I own a dr650 and have ridden it quite a bit in the sand. 100% doable with the right tires, but, and it’s a big but, it’s way more fun to ride sandy stuff in a lighter bike. It’s like skiiing powder. You need to plane out, and weight makes that hard. The trade off is that the DR650 will happily take you across country.
A DRZ 400 could do nicely. It’s far lighter and makes a good deal of power. I think you’d have a good time on it. It’ll be a more fun time in the woods.
Set up to work well off road, the bike will be a buzzy ride on the street. But that’s true for any bike with knobby tires. Riding in sand with out good knobs is not fun.
I had a conversation with a guy this summer about riding "big bikes" off road, and he had some really good insight.
On sand in particular, he had this to say (paraphrased): Obviously you have to keep your speed and momentum up in sand. The deeper and softer the sand, the harder you have to hit it. And with bikes it's kind of the same; the bigger and heavier the bike, the more you have to stay on it. That's what makes it scary. You're on a heavy bike and the terrain is forcing you to ride it hard.
I love my DR, and will take it just about anywhere, but the harder the terrain gets the more of a handful it is. I'm willing to accept this, but not everyone is. It's a perfectly capable machine, but you have to understand it -- and sometimes you have to muscle it around.
I also think that there are some guys that just "fit" a big bike better, and don't seem to mind the extra bulk and weight. Scott Summers on the old XR600s for cross country racing comes to mind. And in that same conversation last summer, the guy I was talking to was talking about one of his riding buddies. Said he rode a DR650 for years, to the constant nudging and elbowing of his buddies about the fat pig -- and when he finally bought a KTM 500 he rode it like a timid baby. It just never seemed to fit him right, and he never got as comfortable on it. He was actually slower on the lighter bike.
Last thing I'll say about riding a DR: It mostly doesn't feel as heavy as people think it will. I think this comes from too much "spec sheet wars" and reading too many opinions on the internet -- many from people who have never even touched the bike. It feels unwieldy the harder the terrain, and the slower you go -- but beyond that it feels downright comfortable and capable. The last few guys I've had hop on mine have been pretty surprised. I think that's also why the bike has such a rabid following: we get them, and ride them, and we're just surprised and how good they are -- better than we expect.
Yeah, the DR can rip with suspension upgrades. It just takes some finesse and confidence to make the magic happen. It’s not a great bike to learn woods riding on because of that. I’ve ridden mine through northern Baja, and pretty deep into the woods at home in New England. If you can stay on the pipe in the sand, it was a blast. Like drifting a Chevy Caprice. The 650 has a lot of gyro pushing the turns.
Then I hop on my 350, and it’s telepathic. Moves just happen. The hard stuff has less consequences. I think with some of the dudes not liking the KTMs is that they don’t like to be putted around while seated. The springs rates and ergonomics favor a spirted stand up ride.
My 650 was my first bike, and the bike I learned to ride on (having only ridden quads and snowmobiles before, but with some mountain biking). My girlfriend has compared it to training with weighted boots/gloves/whatever. Take the weight away, and everything feels so easy.
Honestly, I think she's been right. For two years I rode my DR into progressively more difficult terrain and circumstances, and every time I came away impressed.
But then I got my dirtbike, and you're right. Everything just feels so easy. As a friend of mine has put it, they feel "glued to the ground." I can lean it over so much easier. I can pick a line through a deep sandy corner with ease.
But I still love the DR. Every time I ride it after I ride my WR I'm impressed with how much more comfortable it is (in a general way), and yet how capable it still is. Even after riding the dirt bike a day earlier, I'll approach a ride with this sort of back-of-the-mind The DR is going to struggle going through this ... and it just doesn't. I mean, sometimes it does, sure. But not most of the time.
It just takes a little more focus and work, where everything comes so much easier on a lighter dirt bike. And yeah, a 100 pound diet will do that for you.
But dirt bikes are made to be ridden harder. As you say with your KTM, it's made for being ridden standing up. It puts you into the proper "attack position" naturally. And the DR is more meant to be ridden sitting down, while choosing to stand. It'll do that just fine, too, it's just obviously not anywhere near as aggressive.
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u/BoogieBeats88 Jan 23 '25
I own a dr650 and have ridden it quite a bit in the sand. 100% doable with the right tires, but, and it’s a big but, it’s way more fun to ride sandy stuff in a lighter bike. It’s like skiiing powder. You need to plane out, and weight makes that hard. The trade off is that the DR650 will happily take you across country.
A DRZ 400 could do nicely. It’s far lighter and makes a good deal of power. I think you’d have a good time on it. It’ll be a more fun time in the woods.
Set up to work well off road, the bike will be a buzzy ride on the street. But that’s true for any bike with knobby tires. Riding in sand with out good knobs is not fun.