While out on a recent adventure, retracing the lost race course of the original Big Bear Run, we rolled up on a dune field that looked like it stretched nearly to the horizon. Not exactly the kind of place you’d want to take a classic‑styled Scrambler—especially one with 47 HP, a 19” front and 476 pounds to manage. The Royal Enfield Bear 650 isn’t exactly designed for this sort of thing, but we figured we’d at least give it a go. What happened next surprised us all. The rider of the machine, Jon Beck ended up spending nearly an hour carving lines through the dunes, and came back grinning. “It’s a far cry from pitching around a 450cc dirt bike weighing nearly half as much,” he said, “but the bike felt completely at home in the bottomless sand.” The balanced chassis helped it float rather than sink into the soft sand, but tire choice definitely played a role. For the miles of deep sand and loose rock on this route we needed something more aggressive than the stock rubber, so we spooned the Dunlop Trailmax Raids (40% street / 60% dirt). These proved to be a big asset—enough to turn what was expected to be a struggle into “one of the most fun and relaxing parts” of the entire trip. More from our Big Bear Run adventure at: https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/retracing-historic-big-bear-run/