Patent ID: 6880659

Claim:
A snowmobile comprising a frame assembly, a drive assembly coupled to the frame assembly and including a drive belt adapted to contact a ground surface to propel the snowmobile over the ground surface, an engine supported by the frame assembly, the engine including an engine body comprising a crankcase, a crankshaft rotatably journaled within the crankcase for rotation about a crankshaft axis, a cylinder block assembly extending in an upward direction from the crankcase, the cylinder block assembly defining at least one cylinder bore adapted to support a piston for reciprocal motion along a bore axis, and a balancer shaft rotatably coupled to the crankshaft and supported by the engine body for rotation about a balancer shaft axis, the cylinder assembly canted such that the bore axis is inclined rearwardly from a vertical axis, and the wherein balancer shaft axis is disposed above the crankshaft axis.