I am looking forward to trying my new 99 Big Bear 4x4 in the snow. My last attempt at winter riding was with an older Suzuki 160 2 wheel drive, and I was not impressed. I spent more time shovelling and pushing than driving. Mind you - I do not expect to jump drifts or anything like that, I would be interested in hearing from others their experiences in the snow with 4 wheel drive machines.

 

My 99 Sportsman will plow a foot of snow pretty good.In fact ,I was very impressed.Polaris AWD system is unbeatable in the snow and serious mud.My bro and I went ice fishing last Janurary and encounterd about 14 inches of snow.He was getting stuck on his 97 KQ quit often.He now has Vampires all the way around on the KQ,so I think he'd do much better now.Stay under a ft of snow and most 4x4s do ok.Good Luck -----BILL

 

When I encounter deep snow and have the snow blade on I just angle it, position it a few inches up ie 6" and go. It pushes the excess snow out of the way and the King easily goes through the remaining.




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Eric Baatz 1996 Suzuki KING QUAD Remember the KING Lives!!

 

In eager anticipation of the upcomming winter I find myself without a sled this year, so mostly to fool around and keep busy, I bought a cheap snowmobile track (1" lugs), and plan to wrap a couple of lengths of it around my rear tires with a fabricated bolt system to clamp it to the tires and make some skis for the front, has anyone tried anything similar? (probably not, eh)

Rod - 86 250R

 

They do make kits to convert the front end. I don't remember if I read an article here or in one of the magazines. Hopefully someone will remember where it is.

Good Luck,



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Eric Baatz 1996 Suzuki KING QUAD Remember the KING Lives!!

 

Greetings,

I took my 450ES out in the snow a good bit last year and it worked great. The deepest was about a foot and never had a problem -- the 4-wheel drive kicked in a lot more than usual. But the best part is the snow opens up some new areas because the brush is packed down and the logs are ramped over. Totally cool.

But it is cold out there in winter. Leather coats (and chaps if you have them) really help to cut the wind. I have a helmet with a face shield and still used a face mask to keep my face from freezing -- especially if its snowing when riding.

I also used the winter handlebar covers. I liked them better than thick gloves (tough on shifting) but found my thumb still got cold. There's a bit of a back draft up the ends of the covers and with your thumb pointing out it takes the brunt of it. It may sound trivial, but the wind chill left it numb more than once.

Thanks,

Rod

 

I saw something like that on The sci-fi Channel it was on Cnet or something like that. I was this thing that looked like tank treads that were in a triangle shape. It looked real easy to install. All you have to do is take the wheel off and place the tread on the quad. I cant remember if it was just for 4x4s or if it would work on all fourwheelers. I remember it was kinda expensive, but i cant remember the exact price. They sure did go good in the snow, looked like a tank cruisin through the snow.

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Jeremy Cross

1993 Yamaha *turbo* T-wolf

 

Rod, I will probably put heated handlebar grips on mine if the skis work half decent in the snow, and I prefer to wear a motox helmet than a snowmobile one as goggles tend not to ice up and visibility is better, but a face mask is a must, it is quite often -30C up here. A leather jacket! brr!

Jeremy, yeah there is a company, I forget the name, that makes those for trucks and I guess they started making them for quads recently. I saw a banshee in one of those Crusty Dirt Demon videos flying up a ski hill with them on, they appeared to not rob too much power since he was moving pretty good; I thought they would be hard to turn. But if I were to spend that kind of money I would probably just buy a sled.. but for 50 bucks I bought a used track and beat-up skis, so if anyone wants to know how well it worked I should have some pictures in a couple of months!

Rod - 86 250R

 

Rod,

When trying to ride in the snow, you need flotation. That is what the tracks and skis are for.

However, quads do great in the sand. Still need the flotation. So if you have a directional tire such as Sur Tracs or Realtors, you reverse the tread and get more flotation.

I think the tracks will rob too much power, but nevertheless, I want to see those pictures!!

RM

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99 400EX 95 Scrambler 400 85 LT250R

 

Hi Killefitt.
In reply to your question, i made a double ski assembly for the front of my Big Red ATC a couple of years back and with wooly boogers on the rear we had some real fun in the snow. Good Luck!
PS The company that makes the winter system is called TRU-TRAX and that system consists of another rear axle with tires and rims (like a tag axle) that hooks to your trailer hitch, then small tracks are wrapped around your factory rear wheels and the wheels on the tag axle. Suppose to be better in snow than a sled. They have a web site. Another one is called Sno Trax.

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Ride the "WILD" country , South Gillies, Ontario, Canada

[This message has been edited by BigRed450 (edited 10-27-1999).]

[This message has been edited by BigRed450 (edited 10-30-1999).]

[This message has been edited by BigRed450 (edited 11-01-1999).]