Well, I'll play. I just crashed and probably totaled my BMW F650GS riding across some blown sand on an all weather road. The sand looked deep near the edges of the road, so I was staying near the center where it appeared there was less sand. I would estimate that my speed was between 20 and 30 mph and I was standing on my pegs. Suddenly, my handlebars started to swing wildly back and forth. I thought that perhaps I caught a rut under the sand and was hitting the sides of the rut. Later examination appeared to show that I struck the edge of a head sized rock under the sand. I hit two of these buried rocks before I came off the bike and high sided.
When the handlebar initially began to move back and forth, I thought I hit a pocket of deeper sand. I gradually gave the bike some throttle, but it didn't seem to help, the handlebar motion became more pronounced, and I crashed. I'm certain I wasn't relaxed on the bars after the handlebar began to swing back and forth. I don't have any recollection of how I came off the bike. I was laying on my back in the deep sand at the side of the road, but my helmet was scuffed on the chin bar and face shield.
After the crash, we inspected the road and found 2-3" of sand in the center of the road. It appeared that I caught the edge of my front tire of the two rocks described above. The bike was loaded with a duffel strapped on the passenger seat. I'm wondering if I buried the front wheel because I didn't get my weight far enough back.
How does the extra weight of a touring load affect the handling of larger bikes in sand?
How do you think I should have responded to the pre-crash inputs that I have described?
When the handlebar initially began to move back and forth, I thought I hit a pocket of deeper sand. I gradually gave the bike some throttle, but it didn't seem to help, the handlebar motion became more pronounced, and I crashed. I'm certain I wasn't relaxed on the bars after the handlebar began to swing back and forth. I don't have any recollection of how I came off the bike. I was laying on my back in the deep sand at the side of the road, but my helmet was scuffed on the chin bar and face shield.
After the crash, we inspected the road and found 2-3" of sand in the center of the road. It appeared that I caught the edge of my front tire of the two rocks described above. The bike was loaded with a duffel strapped on the passenger seat. I'm wondering if I buried the front wheel because I didn't get my weight far enough back.
How does the extra weight of a touring load affect the handling of larger bikes in sand?
How do you think I should have responded to the pre-crash inputs that I have described?
