Stay calm when the sky is falling on your head: how to brake, accelerate, turn, behave …
For that every fall, unlike the leaves, the bikers are not shoveled
The wonderful feeling of freedom that we encounter on a motorcycle is partly because no other vehicle makes such a connection with the outside environment. The downside: the weather sometimes challenges us in our place by making us aware of our smallness against the unleashing of the reflective element. With the approach of the bad season, here are our tips for the motorcycling remains a pleasure even in the rain and your journeys, short or long, are carried out safely. Before departure, it is of course important to check weather forecasts: to govern is to foresee.
Adhesion: twice less grip.
And to keep vehicles on the ground, one of the most effective solutions lies in the rubber, a magical product based on natural rubber. There are other solutions, particularly with synthetic rubber (very commonly used on motorcycle tires) and the future holds mixtures of dandelions or biomass.
Short. Our tires stand because they generate a friction on the ground. The nature of friction is different in the case of wet asphalt. What does the teratology, the science of the study of friction? That the coefficient of adhesion of dry bitumen is from 0.6 to 0.8 and it falls in a range of 0.3 to 0.4 in the case of wet asphalt. To be clear: there is twice less grip on wet than dry.
With a slight downside: all bitumen, however, is not the same. Some have a high coefficient of particle size (mu: μ) that will leave more easily stagnate water surface when the bitumen with a lower μ promote more flow. Reflective vest is necessary for everyone.The difference can be felt over a light rain, less if sustained, prolonged downpour.
Note also that in case of heavy rain after a long dry period, the fat particles infiltrated the floor rise to the surface (they are less dense than water) and, mixing with dust and gum residue, reduced to especially the bitumen adhesion power. It is therefore necessary to exercise caution.
Tires: not under inflated …
These are the tires that allow you to take the floor, so they appreciate that you give them some attention.
Rule number 1: tires, it inflates to the correct pressure (even a pouillème more for the wet) and the carcass works in optimum conditions provided by designers and allows grooves to be opened as necessary for a good discharge of water.
Rule number 2: try to “finish” your tires in the winter because you will take less angle is a bad idea. A worn tires 50% seen its performance deteriorate by 20% and in the rain, you need the full potential of your tread. You have any interest in mounting new tires in the fall, to dispose of their performance potential in the bad season, even finish the edges in spring, provided the selected tire has even wear.
Regarding the performance of the tire, it is necessary to distinguish the ability of the tire to heat up (for the carcass can work correctly) and the sculptures to drain the water. On bitumen that wicks water well, if little rain, a sports tire is still relatively efficient. If this film on the road, you have to evacuate. While some manufacturers in reflective accessory offer “winter” tires for scooters, tire technology “all season” for motorcycle is a line of hard work. Some tires, moreover, openly claim their wet performance.
Finally, the tire will tell you it is important to have two tires of the same brand: the sculptures of the front tire are designed to shed water so that the rear tires to do its job.