Originally Posted by
CrystalPistol
Trikes carry near half their weight or more on the front skinny tire, the rear only gets heavier with passengers, loads, trailers. Rear tires are considerably wider being fat car tires, PSI between the rubber and the roadway is considerably less as the weight there is shared by so many more square inches. Any tire will hydroplane when encountering water faster that the tread grooves can dissipate it. When that happens, the tire is lifted and rubber on water is not a high traction recipe.
Few years back returning from a friend's home after a long day and post ride ice cream party, about 30 miles to go, trike had near new rubber on the rear, size 215/70-15 I had put on to minimize chances of hydroplaning (narrower than the 245/60-15 tires that were well worn). Rt 11 coming south out of Staunton, the clouds had opened up, raining enough to drown frogs, going 30mph under the bypass' overpass, straight road, water rushing across the road, suddenly it was like in neutral and the rear kicked out to the left. I clutched it as I steered left to correct, we pulled in the SS Co-op under the awning to let the worse pa
My wife asked "What happened". I said "we were water skiing". Only time ever on the trike.
Back in '72 I had a VW Beetle with wheel adapters on back and wide G60-14 Sonic Maxima tires on some mags. OEM 5.60-15 skinnies on front. Tires were all good, three of us in the car, 45 mph, was raining hard, Rt 29 north heading into Ward's Rd., Lynchburg, Va., straight roadway too ... suddenly revs went up, I steered right chasing the rear, could almost see ahead out the passenger window. Guy in the back seat center was white as a sheet.