Riding in tire lane can be beneficial as other vehicles remove water and debris as they drive along. But if road quality are poor you might find standing water in tire lanes, best to avoid that if possible.
How to ride safely in the rain?
- Thread starter AZjeff
- Start date
In all of this, no one is saying there's one rule and if you don't do it at all times then it's incorrect. However there is some incorrect advice about where to position oneself that gets shared and it's important to point that out so those that come later seeking for their best option understand there are some general rules that are there for a reason. It's about riding with awareness, creating a bubble, knowing the road conditions, knowing the wear in the main tire tracks from other cars come, etc.
One can go up and down the interstate in the Front Range in Colorado and the center of the lane is visibly darker. Back in the '60s there were a fraction of the people on the road that there are today. The quantity of cars that drip a little bit versus the quantity in the 60s that dripped alot, is magnitudes higher than in the '60s. I would say from observation it's as much of an issue today as it was then. Anytime you come to a depression in the road, you will see a generally dark area. At the dip the cars suspension compresses, when the suspension extends that causes the drip to break free and those accumulate and are very obvious.
I’ve done a fair amount of rain riding on Motorcycles, just like in a car the main factors are tire quality and safe following distances.
I only run high quality Pirelli, Michelin, or continental motorcycle tires that are made with high silica and multiple compounds. Good tires perform well in the rain just like they do on a car.
A Good Pirelli or Michelin will outperform a budget kenda or shinko in the rain. It’s no different than a Michelin LTX vs a Westlake truck tire. The Michelin is 2x as good in the wet.
I also change the tires well before they are “worn” especially on a motorcycle.
Using caution on curves as well as having a safe following distance is also important.
Modern motorcycles (like my KTM) also have very sophisticated ABS and Slip control systems (rider aids) like a modern car and are able to compensate for reduced grip.
I only run high quality Pirelli, Michelin, or continental motorcycle tires that are made with high silica and multiple compounds. Good tires perform well in the rain just like they do on a car.
A Good Pirelli or Michelin will outperform a budget kenda or shinko in the rain. It’s no different than a Michelin LTX vs a Westlake truck tire. The Michelin is 2x as good in the wet.
I also change the tires well before they are “worn” especially on a motorcycle.
Using caution on curves as well as having a safe following distance is also important.
Modern motorcycles (like my KTM) also have very sophisticated ABS and Slip control systems (rider aids) like a modern car and are able to compensate for reduced grip.
I won't disagree the brand name tires beat "lesser" in the grand scheme of things but I've ridden in Colorado for the past 20 years in 90° temperatures 1 hour, rain and 50° another hour and going over a 12,000 ft pass in snow and slush the next hour on both Shinko's and Dunlop Roadsmarts and it's the rider not the tire, friend. Even 10-year-old+ design tires that "lesser" manufacturers offer are better than anything that existed 30 years ago and guys did just fine. The talk about old design tires versus new only comes into effect if there's some reason a person has to ride on the limit in bad weather. Are folks that stupid? At that point they're going down regardless. When it rains or otherwise, discretion wins and the rider is more important than the difference between shinko's or dunlops.
Anyone done standing hail/snow at 12,000 ft and there's no place to pull off in the middle of July? If yes, you know what I mean and would have a more moderate stance on tires versus the rider. Let Darwinism take its toll and folks think tires are going to save their butt when their own discretion needs to save their butt.
Anyone done standing hail/snow at 12,000 ft and there's no place to pull off in the middle of July? If yes, you know what I mean and would have a more moderate stance on tires versus the rider. Let Darwinism take its toll and folks think tires are going to save their butt when their own discretion needs to save their butt.
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I was behind a fellow who tried to stop at and intersection in the rain, while he was riding in the middle of the lane.... Front locked on the oil drips and down he went at 20mph, no real damage but his pride, but I hope he learned not to do that again.
I think it's been well established that the minority saying the middle of the lane is the best choice has been debunked.
Agree tire lanes on the interstate in hard pounding falling rain is downright scary. I was next to a semi one time, his tires hit a low worn out spot in the tire lane on i26 coming from Charleston and like a FIRE HOSE I was getting blasted with so much water my seat had up to 2 inches of water at my crotch.
If I hit that low spot with the bike it could be worse.
