Watch a Yamaha R1 Snow Bike Skim Across a Lake, Towing a Skier

It took four attempts to get this to work, and I think that's the only reason the Cboys let this machine live.

Jul 20, 2024 at 10:21am ET

2 min read

If you've watched the Cboys TV YouTube channel for long enough, you know the lads rarely fail. As ludicrous as their video titles sound, like making a Harley-Davidson snow bike or wheelieing a sandrail on ice, you already know that somehow the guys are going to make it work.

But there's one thing they hadn't been able to conquer—hooking up snow tracks to a motorcycle and getting it to run on water. When you read that aloud, it doesn't sound like much of a failure but more like an impossible task. 

According to Ben, the gang has tried to "water skip a snow bike" five times, with the first attempt taking place in 2019. At first, they tried using dirt bikes that had legitimate snow bike conversion kits, and then they tried on a Yamaha R6, which looked promising until the engine seemingly did mid-run. This time, they didn't leave anything on the table and chose a Yamaha R1 that had already dominated on powder in a previous video.

To give themselves the best chance, the lads shaved the paddles down from three inches to around 1.5 inches. This should, in theory, help the bike push through the water while staying on top of the surface instead of acting like a giant 182-horsepower water scoop. 

Before hitting open water, the lads took the R1 to the pond they have on the property. I hadn't felt tension like this from a Cboys video in ages. This is a challenge that had bested the guys time and time again, and now they're throwing the kitchen sink at it.

Evan launched it, and I wouldn't say it was smooth sailing, but it was sailing. Mission complete, well, part one. The next day, the lads were out on open water, where the R1 snow bike, or "WaveR1nner" as I like to call it, looked even more in its element. But as loyal Cboys fans know, the lads tend to push things until they break. 

The next day the WaveR1nner was back, but this time, it had to tow Ben who'd be skiing behind it. Again, the machine didn't miss a beat and for the first time in a long time, a crazy contraption lived through a Cboys video.

Given the opportunity, would you be tempted to give the R1 snow bike a go on water? Let us know in the comments.

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