Heavy bikes in and out of sand?

[CBobR]

Hi all,

I've read that when on soft sand, you have to go fast to stay on top. But what is a good technique to get a heavy bike going again after you have to stop?

After the first time the bike sank trying to restart, I began to run beside the bike and jump on to prevent bogging till I was up to speed. But I can see a situation for example if the bike stopped in a valley between dunes that I would be in trouble.

Thanks

[Firefight]

what sort of tyres are you running and what pressure are you running in the back tyre ?

F/F

[merv]

You gotta hook as high a gear as you can as quick as you can and get it biting not just digging a hole. Low tyre pressure helps but make sure you got security clamps holding your bead to the rim.

[laRIKin]

That sand looks real soft and there is FA you can do.
If the sand is real soft and the bike is heavy you are F@%*ed.

I had a trials bike that I could ride across the beach easy and could not get it stuck.
But know matter what I tried my XT500 got stuck.

I think it's a matter of the size of the contact patch V the weight of the bike.
Letting air will help, but there comes a point that the tire is just not wide enough to support the weight of the bike and rider.

[bugjuice]

wouldn't lower tyre pressure and light/slipping the clutch help...?

[NordieBoy]

Sand paddles help too

[CBobR]

Thanks for the replies all, I guess I need to be a bit more cautious untill I have the skills to consistantly ride dune top to dune top. (did anyone that did the Kaipara 200 feel their sand riding improved? I may be on the next one)

In the pic I was on worn out TKC80s at about 25psi. I want to ride africa one day so all my little trips are learning by trial and error .

edit:*goes off to investigate rim locks*, thanks for the tip

[Ixion]

Yeah, but they tend to be a bit hairy on seal!

Best thing I ever found with soft sand and big bike was to keep out of it. Or hit it very fast and try to blast through on sheer speed. If you dig a hole, getting some sea water and pouring on the sand will firm it up a bit, maybe enough to get out of the hole

EDIT 25psi is too high for sand. Maybe 10psi. With rim locks. And leaning over and weaving when going through it helps a bit too. YMMV.

[Motu]

A heavy bike in soft sand is just plain hard work.You have to get that tyre spinning to get under way - hook 2nd,rev it and dump the clutch,and push.It'll start moving and get up on the sand and you'll get underway.A good knob might just dig a big hole,a crap tyre can be better in sand.You have to get the motor up on it's powerband and keep it there,spin that back wheel...bog out and you'll sink again.I have more problems with the front end in soft sand with a heavy bike,just no directional stability,I wobble all over the place and finaly crash.

[merv]

There is another moral to this story and that is if you are like me you won't ride a heavy bike in the first place.

[Crisis management]

My limited experience (very limited!) with DR650 was that momentum was the best tool, high gear and keep moving.... At any sort of high speed terror would take over and gravity seemed to win. Having said that, a lot of people ride a lot faster than me, so practice must help.
The Kaipara 200 did not include a lot of soft sand just the entrance and exit to the beach, the beach itself was hard packed and fast. It was my first off road experience and I survived (crashed in a gorse bush, twice in mud puddles, once on the gravel but not on the beach!) so I would recommend it! Character building it was, I'll look for you next year?

[clint640]

Dunno about how to get going again from stuck, but I found sand riding a lot easier after someone told me to keep my weight back, power on & carry plenty of revs.

Cheers
Clint

[Flyingpony]

I've read that when on soft sand, you have to go fast to stay on top. But what is a good technique to get a heavy bike going again after you have to stop?

As others have said, 2nd gear and keep it high in the RPM band while walking beside it - a ploughman special. This can take 5-10 minutes so the engine will get hot.

Then there's quick sand ... Have hit that stuff before in river beds and gone from forty to zero extremely quickly with the bike bogged such it's resting on it's exhaust pipe protection shield (front/rear wheel both sunk in) - sank beyond my ankles standing on that stuff too. Was fun to get it all out ... Moral: dark sand doesn't always mean firm and can suddenly change solidness without any colour alteration

Edit: The above were done with my dirt bike pre-FXR150 ownership. Actually, don't think the FXR has even ridden on grass ...

[Ixion]

Be watchful when riding through wet sand toward a stream. The fresh water can run under the sand causing the quicksand effect you speak off. I once got my Honda bogged as deep as the cylinder head. With the tide coming in! It sank from wheel rim deep to crankcase deep within about a yard, and efforts to extrivate it bogged it deeper very quickly. I was thigh deep standing beside it.

By good fortune there were several sheets of old corrogated iron on the foreshore. With the aid of a friend, we frantically scooped sand from one side of the bike then tipped the bike sideways onto a sheet of iron. The iron was broad enough not to sink. Then hauled the iron back a few yards and righted the bike and rode off. It was a close call.

[Motu]

And beware of sand that is actualy bottomless stinky blue mud.I've mentioned it on here before - but once I lauched my Rickman full song in 2nd off a bank and in a powerstand down the beach....I was half way to the water before it stopped dead.There was no one for miles and it was one hell of a mission to drag it out on it's side.

I got my KT250 in a similar way - some clowns tried to ride it across a bay when the tide was out.....they told me where I could pick it up the next day,been through a couple of tides.