rear tires on wet roads.

[3W-lonerider]

got a question for all csc trike owners. the rear tires on your trike, how well do they do on wet roads. iv'e had mine out twice in the rain and both times iv'e had my trike do a 180 in a turn.

once in a roundabout doing 10 mph it broke loose and turned me around backwards and then this past sunday i was on a wet road doing 25 around a curve when it broke loose and spun me around. tires only have 6000 miles on them.

these tires are really making me feel very uncomfortable riding this thing on a wet road. been riding a trike for 18 years and never had one break loose like this one.

 

[ol' school]

Rick, never had mine break loose on wet roads. What air pressure are you running on your rear tires? We even rode home from Maggie Valley the other year in the rain almost the whole way with not a slip.

 

[rhino 2]

Like Doug said i also never had any tires brake lose on any of my Tri-Glides [3] ...What tires are you running and what air pressure also?....

Just as a side note with my EX-Slingshot it was downright dangerous in the rain...

 

[3W-lonerider]

running the factory tires. OHTSU. FP7000. thats what was on it when i got it. also running 20 to 24 psi. thinking of dropping them to 18 to see if that makes a difference. first time it broke loose was with me on it. sundays episode was with the wife and i on it. needless to say she wasn't impressed with this thing on a wet road..

 

[ol' school]

Rick, CSC recommends 28 lbs in their owners manual and in their build manual. I run close that and never had an issue. Corners like it is on rails wet or dry.

Maybe you have too much preload in the rear suspension.

 

[3W-lonerider]

Rick, CSC recommends 28 lbs in their owners manual and in their build manual. I run close that and never had an issue. Corners like it is on rails wet or dry.

Maybe you have too much preload in the rear suspension.

anything is possible. i will increase the pressure to 28. thats where it was when i got it, but that pressure it felt really rough riding. so maybe the preload does need set down some. i will check into that.

 

[ol' school]

anything is possible. i will increase the pressure to 28. thats where it was when i got it, but that pressure it felt really rough riding. so maybe the preload does need set down some. i will check into that.

Sounds like a plan! Let me know how you make out.

 

[3W-lonerider]

Sounds like a plan! Let me know how you make out.

will do. thanks.

 

[pwhoever]

I know when I got mine converted, it came with those Ohtsu tires as well. I dont really remember having any issue with wet pavement but I couldnt run those at 26 or 28 for same reason as you, just too rough. After reading up here on the forum, I dropped them down and found 22 was a good pressure that gave me the ride I liked. But I also ended up with an unrelated problem with those tires. Not quite sure what was wrong but I would get a bad vibration around 65-75mph. And it wasnt all the time but enough that was aggravating.

But the other problem was that on left curves, many times I had to slow way down because it felt like the trike wanted to tip over and flip on its side. After a bunch of troubleshooting along with replacing front tire and rebalancing rear tires, it was determined that the tires were defective. CSC came through and honored the warranty and authorized me to get tires replaced locally and they covered the cost. I went with Goodyear Eagles in same size. It cured the problem. I do notice that when going through deeper puddles and maybe a little too fast, I do get what feels like some hydroplaning. It is a bit unnerving but I just back off the throttle and slow down a bit.

One thing that I've noticed with tires like this, low profile, is that the wider tires are more prone to hydroplaning. It happens on cars and with our trikes weighing considerably less than cars, it makes sense. If the tires were a bit thinner, they would be less prone to hydroplaning. So I dont know if this helps but might explain a bit if your tires are still good.Its also possible that you hit a patch of oil which sent you into the spin as well. It really doesnt take much on wet pavement to make it slick.

 

[3W-lonerider]

Called the dealer and talked to them about the issue. They suggested making the suspension alittle softer. I have taken notice that there is a place not far from me that always made my motortrike bottom out and this csc barely gives in the suspension. So I’m going to adjust the spring tension about 1/2 inch out. And we will see how that goes. If it doesn’t improve I’m to call them back and they will look at it.

