well, that sucked ass.

[acalles]

riding home from work, I went threw a area where when it does rain, water runs and sand collects..

I've been threw here before (almost every time I ride), and I have to ride on a dirt road just to get home, so I think, no big deal, just take it easy.

as I head down the hill, I start to see the sand is quite a bit deeper then its been in the past, I look for a route that is the least deep, which in hind sight probably wasn't a good idea, because cars left deep ruts there.

son of a pregnant dog, as soon as I hit that part its like someone grabbed the tire and was yanking the handle bars away from me, Probably going 10-15mph Its like I had no make the beast with two backsing choice, boom, right on the ground, I was actually kind of far away from my bike.. its like it flung me off.

getting it going again was a bit of a chore, I thought I was gonna be stuck.. 

I'm OK, was wearing all the gear except riding pants, but had on double knee'd dickies pants I wear at work. everything held up OK. just a tiny scratch on my knee..

I have frame sliders, and luckily that took most of it, but my brake pedal is bent a bit, and theres sand everywhere (its gonna be fun cleaning it out tomorrow with compressed air.)

I'm sure theres something I could have done to save it, but I don't really know what.

tomorrow on my way to work, I'll go the extra 5 miles to get to the damn bridge. 

anyone with sand experience? I swear to god, they should just re-name NM to Tatooine, everything here is filled with sand.

[slyfox]

Next time, ........ put your weight on the foot-peg & it might be better if you don't sit & keep your throttle open .... learn from the dirt bike rider .... good luck

[acalles]

Next time, ........ put your weight on the foot-peg & it might be better if you don't sit & keep your throttle open .... learn from the dirt bike rider .... good luck

thanks,
If I ever end up in the situation again (I think I'll try and avoid it from now on) I'll try an approach it like that.

I usually coast threw with the clutch pulled in, didn't wanna accidentally give it too much gas and slide the back end out.

when I was a kid, we used to have a dirt bike (a 70cc honda) I used to ride at the sand dunes all the time, I never remember anything like that happening... just getting stuck trying to climb up hills. 

[DerekB.]

Sand is like ICE in some situations!

[spaugh]

you need a dual sport bike.  Sand is fun on one of these monsters:



this is how I ride my monster in the sand:



naw that not my monster, its my ktm...



my advice on sand is just hang on and let the bike go where it wants if you are going in a straight line.

[55Spy]

Sand is tricky with street tires but the lessons are the same as for a drtbike.  You can't force it to go anywhere, and you have to have power applied or it's go only-god-knows-where.

[Speeddog]

Unless the sand is very thin, you're pretty much screwed in that situation.

[livefastdiefun99]

When you ride in sand you have to keep your weight a little futher back in order to keep the front end light.  You also want to keep the throttle on and power through it.  The faster you go through sand, the easier it is to ride.  Now, obviously, this may not always be appropriate in a street situation, but the last thing you wan to do is pull the clutch in and coast through the sand, while either leaning to far over the front, or pulling in the front brake casusing the front end to dive.  As long as you stay back, put a little weight on the pegs, and keep the throttle constant, you should be fine.  When  riding in deep sand you tend to steer more with your rear tire and legs, than the front end.  I have plenty of experience riding sand tracks, as most of the good motocross tracks in the northern IL, IN, and southwestern MI, have a fairly sandy dirt make up.  [moto]

[DCXCV]

When I come up to those areas I slow a lot going in, then just as the front tire hits sand give it a little (very little) throttle and keep it smooth and slow all the way through.  It's never felt like it was getting away from me.  I think starting too fast was your main issue - sand grabbed the tire, weight went forward which drove the tire in further and tossed you. 

[acalles]

I think my main prob was not giving it any gas, should have lightly powered threw, and probably avoided the bumpy area.

I went for a test drive by it in a customers car, its only like a mile from work.
the area with the sand isn't very long, maybe 20 yards.. and where I fell was about the deepest part which was probably 10" or so, and a few inches down its soaking wet.

I almost made it threw, because it clears up a lot after that.
if I find my self in that situation again, I'll know to lightly give it gas and get as much weight off the front wheel as possible.

[Duc Fever]

Maybe you could just haul-ass over it be on the other side in less than a second