US 6,470,987 B1Granted

Motorcycle ski

OwnerBryon Friendinventor

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Abstract

A ski that attaches to the front of a motorcycle. The ski is designed to pivot, allowing it to be used automatically when needed to keep the front tire from sinking. Unlike other skis, this ski does not interfere with normal operations of the motorcycle. The ski is easily attached to the motorcycle by bolting it to the front fork of the motorcycle. Normally, the front of the ski is angled upward to prevent the ski from digging into snow or sand. In soft ground conditions, the ski pivots down. This pivoting action maintains a constant pressure on the back of the ski that lifts the front tire as it moves up and down in different densities of ground or snow. A pair of springs helps to maintain the balance of forces on the ski as it travels over varied terrain. The springs also return the ski in the elevated “attack” position when the motorcycle returns to solid ground.

Claims8

Dependent claims

A ski for light-weight wheeled vehicles comprising:

a) a U-shaped ski member, having a front piece and a pair of oppositely disposed sides having an open channel therebetween;
b) wherein each of said pair of oppositely disposed sides has a universal-mounting bracket installed thereon, and further wherein said mounting bracket includes:
i) a sliding guide, attached to said ski;
ii) a load bearing brace, installed on top of the sliding guide;
iii) an adjuster bolt, adjustably installed in said load bearing brace;
iv) a means for retaining said adjuster bolt in a desired position;
v) a bumper, fixedly attached to the top of said adjuster bolt to fit said adjuster bolt against the bottom of a vehicle fork;
and
vi) a “C” channel bracket, operably attached to said load bearing brace to attach said ski to a vehicle's fork;
c) a means for holding said U-shaped ski member in an upward angled position with respect to a level surface below a wheel of a vehicle, whereby said means for holding has a resistance;
and
d) a means for pivoting said U-shaped ski member from said upward angled position to a horizontal position when said resistance of said means for holding is overcome by a pressure on said U-shaped ski member.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.