 

[ol' school]

Called the dealer and talked to them about the issue. They suggested making the suspension alittle softer. I have taken notice that there is a place not far from me that always made my motortrike bottom out and this csc barely gives in the suspension. So I’m going to adjust the spring tension about 1/2 inch out. And we will see how that goes. If it doesn’t improve I’m to call them back and they will look at it.

ThumbUp Again, let us know how you make out with your issue Rick.

 

[Stretch56]

Rear tires

It also has to do with age of tires and tread depth. I'm replacing my tears this winter and will look for a tire that is rated for water displacement.

 

[3W-lonerider]

It also has to do with age of tires and tread depth. I'm replacing my tears this winter and will look for a tire that is rated for water displacement.

tires only have 8000 miles on them. the kit was installed 11/19

 

[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 pass.

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.

 

[3W-lonerider]

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.

yep i understand what your saying and i to have hydroplaned a trike a time or two. but my experience with these tires are not hydroplaning they are breaking loose just like there was oil on the road. but the 2 wheelers behind me never lost traction, so i know i didn't hit oil.. i'm taking these tires off in the spring and i'm going to get stickier tires mounted. the first trike i had was a motortrike with regular 15 inch tires with a regular sidewalls. these tires are low profile which makes me wonder that since the sidewalls don't flex like they did on my last trike. that these tires will break loose faster. first time it broke lose was going 15 mph in a roundabout. with just me on it. second time the wife and i were both on going around a right hand curve probably going 25.

 

[ol' school]

Have you lowered your spring preload yet? I have never had an issue with the back tires breaking loose (same brand and size) and have driven into turns hard enough the front tire started understeering. I can drive away from yet two wheeler I am riding with without an issue wet or dry.

 

[3W-lonerider]

Have you lowered your spring preload yet? I have never had an issue with the back tires breaking loose (same brand and size) and have driven into turns hard enough the front tire started understeering. I can drive away from yet two wheeler I am riding with without an issue wet or dry.

Not yet. Waiting on my front wheel to get back from the powder coater so i can get the front end back togather and i can get the backend up. Looks like i need to remove the left rear tire to get to that adjustment.

 

[CrystalPistol]

yep i understand what your saying and i to have hydroplaned a trike a time or two. but my experience with these tires are not hydroplaning they are breaking loose just like there was oil on the road. but the 2 wheelers behind me never lost traction, so i know i didn't hit oil.. i'm taking these tires off in the spring and i'm going to get stickier tires mounted. the first trike i had was a motortrike with regular 15 inch tires with a regular sidewalls. these tires are low profile which makes me wonder that since the sidewalls don't flex like they did on my last trike. that these tires will break loose faster. first time it broke lose was going 15 mph in a roundabout. with just me on it. second time the wife and i were both on going around a right hand curve probably going 25.

Must just be crappy tires. On a 4 wheeled vehicle, you can induce/reduce understeer/oversteer via suspension settings, but on a 3 wheeler like a trike, soft versus hard suspension has no effect as you are always riding a tripod with rollers (wheels) and the only effect suspension setting do is change the ride quality. You can change feel, but each leg is going to carry it's load.

If not hydroplaning, If you know it wasn't a case of accumulated oil, etc, then it's just a rubber compound that just doesn't like the wet.

You mention low profile, what size are they anyway? Some high performance tires cater to dry roads and are snot slick in the wet even if just good & damp.

 

[hogcowboy]

Wouldn't going from 24# to 28# cause even more of an issue with them breaking loose. I'm curious because I may find myself with this issue if and or when I get my bike converted to a CSC. I plan on a preload for two up riding even though I'll be solo. I do prefer a stiffer ride. So I was thinking 24# would be a good start when I get there. Wrong on all counts?

 

[ol' school]

Not yet. Waiting on my front wheel to get back from the powder coater so i can get the front end back togather and i can get the backend up. Looks like i need to remove the left rear tire to get to that adjustment.

Rick, if I am not mistaken there is a dial adjustment that is accessible from under the passenger seat to change the spring preload.