Sad day on the freeway... (or dump the T/A's)

[cjmitch]

returning from Wing ding the couple we were riding with locked up his brakes, hydroplaned, and skidded in to a pickup truck (sideswiped).

She... broken hip, he bruised and battered.

We were both on MT solid axle bikes, and I without going into too much detail, i could stop... he couldn't. Other than external factors, i attribute some of this was because soon after I got my trike, (after my 1st minor hydroplane) i got rid of the bf Goodrich T/A's that come stock on my kit.

I replaced them with Goodyear Hydroedge. Those tires really throw water out from under the rear.

IMHO, the fact he had those T/A's and I had the hydroedge's made a big difference in the results of the day.

I'm beggin you all, consider getting rid of those fat wide tires. they may look good (all fat and wide) but we don't have the weight on our butts that a car has so these tires WILL tend to float. the hydros, are narrower tires so the pressure per sq inch will be greater.

(sigh) its pretty hard looking in your rear view mirror and seeing exploding plastic over the top of the cab of a pickup truck, then looking over and seeing your buddy and his wife bodily flying down the freeway.

All I know is...

I stopped...

He couldn't

[Nana]

That's definitely tough to read, Mitch. Hugs to you, and tell your friends I'm so very glad they will be ok.

[87Trike1200]

First of all, our thoughts, prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery for your friends. We hope they are recovering as quickly as possible.

Thank you for the tire tip - I had never really thought about it the way you describe. Beside the tire brand name, could you be more specific about tire size, e.g. - 195, 205, 225, etc. I recently swapped out 225's on my wife's bike in favor of 195's (for a different reason), but if possible, I'd like to know your "new" size vs. his "stock" size.

[Rollin Thunder]

Damn! That's scary to read. I REALLY hope their better today. Bikes can be fixed. Give them our best ! Glad you made it OK.

[Shimpy]

I'm always very cousious with wet roads after totaling my Tundra pickup after hydroplaning. I wasn't on the brakes, just going down the road at 50 mph and hit standing water. Before I knew it I was spinning down the road bouncing off guard rails and concrete barriers. Trikes have a lot less weight over the rear wheels than cars for which the tires were designed.

[cjmitch]

First of all, our thoughts, prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery for your friends. We hope they are recovering as quickly as possible.

Thank you for the tire tip - I had never really thought about it the way you describe. Beside the tire brand name, could you be more specific about tire size, e.g. - 195, 205, 225, etc. I recently swapped out 225's on my wife's bike in favor of 195's (for a different reason), but if possible, I'd like to know your "new" size vs. his "stock" size.

New

Michelin Hydroedge - 205/70 R15

Olg

Goodrich radial T/A - 225 or 235 I dont remember which 70 R15

In either case these are Narrower tires, AND designed to shed water better than the TA's. Narrower will mean more weight per Sq inch downward. Which will keep you planted in the rain.

[lboos]

Sorry about the bad news, hope they are both OK.

But!..A motorcycle has no brain, it will do what the driver tells it to do, wide tires, rain, snow, road conditions, speed, means nothing to a machine and is no excuse for a poor driver, [it is what it is] .

[SEABILL]

Hope they heal quickly!

Might be case where ABS would have helped.

[Rod69]

Hope they heal quickly. Goes to show you never know whats going to happen.

[87Trike1200]

New

Michelin Hydroedge - 205/70 R15

Olg

Goodrich radial T/A - 225 or 235 I dont remember which 70 R15

In either case these are Narrower tires, AND designed to shed water better than the TA's. Narrower will mean more weight per Sq inch downward. Which will keep you planted in the rain.

Good information - thank you.

Hope your friends are on the road to recovery...

[cjmitch]

Sorry about the bad news, hope they are both OK.
But!..A motorcycle has no brain, it will do what the driver tells it to do, wide tires, rain, snow, road conditions, speed, means nothing to a machine and is no excuse for a poor driver, [it is what it is] .

But hell???
WHO the hell said anything about a trike having a brain???
And who the hell are you to judge his driving skills when the only knowledge you have of him is what I just told you.

