Why not put a snow track kit on your motorcycle?
A motorcycle track conversion is a fascinating idea. But a motorcycle is designed around two wheels — and adapting it to a ski and track changes the vehicle fundamentally.
It is a reasonable question.
We love motorcycles too, and converting a motorcycle for snow is a fascinating idea.
Several systems replace the rear wheel of a motorcycle with a track and the front wheel with a ski. For some riders and applications, that can be exactly the experience they are looking for.
So why build Alpsla from the ground up?
A motorcycle starts with motorcycle geometry
A motorcycle is originally designed around two wheels.
Its frame geometry, rider position, centre of gravity and weight distribution are developed around the relationship between those two tyre contact patches.
When the rear wheel is replaced by a long track and the front wheel by a ski, the vehicle can work very differently.
The size and position of the track contact area are fundamentally different from a motorcycle tyre.
The front ski also interacts with snow differently from a front tyre on asphalt or dirt.
Designing around the ski and track from the beginning
With Alpsla, the ski and track are not conversion components. They are the starting point of the vehicle architecture.
This allows us to consider the relationship between:
- rider position;
- centre of gravity;
- front ski position;
- rear track position;
- track contact area;
- weight distribution;
- steering geometry;
- battery position;
- motor position.
The goal is to create a balanced snow vehicle rather than adapt an existing road or off-road motorcycle architecture.
It is not about saying that conversion kits are bad
They are simply a different solution.
A motorcycle track conversion allows someone to transform a motorcycle they may already own into a specialised winter machine.
Alpsla starts from the opposite direction.
We asked:
If we designed the entire vehicle specifically for snow, but wanted to preserve some of the feeling people love about motorcycles, where should the ski, track, rider, motor and battery actually be?
That question led to a purpose-built architecture.
Alpsla is not a motorcycle converted for snow. It is a snow vehicle designed to preserve the feeling we love about motorcycles. (Read more about that feeling in motorcycle feeling on snow, and how the result compares with a conventional snowmobile.)
Considering Alpsla for your application?
Tell us where you want to use it, or explore the technical specifications and current pre-order offer.