How to ride water crossings (and fix drowned motorbikes)︱Cross Training Adventure

crosstrainingenduro.com How to ride through water and fix drowned motorbikes!
0:25 Preparing your bike & toolkit
01:39 Develop your riding technique
02:51 Water crossing technique
06:09 Fixing a drowned bike
This video has also appeared on our enduro channel.
Welcome to Cross Training Adventure! Water crossings on dual sport bikes or even adventure bikes? One day you may need to fix a drowned motorbike. Like to ride dirt bikes using enduro skills and dirt bike techniques - just like the top riders? Here are water and creek crossing techniques for deep water on your motorbike. And finally how to get your dirt bike running again when you drown it. Some guys keep their legs in the air to keep their boots dry. We will look at how to prepare your bike and equipment. Otherwise is it worth the risk on a river crossing? If you drown the motorbike and can't get it started, can you get back home again? How do you waterproof your motorbike? How to ride water crossings and fix drowned bikes? And beware of fast flowing water over slippery causeways. It might only be axle deep but once the bike is swept away you can wind up pinned under the bike in deeper water. Should you stand or sit? Experienced riders will usually stand to get better balance. How to prepare yourself. In very deep crossings this can sometimes be an advantage as there is less drag through the water, but usually it is sacrificing some control over the bike. So how do we ride water crossings and fix drowned dirt bikes? But less experienced riders may be safer sitting on a river crossing. So practice riding dry rocky creek beds, soft sand and mud. As you gain confidence, stand on the footpegs more for deep water crossings. How to actually do water crossings. We are into all things dual sport and adventure on the east coast of Australia... with occasional detours to places like Vietnam, Cambodia, Romania and Canada. This is one of our three channels, there's also a Cross Training Trials channel, and a Cross Training Enduro channel. All three are equally dodgy. We are the 27th most watched dirt channel in Uzbekistan. We have won the polished turd award five years in a row. And we have a world record 25 class action lawsuits for inaccurate information. We think the whole motorbike scene is getting too commercial. So called dual sport riding reviews are just glossy ads nowdays. Everyone is trying to sell you stuff you don't need, convince you to buy the latest model with anodized coffee cup holders for your trips to the coffee shop. Of course if you are cashed up and into bling, go for it. All we are saying is there's also the budget option for adventure riding. And it won't hold you back. Why? We reckon it's 80% the rider and 20% the bike. So the Cross Training Adventure focus is just get out there and have fun on two wheels. Instead of obsessing over the latest blinged out Beemer, which tyres to fit or spending a fortune on your suspension or billet alloy gas cap. So most of our adventure ridingvids will feature the much loved bush pig, the Suzuki DR650. And we've done a 10 part series on how to unleash the mighty beast that lurks within. What else? Cross Training Adventure actively avoids sponsorship. We like doing seriously critical reviews. Manufacturers make some really bad mistakes. and there is a lot of dodgy crap being sold out there. Instead of glowing dual sport reviews for kickbacks or free product, we will try to keep the buggers honest. So subscribe. Or don't subscribe to our Cross Training Adventure riding channel. The main thing is get out and ride while you can with dual sport riding or Adventure riding in Australia, Canada, Vietnam, Romania and beyond! So check out Cross Training Adventure.
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[@crosstrainingadventure]

Subscribe for weekly adventure & dual sport vids! English not your first language? Many subtitles... Safety & protective gear vids bit.ly/3BmKeGE Our dual sport & adv ride vids bit.ly/3HTdvvl Bike & product reviews bit.ly/3BrnVjq The more bizzare side! bit.ly/34ZschR The more philosophical side bit.ly/3v9nKYX Riding across Vietnam bit.ly/3pej9Rt DR650 project vids bit.ly/3gQEStP Check out our other channels too... Cross Training Enduro bit.ly/3Jncax4 Cross Training Trials bit.ly/3uUjwEm

[@garywinkworth3380]

all the advice you give is great thanks mate. ive been riding since i was 16 . im near 60 now have learnt alot of stuff from you that i didnt know.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Great to hear, Gary!

