January 01, 2019

Adventure bike STUCK IN SAND

You got your adventure bike stuck in sand? First of all, congrats! You are pushing yourself and your bike, and that is great!

Motorcycle adventure riding in deep soft sand is one of the hardest terrains you can tackle with adventure bikes, so getting stuck is just part of it, regardless of your skill level.

Of course, if you are an extremely experienced rider that knows how to ride deep sand in adventure bikes getting stuck will happen less often than when you are learning, but the first thing you need to know is that everyone gets stuck sooner or later in one occasion or another.

Keeping that in mind will help you have a more relaxed ride and be less hard on yourself.

The more relaxed you are, the better you will be able to apply the deep sand riding techniques. Once you are stuck, that same relaxed mood will be what allows you to get out with the less amount of energy wasted.

Saving your energy is very important at this time as you might need to try different approaches until you are out of the hole you dug for yourself.

At this point, it is also important to remember your tire pressure. This step gets forgotten many times. Taking a bit of air can be a lifesaver with zero effort.

One of the first things you need to keep in mind is how you handle the throttle. Gentle is the word! Pushing it too hard will only dig a deeper hole, not pushing enough will not allow you to move forward.

You can also try to push your body weight onto the seat as you push the throttle. The extra weight working with a gentle throttle and a low tire pressure can be enough to get you moving forward. This technique is always worth trying before anything else. After all, we are trying to save energy.

You've tried all the above and the bike won't budge, the deep soft sand is winning. Time to tap into your energy supply.

The sequence here is simple, but it can have some variants.

Take the bike down and push it to the side. What you want to do is be able to lift the bike away from the hole you dug.

Once the bike is up and out of the hole, applying the previously talked about deep sand techniques should be enough to get you out.

The problem? With big adventure bikes, it is not always as easy as it seems to drag the bike far enough from the original hole, especially when they are fully loaded.

You might just find yourself having to unload the bike just to get it to a weight you can actually drag.

This is where the variants start.

Having a friend to help you push the bike once on the floor, and to give you a gentle push once its upright can do wonders.

Getting twigs, rocks or any other type of materials you can get your hands on under the rear tire can get you enough traction to get you going as well.

Having a winch, well, that one is kind of self-explanatory.

All in all, if you apply all we talked above, you should be able to get yourself out of any deep soft sand hole, however, I personally advise one top tip.

Give yourself time!

Getting nervous, anxious or in any way in an altered state of mind will not allow you to take the necessary steps to calmly evaluate the situation you are in.

It is not uncommon to see people rushing their way to put the bike upright just to let it fall over to the other side.

Take it slow, take it calmly, take it as part of the sport you choose to do. In the end, its all fun and games, and we are out there to have fun!

This article also has a video, just click bellow to watch it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6JLWyfeiHg&t=4s

Original article by the author @Tea2Wine

Adventure bike STUCK IN SAND