Riding a motorbike through soft sand for the first time is a scary experience.
But you will gain confidence quickly with lots of practice and good technique.
First... motobike setup.
Low air pressure in your tyres can make a huge difference.
You get a bigger tyre 'patch' on the ground so your wheels sink less into the sand,
and get better traction.
What tyre pressure?
That will vary a lot depending on your bike's weight.
Here is an air pressure guide.
If you have rimlocks, you can lower your air pressure even more.
If you are riding in soft sand for the entire ride,
you can increase your suspension 'damping' to improve handling.
For more stability, you can lift the front of your bike by sliding the forks
down a bit through the triple clamps, or increase the 'sag' on the rear shock.
If you have a 21 inch front wheel, you can fit wider high profile front tyre.
An example is the Goldentyre 'Fatty'.
If you frequently ride in sand, avoid sticky chain lubes which will just attract sand
and increase the wear of your sprockets.
Riding technique for soft sand?
It is counter-intuitive!
Normally the best way to learn riding techniques is to ride slowly at first.
But the slower you go in sand, the worse things get.
You know how a boat 'planes' over the top of water with enough speed?
It's the same with your motorbike.
It will wallow and sink into sand at low speed.
But at a certain speed your motorbike will suddenly ride on top of the sand.
And stability generally improves as the speed increases.
Body position is very important.
When taking off you need to weight the rear wheel, and take weight off the front wheel
so it can ride on top of the sand as soon as possible.
Too much throttle and you might dig a hole.
Too little throttle?
You won't reach the required speed to start 'planing' on top of the sand.
Here James does it the wrong way.
It's tempting to lean forward and push with your legs,
but it will just wear you out and make things worse.
Only use your legs to stabilise yourself until you start riding on top of the sand.
Stand on the footpegs as soon as possible.
The motorbike will wallow and move in unpredictable ways,
so you need move your body to counteract this.
Remember the default standing body position from our enduro training vids?
It's similar for riding in sand,
but you move your body weight back even further as the sand becomes softer.
This keeps the front wheel light and staying on top of the sand, instead of sinking.
Another counter-intuitive aspect of learning to ride in sand?
Relax, let the bike move around and don't have a 'death' grip on the handlebars.
Trying to control the motorbike too much will only lead to fatigue and poor handling.
If your motorbike is powerful enough, get into a higher gear and use less revs if possible.
You will get better traction and more stability.
Cornering can be very difficult in sand.
Ideally you should enter into the corner 'wide',
clip the apex of the corner, then exit wide so you can maintain a good speed.
On lighter motorbikes you normally move your body forward coming into corners
to put more weight on the front wheel.
But in sandy corners you keep your body weight to the rear.
We always want a light front wheel in soft sand.
Braking is very different too.
When learning, it's best not to use the brakes at all as there is so much 'drag' in soft sand.
Don't 'cut' the throttle suddenly.
Just decrease the throttle enough for the soft sand to slow the motorbike down.
This approach prevents the front wheel from suddenly sinking
into the sand and throwing you off the motorbike.
As your skills improve, start using brakes. Use more rear brake if possible.
Look ahead!
When we are nervous, there is a tendency to look at the terrain just in front of our front wheel.
Keep your head up and look well ahead.
Trust your subconscious mind to deal with the immediate terrain.
You need to focus on what will happen a few seconds ahead!
If you think you are about to crash, it's often a good idea to jump clear,
especially on bigger adventure motorbikes.
If you put a leg out and try to save the motorbike
there's a good chance you will just injure yourself.
What was your experience when riding in sand for the first time?
Do you have any further tips for riding in sand?
Let us know in the comments section!