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HONDA EZSNOW Revenge of the Ski Nerds
IF YOU’VE BEEN ANYWHERE NEAR SKIS. this has happened to you: You’ve climbed off the lift and commenced your struggle to make it in one piece to the relative sanctuary of the ski lodge at the bottom of the hill. And you’re doing well enough; at least not looking, in this style-conscious sport, like a complete idiot.
Then some expert-maybe under age 10-blasts past you, the combined vortex of his expertise and his passage sucking away both your confidence and the grip of your skis on the snow.
You crash. Big time. Right, you’re a ski nerd, after all. Ah, but things would be different if you could just get that expert on a motorcycle. Then who would be the hopeless nerd?
Honda, at least in Japan, provides the means for revenge: an innocent little device called the EzSnow.
easy to ride. The 11.4-inch-wide drivebelt is gently curved at the edges, and this makes it possible to tip the EzSnow into corners just like a scooter. Especially important, though, is keeping as much weight as possible on the front wheel-er, ski. Weight forward, tip in, and carve that front ski just like the skiers do. The difference is, you can apply the gas and hang the
This is based on a Honda Cub 90-known in Japan as the EZ9-with its front wheel replaced by a ski and its rear wheel replaced by a minisnowmobile-like belt.
The result is as much fun as a tubfull of geishas. The bike is remarkably
EzSnow’s little tail out in power oversteer. Let’s see Hero Skier try that.
Power comes from a 90cc, twostroke Single that develops a whacking-great 7.5 horsepower. Not really enough to hurt yourself with, especially on snow, where crashes are cushioned by the combination of your cold-weather garments and the softness of the snow itself.
Still, the EzSnow’s power is deceptive. Gas it, and it hooks up immediately and leaps forward, attaining its 30-mph top speed in no time at all. It’s a little slower uphill, especially in the steeps, but it’s a lot faster downhill, and that’s where you notice that stopping power is limited to engine braking through the bike’s automatic transmission, and to the rear drum brake, operated from the left handlebar. There’s not much suspension, either. The bike works very well on smooth slopes, and can be jumped, but bumps and landings from big jumps punish both bike and rider.
So, this little marvel has some limits, not the least of which is that Honda recommends snow depth of at least 4 inches for the EzSnow.
There are other limitations, as well: Honda says it will build just 120 EZSnows in the initial production run, and says it has no plans to offer the bike to U.S. customers.
Too bad. This is just the device with which to turn the tables on all those ski experts, and, for a change, make them eat your snow.
Yasushi Ichikawa
