Just saw an informercial on TV going on about bikes being more at risk than cars. I've always assumed the opposite - that a wide flat tire is going to have more water buildup than a narrow rounded one. They showed a dirt bike riding into a pond at maybe 40mph and taking a tumble - I'd have bet on a hidden pothole rather than just a water issue.
2015-08-19T16:33:39Z
yes, I meant aquaplaning Wikipedia seems to agree with me but points out you'll probably fall off if you do slide
2015-08-24T15:34:07Z
Not an infomercial. It was, I think, a "how to survive disaster X" mockumentary,also tackling "how to survive a light plane crash"
Firecracker .2015-08-19T16:23:48Z
I've hydroplaned once in a car, never on a motorcycle. My thinking is that it will depend a lot on the tire and tread pattern. Tires with a lot of rubber and few small spaces have less grip in the wet. Hydroplaning is usually a result of speed, so it's possible with any tire or vehicle. When the water cannot be evacuated from between the road surface and the tire, the tire will ride on the water.
That rock hidden in the deep puddle did do some damage. Scratched, bruised and sore.....with a broken fork stop and a nice hole punched in my pristine antique gas tank.
Motorcycles are at risk of hydroplaning. They are at a higher risk because they are lighter than cars and have a much smaller tire footprint, so it takes a whole lot less water and speed to make the tire roll up onto the water - hydroplane.
there is a very good reason they put grooves in a rear's surface. Look at motorcycle racing. In the dry they use slicks, in the wet they ride with grooved tyres. The edges of the grooves work as scrapers & scrape the water off the surface of the road & into the grooves where it gets expelled sideways out of the way. A work smooth tyre will aquaplane, however in a car you may not notice it unless you try t obrake or change direction. On a bike you'll be dumped instantly.
Motorcycles hydroplane all the time on wet surfaces. Delicate control inputs, reduced speed.
When you pass by a motorcyclist going 40 mph in the rain in your automobile going 65 mph, its not that he is trying to stay dry....it's as fast as he can safely travel.
Bikes won't aquaplane unless they have broad road tyres BUT they have less than 40% of the surface area contact of a car (That's the bit of rubber in contact with the road) less friction. They also have less mass so therefore less gravitational force holding them down. They also have a much higher power to weight ratio which makes acceleration quicker.
Total all that up and they have less mass, less friction and more acceleration.
It's a wonder they stay on the road at all, add a little water (lubrication) and they're death traps