TE511 Front-end washout

What would cause the front end on the te511 to wash out in sand? The bike performs beautifully on all other surfaces except for deep sand. I have been thinking it's a geometry issue? I have owned tons of motorcycles and love riding in the dunes. I have never had a problem like this before.

I dunno. What would cause a smr 511 to throw itself off the sidestand into your F150?? Maybe a spring loaded sidestand and a smidge o inattention on my part? Sorry to hijack your thread. Just happened. Had to vent. Two broken mirrors, one broken brake lever and a dent in my truck. ARRRRRGH. Please remind me, why is there a spring on there?

To keep it off the ground while riding

Yes. Guess I'd have to agree, progress is generally more swift that way.

I weight 310lbs with gear on and I am tall, so I put different leverage on the suspension than normal. I had a 6.3 spring put on the rear & .56 on the front. I think that the geometry is wrong and that it is raked forward. The forks are all the way to the top of the clamps. Once I get the back lower than the front, I will increase compression in the forks and hopefully compensate for washout.

Front tire is a Dunlop Geomax MX 71F

Right now, the tops of my forks are flush with the triple clamps. Should I lower the triple clamps down leaving space at the top?

I have a riding buddy that has an early TE511. He says he's tried everything to get the bike to turn. He's very frustrated with the whole thing. Blames the forks.

Turning isn't my issue, keeping the bike straight in the sand is. As soon as I hit sand, it turns uncontrollably.

S

Sounds like the front is digging in, run lower pressure in the front and turn your compression settings down might help. I have only road in a couple sand washes and never any issue with mine.

Running your forks this way should give the best straight line stability. "running your forks up in the triple gives better turnig and less stability."

Notice motorsportz has best of both worlds...

It is a 2012. Ty set up the suspension and made the fork tubes flush with the top of the clamps, but left the clickers all the way out. He has it taken apart in the shop right now and hopefully I can get it closer to working properly before I install the steering stabilizer and the Flexx bars. I'm 6'6 and my leverage torques the suspension differently than most riders, so getting the suspension set for me is a little odd. Once we get the geometry set up, then everything can be adjusted. I just have never experienced this instability before in sand. Hard pack or regular dirt, thing tracks amazingly.

I'm roughly your size and run .53 in the front and 6.4 in the back. All I ride in is sand. Currently, I have the forks 2mm from the caps and 108 mm of rear sag. This is close and straight line is good, but I can't lean the bike well at all. I find myself taking turns vertically and sliding the rear around. The bike responds better with less sag, but I think I'm going to try bringing the forks up a bit to see if I can get more weight on the front without making the rear too harsh.

What are your comp/rb settings like?

I've got a TC with dual chamber forks, so they won't be the same as your open chamber forks.