How to stop during a hydroplane situation?

[ThumperX]

Mods please move to appropriate forum if this doesn't belong in General.

Yesterday, thunder and lightening, sheets of rain. Luckily the guys at SF BMW reminded me about the flooding on 101 so I was prepared. Sort of. I'm in #4 lane traffic is rolling about 45 mph when the guy about 4 cars ahead in #2 lane starts spinning. I mean spinning. I eased off the throttle but when I hit the spot I felt the bike washing out. I used peg weight to sort of surf it, kept it in my lane and was in control enough to stop about 75 feet in front of him as he careened into the guard rail.
I left the bike in front of his car with the lights and turn signal on. I hopped the guard rail and ran to the car to see if he was OK. I stayed with the guy until CHP showed up. Since he was stuck in the car it seemed smart to leave the bike ahead, sort of as a sacrifice giving folks an extra 75 feet to prepare or crash.
My concern is this-had I been a second earlier, running a little faster, not had the huge safety bubble engaged-I would not have been able to stop in time and would have been struck by that out of control car.
How do you stop once your hydro planing?

 

[plumber]

Mods please move to appropriate forum if this doesn't belong in General.

Yesterday, thunder and lightening, sheets of rain. Luckily the guys at SF BMW reminded me about the flooding on 101 so I was prepared. Sort of. I'm in #4 lane traffic is rolling about 45 mph when the guy about 4 cars ahead in #2 lane starts spinning. I mean spinning. I eased off the throttle but when I hit the spot I felt the bike washing out. I used peg weight to sort of surf it, kept it in my lane and was in control enough to stop about 75 feet in front of him as he careened into the guard rail.
I left the bike in front of his car with the lights and turn signal on. I hopped the guard rail and ran to the car to see if he was OK. I stayed with the guy until CHP showed up. Since he was stuck in the car it seemed smart to leave the bike ahead, sort of as a sacrifice giving folks an extra 75 feet to prepare or crash.
My concern is this-had I been a second earlier, running a little faster, not had the huge safety bubble engaged-I would not have been able to stop in time and would have been struck by that out of control car.
How do you stop once your hydro planing?

You won't stop until you stop hydroplaning. You need to regain traction by not locking up your tires. ABS would take of it for you but without it you're on your own. You need to keep the wheels rotating until you have a stoppable surface.

 

[froride1]

You don't! The tires are not in contact with the pavement, that is why it felt like you were surfing. I sounds like you handled it very well. Any sudden attempts at stopping or changing direction would probably lead to a crash.

 

[ThumperX]

This is my way of justifying an R1200R. My bike is too light for this kind of stuff .

It was pretty frightening and yes I was surfing didn't dare go for brakes until I regained traction.

Other surprising thing, NO ONE stopped, plenty of horn honking. Guy could have been dieing in that car

 

[AkatomboRR]

I'm no riding expert, but as far as I know, in a car, you drive through the water as neutral as possible, and hope for the best, you brake, you loose momentum and "traction"
There's no braking in a hydroplane situation, there's not crashing and dying though

 

[afm199]

I've ridden on a track in an inch of water. Just stay on the gas and don't brake. Unless something upsets the bike you are fine.

 

[AOW]

From your description I don't believe you were really hydroplaning at all. Seems more like the deep water was pushing and pulling your tires which was an unfamiliar and unnerving feeling for you. Seems quite unlikely that your 1200GS would hydroplane at 45mph
All you can do when you're hydroplaning is get off the throttle and ride it out.

 

[BlueBuellFool]

Pulling in the clutch and staying off the brakes helps. Same thing in your car (push in the clutch or place in neutral, don't touch the brakes). Easier said than done, I know, but it helps.

The idea is that it allows the wheels to turn freely until they gain traction. Using the throttle or brakes when you're not touching the road is a bad thing.

 

[DataDan]

Roll off the gas, just as you did. The tire will stop hydroplaning as you decelerate, then you can use the brakes.

 

[ThumperX]

From your description I don't believe you were really hydroplaning at all. Seems more like the deep water was pushing and pulling your tires which was an unfamiliar and unnerving feeling for you. Seems quite unlikely that your 1200GS would hydroplane at 45mph
All you can do when you're hydroplaning is get off the throttle and ride it out.

