any tips on desert riding- desert novice

[basilmadness]

can u guy give me any help or tips?

[albertaguy]

can u guy give me any help or tips?

I just hit the sand dunes for the first time this year, did two trips, 7 days in all. We were running paddle tires but it's probably very similar with nobbies. Let me tell you all the tips no one bothered to tell me. First the answer to every question is MORE GAS. Jumping in the dunes you hold the throttle right through the lip of the take off and FOR SURE be on the gas when you land. Keep the front end lite and really power through the corners. On the flats you steer with your body kind of like riding a wave runner, once the back tire gets outside a bit and the bikes laying down get on the gas even more and you will be able to turn quite low and fast on big flat sweepers. Watch out for drop offs! A tinted pair of goggles in a colour that locals tell you works good can be a life saver, literally (I use blue). It can be very difficult to see changes in contour on sand at certain times of the day. Get behind someone who knows the area and is a good rider and play follow the leader. If you can't feel the guys sand a little in your face your too far back. Have fun and be meticulous in your maintenance as sand has a way of getting into everything.

[basilmadness]

ok thanks

[Britincali]

As stated above any time you are in deep sand gas is your friend, in the beginning its hard as the front shakes voilently and everything in your head is screaming "hit the brakes!!!" but thats the worst thing to do, just sit back and pin it and the shakes will go away. Stay OFF the front brake.

I used to hate sand but now its my favorte type of riding!

Edit :- I dont know what your desert is like but here in mojave you have to be very watchful of dropoffs, mineshafts, cactai and holes.

If you are riding in an are that has been mined watch out for mounds of dirt that look out of place, it usually means there is a very deep hole somewhere in the vacinity.

Bring water (camelback), some basic tools, and make sure you have enough gas. It sucks getting stuck in the middle of no-where because you boiled over or ran out of fuel.

[Birdy426]

Keep fresh tires with big knobs (you don't want paddles for your neck of the woods unless you are only riding in the blow sand areeas) and air them down a bit. You don't have many rocks to worry about.

Get, and learn to use a GPS, and perhaps a back up compas and maps as well. As rapidly as the dune fields change there, situational awareness is key to survival.

Keep your weight back, your butt off the seat, don't fight the front end, and, as stated above, keep on the gas!

Keep your air filter serviced, use a filter skin, and use a filter on your crank case vent or run the vent line up to the air box. The blow sand over there will get into your engine and create some pretty costly damage!

[fud]

Stay off sand dunes at first and learn to ride whoops and trails. Get use to reacting to things like bushes, s turns and rocks. Keep a good steady pace without riding over your head. Brake before whoops not during otherwise the back end could get away from you. Stay back on the bike at high speed and always be in attack position because things come up fast. If you hit a section too fast be sure to grip your knees on the tank and hold on. Try to keep the front tire light off the ground if your in a fast and straight section. Stay out of peoples dust and watch out for the dreaded "Gotcha" that could ruin your weekend.

Good Luck!

[sandman3]

When we ride in Glamis I make it a point to turn at the top of each dune and get a peek at the top, from there I can position myself for the ride down. I have floped hard over the top.s and nosed dived into witch eyes, it sucks. As far as riding position goes I stay as far back on the seat as possible and stay hard on the gas, I hardly ever use the brakes at all on the big 4 strokes. Be carful at noon time, with the sun straight up it is easy to confuse the terrain. Here;s a trick that has worked well for me in the past, buy a set of fine silk stockings or a outerware and close up the air box as best you can, use some grip wire to hold it to those intakes in your side covers. Check your air filter every day and after any crashes and big jumps, last year I landed flat on a big jump, I made nothing of it and kept riding all day, later that night when I pulled the seat off I found the air filter and housing seperated from the air box.Good luck and have a blast.

[muffinman]

more throttle and steer off the back wheel a steering damper also makes it alot easier:ride: only wish i had one:crazy:

[temporarily_locked]

"desert" riding is a bit general. Get more specific, and the answers will help you more.

