pocket double knee work pant, and you would be hard pressed to tell that these pants are also packing removable D3O CE Level-1 armor at the hips and the knees.  That awesome Klim plaid lining is also used to line the pockets in the Outrider pant, and the leg cuffs are cut to fit over moto or adventure style boots.

The armor can be installed and removed while wearing the pants, so going from fully armored to no armor takes just a few seconds.  The knee pads can be positioned in the pockets so you can enjoy the benefits of perfectly placed knee pads which is a welcome thing for some tasks you’ll find yourself doing in the Outrider pants.  If you’ve ever felt like your lower half was comparatively naked in regular work pants while riding, the Outrider pants have what it takes to help keep your protected on the bike, and in a few seconds go to work pants that will hold up to countless hours on the job.  Unlike some riding pants, these allow you to go just about anywhere and arrive dressed for the destination. The Outrider pant will hold up to any task at work, keep you protected on any ride where you’re not in the wet all day, and look great in town or out in the dirt.

RAMBLER GLOVE:

Rounding out the 626 Collection is the Rambler Glove, Klim’s take on the classic deer skin glove.  Deer skin is an awesome material to make gloves out of, and if you’ve ever had a pair of work gloves or riding gloves made from deer skin, you know what I’m on about.  When you add in Klim’s technical gear wizardry in the form of strategic padding, you get a pair of gloves that you’ll find yourself reaching for just about any time you need gloves.

The Rambler is cut in a classic roper style and they fit like a second skin.  In addition to hours riding, I’ve thrown everything from TIG welding to chainsaw trail clearing and building at the Rambler gloves, and they’ve handled everything with ease.  On 100 degree desert crossing days, the Rambler gloves kept my hands cooler than expected, and I didn’t feel like I was wearing a pair of nitrile gloves and soaking in sweat.  On the cold end of the spectrum, the gloves have no insulation so your hands can certainly get cold if the temps get low enough, but it’s important to remember that these gloves aren’t sold as a cold weather glove.  Klim makes some of the most technically advanced gloves that money can buy, and their take on a classic is no less impressive.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I appreciate the fact that Klim’s 626 collection is just like a good multi tool – It works for so many rides, on any motorcycle, and is very well priced.  For what you pay, you’re getting gear with technical features and timeless style that’s going to hold up to thousands of miles and countless days playing in the dirt.  It’s important to remember that the words ‘water resistant’ appear several times in this article, so as long as you’re not heading out to ride in the monsoons you’ll be quite happy (use the right tool…).  On weekend getaway rides, I’ve really come to appreciate that the Outrider pants are the only pants I need for a weekend – Armor in to ride, and armor out to relax and do everything else off-bike.  Likewise with either of the 626 jackets, I don’t feel like a power ranger, so I can have one jacket for every need on the trip.  The Rambler gloves are awesome because they fit so well, and being able to do actual work in them is a huge plus when you’re clearing or working on single track.

The gear in this collection is about the adventure and experience of riding.  It’s about playing outside in gear that just works.  From dirt roads to downtown, from building single track to beers with your buddies, the 626 collection is a great choice for riding gear that comes in at a great price point and offers solid value and multi-purpose performance.