Ride and Turn in All Types of Sand / Lesson and Techniques for ADV - Dual Sport Motorcycles

Is there any low-traction terrain that strikes fear into the hearts of adventure motorcyclists more than deep sand? Professional motorcycle instructor Dusty Wessels teaches you how to ride and safely control your heavy adventure bike through all depths of loose sand on road and off-road.

MOTOTREK MEMBERS GET SCREEN CREDIT. JOIN NOW!

SUBSCRIBE OR YOU'LL GET FLAT TIRES

when riding in the #sand you want to stand up so you can move your body around and be an active rider and influence the pegs to help direct the bike you want your body position as neutral as possible only put your weight back to get traction to the rear wheel or help lighten up the front don't have too much body weight forward on the motorcycle because the front wheel is going to dig deeper into the sand this might cause your front wheel to wobble and you could start to lose control if you're new to riding sand and or you're apprehensive about riding sand and you come across some deep sand a human reaction for us or what we go back to is sitting down now i wouldn't suggest you sit down for a lot of reasons the biggest reason is it's just going to make you more tired and you're going to be worn out faster so if you're going to sit down on the bike in the sand and paddle put your feet on the ground here's how you do it stick your foot as far forward on the ground as you can and pick it up when it gets to your foot peg do not stick your foot far forward and go all the way back you risk injury to your ankle or your lower leg if it catches underneath your pannier also when you're sitting go slower don't go too fast as soon as the sand gets to a depth that you feel you can go faster pick your feet up put them on the pegs stand up and right away you're going to have much more control on a 500 plus pound motorcycle standing than you would if you were sitting

[MOTOTREK]

Get your name in the end credits of upcoming videos!
JOIN now and become an Associate Producer.

[bryanrogers]

I hit multiple patches of soft red sand on my K1600 GT after maps took me on the "shortcut" through the Utah badlands to Lake Powell...All of these tips kept me from dumping my 750+lb beast. 12-15mph was the sweet spot to keep it moving.

[standupmoto]

I have ridden motorcycles for 48 yrs the last 20 on adventure bikes (currently Yamaha Super Tenere 1200) I was going to do a video on my channel on this very topic but now won’t bother Dusty has done an excellent job with this video. If you follow this example you will certainly become a confident competent sand rider, the only thing I can add to this video is be very very careful of panniers. If you sit or drop a foot in the sand it doesn’t slide it digs in (usually) and of course those panniers will belt your calf muscle (ouch ) . By preference I run my soft bags if I know I’ll be doing sand work. Excellent video Dusty.

[PadreAlan]

I once had to ride a fully loaded 1200GS a mile and a half down a beach to go scuba diving off the coast of South Africa... the sand was more terrifying than the dive.... wish I had seen this video back then. :-) Thank you.

[macmorgan]

I started riding enduros back in the early 70s, mostly in the Jersey Pine Barrons- lots of sand, tight single track trails and cranberry bogs! The Lafferty boys and the locals were the acknowledged “A” champions. We had a 2 Day National there in 1972 where all the Penton boys showed up. Nobody rode anything larger than a 360, in my case a Husky 360 8sp. I’m not sure I ever mastered sand but I did learn a lot.

[BuluBiker]

Thanks a lot this will help, I am always scared riding on sand

[arijitRC]

7:35 to 8:09 I would have fell almost 3-4 times for sure. Your skills man are off the charts.. Need to practice a lot.

[TwoWheeledBooBear]

I learned how to ride sand in a trial by fire. It's scary as hell at first but a study throttle, good body position (stand up, damn you!) and a loose grip on the bars allowing the bike to find it's way through the substrate will always get you home. At times it can even be downright fun (course after 5 miles of deep wash sand in the Mojave Preserve on a Himalayan, I was ready to call it quits - thanks Rob Dabney & co. for not letting me become vulture poop!)

I've still got a long way to go with learning how to restart in deep 10-12" sand pits - once I'm stopped, getting started again is damn near impossible for me. Appreciate the advice and instruction, Dusty!

[RallyeX]

Great video. I think it’s also important to comment on bike electronics. Turn off traction control. When I was starting out this caught me out so many times.

[rfk]

Hey, are you guys OK? I miss this channel. It is top level content. Any updates from your side? I would love to see more from you. Cheers!

[jaywhoisit]

I rode the Turkana desert a couple months ago. Lots of that 12 inch deep hell! I came away from the ride bruised, battered, and with a hugely diminished confidence level. I’m still having night terrors about that ride! 😬

[danielpepper]

This just 💯 made my decision im never riding in deep sand ever again. It's hard as unless you started young shouldn't even bother.. Just be injuries and wrecking your bike. I've ridden road bikes for ten years with some experience off road as teen with dirt bikes. Recently bought a DRZ and my mate took me out with no conversation on deep sand. And let's just say ive got no interest in ever doing it again! What a lot of these guys dont tell you is their injuries and damage to the bikes. Not worth it in my opinion

[scotty]

The first time I rode on gravel I hated it! I hated the way the bike wandered around, and I would tense up into a giant knot. I did, in fact, drop the bike. After my friend told his dad what happened, he told me that I needed to loosen up and relax. Let the back wheel do what it was going to do. Next time I was on that same road, I implemented his advice, and stayed loose. The results were dramatic, and immediate. There was zero drama. I actually learned to love that sensation!
I have been away from riding for about 20 years now, but intend to get back in soon. I have still not ridden in sand. I see some motorcycle YouTubers that ride big bikes, and have a terrible time in any loose terrain. Like me, they really need to watch the Mototrek videos here. I really look forward to getting out there and practicing some of these techniques. If I can't get past something, I may even take a class.

[qrar]

Thank you for your guidance. I was injured and fell due to sand. On my first ride on my new KTM 890 R bike last night, I was surprised by a sandy road. I did not realize that raiding in the sand would be so different. I am used to racing bikes, and this is my first experience of ADV bikes.

[sambananas]

Your deep sand steering on the pegs is an excellent idea and changed my world in sand, @ 63 I am very grateful. Cheers

[bryanreeme]

🤙awesome advice.. funny, I was taught differently but learned better by experience. Upshift to keep the torque down, shifting weight back to keep front from knifing in are 2 things people advised against.. your methods are correct for me!

[rmack]

Scary scary scary!
That bit on the soft sand track...I could feel my pulse and adrenaline increasing from the memory of being in similar, less successful situations.

[dogmike]

I used to ride dirt bikes as a kid, but never with any training, we just winged it on guts and ignorance. Fast forward 30 years, I am not an off-road guy at all, but my adventure-riding neighbour invited me on a ride last year. He swore it was just hard-pack fire trails. Ha! It was mud, sand, gravel, even a few river crossings. Long story short, I’m riding a Kawasaki Versys with road tyres, but he and the other guys coached me a bit on technique, and I still made it through, thanks to some of these tips. Now I find myself looking at BMWs and Africa Twins. Sand still scares me, but it’s still a bit of fun.

[rangeroadmoto]

I took my Dr650 to an area with sand whoops for dirt bikes and it was absolutely terrible. Going to go back and try some of these tips.
Thanks MotoTrek

[TheGourisankar]

These vods make it so easy to just Applying still is the tricky part