‘22 Ruffian Mtn Lite: ride & review. Part 1

First ride of the ‘22-‘23 season on my snowbike.

[@portnuefflyer]

I've been riding the heck out of my Ruffian SEND-E electric snowbike the last few weeks. We have a lot of snow this year in the Idaho mountains, and it has not disappointed! About rode off a cornice yesterday, a 20' drop, fun stuff..., the range is better than expected, climbing over 3,000' over a couple hour ride, used about half the battery. All my riding is either up or down hill, uphill at the start, down coming back, making the range a non issue, just like my e mountain bikes. Riding deep powder is no problem, but like any powder when it gets a base underneath it takes less power. I carry a ropecomalong, shovel, and snowshoes all the time, after getting stuck once and not having them. I crossed a creek the other day!

[@thatalaskaguy]

I’m planning to get some more snowbike videos up but have been having to do some wrenching before I can. My brother is pretty curious about the SEND-E. It’s super cool you are having a great experience with it!

[@ricochetey]

Wow thats awesome I'd be out riding it too if we could ever get any snow here in MN

[@ricochetey]

We've had 70 degree weather here lately

[@thatalaskaguy]

@@ricochetey 70°F dang! It’s just below freezing here and we’ve got snow in the forecast. Hopefully your weather changes soon. So far this has started off as the best November we’ve had in almost a decade. I’m hoping that trend continues.

[@ricochetey]

@@thatalaskaguy I here ya, back in 91 we had the Halloween snow storm and had 30inches dumped on the twin cities. So this summer weather is a bit off putting to say the least

[@infinion3]

does it feel the front will give out from underneath? i dont see anywhere mention of heated grips, that would be important feature also. its carbeurated right?

[@thatalaskaguy]

I’m honestly amazed at how well planted the front end is. It feels like it has a ton of weight on the front compared to a dirt bike but I don’t know how it compares to other snowbikes? I’ve not ridden any others so I can’t provide an informed opinion. Perhaps they all feel that way? I was very impressed that I’ve never lost the front end crossing icy roads and in hard frozen conditions. I think it was in this video where I noticed it slide out on pavement on the bike path. The bike is carbureted and would benefit from an airbox of some type. I believe the new ones come with a carb heater system but I don’t have that installed on mine. No hotgrips, at least on mine. I don’t know if the new models have them? A pair of fatbike pogies would be an easy way to keep a guys hands warm. But, to be honest I’ve not really noticed my hands getting cold probably because you don’t ride at very high speeds and are more active riding it than on a regular snowmachine. I’ve not felt the need to install hotgrips but I’m in Valdez next to the ocean so our temps aren’t super cold like the interior.

[@portnuefflyer]

I tell people I wanted a "purpose built" snow bike, not a add on for a dirt bike. I don't have or want a dirt bike, I do have a Sur Ron though, and it's performance sold me on the SEND-E, two weeks to go if Derek meets the 5 week after ordering estimate! Sounded like he had everything on hand, and his battery supplier is building mine up now.

[@thatalaskaguy]

That’s great! I was the same way, I didn’t want a dirt bike conversion, plus I wanted to be able to touch the ground. I mainly got one for riding around in the tight woods, exploring and playing on small hills. Now I just need snow as the rain melted a lot of what we had and made everything icy.

[@ephenj]

Any Chance can you do a video of taking the side cover off the CVT, Super curious how they get the daytona 212 engine to work with it. Those engines are really really good engines they make some steam.

[@thatalaskaguy]

Yes, one my oil cooler comes in I can do a video like that. Powerwise it’s kind of like a 300 Ski-doo Freestyle. It’s punchy off the low end but in bigger hills you find its limits pretty quick. I saw he came out with a different helix that should help keep the motor in its powerband.

[@skippythetownie3123]

How much for one of these?

[@thatalaskaguy]

Check the Ruffian website as he sometimes has demo models on sale or is running some kind of promotion.

[@alaskashredder6534]

I live in Alaska I am 16 should I get one of these bike haw much was it

[@thatalaskaguy]

I bought it last spring and they were doing free shipping to Anchorage. They may still be offering that? Right now their website has them listed for $8,500. Should you get one? It depends on where you are planning to ride it and what you are expecting out of it? I think it’s fun to ride but I don’t yet have much experience on it.

[@alaskashredder6534]

@@thatalaskaguy does it have gears you shift to is it just a centrifugal clutch

[@thatalaskaguy]

@@alaskashredder6534 no gears, it’s a CVT just like a snowmachine. I’ve not had any belt issues with it. One of the reasons I bought it was for the CVT. I didn’t want to deal with stalling, shifting or trying to find the shifter in winter boots.

[@alaskashredder6534]

@@thatalaskaguy How does it do in Deeper powder I was thinking about using it for ice fishing and riding in Petersville

[@thatalaskaguy]

@@alaskashredder6534 unfortunately I’ve not yet ridden it in deep enough snow that’d get me stuck. Last week I was riding in a ditch with pretty deep snow that was partially set up on one side where the plow bladed it in and the bike was getting though, but you could tell it was working pretty hard. Ruffian sent my me a lower gear I need to install which will help keep the motor in its powerband when climbing hills and when riding in rotten or deep snow. Last May I had it up in the mountains and there were pockets of rotten snow and the bike was trenching pretty good but it didn’t get stuck. I honestly don’t know how it compares to a snowmachine in the same conditions but I’ll do a video comparison later this winter as I’m really curious. I want to be able to say the Ruffian is as capable as _____ machine with _____ engine with ______ track length. Right now I’m not sure? For ice fishing it’d work just fine. But I believe P-Ville gets deep, dry bottomless powder like Eureka, right? I don’t know if it’d float okay or just chainsaw down a lot and you’d be more riding though the snow. All that said I’ve been impressed with it so far but just don’t have enough time on it in different snow conditions to say things for sure.

[@powdertrax9742]

80mph gusts, get out of the trees

[@thatalaskaguy]

The forest area I was riding in is partially sheltered from the highest wind gusts by the surrounding mountains and hills.