Hydroplaning speeds

[HotRodZilla]

That's not "hydroplaning." That's an extremely low friction coefficient. Like riding in ice. The real problem comes from situations like Alex's where a normal FC is suddenly interrupted with a low one.

Hydroplaning is when the tires can't remove water fast enough and a sheet of water builds up between the tire and the road surface. Donno of any for sure "hydroplaning algorithm" that will work in every situation, so how's about we just slow down a bit and not pretend we are running for tenths of seconds.

EDITED TO ADD: The little Russian's bags are probably cursed. Your safest bet would be to burn them in a ceremonial fire with a chicken and a vampire bat.

 

[Bounce]

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

It depends

(You're welcome)

 

[supertankerm60a3]

... burn them with a chicken and a vampire bat.

ROTFLMAO!!!

 

[RadioHowie]

Lord God, you could screw up a flush....

You don't burn a chicken and a bat...you break the chicken's neck with your hands and bite off the bat's head.

Did you EVER go to school???

 

[supertankerm60a3]

School was a LLLooonnng time ago. I do remember Ozzy though. Back to the cursed bags though, I think I have had them properly exorcised. I still plan on leaving them off when riding near bollards, docks, the ocean or sailboats... just in case.

 

[garyahouse]

Here's your answer:

"While speed, road conditions and tire wear all play a part, the main cause of hydroplaning is water depth. Hydroplaning is possible whenever water accumulates to a depth of one-tenth of an inch (0.3 centimeters) or more for at least 30 feet (9.14 meters) and a vehicle moves through it at 50 miles per hour (22.35 meters per hour) or more."

[source: Crash Forensics]

Note that the text said that "hydroplaning is possible." This possibility is increased by factors such as:

• a less porous road surface
• tire wear
• less weight
• higher speed
• deeper water
• braking, accelerating, or cornering

The number one reason people hydroplane is "pooling." Cars hit unexpected areas where water has collected or "pooled:" it's deeper.

CHECK THIS OUT:

Most people don't realize that hydroplaning is a gradual thing, it's going on all the time when you're traveling through water. If the water is flying out from under the tire, it takes force to do so. The volume and surface tension of the water creates a force acting against the tire; the water "fights back" against the tire attempting to move through it. The more force, the more the tire will begin to lift. Let's say that you're traveling through some water, and the "lift" generated by the water is only half of what's needed to cause what we call hydroplaning... complete loss of traction. You will have only half your available traction because of this... though you WON'T KNOW IT. As a tire passes over water, forcing it to be displaced, the water pushes back, BEGINNING to decrease the amount of pressure that the rubber exerts against the road. This is a gradual thing. We THINK hydroplaning only happens when we lose traction completely. But it begins to occur long before that. We just don't know it. When the force of the water (pushing back against the tire) overcomes the weight pushing down on the tire, it lifts completely off the surface of the road, creating total loss of traction.

There's a great deal more to this, try reading some of the design parameters for tire manufacturing. It'll make ya dizzy. But the important thing to remember is that traveling through standing water as LITTLE as 1/10th of an inch deep DOES produce hydroplaning. Go through it fast enough and you will lose ALL traction. The point is the faster you go, the MORE traction you lose. Put simply, if the water is flying when you pass over it, LIFT is being created. The only question is, how much lift???

There ya go.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[Bobcattoo]

I can only state the facts of my own experience.
Where: I-40 interstate in the state of Tennessee

Road conditions: Pouring cats and dogs with lightning here and there T-Storm.

Riders: 2 up fully loaded

Tires: estimated 2,500 miles on new set of PR2's at the time.

Speed when loss of contact occurred: 85 MPH on dash ODO.

What happened: Front tire still hooked up Rear breaks loose and started getting squirly. Slowly eased off throttle and regained traction around 78 MPH. Held it at 75 and she stayed hooked up the rest of the way.

Am I certifyably nuts? Maybe

Do in need to install spellcheck, yes!

