Snow vehicle

Claim 1

A snow vehicle resembling a motorbike comprising: an elongated frame; front and rear rollers rotatably carried on the forward and rear ends of said frame; a flexible endless belt trained about said rollers so that a tread portion thereof drivingly engages with the ground surface; engine means mounted on said frame and operably coupled to said belt to forcibly effect belt rotation; a steering mechanism movably mounted on the forward end of said frame adapted to control the direction of vehicle travel; a seat mounted on top of said frame so as to be occupied by a driver having his legs straddled about the sides of said frame; an idler roller carried on said frame ahead of said forward roller for rotatably supporting said belt so as to provide a rearwardly and downwardly sloping ground engagement belt surface extending between said idler roller and said forward roller; driving means located midway between said front and rear rollers for connecting said engine to said belt comprising: a rotatable shaft carried by said frame between the opposing inner surfaces of said belt; means interconnecting one end of said shaft with said engine for imparting rotary movement to said shaft; a toothed sprocket gear fixed to said shaft midway between its opposite ends; gear means carried on the inner surface of said belt in mesh with said toothed gear for driving said belt in response to shaft rotation; said steering mechanism including a steering column secured to said frame; a ski positioned ahead of said belt and in axis alignment therewith; a handlebar rotatably carried in said steering column; a strut pivotally secured to said ski midway between its opposite ends and detachably engaged with said handlebar in said steering column so as to laterally rotate therewith; tensioning means carried on said frame and movably engageable with said belt to tension and take up slack therein; and shock absorbing and damping means mounting said forward and rear rollers to said frame.