Alpina snowmobile
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[edit] Alpina Snowmobiles
Alpina Snowmobiles are manufactured in Italy by Alpina s.r.l. located in Vicenza. Alpina currently is the only manufacturer in the world building a dual tracked snowmobile ( Bombardier has discontinued manufacturing its dual track model, the Elite, last offered in 2005). Alpina s.r.l. is a manufacturer of various on-snow implements and has been building dual track snowmobiles since 1995.
[edit] Models
Alpina manufactures one basic dual track snowmobile design. In 2002 the Sherpa was introduced and is the model name for the four-stroke machine. Prior to introducing the Sherpa, Alpina offered a 2-stroke series designated the Superclass. The four-stroke Sherpa is currently the top machine in production.
[edit] Specifications
The Sherpa and Superclass series shared the same basic dual track platform, twin 20" x 156" (500mm x 3970mm) tracks with dual skis up front.
Power for the Sherpa is supplied by a Peugeot in-line four cylinder gasoline automotive engine. Superclass power is provided by a Hirth 2-stroke gasoline engine, popular in powering ultra-light aircraft applications.
[edit] Design Features
It has been said of the Sherpa that it will "do everything except go fast". The Sherpa is designed as a working snowmobile to perform such tasks as carrying or pulling lots of weight. Common uses include carrying supplies, pulling cargo sleds, pulling trail grooming implements, carrying several passengers, and negotiating deep snow.
Engine and transmission combination are designed to deliver optimum power to pull or carry large loads while top-end speeds are kept below 45 mph. The large footprint of the dual tracks and dual skis allows the Sherpa to "float" on top of deep snow and not sink in and get stuck.
