KDXRIDER.NET

I do quite a bit of sand riding in michigan however with my stock
forks and the KYB conversion when riding say at 50mph plus
my bike kinda zig zags, steering back and forth unless I slow
down.
If you look at the trail behind it would resemble the trail of a snake
through mud.
Is there a way to calm this down ?
Open the compression/rebound clickers on the forks?

I'm impressed:
50mph through a sand wash. Hell, 50 mph on anything other than a paved or well maintained dirt road is admirable.

You may want to play with air pressure in the tires or with sand specific tires for more performance than you are already getting. For me, it's technique: I unweight my front wheel as much as possible, then deliberately wiggle my bars back and forth. Not big wiggle, but very small and very fast. That way, the front wheel doesn't submarine into the sand and control direction.

From experience, KDXs don't like sand. It could be wheelbase, rake, I dunno but I always had trouble in it. Like Ski said, keep the front wheel light, you don't want it digging in and taking control. Another tip that works well is to use the front brake ever so slightly when your front tire starts washing out. It takes some practice but used correctly it seems to work very well, too bad I still can't do it every time I try.

In sand or deep gravel, I slide my butt back where my tool pack used to be. Keeps the front end light. For turns, don't slide all the way up the seat and keep the throttle on.

thebleakness wrote: Another tip that works well is to use the front brake ever so slightly when your front tire starts washing out. It takes some practice but used correctly it seems to work very well, too bad I still can't do it every time I try.

Wondering about the front brake application approach to prevent wash outs. With my limited experience in deep sand I just keep my weight back and generally stay on the gas with very little to no brakes used in the dunes. If I'm turning I may shift weight more forward and power around the rear to tighten the turn but the use of the front brake is non-existent in my sqid technic. (This may come from an experienced sand rider telling me the best thing a person can do to learn sand riding is to remove the front brake lever)

Tell us more - when the front starts to wash out you feather the front brake???

I'm going to try the wiggle and brake methods and see how it works.
I had the same problem on hard packed trails until I increased the
compression/rebound clicks then it went away.
Tire pressures I have tried from 18-12 psi, 12 seems best but when
in get into some small rocks it feels pretty rough on the rims.
Thanks for the suggestions will try and give an update !!

For the guys that have steering stabilizers do you experience
this same effect ?

I loosen up the stabilizer in sand. It's made to absorb hard hits that would pull the bars right out of your hands and hinders the wiggle in sand. But, hey!! give it a try, adjust from firm to soft and let us know what you think too.

I noticed my bike did poorly in sand, but that was when I had stock forks and no stabilizer. Keep in mind I don't ride in sand a lot, but I also noticed my bike was pretty scary at 65-70 mph on roads covered with deep gravel. After the stabilizer was put on, I noticed right away it was much more stable on the gravel, and I did ride a little bit of sand and it seemed better there because although it still felt weird, I left my buddies pretty far behind, and we all used to be pretty even in that area. After the KX forks, everything got better everywhere.

After I did the conversion everything improved except what i described above.
Im good for about 65 on shallow sand or loose gravel, don't notice any
wash on gravel BUT . . . . . when I hit deep sand at that speed it about
scares the sh_ _ out of me and got to slow down....

Guy's I ride with pass me then and makes me wonder if there riding
by the seat of the pants with no fear.
My unbroken bones are worth too much to me.

Sand riding takes a pretty different suspension setup from riding hard pack or mud. My suggestion would be work with the rebound and compression clickers and keep the front end light. A stabilizer will help with the jerking the bars sensation and give you some more confidence. Also try backing your wheel all the ways out into its farthest setting (provided your chain has enough slack to let you) and see if the longer wheel base helps out.

My 2 cents. Try lowering the forks a little in the triple clamp.

Like CC said awhile back " an uphill " setup.

I'll try lowering the forks and see how that works.
I have the upper clamp shimmed with a second steering shaft
nut and still have the forks set about a half inch over the upper clamp.

sand is tough with the KDX KYB setup, I will adjust air pressure on front to 15 psi and run 2 clicks more compression on the forks I also ad 1/4 more sag to the rear to help with rake. but no mater what the KDX is and will be sketchy at high speed. Its purpose built for slower technical riding.

I brought the forks about one inch above the upper clamps and that semed to help.
Still a bit funky at faster speeds.
This winter in will pull them down and do all the good stuff inside.

12psi in Sand is TOO MUCH AIR.... I run 10psi al around & in sand I'll go to 8-9psi. I run HD Tubes also & have not had a problem yet with the wheels. Keep he front light, STAND UP!!! Let the bike move underneath you....