• 4 Stroke Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Italy - About 1989 to 2014
     TE = 4st Enduro & TC = 4st Cross

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Need help making my '11 te310 better in sand washes

D

DougW

Husqvarna
AA Class
So I'm out in Johnson valley (desert) as I type, and I'm finding riding thru the sandy washes and sandy trails pretty much one step short of a bad day. The bike feels like I'm riding on ice, even on the straight line. There is times that the bike just wants to slide out and put me on my side. I've had the suspension done, sag set. I'm running Dunlop 51's for tires (14 psi). The only thing short of different tires is to either change the sag or move the forks either up or down in the clamps to change the rake.

Any thoughts on what to try? If moving forks, do I go up or down? I'm at a lost.

Thanks
 
I'm not fast or an expert on suspension, but I've spoken with a mechanic of an A rider at a sandy track...

Here is how the mechanic set the bike up for sandy MX tracks...
- Moved forks down in clamps
- run a little more rear sag (increased 5mm or something like that)
- a few clicks harder on compression and rebound for forks and rear shock

This helps keep the front wheel above the sand and not dig in.

Attached cut from husky manual backs up what the mechanic was saying.

On the technique side of things: keep the front wheel light by having weight back and power on... standing up.

Hope that helps.
 

Attachments

I ride Johnson Valley often, it's not just sand, it's dry sand, the stuff is very fine and everywhere.
Basically what Boogie wrote, but...

Push the forks all the way down, just the top caps should be above the clamps.
Increase compression on the forks, a lot.
Lower your race sag. For example, if normal sag is 100mm, so 115-120mm.
Ride further back on the seat.

Some other things to consider which helped me:
Steering damper, I use a Scotts, adjusted the sweep to run stop to stop which is very important. Kelly's damper is also excellent, not sure if his sweep is full stop to stop or not. I suggest you set your bike up as best as you can first before adding a damper.

Tires; mx51's are a great tire, should be running at least a 120 width in the rear, for me this is too narrow to keep the front tire up. I love the MX 11's, but they require a 19" rim. If the front end is still loose, try a 90 width front tire. Ty and I are experimenting with the Golden Tyre front "fat tire" GT216HB.This is also a DOT legal tire.
 
I had this exact problem yesterday on my practise track, added 3 clicks to the fork compression and one click to the rebound and problem solved, no more wash outs on sandy corners.
 
Tinken said:
Push the forks all the way down, just the top caps should be above the clamps.
Increase compression on the forks, a lot.
Lower your race sag. For example, if normal sag is 100mm, so 115-120mm.
Ride further back on the seat.

Some other things to consider which helped me:
Steering damper, I use a Scotts, ....
Click to expand...

As was instructed by Ty, my sag is set close to 140mm. ( which seems like a lot to me but I'm not the expert). I had the tubes set level with the clamps but then raised the forks about 1/4" above. I went 1 click at a time both softer and harder up to 2 clickers each way and the bike became uncontrollable over whoops and I never made it to the sandy stuff. I unfortunately wasn't able to play any with the sag since I didn't have those tools with me.

Yes, I'm running a Scott's, 120 rear tire and a wider front tire width, (90/100).

Oh well, thanks all.
 
One other note - steer with the rear of the bike. When you want to change direction gas hard and lean a little to slide the rear out a little. Speed is your friend in keeping the tires up on top of the sand and ride a little 'loose' - let the bike move around - most bikes, most of the time are self correcting when the head shakes a little or the bike weaves a little - don't fight it. When it feels like you are losing control don't let off - gas it (within reason of course) I rode sweep at a race and a guy on a CRF250 was having hell in the sand. In his day job he was a motorcycle cop. But his tires had 30psi and every time the front tire 'pushed' a little he let off the gas - the wrong thing to do.
(Tinken is correct you have so much sag that the bike should handle pretty poorly everywhere. With that much sag I don't imagine the spring is preloaded enough to ever 'push' against the sand so you can steer with the rear.)
 
run your tire pressure lower. I use 11-12 in front and 10-11 in the back in deep sand. makes huge difference. also an agressive front tire is a must
 
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