How to Ride in Sand (+ Turn Techniques) for Adventure Motorcycle in Deep Sand / On Roads & Off-road

Welcome to MOTOTREK! I'm Dusty Wessels -  professional motorcycle instructor for West38   Moto. today we're going to talk about the dreaded  sand! some love it some hate it we're going to   talk about the different depths of sand from  surface sand to 10 and 12 inches plus we're also   going to talk about cornering in sand but first  we'd like to thank The Ridge for sponsoring this   video i've been carrying a wallet in my front  pocket since i was 16 years old thank you ridge   wallets for designing an awesome rugged tough  wallet it's the slimmest wallet i've ever had in   my front pocket the ridge wallet is RFID-blocking  and comes with a lifetime warranty i like using   the strap to hold my cash but it comes with a clip  too thanks to the ridge for sponsoring this video when riding in the sand you want to stand up so  you can move your body around and be an active   rider and influence the pegs to help direct the  bike you want your body position as neutral as   possible only put your weight back to get traction  to the rear wheel or help lighten up the front   don't have too much body weight forward on the  motorcycle because the front wheel is going to   dig deeper into the sand this might cause your  front wheel to wobble and you could start to lose   control if you're new to riding sand and or you're  apprehensive about riding sand and you come across   some deep sand a human reaction for us  or what we go back to is sitting down   now i wouldn't suggest you sit down for a lot of  reasons the biggest reason is it's just going to   make you more tired and you're going to be worn  out faster so if you're going to sit down on   the bike in the sand and paddle put your feet  on the ground here's how you do it stick your   foot as far forward on the ground as you can  and pick it up when it gets to your foot peg   do not stick your foot far forward and go all  the way back you risk injury to your ankle or   your lower leg if it catches underneath  your pannier also when you're sitting   go slower don't go too fast as soon as the sand  gets to a depth that you feel you can go faster   pick your feet up put them on the pegs stand  up and right away you're going to have much   more control on a 500 plus pound motorcycle  standing than you would if you were sitting relax sand is hard to ride for just about  everybody. the key to relaxing your body is   to relax your mind first. the more relaxed your  brain is the easier riding sand is going to be   fight the urge to grip the bars the bike's going  to be moving around a lot more than normal more   than it is in a higher traction environment  keep your grip on the bars just tight enough   so you can direct the bike where you want it  to go steering is different when riding in the   sand you're not using as much influence on the  handlebars to steer in the sand as you would   in a higher traction environment it's your  feet on the pegs and a little bit of push   pull on the handlebars that's going to direct this  bike it's like a dance we're pushing on the pegs   in the direction we want to go to keep the bike  as straight as possible if you want to correct   to the left push on the left foot peg if you want  to correct to the right push on the right foot peg maintaining momentum is the  biggest key to riding sand   we've all heard pin it and just lean back yeah  sometimes especially on a 500 plus pound bike   that doesn't work all the time  because you'll have obstacles or turns the key is maintaining consistent momentum to  keep the front wheel from digging too far into   the sand. the best way to maintain momentum  riding in the sand is to shift a gear up   which drops the RPM and reduces the wheel  spin. in deep sand at high RMPs avoid the   tendency of slipping your clutch doing this can  fry your clutch and won't help you gain momentum let's talk about the different depths of sand.  so here i have just surface sand on a hard pack   dirt road. don't change a whole lot here. yeah  - you might get a little front wheel wobble   if you get into the middle or if you get on the  side where there's a little deeper sand but here   just be flowing with the bike be relaxed all the  balance techniques nice and easy momentum control   to learn how to corner at speed on surface  sand watch our cornering at speed video   so in a little bit deeper sand about four to six  inches the front wheel is going to move a lot more   this is where we start to feel the wobble that's  caused by the front wheel digging into the sand   the tendency is to grab the bars and try and steer  try not to do that loosen up a little bit have   enough of a grip so you can still direct the bike  remember now your steering goes to your feet on   the pegs you want to go to the right push on the  right you want to go to the left push on the left   this right here is all about corrections  so instead of steering like you would in   a higher traction environment think of it  as directing the bike you're going to use   your feet on the foot pegs to make corrections  you're also going to use the bars just a bit additionally blipping the throttle in deep sand   is another way to effectively steer the  motorcycle so steering with the throttle   you're gonna push that front wheel up  out of the sand by giving throttle input in four to six inches of sand the biggest  thing I'm worried about in the corner,   the thing that i make sure i pay attention to the  most, is i know that that front wheel is going to   get some wobble i know it's going to dig in but  unlike deep sand it's not going to dig in too hard   so what i don't want to do is dump the throttle  completely. keep your momentum consistent. enter   the corner with your body position neutral as soon  as you get into the corner and start to feel the   front wheel digging into the deeper parts of the  sand that's when you may make an adjustment with   your body move your weight outside move it back a  little bit to get more traction on the rear wheel   but that's when you add throttle steer  with the rear right through that corner so now we're in 10 to 12 inches plus of sand.   this is the depth of sand that gets  everybody's attention especially mine.   i like to slow down here a bit i might even  downshift a gear - here's why... because in   four to six inches of sand i can go just about as  fast as i want because i'm getting less impact to   the front wheel as soon as i get in deeper sand  i'm already getting more impact to the front wheel   but at a higher speed if i get a couple of really  big jars from the front wheel that could toss   me right over the front edge and that risk is  something i'm not willing to take so i slowed   down a bit but just enough to still keep my front  wheel out of that deep sand as much as possible   knowing that i might have to make some pretty big  corrections with the handlebars in that deep sand so when you're riding and you hit 10 to  12 inches plus of deep sand and you get   into the corner this is the place where  that sand gremlin is going to reach up   and grab your front wheel and shake those bars  all over the place. so you need to slow down here.   slow down just enough until you really start to  feel the shake. the problem with going too fast   here is if you're going too fast you start  getting that wobble and you can't correct   okay so when you slow down and you start feeling  that wobble keep your momentum add your momentum   back and to get out of the sand to get out  of that corner this is where you "steer with   the rear". you've got to add the throttle  in once you've felt the depth once you've   got control that wobble hit the throttle  steer with the rear get out of that corner   so what do i mean by Steering with the Rear?  it's breaking traction with the rear wheel   adding throttle if you want to know how to  do that watch our Breaking Traction video tire choice does matter if you're riding in deep  sand i choose a bit knobbier tire. a slightly   lower tire pressure also improves handling in deep  sand. drop your tire pressure incrementally to   find out what works for you so here are five  things to remember when riding in the sand   stand up relax keep your body position neutral  only move it back if you need more traction to the   rear wheel or you need to lighten up the front be  an active engaged rider with your feet on the pegs   and most importantly maintain your momentum  with consistent and constant throttle control

Channel: MOTOTREK

Views: 188,562

Rating: 4.9701872 out of 5

Keywords: adv, adventure, motorcycling, motorcycle, bmw, ktm, skill, world, travel, r1250gs

Id: o9nOs9NVnKE

Length: 10min 12sec (612 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 24 2021