With either two or three wheels, motorcycles are not exactly the first choice when it comes to riding in the winter. For some, replacing traditional rubber with studded tires or spikes and taking on snow-covered trails or icy lakes is a glorious way to have bike fun in winter time, but this is a thing reserved only for a handful of guys. The rest will just patiently wait for the spring, some will wait until the roads are dry and clean, while others will even wait for a certain temperature. Scott Jordan of SCOTTeVEST preferred to have fun instead of sit in his car and watch the calendar… and here’s his first winter outing aboard the Polaris Slingshot.
A few days ago we published a photo of a Slingshot in the wild, on a road covered in a thin layer of snow and dirt, and with plenty of white around, wondering how does the trike fare on such surfaces. Now we have the answer, if a rather inconclusive one, but definitely a good start.
Traction control helps a lot
The first thing we learn from Scott Jordan’s video is that the traction control of the Slingshot seems to be worth the money. Even though he equipped his Slingshot with winter tires, they are not transforming the trike into a tank, so there’s still a lot to be desired in the grip department.
Still, as the Slingshot takes off, we can see that the snow being thrown into the air by the rear wheel is noticeably smaller than in the first 2-3 feet of movement. This might be a good sign that traction control kicked in and is taking care of wheel spin, even if the riding surface is far from ideal… and this brings some peace of mind, too.
Now, the vehicle can definitely be seen drifting as it rides away and this also tells us that you will not be able to ride hard in any way. As exhilarating driving the Slingshot on dry asphalt seems, snow changes everything, as we expected. This trike might become a really fun toy for drift lovers, but what’s even cooler is that you can actually enjoy a ride in winter in what looks like a safe vehicle.
That is safe if you don’t mess with the throttle the wrong way and have at least the faintest idea of what to do when you feel like the rear starts turning more than you know it should in a certain situation.
Hmm, thinking about the Slingshot, spiked tires, a frozen lake and a crazy driver… this starts to look good. Who’s going to be the first to do this?
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