[cjmitch]

Hope they heal quickly!
Might be case where ABS would have helped.

Thank you and...
I thought of that also....
Your probably right..

[keepinon]

Mitch, hope your friends heal real fast.

I had the same experience with those wide tires, and downsized to exactly the same size as you, 205/70R15, except I got the BF Goodrich.

I never hydro-planed on my trike, but have had bad experiences with wide tires on pickups in the past, and it worried me. I do know that after I changed out the tires, the 205's grabbed better on take off. Those TA's must be some hard rubber, great for spinning, poor on grab.

[skuuter]

This Thread brings out some thoughts I've had along These Lines. First, Yes, I hydroplaned my Gold Wing 1800 Trike three times during my Ownership. I don't really contribute "Tire Brand" in any way, but, yes, I think the wide stance, three wheel design of a Trike itself, and the low amount of weight actually carried per wheel on the rear is the "culprit".

Now, that being said, and having a lot of hands on experience with Tire/Wheel widths, offsets, etc. from Racing All Kinds of Various Vehicles for decades, these are some of my thoughts.....

Very Little Gain will be had in the 195 to 235 Tire Size Range mounted on the same Wheels. All are extremely Large/Wide for the small amount of weight concentration a lightweight Trike will place on Them. Tread Pattern, such as the Ones mentioned at the start of this Thread, should have some bearing on deep water traction, because "water cleaning/shedding" of a Tire in standing water conditions is very important.

Now, "Tire Size and Rubber Compounds".....I understand the "Wide Tire Cool Looks Factor" that Fat Tires give anything, be it Bikes, Trikes, or Cars..."but"...I often wonder if a Great Option someday would be Regular Motorcycle Diameter and Width Wheels with Motorcycle Softer Rubber Compound Tires mounted instead of the "Fat Boy Car Tires". Harley obviously had this choice when They came out with a "Factory Trike", but, like the Trike Norm, went with Car Sizes also.

Motorcycle Tire Rubber Compounds are much better than harder Automotive Compounds in the Weight Class of Trikes. Maybe as the Trike Segment of the Motorcycle Sport continues to grow, this will be an affordable option for the Builders to look at and push.

...and as far as "COOL", picture a Cruiser Type Trike in Flat Black with Red or Black Spoke Wheels, Narrow Tires all around (even white walls), with Flat Steel Bobbed Fenders, and a Sprung Solo Seat......Oh Yeah, that's about as COOL as COOL gets.....

[kwputt]

I have had the hydro experience three times and been fortunate enough to have not hit anything. We're running 205 / 60 R 15 all weather Coopers and they appear to she'd water pretty well. First time I was going too fast for the conditions. Next two were a combination of banked curves on an incline and a large amount of sheet flow across the road. Can't be too cautious in bevy rain. Hope your friends mend quickly.

[John Luciano]

Does MT still have drum brakes on the rear? I know my friend had a MT and it did. When a shoe gets wet they are hard to stop

[The Wolf]

When I had my 1500 Lehman trike some years ago. BF's were on it and drum brakes. I locked up at a roundabout and went aquaplaning (what we call it) straight over the roundabout. Not a lot of damage but survived...

[MDGeorge]

WOW. I pray they will be healed perfect.
Interesting thought on the tires. I bought the 2008 trike with only 10,000 miles. I believe the tires are original. That would be 5 years on the trike. That's getting too old. The date code is 2106. These tires are just over 7 years old. They are 205/60 Traction TA.
I guess it's be time to tire shop.
Thanks for the post.

[lboos]

But hell???
WHO the hell said anything about a trike having a brain???
And who the hell are you to judge his driving skills when the only knowledge you have of him is what I just told you.

Sounds like you know him, but no need to take your "temper" out on me.
All I am saying is motorcycles don't cause accidents, people do [friend or not]. and that's just the way it is .
I too, hope they both get well soon.

[cjmitch]

Does MT still have drum brakes on the rear? I know my friend had a MT and it did. When a shoe gets wet they are hard to stop

no they went to disks a few years ago