[@pollepost]

This is helpful advice. I had issues with the breather hoses on my mikuni carb. Riding in rain could clog the hoses for a while. I cut them in an angle at the end and it solved the problem.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

I had an Husky TE610 that would just give up halfway across wide creeks, until I realised it was the breather hoses hanging too low.

[@jensenmiller6410]

A tip for bikes that stall when they ride through water. Instead of re-routing the carb vent hoses to the airbox you can fix it for good. Get a T-Joint at the hardware store for a buck and some extra vent hose. Try and identify which line(s) are vents and which are overflow lines by simply blocking them with a finger or sticking them in a cup of water one at a time till the bike dies. On most carbs there's only 1 line that does most of the work. Splice the t-joint it in to the vent line at least 4" (10cm) away from the carb (keeps dirt from getting up into the carb from the vent line) and run one line to ground and another up near the headstock. You shouldn't have any issues with stalling when getting wet and randy anymore.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Great tip, Jensen!

[@andrewhare8124]

A good hack is installing a water drain plug (bolt) at bottom of header pipe. Weld a 10mm nut on header pipe drill an 8mm hole through the nut in the header pipe insert 10mm bolt through nut to seal hole. I think that's is how to do it. Water in exhaust. Remove bolt to drain water

[@clemoniii]

Excellent video! I haven't drowned a bike in 40+ years, and back then it was sooo much easier to access the spark plug, carb, fuel lines that we rarely actually got water inside our 2 strokes. We usually just pulled spark plug, drained carb and kicked the engine over. If there wasn't much water, we put in one of the spare plugs. you always had spares because they fouled a LOT! Then we put bike in second gear and had buddies push until it started. Terrain wasn't as technical back then either. Ahh the simpler days.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

So much space around the engine too... very easy to access everything. Pull a two stroke cylinder head off? Two minutes work.

[@clemoniii]

@@crosstrainingadventure Yes, and my knuckles still bear the scars of open end wrenches slipping on the cylinder bolts and splitting on the sharp casting tags of the cooling fins. Ahh, the good ole days 🤣🤣

[@RaphaelPais]

after the hours I lost yesterday greasing the swingarm and rear suspension on my 690, I'm 100% positive that I'll avoid water/river crossings as much as possible....

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Same here, Raphael. I'll do them if I have to but won't go looking for them!

[@martymorse2]

As always, great advice. I learned my lesson about underwater obstacles. I tried to wheelie across a deep, muddy water crossing. At about ten mph I t-boned a hidden ten pound rock with my rear wheel. After that I had no problem checking for underwater obstacles. Great video for riders of all levels.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

I know the feeling Marty! The only reason I wheelied in the preview pic was it was a concrete causeway and I could see there were no obstacles.

[@ORflycaster]

Thank you for the tips. I will do my best to avoid unnecessary water crossings!

[@andrewstambaugh240]

Pre-prep: put *dialectic grease,* NCP2, or similar on all your electrical connections. Stuff the connectors full from both sides if you can and consider taping over them afterwards. Added plus is that you will almost never have to scrap your battery terminals again if you did a good shiny cleaning and coated them with this. FYI: Fancy expensive "irrigation" wire nuts rated for submersion are just regular wire nuts + dialectic grease + some kind of tab to mostly keep the grease in. No reason we can't steal that knowledge and use it to our advantage.

[@ItsOnlyFil]

Agreed, but to add to this, dielectric grease prevents water to get in electrical connectors, but also it potentially can prevent water to come out if water did got in. But I generally agree with this trick.

[@XRE3OO_e_NC75O]

Excellent!!!

