Riding in the rain

 

When it's raining, one can often see "tracks" from the
cars that have passed in on color and a band in the middle
in an other color. I've been wondering which one offers
best grip for the tires of a bike.

Intuitively, i'd go with the middle part (it looks more
gripfriendly, somehow, plus one gets to ride in the
middle of the road without "touching" the other lanes).
On the other hand, it just stroke me that the water
should be more heat up and spread by the tires, hence
more prone to evaporate.

What would you recommend? Why?

--
Vänligen
Konrad
---------------------------------------------------

Sleep - thing used by ineffective people
            as a substitute for coffee

Ambition - a poor excuse for not having
                 enough sence to be lazy
---------------------------------------------------

 

In general, don't ride in the middle, especially after the first rain in
the season[1]. That's where the oil and other spooge mostly ends up.
Otoh, if the road is deeper where the tires go, that may cause a greater
chance of hydroplaning.

You should have enough control over your motorcycle that you can keep it
in any given third of the lane.



[1] In the SF ay Area, we have two seasons: hot and rainy. It doesn't
rain for six months, and then all the boys in their fast cars wreck
them.

--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com>
faq:  http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq.shtml
It's easy to say a war is so important your neighbor should go fight it for you.

 

Strange world you live in sir:-) Spooge never SEES the road where I live:-))


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Konrad Viltersten wrote:

The one behind the slower car!

 

Konrad Viltersten wrote:


Wrong. That's where all the oil, antifreeze, and transmission fluid
accumulates.

Here in California, the oil will accumulate on the road until the first hard
rain. Then we see foam running down the gutters as the car tire scrub the
pavement.

Motor oils contain soapy additives that cause the foam. Soap is too slick to
ride on safely.

The water running down the road has an iridescent sheen from all the
dissolved oil being washed away.

It's a good idea to stay off the road for a day or so around here until the
rain stops.

If the highway department spreads rock salt or gravel on roads where you live,
the gravel might help when the rain freezes into ice, but the rock salt does
terrible things to your motorcycle, like making the brakes stick.


Ride the tire track left by the preceding car, if you have to ride in the wet.
Your tire tread will have less water to disperse.

Modern motorcycle tires have silica in the rubber compound and they stick to
the road far better than the old natural rubber tires of 30 years ago.

--
Message posted via MotorcycleKB.com
http://www.motorcyclekb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/bike/200707/1