Sand don't like big ADV bikes.

W0QNX

W0QNX

Blacksheep Tribal Member
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Joined
May 30, 2006
Messages
3,048
Location
Pensacola, FL. USA
Bike
06/ST1300 19/R1250RT
I watch this channel and today the end clip "hit home". @Ashley be careful where you ride that new Honda around our Florida sands. She's a big girl.

In the video I parked the ST last summer right there on hard pavement just off the 70 mph bypass where they stop at 14:55. The Africa Twin made it about 45 yards by the look of things.


 
W0QNX said:
I watch this channel and today the end clip "hit home". @Ashley be careful where you ride that new Honda around our Florida sands. She's a big girl.

In the video I parked the ST last summer right there on hard pavement just off the 70 mph bypass where they stop at 14:55. The Africa Twin made it about 45 yards by the look of things.
Click to expand...
Matt's Off-road Recovery ftw! Great channel!
 
Riding in the sand is like nothing else, and requires more speed and momentum than most so-so adventure riders are comfortable with.
Bret Tcaks and especially Chris Birch have the best how-to videos for riding in sand.
 
Sadlsor said:
Riding in the sand is like nothing else, and requires more speed and momentum than most so-so adventure riders are comfortable with.
Bret Tcaks and especially Chris Birch have the best how-to videos for riding in sand.
Click to expand...
I followed a friend of mine once on my Super Ten and he was on a GSA... he kept telling me to speed up to get on top of the sand.... my pavement-mind just could not accept that ... I caught up with him and we got back on pavement... I know my limitations and brittle bones.
 
Sadlsor said:
Riding in the sand is like nothing else, and requires more speed and momentum than most so-so adventure riders are comfortable with.
Bret Tcaks and especially Chris Birch have the best how-to videos for riding in sand.
Click to expand...
It's all about keeping momentum and your weight off the front wheel. Heavy ADV bikes will push and plow the front wheel easily on sand. Lowering tire pressure can help a lot on sand. I've ridden my Africa twin on sand a bit but at my age digging out can be difficult.

In my past I have ridden a lot in the desert and at Oceano Dunes on larger dirt bikes so I have developed some skills riding in sand. You have to get used to letting your front end float a bit and feel mushy and keep moving faster than you will at first feel comfortable with. After a while the soft disconnected feel of the front end on sand goes away as you get used to it.
 
Not too many places on Earth have sugar sand like northwest Florida does. I’m glad I learned to ride in it a long time before I was riding on the street..
 
I encountered sand on unpaved "public" streets in a neighborhood near Orlando, FL.

It was unstable riding in the tire tracks where the sand was heavily compacted but when I did a U-turn I got out of the tire tracks and was plowing 3 inch deep sand around with my front tire. Not good!
Not fun!
Almost dropped the ST-1300.
 
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