| Author | Message | ||
     Highlander51 |
So for those of you who venture out off road on your Uly, what have you found to be the best set up to handle Sand? We all know this is not the Uly's thing, but what if your off adventure riding and you come across some areas that are sandy. I've had mine on dirt roads, gravel roads and some trails I should'nt have, but no deep sand. I wonder if the front end rake is more responsible for the handling issues than the front wheel size. I may go out to an area I know of that is very sandy and drop air pressure on my 616's, ride off the back of the bike and see how fast I need to go to keep on top of the sand. | ||
| Ulynut |
Make sure your hospitalization insurance is up to date before you go.  | ||
| Badrap |
Riding in sand SUCKS! Keep your speed up and good luck. | ||
| Glen |
ive tried everything on mine as michigan is one big sand box, nothing worked. i too tried getting a float going, problem was that anything other than flat wet sand would suck the front end up randomly. the small front wheel and the short rake puts you on the bars when it does dig in. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Sand sucks!!!!!! I try to avoid deep sand at all costs!! If I have to be in it, I will normally go slow with my "outriggers" out. | ||
| Xbimmer |
It ain't made for sand. I'm sure there are some musclebound behemoth Uly riders out there who are willing to regularly tackle it but not me, the one time I tried I almost ended up on my ear. It excels as a street bike for crappy roads. IMHO. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I wonder if a steering stabilizer would help? Anybody ever tried one for off-road? | ||
| Froggy |
Make a U-turn. | ||
| Someday |
I'll second Froggy's suggestion! | ||
| Paralegalpete |
Anything deeper than this and  your eating dust. (Message edited by paralegalpete on January 21, 2010) | ||
| Highlander51 |
Great responses, very funny. Maybe I'll skip the field test. I have to admit that I'm becoming a little seduced by a KTM 990. I rode one out in the desert and it was magic in the deep sand. (Message edited by highlander51 on January 21, 2010) | ||
| Ourdee |
I used to ride in the desert when i was younger. I drove a school bus in the sand with out getting stuck. I drove an armored personnel carrier up to the axles then got out and worked for an hour to get moving again. My suggestion is that if you want to play in the sand, get a sand rail or a light dual-sport. | ||
| Highlander51 |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_2vvIP1mMc&feature =related Notice the front tire on this bike. No need for a field test now. | ||
| Go2 |
If the sand pipers are calling you then stand up and stick your butt back, get on the throttle. Still plowing with the front wheel? Time for paddle tire, like the ones they use in those red neck truck pulls here in Iowa. A ULY is Not a sand bike without a paddle tire.  Clear out a safe zone behind you!  (Message edited by go2 on January 22, 2010) | ||
| Fung |
I stay out of the 2" or deeper stuff. | ||
| Etennuly |
Just too heavy. The bike needs to be light as possible. Three wheelers were a lot of fun. Four wheelers do well also. Again, lighter and more powerful = better. The four wheeler guys I rode with liked the two wheel drives on the sand better because of the lighter front end. I did a bunch of sand crashing in Florida at Croom motorcycle park in the late 80's and early 90's. My XL250 was too heavy and my son's XR250 was too heavy. We could do it, but it was a bunch of work to stay on top of it, standing up all the way to the back. The high powered two stroke bikes were the ticket for that ride. Then I built a Jeep and went to Ocala NF, and many places in Tennessee. Jeeps go well in the sand with 12.5 inch wide tires with big knobs. But it was no match for a rail buggy with thirty percent of its weight on the front and seventy at the back. | ||
| Buewulf |
Will a DRZ400 fit in your top case? 515 lbs of bike + 17" wheels with street oriented tires + sand = a large impact crater. Learn from those of us foolish enough to experiment and just say no to sand. If you are among the foolish, have full body armor, a good first aid kit, a SPOT and a winch handy. The rest of us will also appreciate if you bring a friend with a camera along. If you have to get through a patch of relatively deep sand (deep = 2 - 3" for the Uly), get on the pegs and get your weight as far back as you can. The front WILL dig in, so try to stay out of the bars and give the clutch a little slip and pop to try to pick the front back up if you are getting enough traction on the rear. You'll need to keep the revs up. Anything deeper than 3" for more than 3 feet of span will likely send you to the ground. | ||
