My Weekend project: Trike ski * NEW VIDEO ADDED*

[dougspcs]

Ordered up a pair of the Camoplast All Terrain skis yesterday. I'm going to try to do another ride today and venture a little farther away from home to try out some different terrain and run some sled trails too.

Don't forget the video!!

[Scootertrash]

LOL !! The one I have sucks and is very short. If I don't do another ride today so I can take another, I'll post the one I have.

Doug- The ES is a Big Red right? I think that's what my neighbor has, so I may be able to get fork and axle dimensions off of his. If I can't I'll need you to get them off of yours.

[Scootertrash]

UPDATE
So yesterday I ordered a set of Camoplast All Terrain blow molded skis, and they got here today. Nice and fast!! I lost another 4-5 pounds with the new ski (old ski was 11-12 lbs, new ski is 7 lbs)

New ski



A shot of the bottom of the ski, It's got a nice deep keel that nests the wear rod. 6 inch carbide on the wear rod.



The new ski mounted





I put on about 6-7 miles this evening, lots of well packed snowmobile trails and some snowmobile trails that have about 6-7 inches of snow covering them. This new ski steers really nice in fresher snow and snow covered snowmobile trails, although on the hard packed then thawed and refroze snowmobile trails the new keel and carbide can get "grabby" in the older ski tracks from the sleds, sled guys call it darting. My guess is after the keel and carbide gets a bit worn it may not be so bad, time will tell. All in all a big improvement over old, well worn Polaris ski I started with. :headbang:

The only thing that didn't change is the Bear Claws wanting to chew down in the deeper soft snow. The snowmobile trails that had a few inches of snow were nice, it's the snow that hasn't been touched all winter where I get stuck, but I have the same problem with the tire on.

The vid is loading on Youtube right now, I'll post a link when it's done.

ETA Here ya go. Not a very good vid, I'll post up a better one when I can get someone to run the camera or my neighbor to follow me with his GoPro.

[ColtonGG33]

That is sweet, defanently should sell some ( I would buy one from ya). So is it hard to put on to the 3 wheeler, do u just ha e to take the old forks out and slide them in

[Scootertrash]

That is sweet, defanently should sell some ( I would buy one from ya). So is it hard to put on to the 3 wheeler, do u just ha e to take the old forks out and slide them in

You pull the axle, remove the tire and brake drum, put the ski frame in place and slide the axle thru the axle tube, then attach the top brace.

I haven't timed the install yet, but I'm willing to bet it could be done in 15 minutes or less, if the pin that locates the brake drum on the fork is clean and not oxidized like mine was. I'll time taking the ski off and replacing the tire today, that will give me an idea of how long it should take. I have to finish putting a motor back into a sled first tho.

[shovelryder]

Scooter, where abouts in MN do you live?

[dougspcs]

Scooter, that is extremely cool..

Love the video..want a kit when they are in production.

And yes the ES is the Big Red 250ES and your 200s is super nice!

I'm sure you could figure this out yourself but if you were to create a kit with different spacers you could make a single fab fit almost all the models.

Hope to see them for sale in the near future..I'll be in line for sure.

[Scootertrash]

Shovelryder: I live in Elk River, not that far from you really.

Scooter, that is extremely cool..

I'm sure you could figure this out yourself but if you were to create a kit with different spacers you could make a single fab fit almost all the models.

These are the little things I'm pondering as I finish up some machines for others so I can get back on this project. I've also got emails out to suppliers for plastic plugs or caps to fill the open ends of the tubing so I don't have to weld them shut. My mind is always working on stuff like this. That, along with my self-diagnosed ADD......

Hey! Look at the squirrel!



Sorry! See what I mean? The wife wonders why I can never remember anything she tells me, and why I never seem to pay attention.

[dougspcs]

These are the little things I'm pondering as I finish up some machines for others so I can get back on this project. I've also got emails out to suppliers for plastic plugs or caps to fill the open ends of the tubing so I don't have to weld them shut. My mind is always working on stuff like this. That, along with my self-diagnosed ADD......

Hey! Look at the squirrel!



Sorry! See what I mean? The wife wonders why I can never remember anything she tells me, and why I never seem to pay attention.

LOL...

Damn I needed that..I hear you. More than a bit of that in me also..

But it's cool..keep plugging away on the R&D stuff. Winter has passed here so I got time..just don't forget.

Oh yeah, good to see you were wearing your helmet..

[Scootertrash]

OK, so I made up a second ski kit that will fit the 185/200 with front shocks for a buddy.

I also assembled the 200X, 350X, and 84-85 250R forks so I can get measurementts for kits for those trikes.

Doug- My neighbor has a 250ES, I need to see if I can get it out of his shed to I can remove the front wheel and get measurements. I am going to try to do that this week. Check your PM's, I sent you a message with a question.

[DasUberKraut]

OK, so I made up a second ski kit that will fit the 185/200 with front shocks for a buddy.

That's what I need! I wonder if you wrap a pair of junk tires with sled track. If the state would allow you on sled trails with the ski up front?

[Scootertrash]

That's what I need! I wonder if you wrap a pair of junk tires with sled track. If the state would allow you on sled trails with the ski up front?

I seem to remember another buddy telling me he did that with the snowmobile track, I'm not sure how he fastened the 2 ends together. I may be talking to him later in the week. I think he deflated the tires, put his modded pieces of track on and then reinflated the tires to hold the track on. IIRC he said it worked pretty good.

Boy, I'm not sure about the sled trail thing, we have the same rule here. I have a Richardhead neighbor who went thru the ditches in the neighborhood on his Razor with the track kit and rutted the hell out of the snomo trails. I can see why they don't allow wheelers on the sled trails. Same reason we can't have nice things. The few a-holeans who ruin it for the others.

On the plus side tho, I noticed he had to tow it home Saturday night after he was out ripping up the ditch trails. BUUWAAHAAAHAAAAA!!

It's the second time he's had to tow it home since he put the track kit on it earlier this winter.

Full Disclosure:
I have and do ride the neighborhood ditch trails with our 3 and 4 wheelers, but if it's soft enough or bad enough where we have to spin our tires and rut the trails up to keep moving we don't do it.
I never go on the main trails or state trails with my wheelers.

[El Camexican]

Regarding the tires digging in, have you considered configuring up a set of duel wheels on the rear? It would take a lot of work, but it might just help it float a bit in the soft stuff and it would look boss!

[Scootertrash]

As a matter of fact.........

There are, or were, a couple of companies that made or make dual wheel adapters for quads and I have seen one such kit in person and from what I could tell it would be easy to duplicate. I'm gonna focus on the ski kits right now since winter is coming to an end and I would like to get a couple out there for others to see and tryout, if at all possible. The dual wheel set up could be used all year around.

I have envisioned a dual Bear Claw set up on the rear of my 200S, yea it would look bad a**. Hell, any mud tire would look awesome doubled up. We are going to have a wet spring with all the snow we've got, so the dual tire kit is next on my plate.

I've got a set of 4-Snows showing up today and we just got another 4 inches of snow, so I have about 8 inches or so of fresher snow to try them out in. From what I've heard they are THE snow tire, I plan to find out.

I will post my results here or in a separate 4-Snow evaluation thread.

[JasonB]

that is awesome man! nice work, and it looks like its responsive with the steering still in the snow! if you can fab these up, why not start modding trak systems up for trikes and selling em A trak'd and ski'd trike would like bad as h3ll!