Water Crossing's

[cbzdel]

So I basicly live at sea level, down in a valley that goes right up to the water line.. So when it rains the area get very saturated, some times certain roads I travel on go under water by 6"-12" but. If I see the puddle (aka lakes hah) I slow down to cross it very slow..

Sometime if it gets very bad parts of the highway become like this, and again I slow down to cross it, but last night I was going home really late and there were no other cars on the road, and I almost hit one of these "lakes" the flooded area was so calm it just looked liked road, just at the last split second I managed to brake and swerve and avoid the deep area and just went though the 2" or so deep section at about 40mph which was no problem..

But what I am wondering is what happens on a motorcycle when you hit a 6" deep (or deeper) puddle on a motorcycle? In a car it throws the car off to the side and can make it hydroplane... But what happens on a MC?

edit: I am talking about hitting the 6"+ deep puddle at freeway speeds. I know I can go through up to 12" deep slowly, I have done it before (on a scooter haha!)

 

[dart1963]

There are some great youtube videos of actual river crossings, the one I saw (can't link now, blocked at work) was a bunch of guys on R6 and R1's in about 4 ft deep water. Most made it across by riding, one had a stall and had to walk it across.

I've ridden in the rain here and hit inches of water (maybe 1-2") and haven't had any issues. As in a car though, the only real danger is hitting it in a turn, go straight through with constant speed and it shouldn't be an issue. Trying to avoid it and still hitting it would be bad.

 

[Roaddawg]

Your just crazy....

I try my hardest to avoid riding in the rain as much as possible, because it just ups the risks way too high to me.

 

[cbzdel]

Your just crazy....

I try my hardest to avoid riding in the rain as much as possible, because it just ups the risks way too high to me.

not much else to do when you dont have a car haha!

Fiances got tight, I sold my car because I never drove it, they got a little better I bought a car again, I never drove it, fiances got bad again, I sold my car, this time when things improve I will NOT be buying another car.. I am fairly certain I will be an all weather rider for some time, cars just dont do it for me anymore, not even in the rain..

The wife has a car for when we need it though..

 

[99vengeur]

So I ride in the rain a lot and have also encountered deep water. If you can see it in advance, best thing to do is slow down. But if you can't see it until it's too late, maintain a constant speed and avoid any abrupt movements (ie, swerving, braking, turning, etc.).

Something to remember is that car tires and MC tires are slightly different in the shape of the tire. Car tires, for the most part are flat. Whereas MC tires are crowned. That being said, it is possible that MC tires will "slice" through high water better than a flat car tire would. But we still have the potential to hydroplane. If you are going to go through high water, remember to keep your eyes up and looking ahead. Looking down at the water will throw off your balance and could cause a fall or for you to drift, just like looking down or to the side when coming to a stop.

Ride safe!

 

[WIyamirider]

I had to ride though a flooded out road once on my Ninja 250. It had to have been 8" deep and at least 50' long stretch of road. I just went slow and tried to be as smooth as possible. To make matters worse, I was coming back from a trip, so I had a good amount of luggage strapped onto the back.

I was going to say something exactly like 99vengeur did. A motorcycle tire has more of a triangular shape, so it has the potential to slice through the body of water rather than sit on top of like like the flat profile of a car tire can. Keep in mid though, that your general car tire has many, many more passages molded into the tire to evacuate water, and there is also much more weight applied to each tire on a car to "force" the water into and out of the tread.

Another thing to think about - when you hit a deep puddle at speed with your car, the resistance of the water slows the car significantly, and generally gives the wheel a good yank towards the puddle. To do the same thing on a motorcycle would be all sorts of awkward, with me thinking that a death wobble would soon follow after you hit the puddle, especially at freeway speed.