How To Ride with Miles Davis

This entry is part 20 of 26 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #4

Riding sand is probably one of the most mysterious things you can do on an adventure bike. I’m sure half the people who can do it probably can’t really explain how they do it.

They just do it. Hopefully some of the topics covered here give you an insight into dealing with this difficult surface.

Ease into it

I’ve helped a few people with their first sand experience, and one of the best ways is on the beach at low tide. This gives the riders a chance to first just get their head around riding on nice, hard, beach sand down near the waterline. That’s easy and fun. As confidence grows, they can venture into the softer, more challenging sand.

At any time the rider’s only a couple of metres from the hardpacked sand and can steer towards it when they’re tired or scared. Bit by bit, confidence grows and they can start weaving around and playing with deeper or tracked-out sand and the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place.

It quickly becomes clear that the bike loses stability as soon as it hits the fluffy stuff, and it becomes equally clear that leaning back slightly and keeping the throttle steady, or increasing it, improves stability and control. The sketchier it gets, the more the rider needs to lean back and add throttle.

It’s pretty simple, really.

I know not everyone has the opportunity to start on the beach, but maybe it’s worth a trip to Noosa. You can rent a bike from Dave at Aussie Biker Tours and ride up the beach from Noosaville to Rainbow. That’s something I always try to do when I’m there. I love that run!

A few basics

Let’s think about body position, which we covered in issue #03.

We said you need to be agile and responsive when you ride because your body position has a big impact on the balance and behaviour of the bike.

When you ride deep sand, you need to be ultra-active and extra responsive! You need to be able to read what the bike is doing and respond very quickly to adjustments, both side-to-side and front-to-back.

Now, let’s throw another thing into the mix: the throttle.

The sand is a resistant surface. It wants to slow the bike down, and a lot of the time it wants to grab and mess with the front wheel. So directly connected to body position is throttle control. Add some throttle and the front wheel gets lighter. Reduce throttle and the front wheel gets heavy and wants to dig into the sand. The relationship between body position and throttle control is very important, not just in sand, but especially in sand.

Now is probably a good time to mention ABS, traction control and tyre pressure, because it’s important, too. ABS and traction control should be turned off for sand, or you might not get far.

If your ride is going to be a high percentage of sand, you need to drop your pressures, but it’s not realistic to change your tyre pressures every time you hit a small sandy section. If I’m riding dunes or deep, sandy, rutted tracks, the pressures go down to anywhere between 10psi and 20psi (based on my normal 30psi to 35psi on a 1200GS when riding off-road). So don’t be shy, especially if you have a serious sand mission to survive.

Just remember, if your pressures are low and you pop out of the sand onto short sections of hard, rocky trails, you’ll need to ride accordingly. Otherwise you really risk tyre-, tube- or rim damage.

If possible, try to have your bike packed light, as it’ll make life much easier, and don’t pack bags high on the pillion seat. If you can’t get your bodyweight toward the back of the bike you’ll probably struggle.

Slow down to power on

Sometimes you’ll find hard-pack dirt alternating with sand sections or bulldust.

In fast, open terrain an unexpected wallow of sand can really dump you on your head. Be ready to wash off a heap of speed pronto if required! If you can drop from 100kph+ down to 50kph before you hit the deep stuff, you can set yourself up and confidently drive through with positive throttle. If you don’t wash off the speed in time and hit the sand too fast, probably still on the brakes or at best with the throttle shut, good luck. That’s a recipe for disaster.

Dunes versus tracks

Just like the hard-pack beach, virgin dunes are a lot of fun, and much easier than trying to ride deep, four-wheel-drive ruts or any tracked-out dune sand.

Be aware that the consistency of dunes can change drastically – from day to day and location to location. Sometimes the dunes are quite firm and wind-packed, but then a really soft patch can bury your front wheel quick, so stay sharp and don’t get complacent.

Deep, four-wheel-drive-rutted soft sand is probably the hardest, especially when the tracks are twisty and up and down. It’s hard work on a big bike, but very satisfying when – if – you get to the other end.

The rear brake is your friend

With all this talk about powering on when things get sandy and scary, it’s good to know the best way to slow down.

As mentioned, the front wheel is vulnerable, so touching the front brake is only going to make things worse. In this situation your rear brake is your friend. Don’t be afraid to lock it up and wash off some speed quickly.

