[UngaWunga]

For winter trail riding, studded tires are the best bet, right?

Ice riding, ice screws or custom made spikes, right? With cold Cutters, do you have to line the inside with carpet or something? I guess that depends on the length of the screw and the knobby.

 

[FR]

Unga,
I've talked to a few guys up here about it. The trail riders do seem to like the spiked tires like trelleborg, michelin etc. but those suck on the ice. In fact they suck on the trail once they're worn much, I'm guessing one season is what you'll get out of them.
After dicking around with some old ice racing tires that had long screws in 'em, that kept poking through the liner, I decided to build my own using Gold Series screws. I bought 750 5/8 length screws. I'm putting them in some used knobbies that I'm lining with an old street tire that I cut up.( after filling the garage with burned rubber smoke from trying to cut the tire with my whiz wheel, I discovered that using my tire groover to get down to the carcass, and a box cutter to get through the carcass was quicker, cleaner, quieter, and a whole lot less stinky ) These tires will go on the YZ125.
If you use the shorter screws on the trail, I think you'll lose a few. The reason I'm using the longer ones is I think they give a more stable and predictable feel on the ice. I've ridden bikes with the shorter screws, and just didn't feel confident on them.
I do use the 7/16 screws on my XR100, 'cause that won't over power them if you use enough. I have around 600 in mine with Cheng Shin enduro C858 tires. I did have to reposition some after the first ride, 'cause they poked through the tube. I used the old tube as a liner for the new tube.
It may sound like a lot of work, and it sort of is, but the payback is worth it, and it sucks to be out on the ice or trail with a flat tire.

FR

 

[UngaWunga]

I saw a picture of some ice tires a guy locally made...
Took a M6 diameter bolt, two washers, and a nut to each knobby. The bolts poked out from the inside, washer on each side of the tire, and some sort of liner to protect the tube from the bolt heads.

Thinking something like that would be a major PITA, but would last a long time and work awesome. He also hit all the exposed bolt ends with a MIG welder to harden then and to prevent the nuts from loosening.

 

[magnetoczar]

I picked up a an 88' CR500 ice racer complete with ice tires. Needs a top end job, though, but still not bad for $800!

Dgy

 

[FR]

Killer ice bike. You gonna race it? There's a series going on in Sturbridge Mass, and there's a 2 day big deal on Lake George in NY.


FR

 

[FR]

So last night I started on the rear tire for the YZ, dismounted the tire to see if the 5/8 screws would go through the knob and penetrate into the tube. Nope. So I didn't bother with a liner for the rear, except I did use the old tube as a liner for a little extra protection.
300 screws on the front, 1 per knob. I could've got two in on the side knobs, but I'll see how this feels. 450 screws in the rear, two per knob with room to add more on some knobs.
That's a lotta screwin.

FR

 

[UngaWunga]

5/8"? Those are pretty short, aren't they?
I'm thinking for my DRZ400 that 3/4" and a used street tire as a liner would be better. Opinions? I have a few old Avon roadrace tires to cut up. I'm thinking Sawzaw to cut out the sidewalls. How tall are most knobs?

750 screws. lol. That's alot.

Next question: Be a cheap mother and use sheet metal screws or the Cold Cutters?

 

[FR]

Unga, Yeah, the 5/8 were the longest I could find locally. I don't know what the next length is for the Gold Screws, which is what the local shops carry. I don't know if Cold Cutter or Gold Series makes longer ones.
No question in my mind about going with the purpose made screws as opposed to "hardware store" screws. If you look at the Gold series, they are sharpened on the edges and coated fairly well. I reused the ones in my XR100 from last year, and most were still clean with no rust. Not bad for "ridden hard and put up wet". A bag of 1000 on ebay goes for about $60 including shipping. Don't know what 1000 sheet metal screws sells for, but I imagine about half that.
I used an old sportster type 21 inch tire on the front. A sawzall would do it if you can get your wife/girlfriend to hold the tire.
"honey, could you hold this?..."

FR

 

[magnetoczar]

The deal with the longer screws and the liner (they do make an extra thick ice tire now that doesn't need a liner) is that the tires don't spit out the screws when they're anchored deep, but beyond that, deep set screws don't bend over when they come into contact with the ice with the power on. They hit flush and you get the best bite. But hey, start with a knobby and shallow set screws to play with. You'll have a ball.

Maybe everyone knows this, but ice is a lot like dirt track, except it's a lot easier and a great place to learn how to slide. Blast down the straight and get a good head of steam, then just before you enter the corner, slide up as far as you can, hang your left leg out, and twist the bike sideways and down. The goal here is to have BOTH wheels going sideways to scrub off speed. Until you do this, you're missing the whole thing. Let it slow down until it wants to straighten itself, that is until you begin to get some bite and the bike wants to head into the corner. Now give it enough gas to keep it turning around the corner as you steer with the rear wheel. As you get 3/4 of the way through the corner, pick your left leg and put it on the peg (while you're still steering with the gas), wick it up and slide back to weight the rear wheel, blast the straight and do it again, and again, and again, ad infinitum. With a 4 stroke, there's usually enough engine braking compression to step the rear wheel out, with a 2 stroke, a brake or compression release is required to set the attitude of the bike.

Have fun! BTW, I've got to get the top end done on my CR before I do anything, but I doubt I'll race this year as my wife is getting set to "freshen" any day now and I'll be hanging with my little guy, Cole. I do hope to get some laps in our lake, though. Look for me next year.

Dgy