Anyone use snowmobile motors?

K

krazy4

New Member
#1
#1
I'm gonna be building a drag bike within the next year. I have limited funding and love 2 strokes, so I thought about using a snowmobile motor.

Probably use a 440cc, which seem plentiful on ebay. I want the bike to have around 40-50hp which seems pretty easy with a 440cc 2 stroke.


Anyone use a snowmobile motor before?
 
H

hoppy

New Member
#3
#3
shouldnt be a problem as long as its jetted right.big question is how do you plan on mounting such a big motor into a mini? get a fan motor also as a free-air will just run to hot. could be done as its been done in go carts. id like to see how you plan on doing this.......440 motors are not that small. Id think its a bit big for a mini bike.
 
K

krazy4

New Member
#5
#5
novanick63 said:
[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]YouTube - Rick out for a spin.[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]
Click to expand...
That thing is pretty cool.
Any more info on it? Size of the motor, running a v-belt?
hoppy said:
shouldnt be a problem as long as its jetted right.big question is how do you plan on mounting such a big motor into a mini? get a fan motor also as a free-air will just run to hot. could be done as its been done in go carts. id like to see how you plan on doing this.......440 motors are not that small. Id think its a bit big for a mini bike.
Click to expand...
It will be mounted on a custom frame. I hope the fan will keep it cool. Even the fan motor might run hot though. I still have to figure that out.
 
M

motofast

New Member
#7
#7
snowmotor

i have a sachs 275cc on a minibike with a disc brake and slick tire. snowmobile secondary. 16 horse, very fast and fun!
 
Yellowhand

Yellowhand

#8
#8
I have two engines stowed away, waiting for the time to build the bikes...an evinrude 440cc sled engine and torque converter setup, and a Kawasaki 175cc 2-stroke dirt bike engine...both should haul ass in a minibike, but the 'rude will probably need a wheelie bar and a super-stretch frame.
 
minibikedude

minibikedude

Active Member
#9
#9
On one of the vintage snowmobile sites, And I can't find right now, There is some pictures of a Polaris drag bike that was made back in the 70's, But it was bigger than what we call minibikes on here. It looked cool, It had the complete sled engine and TAV on it.
 
K

krazy4

New Member
#10
#10
motofast said:
i have a sachs 275cc on a minibike with a disc brake and slick tire. snowmobile secondary. 16 horse, very fast and fun!
Click to expand...
Nice, I bet that thing is fun!
Yellowhand said:
I have two engines stowed away, waiting for the time to build the bikes...an evinrude 440cc sled engine and torque converter setup, and a Kawasaki 175cc 2-stroke dirt bike engine...both should haul ass in a minibike, but the 'rude will probably need a wheelie bar and a super-stretch frame.
Click to expand...
The 440 will haul! :thumbsup:
minibikedude said:
On one of the vintage snowmobile sites, And I can't find right now, There is some pictures of a Polaris drag bike that was made back in the 70's, But it was bigger than what we call minibikes on here. It looked cool, It had the complete sled engine and TAV on it.
Click to expand...
That's cool. I'd like to see that thing.
 
M

motofast

New Member
#11
#11
snowmobile engine

yea im in mn, that ride is in the storage shed about 3 ft of snow on ground. i will have to get pics up when spring rolls around.
 
H

hoppy

New Member
#13
#13
Those 634 Hirths are honkers!! not only that it is a pretty desireable motor in the vintage sled world. Getting harder and harder to find parts for the Hirths.
Put that thing in a mini and if setup correctly.....hang on.
 
The Restore Kid

The Restore Kid

New Member
#14
#14
There used to be a guy on craigslist with a 1/2 of them he built and had for sale.. They were kinda high dollar.. 1,200 for a Bonanza with a CCW 440 twin?? :eek:ut: It looked pretty nice but cumbersome.. :laugh: Not much room for your feet, but it was in there..
 
J72

J72

Banned
#15
#15
Ive kicked around the idea of a half engine 220cc or170cc, from what I have seen you could take a right mag side crank half and a pto left side crank half and have the correct pto output shaft stub. Most arctic cats and polaris sleds use the same bearings/seals through the entire crank assembly. Cutting the cases and the mount would be the most challenging portion of the venture. Why would it not work?
 
Oldsalt

Oldsalt

Well-Known Member
#17
#17
I'm not at all convinced a non-forced air cooled engine would overheat. The pic is a arctic cat that was given too me that has a twin 2-stroke, stock without a fan. It would be fine for the throttle opening/durations that could be expected on a minibike. [Thermo-loading is in direct proportion to throttle opening]. A more worthwhile subject to be worrying about would be routing the pipes. Not useing the stock pipes would cause all sorts of tuning problems that are best avoided. To dramatically narrow the engine I intend on eliminating the stock vari-speed sheave and shorten the shaft and mount a sprocket that would drive a jack shaft that incorporated the clutch. As yellowhand mentioned use of a stretched frame allows the engine to be cleared by the rider's legs, and able to get to foot pegs, and gets the rider's weight further forward. Yesterday a guy gave me the pictured Odyssey engine from a wrecked machine. Again it would be a candidate for shortening the output shaft and using a thin sprocket to get rid of the excess width. I saw an Odyessy motor in what probably was a CAT frame in Stockton CA last week. It had an after-market sunburst head and looked like it would be a hand full.
 
Oldschool

Oldschool

New Member
#18
#18
Yellowhand said:
I have two engines stowed away, waiting for the time to build the bikes...an evinrude 440cc sled engine and torque converter setup,
Click to expand...
Is that an aposed twin 437cc OMC engine?
OH that engine and I have had some good times together ( dragging a fat ass ghost across a frozen lake or two )
Thats a real fine engine for this because its narrow. But parts are another problem don't break it...

know where there are a lot of parts and complete New engines, burried under several feet of dirt when the dozers came and shoved the OMC sled plants an d its contents into a hole...

BAD heartbreaking things it was.....
 
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Oldsalt

Oldsalt

Well-Known Member
#19
#19
In an previous post I attached a pic of an Arctic Cat engine still in the sled. Well, it is still in the sled. Started pulling it out today. The attached picture shows how wide the engine is. The only answer is to narrow it by cutting down the out-put shaft and mounting a sprocket that drives a jack shaft which has a clutch on it. The rope start/ignition side also sticks out like a huge wart. The rope starter could be located on the jack shaft which takes some of the width off. But to do it right the entire ignition and alternator needs to be thrown away and an HTD belt [toothed belt] used to drive a two cylinder Wico or FM magneto. I have a Wico that would work, they are pretty common and easy to come by. Another plan, that would include carrying a little battery, is to provide points, condenser and coil. With those modifications the engine would easily fit in a somewhat stretched minibike frame. But for now I am just trying to get the engine on the shelf.

The engine is a 70mm bore X 65mm stroke by Suzuki. Displaces 500 cc. It runs good so I think it is worth the effort to get it out an saved back for when I have more time.
 
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TeamCheap

TeamCheap

New Member
#20
#20
So using a triple would be out of the question........unless.


Unless it is put lengthwise in the frame, still using the CVT and coming off the driven into a shaft drive rear end off of a motorcycle.
 
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