Not sure about how the intake works on your Bearcat, however snogos can get carb ice like an airplane does. Even tho the temp is above freezing, the temp in the venturi of the carb is below freezing. Warm day, breaking trail, likely lots of moisture in the air going in to the carbs. That moisture freezes and the air intake of the carb gets smaller and smaller and the machine runs richer and richer. Pretty soon it's so rich the motor bogs down. When you stop, the heat of the engine may sink in and partially or completely melt the ice in the carb. This is not a FUEL problem, it is an intake problem.
Perhaps when you stopped, the carbs warmed up and the ice melted and you were able to restart and continue. On occasion I have carried a thermos of hot water to poor on the carbs to help them warm up.
Back in the 80s the Yamaha 340 enticers were terrible about this happening. The intake in the front of the hood had the air going over the exhaust. Any friesh snow would spray up from the skiis and go into the hood, melt to vapor on the exhaust, and then that moist air would choke down the carb pretty quick. I had an enticer and I put a burlap bag over the front to minimize the snow going in the front.
mt

Sounds like changing the fuel filter would be a good ( and cheap ) idea . On a horizontal fuel filter the sediments start to build from the bottom of the filter and eventually cover the draw line after a long ride. When you stop and shut down the machine the sediment settled back down and will run again . These run times will become shorter and shorter ! You may have gotten a dirty batch of gas and it may take a few filters to clear this up !

Good luck!

Lots of good info here thanks guys. martentrapper I think you're on to something there. I remember the old Yamahas having that problem. I should have thought of that, Im betting thats what it was. I remember smelling a lot of smoke like it was running really rich....

The way they designed the hoods on the Bearcats is about as stupid as it gets and a lot of snow does get in.

I remember exactly what you are describing Mike. I have sat with a lighter directed into the carbs to melt ice !!

Had a similar thing happen on an outboard in a snow storm !

I have also experimented with putting some sort of cloth over the rubber hose of the bravo intake. Bravos are similar to old enticers with exhaust in front and air going over the exhaust.
Mostly our cold dry air is not conducive to carb ice but in the right conditions it can be a problem.
mt

Dave
I check all of my fuel tanks for water using Kolor Kut. I have a 1/4" hardwood dowel and put a dab of Color Kut on the end of the dowel put it in the tank and the stuff turns red you have water in your tank. Make sure you test the tank by inclining the tank so you check the deep end of the fuel.

Do you have snow screens on all the vents on your Bearcat. That will HELP keeping the snow out from under the cowling.

X2

I've never worked on a bearcat so not sure about the configuration. Back in the day's when Elan's were everywhere they were designed with the fuel line running between the motor mounts under the crankcase, and not so very far away from the muffler. On warm days, pulling a load in wet snow, it would get hot enough under the hood to cause the gas in the fuel line to boil, which creates a vapor lock in the line, and the engine would start bogging out. In those conditions we would jerk the cowling off and put it on the sled and run her on in. Just one more possibility to check out.

I've never heard of Kolor Kut but it sounds like a great idea. I will find some. I do have snow screens, but one is ripped pretty good. I put some J cloth over it though.

Spek I actually noticed the main fuel line does run under the crankcase. Im not sure why since the fuel line comes out of the tank just above the carbs. Something to check for sure, thanks.