| Etennuly |
Buewulf, aaahhh so you've been there with the Uly?  | ||
| Highlander51 |
Thanks for your concern guys. It's not that I don't know how to ride in sand, I just have never been in sand on the uly. I live in SoCal and many trials end up with some portion of sand to deal with, but I get the picture. | ||
| Buewulf |
Buewulf, aaahhh so you've been there with the Uly? Oh yeah. Biting it on the Uly in sand is a far different experience than on a little 250 dual-sport... in the same way a flying drop kick to the face is different from a slap on the hand. | ||
| Etennuly |
It always impressed me how dense sand is when landing on your helmet. I mean at 30 mph, flying over the bars while trying to save it, landing head first in deep Florida sugar sand, a direct hit divot is no more than 5 inches deep.  I also did one running into the side of a twenty feet high soft dirt pile. I planned on going 'up' the side of the pile. I just went 'into' the side of it burying half of the front tire. That left about a five inch helmet divot also.  | ||
| Buewulf |
I just went 'into' the side of it burying half of the front tire. I know that trick too! And I can confirm the 5-inch divot rule holds true regardless of speed. | ||
| Nwforester |
Tried the 30-40 mph approach in Southern UT N AZ sand "roads" and ended up demonstrating the use of the slow outrigger method. Too much pucker factor in the more speed is better concept. IMHO loose sand and the Uly = no fun. Nothing better than tearing down one of these and hitting 10" deep sand!  | ||
| Rotorhead |
I've had some better luck with a bigger knobbier tire just to ride in the sand.  I have dropped the bike a lot in sand and thin mud. It handles both the same,on it side!!! Good advice above for the sand riding. let the front tire wander and don't use the front brake at all!!! The fat tire on the front let the bike "FLOAT" over the sand instead of plowing it. Carry a little more speed than you think you want to stay on top of the sand and the willingness to crash a bit harder makes the sand a bit more tolerable. Here are some pics of the roads and washboard I have ridden on.  Once you figure out the sand then you'll run into the washboard suspension setup fun!  The knob made the slick thin mud just the same but the deeper mud it worked better.  LOOK MOM NO KICK STAND!! | ||
| Buewulf |
I've had some better luck with a bigger knobbier tire just to ride in the sand. What kind of tire is that? Can you get more than 2K out of them? | ||
| Fung |
Yes, what tires? | ||
| Rotorhead |
front I mounted a rear Cheng shin C755 4.60-17  tube type NOT DOT I have over 3000 on them but most of those miles were in dirt not on the street. I doubt they would last 2000 mixed riding Rear TKC 80 150/80 took a bit to seat but she fits. | ||
| Etennuly |
That tire does look beastly on the front.  | ||
| Fordrox |
I like my Uly but if it comes to other than paved or hard gravel roads thats where my Husqvarna TC450 comes in. I cant imagine trying to ride that much weight in loose/slippery terrain | ||
| Eulysses |
Down here exploring AZ...second day. Discovered sand. Lots of washout stuff after big rain. Uly no like sand. Short fat tire on front...stops cold. Bike falls over. Wife complains. Not used to this but then...spent my first 60 years on tall skinny and knobby front tires...even those need lots of crank and weight back in sand. Sand is off limits for Ulys...at least mine! It sucks...literally. BTW...so far AZ appears to be a very large sand and gravel pit. So far...at Lake Havasu anyway. | ||
| Ourdee |
This was my playground from 78 to 81. I also used an XL250. +1 to getting your weight back. I could keep it on the rear tire for a 100 yards of moguls. Almost always rode by myself and got lucky more than once. | ||
| Bzrider |
tall risors really help so you can keep your weight balanced the uly is so front heavy sitting is no way an option steer only with your feet .even then falling is always an option.florida is one giant sand box . | ||
| Tootal |
Stand on the rear pegs and gas it!! |
