This loose sand is gonna get me

[Dieselrob]

Hope this is the appropriate place for this

I have a 13' ST, we recently moved out into the sticks, 1/4 of our road is hard packed sand but the remaining 3/4 is loose sugar sand; some spots are deeper than others. Twice so far I have had the rear slide out to my left or right, luckily for me my dirt bike riding from way back when kicked in and I just put a quick foot down, saved it and all was good.

I know these heavy bikes aren't really made for loose sand, that's more lighter bike/dirt bike territory but I do live on this road now and want to mitigate any other close calls.

Are different tires my best bet? I am definitely going to be getting a frame guard because I can only imagine what these plastics cost.

Thanks for your time.

 

[mrpete64]

I think that a good set of off road tires will be in your future. The stock tires will not be good for what your needs are.

Mr. Pete----------->
aging hippie

 

[Tyke]

It surely depends upon what percentage of your total riding is on road and how much is off road...if the main off road element is only your drive then maybe you need a road biased tyre that can handle occasional loose surface, in which case TKC70s might be the answer,

Hope this helps.

 

[EricV]

I too have trouble with soft sand. Lots of powder sand here in So Utah. Stand up, try to stay balanced and if the tire spins, ease back, (don't snap it closed), off the throttle until you gain forward momentum again. And tires make a huge difference. I mostly run Heidenau K60 Scouts and they do ok in the sand, but not great due in part to the center rib. Tires like Kenda Big Blocks or Conti TKC-80s do better, but last a third of the K60s tire life. The K60s give me a consistent 12k miles, even mostly pavement riding. I'm lucky to see 3k from the Big Blocks, but have only a 500 miles on one of the new style rears, so it may last longer. The Big Blocks really made off pavement fun and were confidence inspiring. Suck on the pavement in terms of noise and how long they last, but had good traction, even in the wet, if not quite the lean angle confidence.

I found this article helpful, you may get something from it too. http://www.cycleworld.com/2014/08/28/how-to-ride-your-off-road-or-adventure-motorcycle-in-the-sand/

Lots of different techniques are shown on YouTube vids too. I don't have enough experience to tell what works in terms of putting weight to the back of the bike, but the weighting of pegs to help steer and the whole balance thing seems to work on soft sandy road conditions around here. Starting in it can be a tiring experience, as I've found out the hard way, more than once. I've had to resort to getting off the bike and feathering the throttle as I walked it to firmer ground a few times. I'm not so confident to just give it a bunch of throttle in first and throw my body weight forward as I dump the clutch. Some show it works though.

Hopefully some others better at the sand will chime in too.

 

[AVGeek]

I love sand....on my quad. The big girl is not a sand machine, and Eric hit most of the highlights. The weight is low and forward to help overall COG, but really adds to the plowing effect in the soft stuff. Definitely look at tires, and when riding your road, stand up, weight back, keep your throttle up for momentum, and steer with your legs.

 

[AdvToorer]

Within a couple weeks of picking up my ST I took an off-road course. The techniques I learned have saved my bacon many times and are almost completely opposite of what I learned for the street riding. The two biggest skills I learned are to counter-weight the bike in the turns and to steer the bike by weighting the foot pegs in the soft stuff. I would not have thought you could effectively steer a bike this big by simply weighting the foot pegs but it is surprisingly effective.

 

[TheHelios]

Where are you at with Sugar Sand? Florida is littered with the stuff and with our big ol' bikes, you better be going fast or you're going to fall. A lot. From now on, I just avoid sand if it's more then 3-4 inches deep.

For tires, I've used Metzler Karoo 3s and am currently using Shinko 805s. They're both very good tires (Shinko 805 is considerably cheaper) but aren't going to help much when the bike weights a ton.

And if you do plan on riding off-road, crash bars are a must.
(Start at 1:10)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlTGNnAbu8

I dropped the bike on its left side and the plastic jammed into the radiator fan, jammed the fan against the radiator, and the motor burned out. Later that day, the bike started overheating and yeah, not fun in the middle of no where. Even with crash bars, sand will still make impact with the side plastic. So, if you still want to ride in sand, get something solid in the crash bar so sand can't make direct contact on that side. Or, just be like me and avoid deep sand.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Is it just a driveway or part of a 'road' to somewhere? If it's just a drive you can get it sprayed down with an oil or tar like substance. It takes a day or two of no use for it to settle in. It will get denser and more compacted over time.