[@helmutschmacher2100]

After a couple of interesting river excursions i now identify as a U boat commander.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

😂

[@cotswoldmusings]

Excellent 👌

[@thomasc6412]

My WR250F used to stall all the time after crossing, until I noticed the hoses running down the right side of the frame behind the rear brake lever, rerouted them on top of the air box and no more problems. Always thought I had a wank bike 😅

[@daxadventure]

Good points but I'd add that it's easier to dab when sitting, (valuable when you hit unseen objects) your center of gravity and balance is better/lower when sitting, (more important on faster moving streams where angling downstream isn't possible) and most newer riders are more used to sitting. Hence I'd suggest for newer riders to sit.

[@kiwiadventurer]

Excellent survival vid, some thing for everybody. And..... entertaining. Thanks for sharing

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Our pleasure!

[@lena19191]

Had a 1986 TT 250 that would cut out in a long river crossing , it was the drain pipes that I think affected the atmospheric pressure in the carburettor ( please don’t send me hate mail if Ive go that information wrong ) anyway a T piece was inserted half way to allow take in air pressure under the seat but allow fuel to drain down wards.

[@franckbrunie4759]

Awesome guide, very comprehensive! And very nice vids of water crossings!

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Glad you enjoyed it Franck!

[@franckbrunie4759]

@@crosstrainingadventure I did! I'll be back in Morocco from April 27 to Mai 10, and it's there I had my wildest water crossings, although in Madagascar I had the most epic ones!

[@bryanreeme8584]

Water may be more dense than oil, but I'm more dense than both 😉!.. Great vid & info!

[@crosstrainingadventure]

🤣

[@PennsylvaniaDualSport]

I swamped my mighty bush pig last fall. Hit a large rock, lost footing and fell over. Thankfully the motor died beforehand. Drained the airbox, rang out filter, pulled a plug and cranked over to clear cylinder (that was a sight to see.. was a huge geyser). I had to ride it a little over a mile as the terrain was rocky and hilly and we weren’t pushing it. Only thing I wish we would have done was drain out the overfill of the case. It was way over the sight glass and then some. At home flushed with many filterless oil changes. Someone also recommended overfilling the case with diesel BUT NOT STARTING IT and dumping it. Diesel doesn’t strip the internals of lubrication. I did that twice and after 7 oil changes. It ran clear. Surprisingly my carb was pretty clean. A little bit a dirt around the slide but that happens naturally anyway. Also I changed my plugs. Glad I didn’t kill the pig. Rode it the next weekend on a 150 mile ride through a forest at a sanctioned event.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Wow, seven oil changes! Better safe than sorry. Glad she survived. 😊

[@PennsylvaniaDualSport]

@@crosstrainingadventure fast forward to 4:40 kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3iUpYClpM6Lnpo

[@richardhartley7094]

Very good advice👍

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Glad it was helpful!

[@somedude1129]

My 11 gasgas 300 has a crank drain bolt. Such a great feature and I wish more bikes included it. Suck water into the engine? Undo the crank drain, kick it s few times, put the bolt back in and you're good to go.

[@DonaldEdney]

I think a better electrical prep is to undo the connectors and fill them with dielectric grease prior to exposure.

[@pollepost]

Have you considered what dielectric means?

[@DonaldEdney]

@@pollepost Have you? Would you prefer conductive grease in an electrical connector? Dielectric (nonconductive) grease is; depending on manufacturing specs the correct prevention method. It's not supposed to be part of the circuit but an insulator around connections. It's waterproof, resistant to corrosion, and thermally stable up to 500°F.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

I've seen a few online debates about this. I haven't come across cases of it preventing a connection, but keen to hear if it has.

