How to ride a motorcycle in sand

Riding a motorcycle through sand is a tough gig – no two ways about it. If you spend your formative years pushing through it – a bit like tennis players who grow up grinding away on clay courts – there’s some level of assimilation, but you have to be realistic: it is mainly about practice and hours in the saddle.

And no matter how good a particular bike is, simply buying one will not miraculously make you ride like Toby Price. However, follow these steps and life will instantly become a lot easier.

1. Start small. If a novice, get a light manageable dirt bike with knobby tyres to learn the ropes on.

2. Momentum. Soft sand is all about keeping your speed up, so avoid tight turns –
make big flowing arcs.

3. Power. Use all the power you have available to get up to speed, don’t nana it –
hold it on the throttle stop!

4. High gears. Use the highest gear your bike will effectively pull. A low gear means you just dig in and bog down – particularly on a large bike.

5. Be subtle. When turning, try not to muscle the bike too much; use delicate inputs and as little steering lock as possible. Too much lock at speed will lead to a major front-end tuck. Definitely embarrassing and expensive on a big bike.

6. Be neutral. I like to stay fairly centered on the bike, that way I can move rearward if I need to wheelie over a hole, or be ready to sit gently into a turn. However, at high speed in a straight line, keep your weight back and the front light – this aids stability skimming obstacles.

7. Effort. There is no escaping the fact that the bigger the bike, the more effort it requires to ride them in difficult sandy terrain. It’s not so much when things are going well… but taming a whopping 200kg-plus machine will definitely pay for your gym subscription.

8. No traction control! For bikes with traction control… it must be turned completely off or the bike will not go anywhere in sand – full stop! Sadly, that also means turning the TC off again each time you stop the bike’s engine, as most bikes default to the traction control on again each time the bike is turned off.

9. Tyres. Use the most aggressive knobby tyre available for your bike. To ride sand well you must have traction and drive. This becomes tricky on big adventure machines because they destroy knobby tyres on the road in no time. My advice if riding a mix of sand and tarmac: ride gently on the tarmac, save the knobs for the sand. After all, you will get home with a worn knobbie on the road but you may not if stuck down a sandy gully with no traction.

So that’s about it. Keep the power on, keep your speed up, stay in a high gear and use gentle steering inputs. Other than that, practice, practice and more practice – there is no silver bullet. Good luck.