I live in Alberta, Canada and am planning a big 2 week dunes trip down through the states in the spring and would like some advice. I am looking around for sand tires and a prefilter and flag and whatnot and was wondering if i could get some help with prepping my machine for sand riding? What kind of things will it need and what is the best? I have heard california laws are very strict, anything i will need specifically for california? Also if anyone has any suggestions as to the best dunes to ride that would be great.

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Go Big Or Go Home

Glamis for sure, and Dumont. Do you have a toy hauler trailer or what??? It's not real great if you are tent camping.

All you need is a flag, and an out of state sticker. I can't recall the particulars on the sticker, but if you post in the Where to Ride forum, someone should know.

It is so weird that there seems to be this notion that we do some special prep to our quads for the dunes. Just slap some paddles on it and you are good to go. I prefer the old school buffed down Skat-Trak Edge tires. They are way lighter than the new crop of molded sand tires.

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Southern California Deserts and Mountains....

Desert: 450R, 400EX
Technical Trail: Rancher 420 and 350 4X4's
Kids: Two 250EX's and TRX90
Dual-Sport Bikes: KLX250S and XT225

Past rides: 300EX, 2wd Rancher 350, Recon, TRX90, Z400, LT160, LT80, Warrior, Blaster, CRF230F

When in the spring are you planning this trip? I would definetly make the trip to St Anthony ID and Little Sahara UT if it is late enough in the spring to avoid the cold weather. No reason to go to California and deal with all there rules when you have these 2 awesome dune sites much closer to you. You did not mention what type of quad you have, sport or utility? Are you planning on continuing to ride sand, if not, I would not go crazy on sand tires. The flags you can get at pretty much any ATV store in the area's close to the dunes or you can order online from someplace like rockymountainatv.com.

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05 Raptor 350
04 V-Force Orange Kawie nerfs, Kawie light guards, IMS tank.
03 Yamaha Breeze

just make sure you go to glamis the dunes are something to see. and just like recon said get some stak trak edges, they are very good all around paddles. then all you need is a flag and a camping permit (which you can just buy when you get to glamis for 25 dollars). also if you cant find a flag dont worry they have plenty of then there and there not any more expencive than getting them at a dealership.

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06 raptor 700....way way way to much stuff to list but makes real good hp and has long travel suspension

i ride a 2007 YFZ450SE. piped, jetted, air box lid removed. im lookin forward to seeing what it will do in the sand. i believe we are leaving either end of march or beginning of april. in that time frame anyways. would it be a good idea to get a dust prefilter, especially with my airbox lid removed? i have also heard that some guys have throttle problems with all the sand, anything i should worry bout?

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Go Big Or Go Home

Throtle problems???? Most of my friends never ride anywhere but the dunes, and belive me, nobody does anything special to their quads! It's no big deal! Does help if you use chain wax rather than a sticky chain lube. I run covers on my shocks, but I would run those even if I never rode the dunes.

I can't figure out why anyone wouldn't run a prefilter everywhere all the time, not just in the sand! If you are running a K&N (which I would never do!), absolutely get an Outerwears wrap for it, and oil it up good.

For me, I run an EHS Racing airbox lid that has an Outerwears pre-filter in it...best solution to the problem!

Anthony and Little Sahara are probably great, but from what I have seen of them they look like mostly just some drag strips up a sand hill. Glamis is 10 miles wide and 50 miles long...so which do you think will have the greatest variety of dunes???? If you are dirving down here, go the extra distance to Glamis! http://www.glamisonline.org/

Dumont is near Vegas, and it is different. Nowhere as big an area as Glamis, but the dunes are extremely tall!

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Southern California Deserts and Mountains....

Desert: 450R, 400EX
Technical Trail: Rancher 420 and 350 4X4's
Kids: Two 250EX's and TRX90
Dual-Sport Bikes: KLX250S and XT225

Past rides: 300EX, 2wd Rancher 350, Recon, TRX90, Z400, LT160, LT80, Warrior, Blaster, CRF230F

i had just heard that the sand caused some sticky throttles, nothin big. what is chain wax? never heard of it before, i have always used teh sticky chain lube. I kind of assumed a prefilter would be in order but i have never run one because i don't ride in real dusty conditions very much and everyone i talked to said it wasn't necessary unless i rode where there would be lots of dust, i just clean my filter regularly. this EHS Racing airbox lid.. where would i find one? i have never heard of such a thing before. does it still allow the same airflow as without a lid?

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Go Big Or Go Home

The sand will stick to your chain more with the sticky lube and it will cause more wear, the wax is not as sticky, most dealers should carry it. Like recon said, nothing special is required for the dunes, but if you do not have your airbox lid on, I would probably run a Outerwears brand prefilter like mentioned above, search online for Outerwears air filter covers.

St Anthony (10K acres)and Little Sahara (60K acres) are FAR from being just a drag strip up a hill, that is where most of the people congregate, just like Olds hill at Glamis. They both have tons of riding through all kinds of dunes. That time of year would be real nice at either one of these places, make sure if you are heading to Glamis, stop at Little Sahara and or St Anthony, they would probably be right on your way, check out dunereview.com for more info and pics of these places.

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05 Raptor 350
04 V-Force Orange Kawie nerfs, Kawie light guards, IMS tank.
03 Yamaha Breeze

I would have to disagree on the chain wax. My DS came stock from the factory with wax on the chain and the first trip to the dunes it was caked with sand it it took me nearly half a day to get the wax/sand mixture off. If your running an O-ring chain there is really no need to wax, or put on a bunch of lube on it for that matter. Just lube as normal then take a towel and whipe down any excess lube off the chain before hitting the sand. Thmubs down on the wax. Save your money and skip it....

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04 DS650 BajaX - HPR Stage II with some other goodies.
04 DS650 BajaX - HPR Lectron 46HV, ported intake, end cap, 15T CS, RWR 60% springs.

One thing you will more than likely have to do is rejet your carburator. Also, if you geared up on your quad you may want to return it to stock. The sand is a major power robber. You will need the lowend power more then high end speed. Remember this one tip and you should have no trouble riding in the sand. "The throttle is your freind" get on it fast and hard and not only will you rarley get stuck but you will smile more too!!!!

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87' Honda 250R loaded with all the goodies!!!
06' Suzuki LTZ400 wifes bike as custom as she'll let me
07' Typhoon Extreme 90 custom graphics, AC nerfbars and bumper, TAG handlebars, Works front shocks
08' Can-Am DS90X Maximum performance exhaust, clutch kit, cdi box and rejetted. Almost perfect!

Check out coral pink ut. i love it.

nth

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2003 scrambler hi-output power couch 500 4x4
fmmb racing penthouse bars
fmmb racing light kit
22/11/9 maxxis razr rears
22/11/10 itp sandstars for the dunes

Remove all your skid plates, even the swingarm.
It can still get cold at St. Anthony's during March and early April with snow possible. Very high elevation there so rejetting for it is a must.
If you make it to the Pacific coast try to visit one of the Oregon Dune areas. Either Coos Bay, Winchester Bay or Florence. No dust in the sand on the coast.

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Proud Army Dad!
If you don't support the mission, then you don't support the troops!
Freedom is worth whatever it costs!
2004 480Pirate Bike - Sand
2000 400EX - Dirt & Mud
Ride Pictures