[@andrewstambaugh240]

@@crosstrainingadventure I just posted the same thing above before seeing this. I'm a mechanical engineer, spent half a life as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, and now work as a skilled machine repairman. So I think I've enough qualifications to say *that is the right thing to do.* You won't even be able to measure the difference in connectivity on a fluke multimeter, so unless you are building nano scale circuits like a cpu... But you can *certainly measure the resistance of corroded connections* which this near totally prevents. As I said in my other comment, this is all the submersion rated "irrigation" wire nuts are: ordinary wire nut + dielectric grease + some tab or way to keep the grease from getting scooped out. Personal testament to NCP2 (dielectic + some anti-acid & corrosion inhibitors): In AK, I used to have to deeply scrape clean aggressive corrosion on all the fishing vessel's battery connections *3-4 times a summer!* Not only did that take a bunch of time, but you had to crawl into a tiny space across the acid leaking batteries to do it. Not a fun way to spend an hour. (the air on the sea has atomized salt in it, and the heavy load and charge cycles made batteries breath more). I got frustrated and cleaned them all really well, then tried coating them in NCP2. If it even added a week to the cleaning cycle, it would have been worth it. A year went by with no problems. I went to clean them the next year as regular prep, but they were still bright and shiny. As an experiment, *all I did was add a little NCP2 coating on top* to keep the connection from running out. *4 seasons later,* I wire brushed them just for the sake of being thorough, but *they still looked fine.* I started coating all the vessels electrical connections in them and we had noticeably way less failures. It saved so much time wire brushing and tracing connections all the time. When I stopped working there, the captain didn't realize how much of a difference that made. His new workers would skip that. He noticed that all the new electrical connections tended to fail in less than a year, sometimes half a season. Then he understood why I was so insistent he buy a new pint can every year so we would never run out. And he adopted the policy.

[@DonaldEdney]

@@andrewstambaugh240 I was just going to comment I'm an industrial electrical apprentice, I use permatex brand for washdown-corrosive connections up to 480.

[@terrywest5735]

Good stuff, I've always refused to accept the fact that (I) could drop my bike in deep water so I've never prepared myself for the outcome. I'm going to my shop now and rethink my tool kit selection now. Thanks again!

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Glad the vid was useful, Terry!

[@youcanthide004]

Super Valuble Info / Thanks!!!!

[@crosstrainingadventure]

My pleasure!

[@CristianMotoRider]

I learned something from this, thanks!

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cykerobbo2045]

After doing the 20-ish river crossings from Nundle to Ellerston via Barry rd, I don't think I'll be doing any more any time soon, good fun but exhausting/daunting for a newbie like myself. Perrsonally I found picking a line and putting your head where you want to go worked best for me with rocky crossings, not once did I put my DR under water even with my ass planted on the seat, but I did wash out a few times coming out on the other side. Good tips tho, will be sure to use them in the future.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Great riding through there. We attempted that after floods and one of the guys got swept of the road on the second crossing, we eventually rescued him as he was clinging to a rock. Very dangerous in retrospect as he hadn't been riding for long.

[@peteracke2209]

A good trick is to turn the engine over back wards..put it in gear and push the bike backwards or rotate the rear wheel on the stand..this weekend we had a drowned wr 450 yamaha and no deep spark plug socket to remove the plug..we first drained the water from the air box and exhaust (until I could be gently kicked over) by lying the bike down both sides and then the reverse technique to clear the intake and exhaust of water...then full throttle with kill switch activated(engine off position) and cranked on the starter to get some petrol.into the cylinder..then kill switch off(run position) and the bike started straight up on idle after the 3rd short crank...bit of water in the oil but rode the rest of the day..ps not my bike but someone on the ride....saved a long tow back to our base camp and worked a treat..the owner is getting a tool kit with a plug spanner for the next ride just incase...I hope

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Great tip, Peter

[@jaykoerner]

If you have a Kickstarter you can slowly turn it over to check for water in the cylinder

[@michaelglenn2468]

My YZ250X makes a vanilla shake every (knee high) water crossing. I think it's the power valve rubber gasket letting it in. Can't imagine it's sucking that much water thru a breather tube.

[@DenisElpashev]

On my 2017 yzx it was a breather tube. Rerouted to airbox and it fixed the problem, but it may spit gear oil when hot so don't point the tube to air filter :)

[@damienwest653]

I drowned my kx250 and a buddy showed me a trick, take the carb off, if its gunked up you cant help clean it out with a splash of fuel and a lighter.

[@Matt43]

"Dead meat on the seat" LOVE IT!