I was on my 400lb Hornet. definitely different than a water crossing alot like ice. Either way the only inputs I could get the bike to listen to was weight on the pegs that would keep the front pointed straigt. Really scary. Had I been on a big BMW I think the weight of the bike and rider would have been able to maintain a contact patch between the tires and the road. I don't know
I do know this, spinning cars can really upset the situation-Safety Bubble FTW

 

[fast4ward]

From your description I don't believe you were really hydroplaning at all. Seems more like the deep water was pushing and pulling your tires which was an unfamiliar and unnerving feeling for you. Seems quite unlikely that your 1200GS would hydroplane at 45mph
All you can do when you're hydroplaning is get off the throttle and ride it out.

This.

Cars (and trucks) are prone to hydroplaning as they have square-profile tires, and the flat surface of the tread part of the tire that normally contacts the road can "surf" across the standing water, no longer in contact with the road. Motorcycle tires are round profile, so would not surf in the same situation, but might struggle to disperse the water. More likely that is the sensation you are feeling.

 

[louemc]

This is my way of justifying an R1200R. My bike is too light for this kind of stuff .

It was pretty frightening and yes I was surfing didn't dare go for brakes until I regained traction.

Other surprising thing, NO ONE stopped, plenty of horn honking. Guy could have been dieing in that car

You did everything right..Not so sure anything is righter than that.

ABS always want to promise a righter...but...riders that count on themselves, know a mental state, that un-developed and counting on a device...will find to be a failure at some time.

The developed rider can be assisted with the device...but the device doesn't replace the mental state.

 

[plumber]

You did everything right..Not so sure anything is righter than that.

ABS always want to promise a righter...but...riders that count on themselves, know a mental state, that un-developed and counting on a device...will find to be a failure at some time.

The developed rider can be assisted with the device...but the device doesn't replace the mental state.

Let's not morph this thread into an ABS debate. You'll need a bigger boat.

 

[monkeythumpa]

Both tires lost traction? In my experience that is rare. I have hydroplaned maybe 4 times (on a cruiser and on a sport tourer) in 11 years and it has always been the rear that lost traction. Weight is one thing, but width of the tire as well as tread play just as much as a role. Hydroplaning the rear is self correcting, unless you are leaned over.

I rode my new GS home in that storm on Friday with new tires so I was being super safe. No matter how hard I grab, I have yet to feel the ABS pulse. It is hard to counter my instincts.

 

[ThumperX]

For the first time ever I really wished I was on a a heavier more planted bike.

 

[AOW]

I was on my 400lb Hornet. definitely different than a water crossing alot like ice. Either way the only inputs I could get the bike to listen to was weight on the pegs that would keep the front pointed straigt. Really scary. Had I been on a big BMW I think the weight of the bike and rider would have been able to maintain a contact patch between the tires and the road. I don't know
I do know this, spinning cars can really upset the situation-Safety Bubble FTW

I see, said the blind man. With those mini tires I now understand. Still, you did everything correctly. All you can do is get off the throttle and ride it out. You should try hydroplaning on a 700lb bike at 100mph..... talk about pucker power! Now that you got the first one out of the way, it'll be more fun the next time. Those sudden deep puddles do wonders for waking you up though.

 

[Gary856]

Roll off the gas, just as you did. The tire will stop hydroplaning as you decelerate, then you can use the brakes.

I thought the question was how to stop, while most people seemed to reply to how to ride thru it. DataDan's answer makes sense - it's the speed that "float/hdroplane" the tires over water - reduce the speed to reduce/stop hydroplaning. The more you gas it, the more the front will unweight and float/hydroplane, but here we want to the weight the front (by rolling off the throttle) to have it sink down, right?

 

[ThumperX]

I see, said the blind man. With those mini tires I now understand. Still, you did everything correctly. All you can do is get off the throttle and ride it out. You should try hydroplaning on a 700lb bike at 100mph..... talk about pucker power! Now that you got the first one out of the way, it'll be more fun the next time. Those sudden deep puddles do wonders for waking you up though.

No thank you
BTW, it would have been a non issue except for that spinning car-had to keep saying he's spinning forward and across-forward and across.

 

[DataDan]

For the first time ever I really wished I was on a a heavier more planted bike.

Not to get too sciencey here, but a heavier bike will have bigger tires. And if the contact patches are loaded equally, the lighter and heavier bike will both hydroplane.

One thing you can do to improve the situation is inflate tires to the maximum. This may sound counterintuitive, but the effect is to concentrate loading in a smaller contact patch. Both Gary J and David Hough recommend this in their books.

 

[ThumperX]

Thanks for that tip. I think the pressures are.probably on the low side.