My guess is as your first learning, the biggest thing to tackle will be turning in sand. I ride right up against the tank, and keep the front wheel weighted to prevent plowing or wash outs. Sand is different then hard pack, especially berms. In hard pack, you hit the breaks as you enter the corner, then gas out. In sand, you let off the gas slightly (but not all the way) as you enter the corner, and before you get to the apex, back on the gas, all they way out. It's something that comes with practice, you won't be able to do it well first try. I have been off the bike for 7 months with the injury in my avatar, and this morning was my first day back, i can still corner pretty good.

the surround part was all hard packed, that was a blown sand corner, and with out a paddle

[aloha1]

do not hit pucker bushes at full speed. It hurts when you land

[off_road_4_me]

sage brush hurt when you hit them, best advice is to stay alert, a tiny pot hole can ruin your day.

[fifibran]

I live in Northern Nevada. It is considered desert here. Hard packed dirt, sand dunes, sandy areas... and other stuff as well. I have a DRZ supermoto bike because I ride mostly on the street. I do enjoy the occasional trail ride. Yesterday I hit the trails... when I got to some sandy areas, my bike was really squirly. I don't mind the rear sliding around a little, but the front end sliding all around scares me. The trail had lots of "suprises" so I didn't want to go too fast. The faster I went, the more stable the bike seemed, and the more concerned I was for what lay ahead. Would a steering damper help with the front end sliding around, are slow speeds just unacceptable in soft sand, or do I just have absolutely no business being there with street tires? Thanks in advance for your ideas. B:excuseme:

[off_road_4_me]

sand is hammer down territory.

but you do need a set of knobbies.

[albertaguy]

It looks like from your avatar you may be riding a yzf450. If so for sure do something to prevent sand from going up your breather hose as was already mentioned. Rerouting it into the air box is good but there can be a lot of sand in there too. I have a small pvc valve filter on the end of mine inside the air box. There only a couple of dollars at an auto parts store (late 70's, early 80's fords work good) but even a piece of nylon doubled up an ducttaped over the end would keep sand out. Also get Outerwears prefilter, they work awsome, you run them dry and the sand just falls off, keeps filter super clean. The filter skins you run oiled and they cake up with sand very quickly.

[Jaynen]

Breather hose is the vent hose on the tank? Or is it one coming off the carb? I am not sure where mine is.

[PigPenKLX450]

ok so pretty much u just got to get a feel for ur bike hard pack is easy as pie as for the sand it takes some time to get used to it but once u do ur gonna love it. Sand is so much more forgiving on both u and ur bike. First off like everyone else said gas is ur friend. the more gas the better just follow the rule when in doubt gas it out. if you feel like ur front end is gonna dig in or ur getting squirrly and gonna fall just give it more gas its not natural thing to do at first but trust me it works. I have come so close to falling in sand and then I gassed it and my bike straightened out and I didnt fall. Second which I didnt see anyone say is if u can try standing up while in the sand it centers ur weight and the bars shake alot less. 3rd just have fun bro. dont be too tense or grip the bars tooo hard just have a nice relaxed grip. as much advice as anyone can give u. Its still kind of up to you and getting a feel for ur bike and what urs and the bikes limits are. I hope that this advice will help

[PigPenKLX450]

I live in Northern Nevada. It is considered desert here. Hard packed dirt, sand dunes, sandy areas... and other stuff as well. I have a DRZ supermoto bike because I ride mostly on the street. I do enjoy the occasional trail ride. Yesterday I hit the trails... when I got to some sandy areas, my bike was really squirly. I don't mind the rear sliding around a little, but the front end sliding all around scares me. The trail had lots of "suprises" so I didn't want to go too fast. The faster I went, the more stable the bike seemed, and the more concerned I was for what lay ahead. Would a steering damper help with the front end sliding around, are slow speeds just unacceptable in soft sand, or do I just have absolutely no business being there with street tires? Thanks in advance for your ideas. B:excuseme:

fifibran,

I have heard that a steering dampner will help a lil but I have been riding for all my life and I have never used one on my dirt bike ever. U just have to get used to the sand I hated the sand at first and wouldnt ride in it because i was always so squirrly but now I love the sand and cant get enough of it. Slow speeds are bad in sand u will feel really squirrly U have to keep the speed up. if u need to slow down shift ur weight to the back of the bike so the front tire is lighter and floats more on the sand.. follow the rule when it doubt gas it out. Trust me I tought my lil 13 yr old cousin and my older 30 yrs old uncle to ride in sand. it takes some getting used to and getting ur mind to ignore the front end shaking. if u feel like ur gonna fall give it gas and u will straighten up. also dont have a hard grip on the bars cuz ur hands are gonna hurt. see in the sand ur front tire is plowing thru and its gonna shake or feel like its going where it wants to at slow speeds and U just have to let it. but once u gain the confidence ur gonna go faster and ur front tire is gonna float on the sand and Trust me once u get used to it ur gonna love it. oh one last thing try standing up while riding the sand it will center ur weight and the bars will shake less. ?

