Motocrossing on Sand

[Chunk]

Hi Guys,

I've been into riding green-lanes for a couple of years now and i'm keen to try the Weston Beach Race next year (especially after seeing it again on the weekend!) but i'm not sure how my bike will handle the sand. Any tips on what the best set-up for my Yamaha WR250 is? I noticed that practically everyone racing on the weekend had a much smaller rear wheel+tyre than i've got atm so i'm expecting i've got some work to do!

Thanks Guys

[G]

Get more sand practice in than I did .

What's your current experience with motocross and enduro?

I did know my sand riding skills weren't amazing from the time card enduro I did which had some decent sandy sections.

Not sure about small wheels - pretty much everyone had enduro or motocross wheels that I say (18" and 19").

If you haven't done hare and hounds; I'd get some practice with doing them. I was still knackered this morning; think it was partly because I wasn't that great at sand, so probably fighting a bit too much.

Setup; remember that sand gets everywhere. Lots of oil on the airfilter, tape up the airbox. Silicone grease around electrical connections, possibly taped up. Some sand biased tyres will probably help, but not a big thing (paddles aren't allowed as far as I know.)
You're not allowed sidestands.
Worth taping your boots to your legs (I didn't, Tech 10s still got loads of sand in despite a lot of pressure washing.)
The best setup I suspect is a bike with a good rider on (the one big thing mine was lacking.)

[HD]

I've heard swingarm and wheel bearings take a beating
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Rusty '02 Vito Camper + CBR600F3

[G]

Pretty much everything that can move does.
Fork seals, engine can get sand-blasted (so that's crank and piston on my 2 stroke), cables, carb etc.

It's not cheap to play either - way more than a normal hare and hounds for the same time out playing.

[Chunk]

Thanks for such a quick response! My experience is fairly limited (i'm more than capable handling a bike off-road but it's always been at a pace to suit my confidence- so not fast on anything that isn't flat!) so I'll look into getting some hare & hound experience. I expected that the sand would get everywhere so I guess I'll take all the precautions I can and just hope for the best!
Have you done the WBR before or was it your first time? I'm keen but I'm sure I'll be nervous on the day!

[G]

First time riding; been to watch a few time.
I did it this year because I had the time and money to hand.
Wouldn't do it again unless I did again and I'd definitely get a bit more sand experience first so I could make the most of it.

See my other thread in this section.
[edit, here: https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=197642 ]

I do a few hare and hounds, not amazingly well. As an idea I came around halfway in the Hafren rally the weekend before which is a relatively 'easy' event.
Ok, I started late and finished early at Weston (clutch gone at the end) but ended up a fair bit further down - 362 out of 435 who had results listed.

As it costs so much to do, I'd definitely want to

Not sure there's much to be nervous about, apart perhaps from not dying on the start .

Oh and I should point out in the first laps I was thinking "never again"... of course I'll have long forgotten that by next time, but given the choice I think if it conflicted with the Cambrian rally again, I'd go for that rather than Weston.

Before I do it again, I'd be looking to get more proper motocross experience too - proper graded tracks tend to be looser and more sand like. But you won't be going for the three hours which you do on a Hare and Hounds.

[HD]

Just thinking it may be worth getting an older bike for the race? Just replace the consumables and hopefully it should be okay. Well, thats what I would do as I wouldn't want to ruin my normal off roading activities just because of one race.

Anyway, if you do it, good luck
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Rusty '02 Vito Camper + CBR600F3

[G]

That's kinda what I did - I got a 300EXC for £920 with some spares (had 05 suspension, tax and test too, so all in quite a good deal I thought anyway.) I wanted to try out a 300, so this seemed ideal.
If I decide I don't want to keep it, I can probably be honest about having ridden Weston and still not make too much of a loss.

[Chunk]

Yea I've been thinking about getting another bike for it but people don't seem to be too upfront about whether they've ridden theirs on sand before (I'd prefer to find one that's already been set-up for it). If you're interested in selling your 300 let me know! Funds are another reason why I was considering using the Yamaha, I'm just a poor student lol!

[G]

If you haven't got a bit of money floating about, it's far from ideal.

£125 entry fee if you pay early (then £145 and £165 on the day). £15 day licence. Either get a transponder (circa £200 new) or hire one for £35
£30 camping.
Day off work on Friday if you're at work.

Personally I really don't think "setup for sand" matters much for the bike - you need the rider "setup for sand" first .
Sure David Knight no doubt has got a good bike setup he uses, but until you've got national/international levels of racing, it's nothing more than protecting your bike a bit.

And similarly; your fitness. I was being even more knackered than normal thanks to not being too comfortable with the bike.

As I say, there's plenty of other events that offers a similar 3 hours of riding experience, but on terrain you're more used to.
I'd start doing these, get some decent experience riding on sand then decide if you do want to do it for three hours.
It is worlds away from greenlaning for most.

Oh and I'd definitely start 'preparing' your riding/fitness now if you do want to do it next year.
You may be someone that gains dirt race skills and fitness quickly; which'll be fine. But for most it does take a lot of time and effort.

[andyscooter]

weston beach race is in october for a reason its the end of the motocross season fo most as the cold comes in and the tracks shut for winter

we used to have to do a complete rebuild of our bikes after the beach race all bushes changed engine stripped and rebult to get rid of sand

thought this years was the last one ever according to some posters in weston the other month
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[G]

They were probably just trying to keep the numbers up... or it would have been the last one .