Stockton Beach - Desert Prep
 

Hey - Thinking of taking a visit to Stockton Beach to practice riding laden in sand. Hoping to do some desert riding on our trip but up until now we've only ridden sand trails with vegetation beside.

Wondering if anyone has taken bikes there when fully loaded and whether it was advisable, or feasible as a practice ground?

Currently riding a DR650 and a Himalayan.

Thanks!

Hello

If it's not too big of a detour, go and have fun in the sand.
Get rimlocks if you don' t have them already, it cost me two front tubes.
First go inwithout luggage, then try step by step.
I had enough just with the weight of my xt660z, the local boys were playing with small mx-bikes and sandtires.

Have fun
Sushi

I live nearby and I've taken a KLR650 to the beach several times. Entry on and off at each end can be a bit soft but is quite doable (and I am no great off- road rider). Once you are on the beach proper it can be as easy (on the packed sand by the sea) or as hard (on the dunes) as you like. Don't forget you need a permit -$10 for a day last time I checked. You can buy this at the petrol station adjacent to the southern end. There is probably somewhere at the northern end as well but you will need to research that. Have fun.

Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk

We only live a couple of hours away from the beach, so just round the corner by Aussie standards. Thanks for the tip on the rimlocks - I've never had to let the air out of my tyres before so all advice is super helpful for me.

Perhaps we should do the trip without panniers and then go back at a later date if we're happy with how it went

We'd be coming from the south, so thanks for the headsup. KLR seems like it would be similar to our DR so thats promising.

I think it's either going to be super fun, or an incredibly frustrating day when we get up there. Maybe both?

Hello

Do it first without panniers, deep sand is fun but also a eye opener, might even shatter dreams of crossing the simpson desert. :rofl:

Reducing the air is the key, I had to go down to 0.5 bar on my bike.
Then there is the danger that the tire moves on the rim and damages the valve.

I had this both times that I did it on Stockton Beach, but never before.
Problem was that the valve didn't tore on the beach but later after I refilled the tire and drove many miles on tarmac.

The first time it happend later that day in Newcastle, flat tire, no tools with me, so I drove a couple Km back to the campground. This damaged the tube quite a bit so I didn't saw the connection to the fun in the sand.
So I changes the tube on the campground and went back the next day again to play in the sand.
Again no problem, I drove till Frasier Island and there I reduced the pressure again and had immediatly a flat tire.
The valve was torn.
Gave me a bit of a headache when I realised that I drove 1000km with a damaged valve that could have failed all the time. doh

Me having fun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP6WDp7GFok

sushi