Motorcycle Touring - Riding on Sand
Something that often fills a biker with trepidation or even fear, especially on a big bike, is the prospect of a looming stretch of sand.
When you are fully packed for a long trip, your bike can be really heavy, and you do not want to have to pick it up.
Besides, falling is embarrassing, and your mates are sure to give you a hard time - only after they have checked that you are okay, of course! Yet it is a fact of life that you if you are a dedicated motorcycle tourer and sometimes head down roads you do not know well, you might hit some bad patches.
Even without much experience, using these tips you should even be able to pull a big old tourer through this.
There are several types of sand, and the worst is probably riding in a rut in fine sand, e.
g.
in an old river bed.
But the same principles apply to all types.
Mentally, you should prepare yourself for the rear tire moving around.
If you are only used to road biking, you might only have experienced a little of this on a slick road or cornering and hitting smooth paint with the rear tire.
Motorcycling on sand however, will mean you will experience it all the time.
The key is, to a great extent, your throttle control.
You will naturally slow down on these patches, so you will not be riding in a very high gear.
The way my gears are set, I prefer sticking to third, which means I will have enough speed not to sink into the sand yet still have enough available power on the back wheel to get me out of a tough spot.
And that is what you need to do - maintain a reasonable speed and when that back wheel starts kicking out, roll on the throttle; not with a jerk, but with a smooth application of power.
The back might do some funny things, but as long as you keep the front wheel on course, you can remain in control.
This does take some getting used to.
Fear is the enemy here.
Stiffening up and closing the throttle is almost guaranteed to have you eating sand.
As with any type of riding, you need to trust your motorcycle - it is almost always more capable than you are.
In a follow-up article, we will discuss some other vital elements for making your sand-riding as painless as possible, especially for motorcycle touring rather than dirt-biking.
Who knows, you might even start to relish the challenge!
When you are fully packed for a long trip, your bike can be really heavy, and you do not want to have to pick it up.
Besides, falling is embarrassing, and your mates are sure to give you a hard time - only after they have checked that you are okay, of course! Yet it is a fact of life that you if you are a dedicated motorcycle tourer and sometimes head down roads you do not know well, you might hit some bad patches.
Even without much experience, using these tips you should even be able to pull a big old tourer through this.
There are several types of sand, and the worst is probably riding in a rut in fine sand, e.
g.
in an old river bed.
But the same principles apply to all types.
Mentally, you should prepare yourself for the rear tire moving around.
If you are only used to road biking, you might only have experienced a little of this on a slick road or cornering and hitting smooth paint with the rear tire.
Motorcycling on sand however, will mean you will experience it all the time.
The key is, to a great extent, your throttle control.
You will naturally slow down on these patches, so you will not be riding in a very high gear.
The way my gears are set, I prefer sticking to third, which means I will have enough speed not to sink into the sand yet still have enough available power on the back wheel to get me out of a tough spot.
And that is what you need to do - maintain a reasonable speed and when that back wheel starts kicking out, roll on the throttle; not with a jerk, but with a smooth application of power.
The back might do some funny things, but as long as you keep the front wheel on course, you can remain in control.
This does take some getting used to.
Fear is the enemy here.
Stiffening up and closing the throttle is almost guaranteed to have you eating sand.
As with any type of riding, you need to trust your motorcycle - it is almost always more capable than you are.
In a follow-up article, we will discuss some other vital elements for making your sand-riding as painless as possible, especially for motorcycle touring rather than dirt-biking.
Who knows, you might even start to relish the challenge!
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