The end of Chuck.

[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? :shocked:

That's easy: slow the HELL down! nojoke

 

[UtahPete]

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

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

 

[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.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

HYDROPLANING

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 :yikes:..... 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 :bdh:and that is too Bad ........ Mike :thumbup:

 

[RapidSpyder]

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

amen to that

 

[Bob Denman]

X 2 ... :clap: :agree:

 

[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.

 

[Easy Rider]

I'm guessing you've never driven on the Interstates in the West.

Not much, you're right.

 

[Easy Rider]

OK.....I KNOW that this is close to blasphemy to do this but:

Having MORE rubber on the road is NOT necessarily a good thing when it comes to hydroplaning.
The larger the contact patch IS makes it easier for the water to "lift" the weight off the road......in general.

A narrow hard tire with good grooves is best IF your only consideration is resistance to hydroplaning.

So....adjusting your tire pressure to get a bigger contact patch usually is exactly the WRONG think to do to help prevent hydroplaning.
It might increase the traction when the road is just damp or moderately wet but it will be worse when you hit that big puddle.

 

[UtahPete]

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.

Sorry it wasn't meant to be sad. Cautionary, perhaps. Just another adventure to me.

 

[UtahPete]

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

I'm still hopeful Chuck will tell us more about the incident; the road conditions and which tires he had on at the time.

 

[mcalva]

I hope that your physical problems will be solved as soon as possible and so you can get back on the road.
I appreciate your post because I have learned that with rain, the small and wide wheels like ours, do hydroplaning at 72 km/h if there are more than 2.5 mm in more than 9 meters.
So, if it rains, I'll fir sure think about reduce my speed.
Health and thanks, again,

 

[robhowen]

The best in recovery

Chuck, the best to you in recovery. Maybe the saddle will look differently once you are healthy.
Rob

 

[UtahPete]

OK.....I KNOW that this is close to blasphemy to do this but:

Having MORE rubber on the road is NOT necessarily a good thing when it comes to hydroplaning.
The larger the contact patch IS makes it easier for the water to "lift" the weight off the road......in general.

A narrow hard tire with good grooves is best IF your only consideration is resistance to hydroplaning.

So....adjusting your tire pressure to get a bigger contact patch usually is exactly the WRONG think to do to help prevent hydroplaning.
It might increase the traction when the road is just damp or moderately wet but it will be worse when you hit that big puddle.

Do you or Mike have independent reliable references? Both your diametrically opposed theories seem reasonable to me. Maybe I should start a separate thread....

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

HYDROPLANING

OK.....I KNOW that this is close to blasphemy to do this but:

Having MORE rubber on the road is NOT necessarily a good thing when it comes to hydroplaning.
The larger the contact patch IS makes it easier for the water to "lift" the weight off the road......in general.

A narrow hard tire with good grooves is best IF your only consideration is resistance to hydroplaning.

So....adjusting your tire pressure to get a bigger contact patch usually is exactly the WRONG think to do to help prevent hydroplaning.
It might increase the traction when the road is just damp or moderately wet but it will be worse when you hit that big puddle.

:yikes::yikes::yikes:.....You know SO little and espouse it so often - well it's just SCARY .......I really hope you don't get someone Injured or Killed .....there are many people on this Forum trying to learn about riding a Spyder safely .... I really fear that one or some may read your NONSENSE and take your advice ......... You know how the Gov't has required Warning labels put on cigarettes , I wish they would put one on YOUR Tire posts ....... Flame away - flame away .......... PS how's that video on how to secure all 3 wheels of a Spyder onto a trailer in " 90 seconds " :dontknow: I have the $1000.00 ready to send :clap::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack: ......Mike :thumbup:

 

[irvin48]

our prayers are with you for a great recovery and beyond for you and yours. God will be here to help.

 

[irvin48]

our prayers are with you for a great recovery and beyond for you and yours. God will be here to help.