Dunes in September....
well, the big answer to the question of power...you can never have too much power in the sand...!!:D
and yes, I that pic of the 500 is me. I wouldn't dare get on it anywhere else, but in the sand, my boyfriend says...everyone grows a big set of...you know!
The smaller bikes don't do so well, my neighbor that is 12 years old rides my old KX100, but that's about as small of CC as you want to go. The paddle tire puts extra strain on the engine as well. My friend's kids have some old pit bikes, but they only rode around camp. My daughter's quad won't even go, the sand is fairly deep. We bought an old Yamaha Blaster for hauling her out there. Also, the weight ratio makes a diff. The kids might be ok, depending on the weight, but I tend to think it may be a bit much, and it's much harder w/o a paddle.
As for fog, yes, it can be bad, but it USUALLY burns off mid morning, and things are fine. We went in October of last year, it was fine. What is worse than fog, IMO, is overcast...everything is flat, and you can't see any contours. You think you're going over smooth sand, and all of a sudden, it drops out from under you...a nice set of polarized goggles help tremendously.
Oh, that would be so cool if we could all plan a trip....we are definately going sometime late aug. or early sep. Mark (my b/f) has his sabbatical (lucky dog) for 2 months, over Aug and Sep. so we'll be going for sure...
I've never got to ride with any women, only guys, and I've never seen any other females on bikes, they are always on quads...how boring LOL!
:D
I'm really not a bike snob! but it's so much more fun than a quad in the sand, and besides...quads scare me!