Make sure you set your bike up so you can reach your rear brake, feather it lightly and lock up the back wheel, all while standing. If you can’t, you might want to make some adjustments.

Just a dab’ll do ya

Sometimes you lose balance and need to dab your foot on the ground to stay in control. Over the years you realise that every time you do this, you’re risking a knee reconstruction. The key is, don’t take a dab lightly. Your feet belong on the ’pegs.

If I’m standing up, get unsteady and decide I need to do something to maintain balance, I’ll give a very short and light dab with my foot and get it right back on the ’peg.

If I don’t think I can do it this way I’m just as likely to throw the textbook out the window, flop down on the seat and ride with my feet as outriggers: the survival position. There’s nothing wrong with the survival position. Everyone has done it, and it can be quite effective to get you through a really tough section. You wouldn’t want to rely on it for too long, though. It’s quite slow and can get tiring, as you’re not really at the speed where you can float.

It’s only experience that’ll give you the edge when it comes to standing, dabbing or sitting.

Taking off

It’s easy to bury the back wheel of a bike in deep, soft sand as you try to take off, so having a strategy is important.

If at all possible, try to pull up so your take off is slightly downhill, not uphill, and have your front wheel pointing into smooth, flat sand, not at 45 degrees to a rut or half buried. Dig a clean path if you’re keen, especially if you’re struggling.

Depending on your bike and confidence, you can consider taking off in first- or second gear (in second you won’t feel the need to make a gear change before you’ve even really got going).

The things that make the difference here are your timing, clutch control and body position. Slide your bum back on the seat almost as far as you can and let your weight compress the suspension (don’t put weight on your feet). Count yourself down and go. You’ll get wheelspin, but you want to control it. You don’t want too much. Full throttle will give great roost and noise, but not ideal drive, and drive is what you need.

If the bike isn’t taking off with ease, I jump on the back of the seat with aggressive bounces. Every bounce lets the rear tyre grip and drive, and just keep modulating the throttle. Once you’ve created a bit of momentum the bike seems to sit up on top of the sand, the front tyre floats and the back tyre starts driving nicely. Sometimes you really need to roll off the throttle a lot as the bike will want to accelerate much faster than you want it to.

Once you feel this sweet spot, you can play with it, gradually increase and decrease speed, start weaving and seeing what feedback you get. This is when the real fun begins!

It’s amazing how effective the bounce technique is. It can save a lot of sweat and heartache.

Ride ’em Cowboy

Once you have sand in general sussed, eventually, for one reason or another, you’ll need to change from one sandy rut to another. This isn’t a great concept at the beginning, but again, it can be done.

Everyone has taken a deep breath then set themselves up for pushing or pulling something. That’s pretty much what I do if I think I need to change ruts due to the rut quality, a corner ahead, or a bogged car or bike. Cruising along in my rut I’ll almost use it like a half pipe, gently weaving left and right up the walls of the rut a few times. I cross over with the help of the sideways momentum I’ve created, using the throttle and my legs and arms to first pull, then push the bike across the top of the rut, then letting the bike come up under me and push it back into the next rut.

You’ll struggle to make this happen if you don’t get the timing right and use your body and throttle control to stay in charge.

Summary

Riding sand on a big adventure bike isn’t easy, normal, and pretty much doesn’t make sense, but it can be done. It takes a bit of experience, confidence, some fitness and strength doesn’t hurt, and don’t forget a sprinkle of luck.

Here’s a few broad points to try and keep in mind when you first attack the sand:

• Most bikes like a bit of momentum to get on top of deep sand, and once you’re on top, you don’t need to keep accelerating. Find the sweet speed range for your bike where you have maximum control. Too fast and it’s going to get sketchy quick, too slow and you’ll be constantly struggling to maintain drive and directional stability

• Be smooth with your input

• Stay relaxed and look ahead! During my years of instructing off-road training I’ve heard many novice riders ask, “Can you teach me how to ride sand?” It’s a sensible question, but really, the typical off-road course where you learn body position, throttle and clutch control, line selection and other basics is the main nuts and bolts needed to be comfortable riding on sand. It’s 90 percent about having all the basic skills down pat. Once you have them sorted, it’s 10 per cent about specific sand tips.

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