From: "Thomas Keener"
> Another newbie here. I've got a ton of street miles under me and a fair
> amount of 4WD miles, but hardly any 2-wheel dirt miles. I've only had this
> '98 KLR650 for a few months now and I love it. Since 98% of my riding is
on
> pavement, I put Gripsters on it and they're great on the mountain roads
> here in San Diego County. Last weekend I went up to Joshua Tree National
> Park with some sportbike friends. It was a treat blasting down hiway 243
> from Idyllwild to Banning. The rough surface gave some of the sportbikes
> fits, but the KLR just flew over the bumps....
> So, what can I do to make it easier? Dirt tires would help, I'm sure, but
> are there real techniques for dirt riding?
Your problem is not tire tread. You have a heavy motorcycle with a
relatively narrow front tire. When you ride in soft sand, the tire sinks,
the contact patch moves forward, trail is reduced -- perhaps to negative --
and you are pushing a caster backwards. If it were me, I would slow as much
as possible when I see the sand coming, downshift as needed, stand on the
pegs, get my weight back and cross with the throttle on, keeping the front
end light. You can handle the steering much more effectively if you are
standing and using body-English. I can't recommend this technique, though,
because it doesn't work in all situations. Do it wrong or in the wrong place
and you can easily go over the handlebars. As someone else said: practice,
practice, practice. Your best traction device is your right wrist -- a hard
lesson to learn and perhaps not intuitive.
Verle Nelson
Cedaredge CO
'97 R1100R '99 KLR650
All best!
Scott
A14
Sorrento