[dyloor]

ok so pretty much u just got to get a feel for ur bike hard pack is easy as pie as for the sand it takes some time to get used to it but once u do ur gonna love it. Sand is so much more forgiving on both u and ur bike. First off like everyone else said gas is ur friend. the more gas the better just follow the rule when in doubt gas it out. if you feel like ur front end is gonna dig in or ur getting squirrly and gonna fall just give it more gas its not natural thing to do at first but trust me it works. I have come so close to falling in sand and then I gassed it and my bike straightened out and I didnt fall. Second which I didnt see anyone say is if u can try standing up while in the sand it centers ur weight and the bars shake alot less. 3rd just have fun bro. dont be too tense or grip the bars tooo hard just have a nice relaxed grip. as much advice as anyone can give u. Its still kind of up to you and getting a feel for ur bike and what urs and the bikes limits are. I hope that this advice will help

In sand keep your butt on the back of your seat to get traction and allow the front wheel to float across the top, if it digs in you're in trouble.

[Dirtysnow]

always look out for other riders because theres no marked direction of travel. its part of what makes it so fun, but also makes it dangerous. a lot of people get a false sense of "freedom" and start thinking they are the only ones out there which makes it seem ok to go full throttle everywhere. thats definately not the case. know when its ok to open it up and know when to shut it down.

[Suikerland]

More stuff here: https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=574174

Everything following is about soft sand.... I'm no expert, this is just stuff I've picked up in a short time by riding with people who know better than me.

Like people have said, stay loose on the bike - let the bike jump around and weave around beneath you. It will keep direction. It feels awful at first, just gotta get used to it. Look further ahead than usual - find a line and guide the bike there - forget about micro-steering. First reaction on soft sand is, "this feels all wrong". Just keep doing it, it becomes natural.

Keep your weight back. The idea is to keep the front end light. When the bike feels real unstable, give more gas, it will fix itself. When in doubt, give more power!

Instinct tells you to slow down when losing control. In soft sand, do the opposite. Speed & momentum are your friends - lose either one, and things can go bad.

Watch out when slowing down, try to avoid too much front brake - the front will want to dig in. Try to keep the gas on even when you're slowing. This makes for sudden stops.

You can deflate tires very low - i go down to 8psi if the sand is very soft. Normally 10 psi on sand for me. (Dunlop 908)

Don't sit - bike is more stable on soft sand when standing. It needs to move around a bit. Grip the bike with legs to avoid back and arm fatigue.

If you're doing a lot of soft sand, a steering damper is a good investment.

If you're riding a 4-stroke, keep in as high gear as possible, even if your revs drop low, you have plenty of torque to drive you. Use that low end torque.

Riding in low gear tires you out, gets the bike hot, and digs the bike in. Depending on the bike, you can probably use 2nd gear to pull away and go up from there.

Corner with your weight and with the throttle - put your weight on one peg to shift the weight, this will turn you. Imagine you are surfing on the bike... Sharp turns will dig the front wheel in - no good.

Stay within your limits, try to get a rhythm going.

Riding in soft sand & dunes is very, very mental - think / feel positive and you will ride much better. Try to feel very loose and fluid, and be the boss of the bike, if that makes sense. Let the bike move beneath you, don't grip too tight.

Riding with someone experienced and following their tracks is a very good idea, as long as they know your limits and don't take you places that get you into trouble. You can learn a lot by seeing what line they take through dunes.

Dunes...... - start small.

Don't try crossing the face of a dune at angle unless you're very, very good. Always climb and descend dunes straight up and straight down, at 90 degrees to the face of the dune.

When climbing a dune, get some speed up and keep the power on, don't back off. Just as you get to the to of the dune (maybe 1-2 metres before), throttle off a bit, you will lose speed immediately, and use your momentum to carry you over. Use this brief slowing to take a look over the top and see whats on the down side. The bike can handle very steep down-sides, just keep your nerve, go for it and stay on the power.

