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Yamaha Motor Canada Style Check- Snowbiking in Minnesota

One of the things I love about motocross and action sports in general is just how ever evolving it is; from two-strokes to four-strokes, riding techniques, fuel-injection engines, new bikes like the all-new YZ65, as well as the latest craze with snowbikes. The snowbike world has been slowly gaining momentum for the past few years and now it appears to be in full swing. With companies like Timbersled constantly refining their designs, the modern day snowbike is getting better and better all of the time. The new modifications are so good that recently we watched former motocross legends Ryan Villopoto and Josh Hill compete in the 2018 X-Games in Aspen, CO. Having these two long time motocross athletes out there on the track has really increased the level of attention that snowbikes have received in the past few months. In Canada, we are home to the past two X-Game Gold medalists with snowbike gods Brock Hoyer and Cody Matechuk. Like four-strokes in the early 2000s, it appears that snowbikes are here to stay, and they’re just going to keep getting better and better.

The ERX Motorpark is a very cool facility located just outside Minneapolis.

This past Sunday I boarded a plane for Minnesota to spend a few days with the fine folks from FXR Racing at their Annual Dealer Show. For years this show has always been held in the company’s home base of Winnipeg, but for 2018 FXR decided to change things up and move the show to Elk Creek, MN. This small town is located about 45 minutes west of Minneapolis, and it is the home to not only one of FXR’s largest USA distribution centres but to a facility called ERX Motorpark. ERX is home to one of the coolest snowcross tracks in the mid-west, complete with an incredible track, a heated clubhouse, lights for night riding, and a massive building for banquets and parties. If you’re a fan of snowcross or snowbikes, this place should definitely be on your bucket list. For the folks at FXR Racing, ERX was the perfect place to gather their cherished family together and introduce their 2019 line of clothing.

FXR also invited Kris Keefer and Mike Brown to Minnesota to hang out and learn how to ride snowbikes.

My invite to this huge annual event came from FXR’s Motocross Manager Andy White. Andy has been around motocross his entire life and is a man who is never short of ideas. His vision for this event was to invite a number of the North American motocross media to Elk City to hang out, see the new line of 2019 FXR clothing, and while there spend two days learning to ride snowbikes on the famous ERX track. For me, traveling to cold Minnesota in February was no problem as it’s not that far from Toronto and I was already acclimatized to the not so pleasant temperatures. However, for the other members of our sport’s media, who mostly reside in sunny and warm California, stepping off the plane in -20 temperatures was a shock to say the least. If you have ever watched the movie Cool Running’s and witnessed the part of the movie when the Jamaican bobsled team steps outside for the first time in Calgary, that was pretty much what it looked like when the contingent from California arrived in Minnesota. Thankfully, FXR supplied everyone with their latest and greatest cold weather clothing so we were all comfortable.

In between snowbike rides I also got to ride some sleds.

Judging by the amount of texts and calls that I received asking me what it was like to ride a snowbike, I would most certainly agree that their popularity is growing. My answer to this question is definitely a complex one as it’s hard to describe the feeling of riding one of these snowbikes. For a long-time moto guy who is used to pointing his front wheel in a certain direction and then following it, my first few laps on a snowbike were interesting to say the least. With a ski on the front of the bike, the first thing I noticed was how heavy the steering felt. Also, to make matters even more complicated, the slower you went, the harder it was to steer. Basically, even though it was the first time we had all thrown a leg over a snowbike, we had to try and go fast right away. The challenge of that was riding around the track on the snowbike felt like riding a dirt bike around a sand track with a front flat tire, so it was hard to commit and go fast. With a heavy front-end feel and the track at the rear to slow the snowbike down as soon as you shut the throttle off, to remain straight and in control, you have to keep the throttle on almost the entire time. This is why I compare it to riding a deep sand track in a dirt bike, momentum is everything for your straight-line stability. Factor in the -20 temperatures and there you have it, that is what it felt like to ride a snowbike. In between the media guys riding, FXR had also flown in Brock Hoyer, so we all got to sit there in awe to watch him ride. Brock has most definitely mastered the art of riding a snowbike as he just floats around the difficult track. After a few more tips from Hoyer, we all got better and began to flow more on the track and figure out the most efficient way to ride these new snowbikes.

Canadian snowbike legend and X-Games gold medalist Brock Hoyer was also at ERX to show us media guys how its done.

As you can probably tell, it was an amazing two days of riding with the FXR Racing family. With big plans for 2018, both in the USA, Canada, as well in new markets like South America and New Zealand, FXR Racing is full steam ahead. I would like to take this time to thank FXR for the invite to Minnesota, and for the opportunity to take my first ride on a snowbike. I hope it wasn’t my last!

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