After winning gold in the Snowmobile Speed and Style event at the Winter X Games XII in 2008, Levi Lavallee attempted the first double backflip on a snowmobile at this year’s competition with the same name. The American snowmobile racer did manage to do two complete rotations, but because he went approximately 20 feet longer than he expected, the tough landing didn’t allowed him to ride away.
It is too bad to see this record slip away through his fingers, but considering the stunt that he achieved despite the small distance error, walking away form it means everything.
Hands up who can’t get his eyes off this piece of machinery. Yes, it isn’t your regular winter commuter, but a machine built especially to traverse
the harsh Antarctic terrain as part of the Moon Regan Trans Antarctic Expedition. Sounds serious? It certainly is as we’re talking about 3000 miles than need to be covered starting November 2009.
Designed and engineered by Lotus Engineering to run over ice and snow, the Concept Ice Vehicle (CIV) is fitted with all-round independent suspension and even features an Ice Penetrating Radar (IPR) unit which detects hidden crevasses.
The power source is a supercharged BMW 1150 engine adapted to run on E85 bio-ethanol so the motorcycle similarities are there. Furthermore, the top speed is a more than decent 84 mph and at only 360 kg, the thing can be easily pushed on ice and snow by a single man.
With a minimum of moving parts, the CIV performs excellent in severe conditions and has that cool airplane look too.
Just an idea I resonate with: “If you can run bio-fuels successfully in the most harsh and extreme environment in the world, then there is no reason why you can’t use them to get to the supermarket!” Andrew Regan
Find out more about the BMW 1150 boxer-twin-powered Concept Ice Vehicle and the expedition itself through a single click.
The pictures are courtesy of Transantarctic Expedition.
It is always good to know that together with an early spring (even though it is not the case now) you have fun alternatives such as the one shown this graciously in the video attached below. Every motorcycle addict will surely convert to snowmobiles together with the first snow flakes and if you live in a cold region there are all the chances that you’ll be already thinking that you must try this trick.
You like bikes and all the fun that comes with it and you’d like those good times won’t go away during winter. I understand you perfectly and let me tell that with these unique snowmobiles we can have a blast during winter too.
Just imagine a snowmobile offering a moto-like driving position, a single ski in the front and a narrow track (12 inches) with rounded edges. That’s right! An Off Trail" king which can perform in trails like any performance snowmobile or motorcycle. That looks like a lot of fun.
With veteran snowmobile racer Corey Davidson at the controls, the Yamaha Apex snowmobile clinched its third consecutive victory in the grueling I-500 snowmobile race in Sault Ste. Marie, MI on Saturday, February 2. The 500-mile race around the iced oval is one of the most demanding snowmobile races in the world and a huge testament to Yamaha’s four-stroke power. Besides providing a three-peat for Yamaha, the victory also gave Davidson his seventh win in this event and his 10th career (...) > More