As adventure riders
Eventually, we're gonna end up in sand and if you have the right attitude and the right technique, it's just not that big a deal.
When you get into that deep sand, you're gonna feel that front end moving left and right
It's gonna be shifting in your hand
You can feel the back of the bike squirming around underneath you and you've got to stay relaxed
You'll hear lots of people say add throttle and hold on
They might even tell you shift back add throttle and hold on
but the problem is
eventually
you're gonna run out of throttle and you're gonna be going way faster than you want to crash and with a
500 pound or 600 pound adventure bike. It's just not a real good idea. So we want to slow it down
I'm gonna give you some ideas on how to ride an adventure bike through deep sand
So we have to start with the basics and that is just vision
You don't want to be looking down at the front fender and that the sand direct you in front of you have to be looking
Out the distance because sand changes and you have to be ready to anticipate what's coming up next so keep the vision out far
Stay loosely connected to your controls. We're not holding on tight. We're just maintaining contact
so that I have control of the throttle and the clutch when I need them that way if the bike moves around I wrap these
Two fingers around the handlebars and my handlebars are loose inside this way
If I go into the sand and I miscalculate something I hit a rock
I don't see where the sand gets a little deep and it pulls a little farther than I expect when the handlebars turn
I follow the handlebars and I'm still in control if I hold on tight the bike can't track into that sand and then
self-correct
What makes sand feel so scary is that it moves more than almost any other?
Surface out there the wheel is constantly moving back and forth, but the sand creates a damping effect
That means this as the will is kicked off center
it can't self right as
Quickly because it has to come back through the sand it slows it down and then it goes off the other direction
So you feel this very large movement and very deliberate change in the handlebars
It does exactly the same thing as when we're on pavement. It's just on pavement
There's no resistance so itself centers very very quickly and you don't feel it
The motorcycle wants to stay upright and it wants to keep going straight
Rake and trail is what keeps that motorcycle going in a straight line
It's the angle of the forks and the relationship between the steering axis and the axle. Let's talk about that a bit
No, no, I can't I can't wait. I need to handle this now
Oh
Hey Ryan, can you take this? Oh, hey, Bret. I'm sure
Gyroscopic forces of a spinning wheel are part of what makes it want to stay upright
But even you're not that fast in the sand so spinning forces
Not super huge and like you say rake and trail deserves to take more credit rake
Is this angle from the steering head and what it does?
Is it put the steering axis up here ahead of the contact patch and this distance is what we call trail
Now, let's look at this picture of the front tire
From the top down. Here's our contact patch
Here's our steering axis, now say we hit a rift in the sand and it pushes the tire in that direction
Well because of countersteering that's going to make the motorcycle lean
Over here and a leaning motorcycle pushes back this way on its contact patch now that force
Spinning around our steering axis is going to point the tire straight again
The tire and the motorcycle will always work and move together to keep it upright. You've got to let those movements happen
Every time that wheel is pulled off Center
it wants to come back to
middle and as it gets pushed off the next direction it wants to come back and if you're holding on tight to the handlebars you
Don't allow the bike to do that recovery
And it's much more likely to bury into the sand and pitch you on the ground
The other thing that will put you down is the throttle if you close that throttle quickly if you just snap it shut
you're going to do a weight transfer and it's gonna shift to that front wheel and it's gonna bury it down to the sand and
Down you go
You have to stay coupled to the bike with your knees now
Well, your body stays in one place and the bike moves freely about to squirm in the sand
Keep your feet up and tight against the motorcycle down the pegs your right foot
You want to be just over the top of the rear brake so you can use that when you need it
When people tell you add throttle and hold on what they're saying is you need to keep the front little up high
But on these bikes at some point you're gonna run out of throttle and you're gonna be going way faster than you want to be
going so let's slow it down and
Find another way to keep the front wheel up above the sand and the way you do that is
Trail the rear brake when you start trailing the rear brake or dragging the rear brake
It'll pull the back of the motorcycle down to the sand just very lightly at the same time
I can also shift back on the bike which will put my weight behind
Those both will help get that front wheel up. I'm not gonna cut power in the sand
I'm gonna trim power when you cut power you roll the throttle off when you trim power you use the clutch
Just to feather in so you decrease the amount of power that's going to the back wheel
Because you're dragging the rear brake as well and you don't want to stall the motor and you don't want to stop the forward momentum
Once you stop and sand it's a lot harder to get going again. It's much easier just to keep moving
Attitude is important when riding and sand as long as you're scared of sand or you don't look forward to sand you're gonna keep struggling
It's really important to practice in sand until it doesn't scare you anymore when you get scared
You naturally tense up you naturally drop your eyes and that's just gonna create the situation you're trying to avoid
You're gonna end up down in the sand picking it up trying to get the bike going burning up energy breaking stuff
That's just not the goal here
Practice is important find some deep sand someplace practice the techniques and tell it
Until you have a smile on your face. This can be a lot of fun
But if you're grimacing this is not a smile
This is a smile have fun with it that way when you're on the trip
And you see some sand it's not a big deal. You just ride through it