The end of Chuck.

[Easy Rider]

When I replace my front tires, my primary consideration is going to be standing water dispersion ability. I think some tires are probably better at that than others and I'd like to know what works and what doesn't.

That's fine but......favoring that "feature" might be a trade-off for something else......like dry road traction.

AND unless maybe you have a 1 inch wide bicycle tire, a puddle more than about 2 inches deep can cause even the best wet tires to lose traction at high speed.

Bottom line: If any puddling at all is occurring, there is no totally safe way to ride at high speed on wet roads.
Your skin, your call.

[UtahPete]

That's fine but......favoring that "feature" might be a trade-off for something else......like dry road traction.

AND unless maybe you have a 1 inch wide bicycle tire, a puddle more than about 2 inches deep can cause even the best wet tires to lose traction at high speed.

Bottom line: If any puddling at all is occurring, there is no totally safe way to ride at high speed on wet roads.
Your skin, your call.

You make some good points.

[Lew L]

Hope your not in pain and that you have a speedy and complete recovery. Where as some here will deride you for poor driving------- lets just hope that you are ok and get back in the saddle when you're up to it.

Having arrived home after a 2,000+ mile, 3 week trip---- we did hit some bad conditions. In the middle of nowhere Nevada, on a 2 lane road with a not usable shoulder and no shelter for miles------ we drove into a heavy HAIL storm. Couldn't pull over and just had to keep going, abet much slower. Even the big rigs has to slow some. Sometimes you can't avoid the water on the road.

Again, hope you have a complete recovery.

Lew L

[UtahPete]

I've been caught in a sudden heavy downpour on a busy freeway (at night no less) with no real option to avoid standing water at freeway speed. Fortunately the bike tracked straight through it all with no issues. But I was white knuckling it for about the longest 10 minutes of my life.

They were OEM Kendas at about 10k miles on the front and General Altimax with 2k on the rear.

[ARtraveler]

Since the thread is now talking about hydroplaning in general...

It has happened to me twice. Glen Highway which normal traffic goes at 70 mph. We have grooves from studded snow tires--which get fixed about every three to four years. The grooves collect water.

When the grooves get full--beware. Both times, I was driving with the pack. The took off on its own and did a 360 one time and a little over a 180 the second time. Both times, I was lucky and did not come close to getting in harms way. The "nanny" kicked in both times.


The simple answer--if you must drive in this stuff--is to slow down. I have not had hydroplaning issues when going around 55 mph through the water.

BRP is covered. The manual warns about driving in wet conditions which can cause hydroplaning. It also cautions about driving in snow.

[Docster]

Sorry to hear about your hydroplaning incident. Hope you change your mind about riding.

Give things some time. I'm 66 yo. My Harley accident last year put me in the ICU for a week, stayed in the hospital another 3 weeks, then PT for 3 months.

I got back on the road with my first Spyder about 3 months after that. I can say the bad memories fade somewhat but the desire to ride usually remains strong

[Easy Rider]

I've been caught in a sudden heavy downpour on a busy freeway (at night no less) with no real option to avoid standing water at freeway speed. But I was white knuckling it for about the longest 10 minutes of my life.

Really ? Honestly ?? Or did it just seem that way at the time ?

Don't ALL freeways have rather wide shoulders ?

Do you mean that you really went ~10 miles with no exits either ??

I don't mean any offense here nor do I want to start an argument but a really LOT of times when someone says "I had no other options", that wasn't really true and there were some......that they just chose not to use.

[UtahPete]

Really ? Honestly ?? Or did it just seem that way at the time ? Don't ALL freeways have rather wide shoulders ? Do you mean that you really went ~10 miles with no exits either ?? I don't mean any offense here nor do I want to start an argument but a really LOT of times when someone says "I had no other options", that wasn't really true and there were some......that they just chose not to use.

I could elaborate, but that's not the point, is it?

[Easy Rider]

I could elaborate, but that's not the point, is it?

What do you think the point IS ?
I thought we were discussing safe riding on wet roads.

[UtahPete]

What do you think the point IS ? I thought we were discussing safe riding on wet roads.

The point is, I didn't feel at the time that I had any viable options. It doesn't matter whether, objectively, I did or not.

Let's call it bad judgment on my part and leave it at that. The fact is, I made a number of poor decisions that day and I'm lucky nothing went seriously wrong on that trip.

[2dogs]

Get well soon and we'll rename you as "Come Back Chuck." Last year I got caught in a rain squall for about 20 minutes that seemed like hours. Traffic speeds dropped to 35/40 mph and I lowered my windshield and my visor to where I had a small horizontal slit to view the tail lights and rear tires of the vehicle in front of me. That's all I had and I stayed focused and locked in that position because I know exactly what UtahPete is talking about. Vision and awareness of your surroundings have diminished to just above "O." Peripheral vision is reduced to below zero so the shoulder of the road was not a good option. If there were any signs along the road side, they were not visible and who knows who was following me or how close the were. Best thing to have done, because before I hit the squall I could see it and I made a bad decision to go through it, I should have stopped and not gone into it. I've been through thunder storms before but not like that one. Lesson well learned. When it's gray it may be ok, but when it's black it NOT!

[d.o.spyder-rts]

Glad to hear you made it through your accident. Heal quickly and keep us updated. Dale

[jnt]

Having had a surprise get-off myself (tho wasn't awake that I know of) BTDT.

Heal well. Don't believe this is the end. Merely a directional shift.

[Easy Rider]

The point is, I didn't feel at the time that I had any viable options. It doesn't matter whether, objectively, I did or not.

It won't change the past but the details matter to the discussion.
AND might matter to others later......and maybe even to YOU.