 

[shrekonwheels]

Sand sucks and really requires the proper tires.
If your tires have too much grip, well they dig in, thus why you see smooth tires on the dunes on the front/paddles on the back.

Since that is not likely with a Tenere all you can really do is try to relax and get with it, as with gravel, going slow can often be your enemy, there is a happy medium.

I am really not a fan of standing unless I am going over very bumpy terrain, IMO it raises your center of Gravity. But I come from an Equestrian Background so I like to be able to grip the tank with my knees and feel what the bike is doing, I also use my pegs and knees to help guide the beast.

 

[78YZ]

How did you get your windshield so clean? It is crystal clear.

Where are you at with Sugar Sand? Florida is littered with the stuff and with our big ol' bikes, you better be going fast or you're going to fall. A lot. From now on, I just avoid sand if it's more then 3-4 inches deep.

For tires, I've used Metzler Karoo 3s and am currently using Shinko 805s. They're both very good tires (Shinko 805 is considerably cheaper) but aren't going to help much when the bike weights a ton.

And if you do plan on riding off-road, crash bars are a must.
(Start at 1:10)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlTGNnAbu8

I dropped the bike on its left side and the plastic jammed into the radiator fan, jammed the fan against the radiator, and the motor burned out. Later that day, the bike started overheating and yeah, not fun in the middle of no where. Even with crash bars, sand will still make impact with the side plastic. So, if you still want to ride in sand, get something solid in the crash bar so sand can't make direct contact on that side. Or, just be like me and avoid deep sand.

 

[archer]

Thanks to EricV for the Cycle World link for tips to riding in sand. I did a trip to southern Utah last year, and there were multiple times I had to deal with sand. I discovered that sand seems to be the kryptonite to the Tenere. :-X :-X

 

[BaldKnob]

Thanks to EricV for the Cycle World link for tips to riding in sand. I did a trip to southern Utah last year, and there were multiple times I had to deal with sand. I discovered that sand seems to be the kryptonite to the Tenere. :-X :-X

Loose sand and locked gates are the bane of the Tenere's existence.

While an old thread, it never hurts to reinforce the fact that big bikes and deep sand don't mix well. Tires and technique are you're only hope. Stand, steer with your legs and keep the gas on. If you feel you're going too fast, shift down but don't loose momentum gradually slowing using the transmission/clutch. Keep the rear tire driving and the front tire light. Stay off the brakes. Usually, you will be following a track... I tend to pick a rut a ride it out, trying to keep the front tire in the slot and off the rut edge. Going very slow makes this difficult and speeding up, while easier, can create more spectacular get-offs! Sand happens, so get to it people.

 

[eemsreno]

I don't mined sand much.
If it's on the trail then it must be good.

 

[True Grip]

Softer than rocks to land in!

 

[Pterodactyl]

Rob,
The
My off road riding skills are somewhere between those of Roger De Coster and Roger Rabbit, but I do know that putting a foot down on a bike as heavy as the S10 is likely to lead to a broken foot. When I find myself in loose mud, gravel or sand I use the throttle when the bike gets wonky. Some judicious application of throttle unloads the front and gets the bike moving through the loose stuff.

 

[HeliMark]

Thanks to EricV for the Cycle World link for tips to riding in sand. I did a trip to southern Utah last year, and there were multiple times I had to deal with sand. I discovered that sand seems to be the kryptonite to the Tenere. :-X :-X

I'll second this. I just got back from riding the Utah area and ended up in some (2-3 miles) of sand. Some no biggie, some "what the h*** am I doing here". With E-07's on the bike. First long stretch, I was going all over the place and remembered to get the speed up and stand as far back as possible. Worked like a charm. The big thing for me was keeping the speed up in the deeper stuff. Maybe getting older does it, I keep thinking speed = more hurt when crashing. I did crash once on a descending right turn. The rear slid out on me, and down I went. Not sure exactly what I did. Too many possibilities, on top of the deep sand on the curve.

