6/17/01
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A bit of a cold snap is never too big of a deal, icy runways of hard packed snow and ice on the other hand can be downright treacherous. Voodoo Dave is no stranger to either one, living in Colorado he's had more than his fair share of romps through the frosty sludge. Like the rare breed of the rest of the snow riding bastards, he has no problem with riding through blizzards, snow drifts and the occasional floor of black ice. The part that makes this whole ordeal so unique, is that Voodoo Dave does his thrashing through the wintery terror on a shiny 1300cc Suzuki Intruder. | ||||
| Now most who dare to brave the icy roadways prefer to have a specially equipped ratbike of sorts. A minimalist machine of flat black, cheap poking-out bits and lots of crash bars. Essentially a machine that will sustain minimal damage if it ends up sliding down a mostly frictionless surface for a few blocks before slamming into a stationary object. Voodo Dave's Intruder is by all means, the opposite of that machine. With lots of fancy chrome bits, a nice paintjob and all the other expensive goods that abound on a modern cruiser, you'd think nobody in their right mind would take one out for snowmobiling. Thankfully, Dave isn't hindered by being in his right mind. Riding in a blizzard of course is nothing compared to his day job which can sometimes involve the hostile territory of some foreign civil war. Dave being armed with nothing more than a camera and a clean pair of underwear. |  |
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At first glance, this whole ordeal of romping a high torque, big bore,
heavy, and quite fancy looking cruiser through the drifts seems loopy. Cruisers seem
about as reasonable for snow riding as a fully dressed Goldwing for motocross. But
strangely enough, cruisers may be the best beast for a frozen journey. As absolutely
insane as that sounds, there is a distinct bunch of logical reasons that once understood,
make perfect sense. You see, the gobs of low end torque, tricky to control initially, are very helpful in getting through the uneven and slick snowy patches after some adjustments are made in technique Low torque bikes are usually preferred to prevent diggin ditches in the snow that the rear tire can get stuck in. Cruisers however, have the bulk of their torque at the bottom of the RMP's. This pretty much means that you've got access to the peak of the power right away, now spin-up time necessary The wide rear tire also has a much greater contact patch in these conditions. |
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The low seat height allows for easier accesses to the ground when outrigging through a corner or manually straightening the bike when it goes sideways. This is a plus because you can get more power and leverage from your leg when there is a bend in your knee, and that can mean the difference between getting back on course and going over. The upright seating also provides more of the riders weight over the rear wheel, thus making control at low speeds that much easier. Also, the large fenders keep a great deal more of the slush away from the face. One of the biggest bonus points is that the excessive weight of a cruiser can keep the bike firmly planted in it's intended path. Dave has no problems whatsoever maneuvering this huge chrome beasty around on the ice, easily clocking normal speeds. It was a sight to behold, something so out of the ordinary, so out of place, I'll never look at a cruiser the same way again....or Voodoo Dave for that matter. |
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Lucky enough, we even got some movies you can oogle at:
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