[UtahPete]

It won't change the past but the details matter to the discussion. AND might matter to others later......and maybe even to YOU.

Okay, I was trying to find out if there were tires that were known to be more resistant to hydroplaning. But, you're right, driver behavior is important.

Here's the situation. I was headed back from the Northern California Spyder Rally last September. I'd left at 8am. I was planning to stay overnight in Ely, NV before continuing on to my home in Oakley, Utah. I misjudged my gas mileage and ended up without fuel 15 miles outside Ely. I lost 2 hours of daylight recovering from that.

As luck would have it, there was a road race event going on that weekend and there was literally no place to stay in Ely. I thought I'd continue on to Delta, UT but in the twilight (and being a little fatigued) I missed my turn and ended up driving at night in the desert with no stops until West Wendover, NV. That's where I should have stopped, or at least gassed up, but by then I'd been on the road for 14 hours and my judgment was obviously failing me and I decided to continue on. I ran out of gas half-way to Salt Lake City and ended up hiking a mile at about midnight to the nearest gas station, then back again.

By now, the temperature was dropping and lightning was flashing in the sky over SLC. I had rain gear but didn't think to put it on. I rode into a thunderstorm in the spaghetti bowl of Salt Lake City Hwy 80 east, got soaked and very cold. Visibility wasn't bad, but the road was covered in water and the reflections from all the lighting made it very difficult to see where the road went at times, much less which lane I was in. I was literally using the gps to navigate the roadway, because I couldn't really tell where the road was going. Most of my attention was on spotting and avoiding other traffic.

Finally, I was out of the valley and headed into the mountains, where standing water and reflections were no longer an issue. I finally got home at 3am, soaked through and very cold (ambient temperature about 45 degrees F.)

So, as I said I made several mistakes and found myself in a perilous situation in the middle of the night, exhausted and not thinking too clearly.

It doesn't change the fact I was heavily dependent on my tires not to hydroplane at 60+ mph and fortunately they didn't.

[rcturner]

I had a serious accident about 19 years ago. I got an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital and then a helicopter ride to a larger hospital in Sioux Fall where they could do the necessary repairs. Eight hours later, I came out of surgery with a lot of damaged parts and some parts that had to be removed perminantly. I was in the hospital for eight days and had to stay at home for four weeks with 24 hour monitoring. I was not allowed to sleep in a bed for 24 months and to this day, I cannot stay in bed for more than 3 or 4 hours. After all of this, I wasn't sure I wanted to ride again but, the pull was just too strong and in 2 years I was back on a bike. I now am a bit less trusting of the things I can see and have no trust of the things I can't. I still ride as much as I can and it isn't physically as easy as it once was but, I want to ride and I will not let this bad experience take it away from me.

Have a quick recovery and give a lot of consideration to getting back on a bike.

[Bob Denman]

Safe riding on wet roads?

That's easy: slow the HELL down!

[UtahPete]

Safe riding on wet roads? That's easy: slow the HELL down!

Thanks Bob. That's really helpful. I don't think anyone on this thread had thought of that.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Don't ALL freeways have rather wide shoulders ?

Do you mean that you really went ~10 miles with no exits either ??

I'm guessing you've never driven on the Interstates in the West. Mountain roads with shoulders barely wide enough to squeeze a car between the fog line and the jersey bouncers, and dessert roads with 20 to 50 miles between exits with services.

[UtahPete]

I'm guessing you've never driven on the Interstates in the West. Mountain roads with shoulders barely wide enough to squeeze a car between the fog line and the jersey bouncers, and dessert roads with 20 to 50 miles between exits with services.

Your mountain roads have shoulders? What a novelty!

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Your mountain roads have shoulders? What a novelty!

I-70 near Glenwood Springs, CO.

I-70 Glenwood Springs.jpg

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I have already expressed my condolences to Chuck and answered a members question about a Great Wet road tire ...... Sooooooooooooooooooo I will give another News Flash to all the Hydroplaning GURU's out there ..... You can have the best Anti-Hydroplaning tire in the World on you Spyder .... But it WON'T work as you desire unless it has the proper PSI's for weight of the Spyder ....There is NO CURE for the Kenda rear tire ... No PSI fix ... it will hydroplane sooner that any tire made ( Except a racing SLICK ) ... WHY, because when inflated to BRP - Kenda specs ....at anything over 40 mph the Kenda BALOONS in the middle ( where it is ALLREADY wearing out fast ) which puts less tread on the road surface- end of story ..... But great wet road car tires won't do what you want if over-inflated for the weight of the Spyder .....myself and Peter Aawen recommend 15 psi front and 17-18 psi rear for ANY car tires ............Please just give it a try ....car tires are safe at those psi's on a Spyder...and the ride will be more comfortable ..... But possibly I'm and that is too Bad ........ Mike

[RapidSpyder]

Get well soon and we'll rename you as "Come Back Chuck."....

amen to that

[Bob Denman]

X 2 ...

[Easy Rider]

So, as I said I made several mistakes and found myself in a perilous situation in the middle of the night, exhausted and not thinking too clearly.

It doesn't change the fact I was heavily dependent on my tires not to hydroplane at 60+ mph and fortunately they didn't.

WOW. That's really a sad story. I've been there for part of it; riding in a light rain while the temp was falling. Shortly after my teeth started chattering, my whole body started to shake. No choice at that point, had to stop and warm up and dry out a bit. Did that several times over 4 hours.
This is on 2 wheels.

I guess it is good that at least ONE thing didn't fail you in this mess of a story......and that your tires held the road.

Thanks for sharing the details. Hopefully it will help another rider or 3 to not make the same mistakes if they are caught in a similar situation.

P.S. The question of what tires are better in the wet might get a better response in it's OWN thread. Maybe.