Dave

Same road, different experience; I-40 westbound west of Knoxville, headed home that Sunday after 09 EOM. Bike heavily loaded and one-up. Pouring rain off and on. Vision and Traffic were the bigger issue. I saw 100 mph on a couple of occasions. 80-90 when working thru left-laners and trucks. Fortunately, I detected NO hydroplaning issue. Don't remember tire cond. but they were most likely PR2s. Possibly a PR1 still on the front. I have MORE "issues" with that darn Top Case at triple digits. Have really been blown around next to trucks in the 115 mph range.

After 50+ Bikes over 40+ years, that FJR is about the best in wet weather that I've experienced. I'm sure tire technology and the substantial weight of that Bike play a part.

 

[wheatonFJR]

I was just 60 miles into a 5000 miles journey...left a tollway oasis in IL (with griff on our way to BC)...raining cats and dogs...no biggie, new PR2s on for the trip.

There was construction going on at an interstate exchange in Rockford, IL...and evidently, the temporary drainage was insufficient for this monsoon. Griff and I are rounding a curve on the interstate in the early morning darkness in the rain slightly behind a pickup truck in the next lane over, when I see something dark on the road in front of me...and suddenly see a full spray of water from the truck wheel wells, and the next thing I knew, I felt the force of water hitting my riding boots, about knocked them off the pegs!

Holy Crap!

I see that there is a river about 40 feet wide crossing the interstate...probably 4 inches deep minimum.

I thought the journey was going to end right there.

The curve in the road and the truck hid the river, besides the low visibility from the darkness and storm. Probably only going 55-65mph at the time...even at that speed...I thought I was done for.

My take from that, with good tires, you should not have issues with hydroplaning...with just rain on the road. Streams...maybe not.

 

[El Toro Joe]

I'd be willing to bet that this aint a big topic on the HD Riders Forum...hydroplaning aint a problem if yer sittin under a bridge

 

[Auburn]

I'd be willing to bet that this aint a big topic on the HD Riders Forum...hydroplaning aint a problem if yer sittin under a bridge

or in a bar

 

[odot]

It's all I talked aboot when I rode in the rain on my harley. I talked about vibration and oil and performance and tires and forks and oversize cams and high compression pistons and solid aluminum rims and primary drives and E@E carbs and amsoil and bitch bars and fuel tanks and frames and kickstands and wheelies and passenger comfort and drag bars and horns and belt drives and solid lift rods.....and somemore stuff I can't remember.

 

[JamesW]

No hydroplaning experienced here in the pacific north wet and been through downpours and standing water(lakes really)in BC. Judicious speeds and pilot road 3s.(going on third set this year).

 

[Bill]

The front tire on a motorcycle is supposed to disperse water so that the rear tire doesn't need to and that's what caused the only hydroplaning that I ever experienced in decades of riding.

I had a set of Metzeler Z6 tires on my FJR1300 when I was traveling on I-94 just west of Ann Arbor, MI. I was riding in an absolute downpour at about 70 mph when I needed to change lanes. With the lane change, the front tire got out of alignment with the rear tire and did not move water out of the way.

Since the Z6 had no tread in the middle of the rear tire, I lost all traction and the rear slid at least a foot to the left and then swung back at least a foot to the right before stabilizing in the lane that I was moving toward.

Very sudden and very scary experience. It was also the last time that I ever had Metzeler tires on a motorcycle.

This additional observation was published in the Spring 2010 issue of Iron Butt Magazine:

Metzeler says that the Z6 Interact’s “underlying layer, cap & base technology, enhances...all-weather performance.”I did not find this to be the case. While riding at 70 mph in the rain on I-44 in Missouri, the rear of my bike hydroplaned on two occasions forcing me reduce my speed in order to maintain traction. Interestingly, this did not happen to my traveling companion Greg Roberts, who was riding a Kawasaki Concours 14 shod with Michelin Pilot Road 2s. Upon closer inspection, we noticed that the rear of the Z6 Interact does not have any rain grooves radiating out from the center tread to channel water away from the contact patch. But the Michelins do, which explains why Greg’s bike didn’t become unsettled in the rain. As a result, I lost all confidence in these tires on wet pavement.