Riding fast in the rain

**James Deuce** · 5th July 2009, 11:28

Originally Posted by BMWST?

thats not a myth.Thats a fact

Sorry, it has been repeatedly myth busted by magazines like Performance Bikes, Bike Magazine, and Motorcyclist. Accepted wisdom is not what it seems to be.

PB had a Honda Valkyrie with ABS stopping metres sooner, in the wet, than an MG TF with ABS and Yaw control. The car was piloted by Jason Plato, ex-BTCC driver and 5th Gear reporter, and the bike by one of the PB crew. They tested a range of bikes against the car and the stopping figures were all better than the car, wet or dry.

There are some cars, and some drivers who will maximise the capabilities of any vehicle they ride or drive, vastly better than the general populace. ABS has taken qualitative leaps in the last couple of years that means ABS now works better than a good driver who knows how to modulate non-brakes to produce maximum braking force without locking up.

The average rider will stop a motorcycle quicker than the average driver will stop a car. That is what matters out in the real world. Most riders are evaluating their environment and making decisions about things well before they happen, often avoiding the need for any major reaction. If I've had to brake hard in congested circumstances, a lot of my attention is in my mirrors because I know that Doris or Dudley is going to react late, and they are simply going to mash the brakes past the point of lockup, increasing their stopping distance.

**Thunder 8** · 5th July 2009, 11:31

Originally Posted by James Deuce

Most riders are evaluating their environment and making decisions about things well before they happen, often avoiding the need for any major reaction.

Change most to some and that may be close to the truth.

**Big Dave** · 5th July 2009, 11:33

FWIW - I ride slow in the rain.

**James Deuce** · 5th July 2009, 11:36

I've actually given up.

**Highlander** · 5th July 2009, 11:36

Originally Posted by Big Dave

FWIW - I ride slow in the rain.

Some of us just ride slow whatever the weather.

**Big Dave** · 5th July 2009, 11:52

Originally Posted by James Deuce

I've actually given up.

Pleasure riding - me too.
Work takes me out in the wet often enough.

**scumdog** · 5th July 2009, 12:24

Originally Posted by Big Dave

FWIW - I ride slow in the rain.

Likewise.

But then I always ride like a nana..

**James Deuce** · 5th July 2009, 12:55

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Pleasure riding - me too.
Work takes me out in the wet often enough.

Yep, and commuting in Winter has been dropped too.

**Mikkel** · 5th July 2009, 13:00

One fact that is worth remembering is that if it hasn't rained for quite a while the roads will be quite a lot more slippery to begin with as all the dust and grime is getting mixed with the water. As more water is falling on the road this slippery film will get dilluted and will eventually be washed off completely. Once it is gone you will be all good - if you stay away from flat, smooth, shiny surfaces such as road markings or tarsnakes.

Originally Posted by James Deuce

What I said is completely correct. You can brake as hard in the wet as in the dry. It's how you do it that matters. You can generate the same force between tyre and tarmac. The amount of negative acceleration you generate has everything to do with braking force.

Anyone who doubts this should go and see Andrew Templeton about doing an RRRS course on a wet day and remember express a lack of confidence in using your front brake. He can make it go away

**Shadows** · 5th July 2009, 13:07

Originally Posted by boman

Also those lovely slick patches of road, where the tar has melted up past the chip, making the corner like riding on glass.

Originally Posted by rosie631

Yep, think that's what I hit last Sunday. Hence my new ride - see my avatar.

I'm convinced it was more than just tar bleed (although it didn't help). Judging from all of the the pretty rainbow colouring we spotted all along the downward side of the road after it had been raining for a while.

**Hiflyer** · 5th July 2009, 13:10

I know he's a pro but Chris Pfeiffer can do precise stoppies on icy roads so the same results in the dry can be achieved in crap conditions, just, like it was said before, in a different way.

**justsomeguy** · 5th July 2009, 13:14

Originally Posted by James Deuce

The average rider will stop a motorcycle quicker than the average driver will stop a car. That is what matters out in the real world.

What one needs is a Gixxer Thou - they can stop from 400kmph to 0 in 1 metre on snow. In the wet they do it in just under a foot and in the dry in 3.278 inches.

In the latest model there is a special function that allows the bike to fly for short distances and it even makes a cup of coffee.

**Owl** · 5th July 2009, 13:20

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

What one needs is a Gixxer Thou - they can stop from 400kmph to 0 in 1 metre on snow. In the wet they do it in just under a foot and in the dry in 3.278 inches.

In the latest model there is a special function that allows the bike to fly for short distances and it even makes a cup of coffee.

Seriously?????

An R1 must be truely awesome then!

**rosie631** · 5th July 2009, 14:04

Originally Posted by Shadows

I'm convinced it was more than just tar bleed (although it didn't help). Judging from all of the the pretty rainbow colouring we spotted all along the downward side of the road after it had been raining for a while.

Yep, definitely oil or something as well.