Anyone riding yet > Still stuck in the frozen wasteland and wondering if I should seriously look into the track system for my spyder, seriously cheaper than a sled, but not sure of how many advantages it would provide other than getting out on the SPYDER. Anyone seriously looked/inquired on this set up ? Have sent a couple of e-mail's but no response. Let the reader's know what you can. Thank's.
I've been a snowmobiler since my early teens and have lost count of how many I've owned, modified, and wrenched, and how many thousands of miles. So I speak from experience when I say that the Spyder would not make a good snowmobile at all. Firstly, you have to be able to free a stuck snowmobile. A reverse gear helps a lot but there are times when you need to muscle the front and especially the back end. Snowmobiles are carefully designed to weigh only about 450-675 lbs. with most of the weight in the front. The lightest Spyder weighs around 800 lbs. (not taking into account any added weight the conversion kit may add). I would not want to be around when one got stuck. You also need considerably more body english to properly ride a snowmobile not only for performance but for safety. The weight and geometry of the Spyder will not factor well in this. If you should flip a snowmoble on its side you can easily right it and go on riding. I can't imagine what would happen if you flip the Spyder.
Next snowmobiles are carefully designed to work in frigid conditions. Typical operational range is around -10 to 40 degrees F. The Spyder was designed to work in moderate to high temperatures, typically 35 to 110 degrees F. This is a huge design difference that will affect everything from the plastics to the electrics to the seat to the chassis to the transmission to the engine. The Spyder will most likely not function all that well at very low temperatures and you may experience significant additional wear and component damage. The Spyder was not designed to eat snow. This could cause moisture and icing problems with critical components.
The Spyder's transmission is all wrong for snowmobiling. It would need significant modifications. Snowmobiles use CVT type transmissions for performance and safety, shifting gears is not an option. If the conversion kit effectively addresses this problem then that's a different story but I don't see how it can with the oem transmission either SE5 or SM5. You certainly can't clutch.
A rotational throttle is very dangerous on a snowmobile due to the significantly different riding dynamics, snowmobiles use a thumb operated throttle for safety reasons. A snowmobile's brake must be hand operated. Foot operated brakes on a snowmobile are not practical and would be very dangerous.
The Spyder's steering and suspension geometry are all wrong for snowmobiling. I don't know exactly how the conversion kit addresses this but I doubt it can compensate for the difference. Additionally the roll, pitch, and yaw a snowmobile experiences not to mention the braking dynamics will drive the oem nanny crazy. The engine will be cutting out just when you need it most and who knows how the antilock brakes will function. You'd have to disable the nanny if that's even possible.
Finally snowmobiles are designed to take considerably more abuse than motorcycles. From constant pounding over moguls and jumps to impacts with rocks, branches, snowbanks, etc., and even an occasional flip. Do this with a Spyder and you're going to have one beat up machine.
I could go on. A Spyder is simply not designed to be a snowmobile and no conversion kit will ever make it into one. The conversion kit should be thought of only as a novelty, not a viable option to an actual snowmobile.
ray: :bowdown:
