Riding car and bike in rainy season

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The biggest challenge to riding in the rain, of course, is traction. Traction, to clarify, is a measure of how much grip a road provides. Much of this has to do with friction, but there are more elements than just that in the traction mix. On a dry road, traction is rarely an issue, but in the wet, water acts as a lubricant, reducing the tire’s ability to stick. Consider a situation where you lean over heavily into a corner. In that situation, you cannot really do too much with either the throttle or the brake because you simply haven't got any traction left to use. Riding in a straight line in the wet, in some ways, is the same as being leaned way over in a dry corner. The biggest change you have to make when riding in the wet isn't actually physical, it's mental. In the wet, riding well means anticipation. On a normal ride, you are already anticipating what is about to happen and making appropriate throttle, steering and braking inputs to account for that. The better you are as a rider, the more your anticipation skills are accurate - your predictions come true more often.

In the wet, because your ability to make changes to your throttle, steering and brakes is limited by traction, you must anticipate better, look further into the future as it were. One component of this is concentration and this is the central core that separates riding in the wet from everything else. Ask your friends and you will find that even those who hate the wet have had some memorable rides in the wet. The extra thrill comes from approaching perfect concentration and having a storming although noticeably slower ride.On a clean, wet road, though, you actually do have a lot of traction - a lot more than you think. But to exploit this you have to slow your inputs down.

What I mean is that you can ride at full throttle but you cannot get to full throttle in an instant. You have to roll on the throttle more and more, allowing the tyre time to hook up. Similarly, and perhaps a lot more importantly, you have to brake this way also. Full power braking is rarely possible, of course, but when you have the room, you can put down some very impressive wet braking with practice. This does mean that your motorcycle or scooter will take (much) longer to stop. Again, if you anticipate well ahead and spot the car about change lanes or lights about to go red, you can stop quickly. In the wet, your reliance on the front brake has to be backed off. You must use more of the rear brake and if you downshift early and let the engine add its own natural braking effect, you will find that the motorcycle feels a lot more stable. Also remember that a locked rear is in itself not all that great a problem unless it's wildly out of line with the front tyre.

In most cases, if you continue to look up and ahead, the motorcycle will regain its line. In all cases, remember to watch the front. If you start losing grip on the front - the motorcycle goes smooth and greasy in feel - you need to back off the front brakes a bit immediately. If it's any consolation, falling off the wet causes less road rash than in the dry because the water lubricates your slide as well. It still hurts, so wear gear. But perhaps the scariest thing about the wet, especially for a new rider is negotiating turns. When it comes to cornering though, you must work harder.

Now that the straight line traction is already low, leaned over traction is lower still. The trick is to keep the motorcycle on a fatter contact patch by using your body. In the wet, it might look extremely weird, even dangerous, but the safest way is to lean your body heavily (but smoothly, not with a massive jerk) into the corner. The bike will remain more vertical to compensate, allowing you to exploit a fatter contact patch. And while we are on the subject of contact patches, let us put the air pressure in the wet myth to rest. You do actually gain a benefit by lowering tyre pressures. Less air in your tyres will cause your tyre to roll on a fatter contact patch. But, there is a negative to this. A narrower tyre exerts more pressure per square inch on the tarmac. This means it will resist aquaplaning more. Aquaplaning recurs when your tyre is moving so quickly over the tarmac that it doesn't have the time to disperse water between it and the tarmac. You effectively ride a thin layer of water - which offers no traction whatsoever.

Running lower tyre pressures will offer more grip but it will snap into aquaplaning far earlier and very suddenly because the pressure the bike exerts through the tyre is critical to the motorcycle being able to break the film of water and get grip.This is why we (and everyone we know) recommend running manufacturer recommended tyre pressures and resist the temptation to lower tyre pressures and enjoy the feeling of having more grip. You can't really exploit the extra grip you gain but when you start aquaplaning, the crash that follows is almost guaranteed to hurt.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

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