Importance of Throttle Control

[pinball]

My take on this vid is that the guy gave it a little too much throttle while accelerating to pass and the rear stepped out. His comments on the video say he "thinks" he hydroplaned, but that he'd been riding in the rain for a long time that day and had zero traction issues until that point. Be careful with that right wrist, folks....especially in the rain.

[RACER X]

I think he hydroplaned

[pinball]

It's possible, but the timing of the spill coupled with preparing to pass the vehicle in front of him tells me the throttle was probably involved.

[TomballD]

That looked to quick for throttle induced loss of traction, looks like it just fell over.

[blensen]

Originally Posted by RACER X

I think he hydroplaned

[pinball]

To me it looks like the back end came around, he fishtailed, then the lost the front. The only difference between this vid and a highside is that there wasn't enough traction to catch and flip him.

I realize I'm no expert on the subject, but from what I understand, highsides are usually caused by loss of traction in the rear. This loss of traction is typically caused by over acceleration when you're pushing traction limits (or hit a slick spot).

Hydroplaning happens when water at the center of the tire cannot move to the edge of the tire fast enough to prevent loss of contact with the pavement. The wider the tire, the easier it is to hydroplane. Given the narrow and rounded profile of a motorcycle tire, the vehicle in front should have hydroplaned before the bike did.

[dontbap()ssy]

You can see after he goes down and he is dragging his hand his fingers make individual wakes (that's a ton of water) , I think he hydroplaned.

[cashtown]

Looked like he hydroplanes to me.

[xsv]

Going too fast for the conditions?

[pinball]

Originally Posted by dontbap()ssy

You can see after he goes down and he is dragging his hand his fingers make individual wakes (that's a ton of water) , I think he hydroplaned.

A " ton" (my favorite unit of measure, BTW) of water is the 6-8" I rode through Tuesday at 50 MPH...without hydroplaning.

Originally Posted by xsv

Going too fast for the conditions?

His comments on the vid say he was going 55, which he claims was 10 under posted.

[pinball]

Where's that vid of the Moto GP guy running by himself in the rain? Several instances of the rear snapping around under acceleration in that video.

[Chris_5.0]

Hydroplane or slipped on the white strip

[cashtown]

lol, if you rode through 6-8" of water, you surely weren't going 50. No way.

Really looks like he just started sliding to me.

[pinball]

Originally Posted by cashtown

lol, if you rode through 6-8" of water, you surely weren't going 50. No way.

Really looks like he just started sliding to me.

Bet. Only reason I was only going 50 is because I saw it and had started slowing down. The splash from the front wheel cutting through knocked my feet off the pegs.

[Lucar]

[dontbap()ssy]

Originally Posted by pinball

Where's that vid of the Moto GP guy running by himself in the rain? Several instances of the rear snapping around under acceleration in that video.

[dontbap()ssy]

Originally Posted by pinball

Bet. Only reason I was only going 50 is because I saw it and had started slowing down. The splash from the front wheel cutting through knocked my feet off the pegs.

Sounds like you hit a puddle in the rain going 50

[pinball]

It was about 15 feet across. I went from no standing water to a pond with no hydroplaning, which is why I have a hard time chalking this vid up hydroplaning.

I did learn a valuable lesson. I've ridden the same road almost every day for three years in all kinds of weather. There has never been standing water where I found it this week. Just goes to show that no matter how familiar you are with a stretch of road, things can change quick.

[staysa01]

On the bright side, I bet he won't do that again... assuming he knows what he did wrong.

[1FC]

He was following in the cars tracks, as soon as he moved over Boom