Hydroplaning - High Siding

[jackstrat]

I am a bit concerned about hydroplaning on the Spyder and wondered if anyone has experienced or heard of anyone highsiding. It seems that this could happen if you quickly got traction while sideways in a hydroplane condition. It has happened to me on two wheels, off the road, wondered if that could happen on a Sypder. It would be catastrophic...

jack

 

[Recluze]

I have hydroplaned once on the Spyder I use to own. I was going uphill in a heavy downpour and the engine started speeding up intermittently as the rear wheel lost traction. A bit unnerving until I recognized it for what it was. I never got to the point where the nanny started kicking in because the rear wheel was spinning too much.

I have never hydroplaned in a turn. Seems like that would take a bit of water on the road to do that.

 

[tatt2r]

me and my girl rode 3 days from ft lauderdale florida to salem nh in almost constant rain .:2thumbs:florida was having a tropical storm ...my trailer hydroplaned once but neither spyder did in fact i think they ran better in the rain than they did in the heat ...and we did at least the speed limit or more all the way home

 

[altonk]

I went out to a large parking lot without street light posts in the pouring raining once to do a little "testing"
There were standing pools and high spots
Got up to speed and threw the steering full lock went into a full spin and let go of the bars
The nanny unwound the spin got me pointing straight without lifting a wheel
Tried it while turning too

Moral of the story
Keep the front wheels pointing where you wanna go and don't do anything drastic with throttle or braking and VSS will stabilize you

 

[docdoru]

A ton of fun :2thumbs:

 

[MouthPiece]

I too did some "forced hydroplaning" in wet weather. However, to answer your specific question, I never during these times approached a dry surface sideways only to have the spyder highsiding as you termed. I would imagine I'd be a bit "puckered" though. (depending on the speed)

Chris PE# 0004

 

[Yazz]

Had the rear tire drift out while doing twisties in the rain. Nanny chugged the engine down to get the back wheel aligned.

Did I quit going so fast in the turns? No. The car behind me backed off a bit though...

 

[altonk]

Ur a wild woman lol

 

[pjp623]

I'm not saying that it's impossible, but I've hydroplane several times on my :spyder2:, single and 2-up and never fely that I was in danger on it, which is not true of other vehicles That I own.

 

[boborgera]

:dontknow:
I've hydroplaned a few times with my Spyder, no big deal its just telling you to slow up a little. As far as high siding NO way,it ain't going to happen on the Spyder.

 

[BajaRon]

I have hydroplaned in a corner. Very controlled drift. I let off on the throttle (that's all I did, no braking). Traction returned right away and there were no surprises.

On the other hand, I can see greater potential for issues if the rider panics, slams on the brakes or does something un-recommended with the steering.

In other words, a controlled response allowing the Spyder to do most of the correction is pretty much the rule with this machine.

 

[GeminiJane]

Early on (couple of years ago) there were quite a few posts about hydroplaning, or at least speculation about it, due to the wide flat rear wheel. Last year as I was riding over to Cowtown to meet up with the Route 66 guys, it was raining and the forecast called for more through-out our journey. I decided I would rather have a "controlled" test than a surprise on the road. From what I had read before, the most likely condition to cause this was a bit deeper body of standing water. I came upon just such a situation on a narrow two-lane road. I slowed my speed to 45-50 and plowed in. The back end came around to my right by what felt like about 30 degrees or so. I didn't slack off the throttle nor did I try to counter steer - just held the line. I felt the nanny kick in and almost instantly the back wheel was back in line. I never left my lane nor did the Spyder veer one way or the other. Not really as spooky as I thought it might be and quite reassuring considering we did ryde one day in pretty heavy rains - but I didn't have any hydroplaning that day.

 

[MotorTony]

I have ridden lots of miles in the rain, many of them in the famous Florida downpours. I have not had any stability problems, 1 or 2 up on the RT...

 

[Raptor]

The nanny unwound the spin got me pointing straight without lifting a wheel
Tried it while turning too

Moral of the story
Keep the front wheels pointing where you wanna go and don't do anything drastic with throttle or braking and VSS will stabilize you

Words of wisdom for sure. We have 2 lots where we are and I have done some the very same testing wet and dry. Oddly enough I have come to the same conclusions! Braking is the LAST thing you should ever do. If you do it's over for sure. And another reason the VSS is staying on. I tried to defeat it once- it was a disaster!

Where I ride in the forests it's wet alot so I have been sideways a bunch. The Spyder definitely holds its own in adverse conditions. You just have to trust it and don't panic man.

 

[WackyDan]

I've ridden in some god awful rain. Every time I've been able to run at or above the speed limit -confidently.

I've hydroplaned many times. The first major rain I was in there was a lot of running water coming off the hillsides. After the first time, I purposely got her to hydroplane several times after that. She never got sideways far at all, and I discovered that in that condition, where-ever I pointed the front wheels was where the Spyder went. If anything, I've found hydroplaning behavior *when it happens to be very predictable on a Spyder.

That said... You must "ride your own ride" and within your own limits. I'd never push the envelope personally in a heavy rain storm as there is a limit there somewhere... I haven't found it yet, and I hope I never do.

After SITS this year I went through some of the deepest standing water I've ever hit on I-40 east... That was a bit spooky, but not terribly bad, and I did notice that after 12,000 miles, my fronts are starting to plane a bit where as before it was always my rear only.... So I adjusted my ride that day in the rain accordingly.

If anything, the most dangerous thing that ever happened to me on the spyder in the rain was the Jeep on I-40 that hit the same deep standing water in the next lane just ahead of me... I had just started to think that I might get hosed... and a split second later, that jeep sent a WALL of water right at me... That was more un-nerving than actually hydroplaning.