[@crosstrainingadventure]

😁

[@markcdeyoung3118]

Are y'all riding in waterworld!? I'm able to get Mobil 1 5w50 by the gallon at Walmart cheaper than I can get the cheap stuff go figure ! I was cruising down a gravel road at about 60 MPH after a thunderstorm last year and blasted across a concrete wash over ONLY it was washed out DEEP I barely hydroplane across it it through me up in the air but I kept rollin' baby!! fun times!!

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Fast reaction time, Mark! Butt to the rear and gun it, I assume? I've occasionally come across a sheet of water at speed, my main issue is the force of the water usually knocks one of my feet of the footpegs.... a bit hairy.

[@markcdeyoung3118]

@@crosstrainingadventure you bet Barry that water is a force to be reckon with I've got a place about a quarter mile long on a gravel road that stays flooded a lot of the time From Creek runoff I just love blast through it as fast as I can! ass to the back of the saddle like I'm in a horse jumping competition ONLY you have water trying to blast your feet out of the stirrups 😅👍

[@simonmorse9634]

A cigarette lighter kept in the waterproof plastic bag can be used to heat/dry the wet spark plug before attempting a restart. Use an inner tube - foot peg to foot peg to tow a unstartable bike. Much better than a rope that has no give.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Good tips, Simon!

[@cowboyanimal6700]

I just become a fucking submarine. The enduro I did saw me go into a one way with roughly 2-4 bikes and going downstream on big ball rocks (it wasn't a crossing, it was river road), one - two bike bike ditch with 3m below on either side of us. I'll never forget the kindness of the guy behind me... legitimate guardian angel. I will also remember the asshole who rode over my head whilst underwater.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Yeah, for some guys it's definitely each man out for himself lol. Thankfully we don't have anyone like that in our group... or not anymore.

[@derekandleonie5636]

Very appropriate time to post this video old mate 🤣

[@crosstrainingadventure]

A good reminder for me too, Derek. I haven't drowned a bike yet but we've had a lot of rain and some flooding around here. 🤔

[@MoistLightning]

If you get muddy water in your engine no amount of flushing will clean it, requires a full rebuild. lots of areas around and in bearings that will trap dirt forever. Don't ask me how i know.

[@keithralfs5190]

I would suggest that Lanolin (Lanotec) is far better than WD40

[@jaime7890]

What is the model name of that air cooled yamha? The first one that appears in the video ( 0:10 )

[@potatopobobot4231]

Ttr 225 i thinks

[@prawns]

/ttr250? (looks like my ttr250) i.ibb.co/qkZNC3Z/20220215-095157.jpg

[@crosstrainingadventure]

TTR250, Jaime. When I rode in Cambodia they had a fleet of them.

[@jaime7890]

@@crosstrainingadventure Looks awesome and capable

[@manchesterroofingsystems8016]

@@crosstrainingadventure Is that was where this video was made? You have great riding areas in your videos and super helpful content!

[@OddvarRykke]

Looks like you miss Cambodia?

[@crosstrainingadventure]

It was a great experience, Oddvar, but I don't think I'd go back now.... I'm not coping with the heat so well as I get older.

[@MOTOMINING]

Your wheel bearings and swingarm/linkage will all need to be dried and greased too after that much water.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Great point!

[@James-dt7ky]

[@crosstrainingadventure]

😂

[@hvalour1]

I hope you all listened, now go get on your dirtbike.

[@huskypoop4917]

eyup bazza i just stay away from water if i can 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@crosstrainingadventure]

Same here mate. Baths and showers are overrated!

[@MikeBarnacIe]

When you drown it....when not if!!

[@eeanditto9156]

I find it MUCH easier to wear a scuba mask/tank and just go under the water.

[@crosstrainingadventure]

And one for the bike 😂

[@christophe8489]

Just buy a snorkel! easy fix

[@crosstrainingadventure]

😂

[@SawyerKnight]

Kiss me, I Ride a KTM.