Mark

 

[Brick]

Oh I hate sand!!! Years ago... ok only 4 or 5 I and my long time friend and very good dirt sand rider trailered our KLR 650's to Moab. That is where I discovered "Sand Snakes"!!! Yes, Sand Snakes!! If you don't know what they are... here is my tail of wooo... OMG! Or... "Oh-shit.... Oh-shit... Oh-shit!!! As it happened. There we were riding along a beautiful but hot Moab dirt road... Oh did I mention that I don't have dirt bike experience but Doug is from Michigan and has run the sand a LOT and is VERY good dirt/sand rider. So I'm riding along enjoying and then the sand comes up and in my headset Doug says, "Remember... stay back on the seat and gas it through the sand"!! I say, WHAT Fing SAND?!!!" Then I was in it! That's when I swear I saw this Sand Snake sneak up through the sand and grab my front wheel and throw my old fat ass down IN the sand! That's my story and I"m stickin' to it!

Sand Snakes did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::009:: ::009::

 

[steve68steve]

Where are you at with Sugar Sand? Florida is littered with the stuff and with our big ol' bikes, you better be going fast or you're going to fall. A lot. From now on, I just avoid sand if it's more then 3-4 inches deep.

For tires, I've used Metzler Karoo 3s and am currently using Shinko 805s. They're both very good tires (Shinko 805 is considerably cheaper) but aren't going to help much when the bike weights a ton.

And if you do plan on riding off-road, crash bars are a must.
(Start at 1:10)

I dropped the bike on its left side and the plastic jammed into the radiator fan, jammed the fan against the radiator, and the motor burned out. Later that day, the bike started overheating and yeah, not fun in the middle of no where. Even with crash bars, sand will still make impact with the side plastic. So, if you still want to ride in sand, get something solid in the crash bar so sand can't make direct contact on that side. Or, just be like me and avoid deep sand.

This was painful to watch... because BT, DT - in Ocala NF, even.


...complete with the boiling coolant, burned out fan motor.


...fixed it all up and did it a second time a few months later in an orange grove near the central ridge.


My sand riding career is over.

 

[TheHelios]

This was painful to watch... because BT, DT - in Ocala NF, even.


...complete with the boiling coolant, burned out fan motor.


...fixed it all up and did it a second time a few months later in an orange grove near the central ridge.


My sand riding career is over.

Are you the 2014 S10 rider I met at the FL ADV rally in January whose fan motor burned out after a fall? I've now moved to Dallas and brought the S10 to something called the K-Trail which was NOT a place for a Tenere which I learned the hard way. I'm going down hill with rear brake locked and pulsating front brake to stop the damn bike on loose rock and nothing.

I've given up riding the S10 on anything other than maintained trails and now have a wr250r.

 

[steve68steve]

Are you the 2014 S10 rider I met at the FL ADV rally in January whose fan motor burned out after a fall? I've now moved to Dallas and brought the S10 to something called the K-Trail which was NOT a place for a Tenere which I learned the hard way. I'm going down hill with rear brake locked and pulsating front brake to stop the damn bike on loose rock and nothing.

I've given up riding the S10 on anything other than maintained trails and now have a wr250r.

Must be: my first biff was at the 2015 Polar Bear Rally, on the Saturday ADV B ride. You must be the guy two camp sites over who told me the whole painful story less than 24 hours before I re-enacted it myself. Then I did it again at another ADV campout (Sanjoh's) a few weeks later.


I agree about the S10's limitations: I've only been on deep sand once since then and it's just nerve-wracking. I'm not doing it unless I absolutely have to... and if I decide I have to, I'm getting a WR. I'm sure there's some super riders out there who can handle it, but I'm just not one of them, and I'm tired of screwing up my body and having to fix the bike.


Dallas?! When I leave this friggin' sandbar, it won't be for someplace just as hot, flat, and crowded.