But its a very rare COMPLETE drop-off (i.e. a vertical fall) on the other side, probably better to jump away the bike at this point Falling down a dune is better without a bike below you.

You don't get much time to make a judgement when going over the lip, maybe half a second or less. It's got a lot to do with instinct. Hesitation can cause you to get stuck, try to keep momentum at all times. That means thinking / sesning things very quickly.

If you need to fully stop at the top of a dune to survey the other side (a good idea if its a very big dune and you don't know what's over the top), using the same technique of throttling off VERY near the lip, just one or 2 metres, and let your momentum carry you over - you want to come to a stop with your front wheel over the lip. This takes practice to judge speed.

If you throttle off a second too soon and come to a stop before the lip of the dune, you'll have a very hard time getting over - bike will dig in when u want to move. Basically always try to avoid stopping on a steep uphill slope in soft sand. If this does happen to you, get off the bike, stand next to it and give power, and "walk" it to the top. Then get on and ride down.

Keep your eyes far ahead, try to read the dunes. They happen in patterns / waves. Try to spot the patterns, if you're getting into really big stuff and you can't deal with it, get out of that area, don't go deeper, cos its usually going to get worse before it gets better.

Never ride alone out of sight of civilization.

Rider communication is a big problem in desert - if your buddy is riding 50 yards ahead and you keep on losing sight of him over dunes, and he's going deeper into big dunes and you wanna get out....

or, you've dropped the bike in deep sand and he's disappeared - these are bum situations.

So, small 2 way radios are a damn good idea - they have saved me and buddies from many problems. Clip it near your shoulder, you can hear calls above engine noise and u can talk without removing your helmet. Mobile phones just dont work well in those situations.

Try to agree with your buddies BEFORE you start up, about routes, and what degree of difficulty you can do.

Once you're riding it's TOO LATE. You are going to lose 50% or more of communication ability once you are in the dunes. Don't rush to get moving. TAKE TIME to secure your gear and talk - if you're not comfortable about route or what you're gonna be doing, say so and agree on something else. I've gotten into bad situations out there by not discussing the ride beforehand, everybody rushing. Confusion and /or disagreement out there on the dunes is a bad situation. There's a very fine line between having a good ride and things getting out of control.

Agree beforehand about a plan of action, if one of you gets lost or into difficulty. This sounds heavy but take safety seriously. Can't emphasize this enough. COMMUNICATE BEFORE YOU RIDE.

If you drop the bike, first thing to do is turn off the gas tank fuel line, to stop it flooding. Then pick up the bike.

If you drop the bike on the face of a dune (it WILL happen ) and you need to pull it round to face down so you can ride down again, first grab the front wheel (while the bike is still lying down) and drag it round so its facing the right direction, then pick the bike up. This sounds hard, but it's a lot easier than picking up the bike, and then trying to turn it around.

Picking up a bike in soft sand (repeatedly ) can take a lot of valuable energy, find the easiest possible way to do it. Using the very end of the handlebar gives you a surprising amount of leverage and makes it much easier. A good way is to pick up the bike using the handlebar on the "bottom" side of the bike, when it's lying down.

Getting stuck....When the back wheel digs in and you get stuck... just using a bit too much power when not moving, can cause the back end to sink in fast, so the bike is sitting on the bash-plate or bottom of the frame. Basically you're deep in sand, up to your rear axle, if u know what I mean....

In this situation, turn off the gas at the tank, kill the engine, then lie the bike down on its side. This takes time, you need pull and jerk slowly to overcome the "suctiion" of the sand. You might need to move sand with your hands to clear the back wheel. When the bike is finally on its side, fill in the hole where the back wheel was, then pick the bike up again. It will now be on top of the sand again.

Lastly, get fit - riding in soft sand is VERY physical, know your limits especially in heat. Carry a lot of water. When you're overheating and tired, just picking up the bike out of soft sand on a steep dune can be a freak-out. Heat seriously affects your judgment - you become irrational make bad decisions without knowing it.

And very lastly, have fun!!!!! Don't push yourself beyond what you can do. Unless you want to compete - then it's a different story I guess.

Some videos here: