plus since you're still young, a 2stroke will be a bit easier to manage than a 450 being lighter

or blow out your knee trying to cold start it lol

yeah ofc.
I remember when the annual beach race would come to my area..having to take the bike apart and degrease everything
and trying to keep the sand out my airbox..
Get piece of furnace filter material from Home Depot - about 1" thick and blue - looks like a big really course scotchbrite pad. Cut a piece and cover the box intake. Air restriction will be insignificant.

either way dune riding is really harsh on the bikes.Alot more care is needed with the bike

You would be amazed at how much sand still gets sucked into a motor in the dunes.

If its a regular thing for you to go out and do just plan on a rebuild once a year.

How can you tell when your engine gets shot

excessive bogging im guessing, or maybe oil bubbles from leaks

these motors arent complicated

maybe some real nice knocking

water in the motor

This post was edited by t9x on Feb 19 2015 09:15am

wew forgot about going thru spark plugs

my old rc car went thru them like crazy, turned out the combustion chamber had a crack that allowed too much air, blew every plug i put in it

when u twist the gas and it goes BOOM

buy a compression tester and you can easily tell when its time to get ready for a rebuild.