Suspension Set-up for Sand

It has been a while since I last did serious sand - I cannot seem to remember what the right set-up would be for the suspension on my 1200GSA (non-ESA). Any help?

Tire pressure - 0.9 front and 1.4 rear (will be fully laden with stuff - tents, panniers etc.)

Will appreciate your comments here!

Steyngert - those tyre pressures look right for one-up, no baggage and thick, thick sand.

If you are fully laden and fueled, I would suggest maybe 1.1 - 1.2 up front and perhaps as much as 1.8 at the back.

And what tyres are you using? Heidies like it a bit stiffer! And maybe pack the compressor to inflate when you're done. You don't want to hit rocks at speed with deflated tires!

As far as the suspension is concerned, you should turn your compression preload hard - I'm running my front one setting lower than the max (4/5, I think) and the rear on max with a couple of clicks softer. I match the rebound on the rear to be also near the max, but I guess it's not so important in sand specifically... Seeing that you can't adjust the rebound on the front (or at least I'm 99.95% sure of that!). Knopkop did Sunday's club ride with these and sailed through the sandy sections.

Sounds like a nice trip... care to share??

Marnus - thx for your advice! I am running TKC-80's, and I do have a little compressor that will go along. Did the Malongane/Maputo run in 2002 - pillion, luggage and no compressor. Had to do it with tire pressures of 2.3 front and 2.6 rear - had no idea it was just sand, did not want to risk sidewall punctures if the road became hardpacked... You can probably imagine how interesting that was...

About the trip - there is always space for one more! 2 bikes (maybe a 3rd if Eddie can organise his things in time). R1150 GS Adv, R1200GS Ad . We are off to Ponta Malongane for the first evening (Sunday), then Xai-Xai on Monday evening, driving through the elephant reserve. Inhambane on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Wednesday riding all around, just exploring the area. Pauli said he will mail me a few nice tracks around there. Thursday evening in Komatipoort, and Friday back in Pta. We will be looking for as much off-road and sand as we can...

Just keep an eye on Pauli - he's been known for inflating your tires when you don't look