We plan to ride to Dubai next week from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and back. Travelling appr. 1600 miles one way, mostly through the desert on open roads. The first shelter with a gas station could be 70 miles away when you're a lucky bastard. It can also be 100 miles in some cases.
Sandstorms are mostly short but heavy here. Last week faced a one at home. I got contradictional advices:
One says: continue slowly till you reach a shelter
Another says: stop, use your jiffy and ditch yourself close to the ground
The third says: stop, use your jiffy and duck, with your back to the wind.
Anybody on this forum rode during a heavy sand storm? And what is the advice of you?

 

I would make sure that I had the tools to remove my Air cleaner to service it..

 

I would stop riding since your visibility will probably be near 0....Take a heavy duty bag (fabric one) and put it over a/c maybe even a tarp or bike cover of some sort for the vital areas.

 

I think a good bike cover for the bike and what ever cover you can find for yourself
A map with everything marked so you know your options for cover should you see a storm

 

I'd find a different country to ride through instead that isn't supporting terrorists and not worry about the stupid sand problem at all.

 

I would not keep going. Getting that stuff into the motor could be a permanent end to the bike. Cover the bike if you can, at least the intake, and wait it out.

 

Doesn't matter what you do to the bike sand gets into everything so be prepared to clean at least the air filter and if you try to cover the bike there's a good chance it'll get blown over and you'll lose cover either way. Get down on the leeward side of the bike cover your face and get your back to the wind and cover up best you can. Been through a few blows here in the desert states they suck but nowhere near what you could be dealing with.

 

I went thru one in New Mexico last year and it was not fun. Same situation....many miles from no where (on US 550 way south of Farmington) To make it worse I was riding an open type screaming eagle air filter.
I did cover the air filter with the mesh rain cover but
I stopped because of diminished sight. Pulled far off the road onto a hard packed dirt shoulder. The sand was pretty fine and really didnt last long.

 

I hit one in Indio, CA a few years ago. NOT fun! I was stopped for fuel about 15 minutes before and a truck driver who had just been thru it alerted me and strongly suggested I wait it out. I didn't listen and regretted it. Sand on the face hurts a lot worse than rain and it did a real number on my powder-coated front fork legs. Air cleaner was OK - thankfully I had the rain sock on it at the time. My advice would be to pull as far off of the road as you safely can and then get yourself further away if possible as oncoming traffic will have next to no visibility. Like others have said, I would imagine sand storms where you are would be a whole lot worse than what I dealt with in CA. Stay safe.

 

I hit a good one in Arizona, was offroading with trail bikes, saw it coming and managed to get back to the pickup truck just before it hit. Not much you can do with the bike, except face it in the wind and leave it in gear so it won't roll back. For a minute or so visibility was only a few feet, can't imagine trying to breathe in that. Since you're anticipating the possibility, I'd suggest carrying ear plugs (if you don't have a 3/4 or full helmet), goggles, and a couple dust masks, in case you hit a second one; they'll load up fast in a mess like that. As a desert rider, I'm guessing you already know to carry as much water as you can. Big dust/sandstorms really suck, don't miss that part of my 12 years in Arizona.