Topic: MY CAUGHT IN THE RAIN STORY FROM LAST NIGHT.....

[Chris Schneiter]

Ok, I've asked this before...Somebody metioned "Modern Tires". I have Chen Shin "Marquis"...Are those considered a "Modern" tread? Sometimes in rain, they feel like I'm riding on BB's!

Chen what tyre's ?....... I would never use any other tyre that a Dunlop TT100, modern compounds classic tread and race proven and great in the rain, expensive but well worth the £’s  IMHO.

Yeah, Chen Shin...They're like Chinese (I think) Continentals...I used to have Continentals which I believe were the original tread, and these don't seem much better. Actually, Che Shins are pretty common...available @ J.C. Whitney or Bike shows (which is where I got mine).
I'm absolutely sure that your tires are better than mine (You win), but that's not what I asked. The tread is very similar to the old Continentals. (I'll take a picture of them and upload it if I have to). Is this an OK tread design, or if not, what should I use? Bob Wessner sent me a link to tire design that was good. My tires are round, which should mean that they should corner well (they do on dry pavement), but on wet, they still feel squirrely.

[ProTeal55]

I have always ran , and always will run Avon Venom X's on my bikes.
And now after this weekend I can say , run excellent in the rain 

[Chris Schneiter]

Ok, I've asked this before...Somebody metioned "Modern Tires". I have Chen Shin "Marquis"...Are those considered a "Modern" tread? Sometimes in rain, they feel like I'm riding on BB's!

The success of a tyre in the wet is mainly down to the tread pattern and how much there is of it, but also, to a certain extent, the material of which the tyre is made. When we talk about 'modern' tyres it is those that have a combination of the two. The tyres which were supplied as stock on Japanese bikes in the early '70s had lots of tread (obviously) but were made of a compound which was very, very hard. So there was adequate grip in the dry, but the wet weather performance left a lot to be desired.

Nowadays a tyre manufacturer supplying tyres for low powered commuter-type machines will put the emphasis on tyre longevity and not 'stickiness', knowing that the machines using the tyres will not be World Superbike contenders. Your Chen Shins may belong in that category.....I've never ridden on them so cannot comment. I can say, however, that in my experience if you buy mainstream brands (Dunlop, Bridgestone, Metzeler, Michelin et al) you can ride with a lot of confidence in the wet.

Thanks Nickjtc, A nice straight answer...I guess next time I just need to spend a little more $$.

[DJ_AX]

...I myself have never rode in the rain my entire motorcycle career.........
...I was lucky last night that I only had to make 4 turns in the whole rain-filled ride.
I just went extra-extra slow .............
...I have always ran , and always will run Avon Venom X's on my bikes.
And now after this weekend I can say , run excellent in the rain 

lol

[andy750]

Like Bifta,  starting off my riding career in the Uk meant Ive done more than enough wet weather riding. Plus on long distance trips your always going to have the odd torrential downpour days. Only once has my CB750 ever let me down and this was coming back from Vermont after a day out with a girl and it was her first time on a bike. After lazing by the rivr in the summer heat, afternoon thunderstorm caught us on the way back to Boston, and the temperature turned cold and of course I only had one rain coat which I gave her to cover her bare arms....soon she was freezing cold and shivering and I wasnt much warmer either. With 20 miles to go, the water was starting to accumulate on the roads making it very slippy (the rain was so hard it was boucing back up!) and at one rotary (roundabout) it had flooded to about 6` deep....no problem but I got a shoe-soaking. Then as we approached some traffic lights (in busy traffic) more flooding and this time the water came over the points cover and when I came to a stop at the lights, the bike died :-( Couldnt restart it and ended up pushing it off to the side....lucky for me there was a Best Western motel directly opposite and I suggested we go there to keep dry, to which the girl readily agreed...it was now 5pm and still raining with no end in sight. Ended up having to get a room to dry off, as the reception had freezing a/c  ....and since it still hadnt stopped raining (and points still wet) by 9pm we had to spend the night at the hotel....in the morning it was still damp but now the bike fired up and home we went...

cheers
Andy in Nagoya (riding in the rain is fine when you are on the back of a bike with a hot Japanese biker chic :-))

[Dave K]

The Continentals are still available. That is what I am riding on.

[BobbyR]

Ok, I've asked this before...Somebody metioned "Modern Tires". I have Chen Shin "Marquis"...Are those considered a "Modern" tread? Sometimes in rain, they feel like I'm riding on BB's!

The one feature the modern tires like Dunlap and others is a multiple rubber compounds. The center of the tire is a longer wearing compound than the sides. This arrangement gives you a bit longer wear, and much better traction when you lean her over. I had Chens and they were OK the first couple years and then cracked on the tread.

[seaweb11]

All this talk of rain "non here in over 80 days". I looked at my rear and made an appointment to get a new one  put on tomorrow
I ride in rain most of the year.

Just stay off the white lines on the road stopping or cornering and you should have no problems.

[GoatBaSS]

He must have a rare Trumpet(see page one) that he has worked like  all get out on. The guys I rode with would joke about having a catchers mitt to ride behind my bonne just to catch the parts falling off...

Need to send rain to ALABAMA. Although I am sure we have no corner on the dry market.

[Chris Schneiter]

Hey Huero, You must have had the same storm we rode through (or avoided) last night...
Yes, it happened! We were in Lansing, and had to get back to Grand Rapids, but there was about a 5 mile wide storm in front of us...The nice thing about riding in the Midwest is that a lot of it is flat, and you can see the entire storm and go around it...we turned North and rode until we skirted around it...there was a magic corridor down the middle between two storms, and we went right through..there was abought 10 - 15 miles where the road was wet (but the sun was out!)..you could tell that they'd gotten dumped on a few minutes before, but once we got through that it was clear sailing...The wet wasn't too bad, but I must admit, I'm pretty stiff today...must be all the clinching...my tires did ok, but there was a bit of that squirrelly feeling as I went..but we made it...it's funny, every time I get caught with a storm between me and home, I always do ok...maybe it's just thinking about it that bothers me!...Oh, and my CB did just fine, but my buddys '96 shadow had headlight problems!

[ProTeal55]

Oh, and my CB did just fine, but my buddys '96 shadow had headlight problems!

Yeah , I am still surprised that my 30+ year old bike had no water issues what-so-ever on my little ride in the rain...

Gives me the courage to wash the thing finally 

[i64X]

Yes, it happened! We were in Lansing, and had to get back to Grand Rapids

That storm sucked. There was NOTHING in Kalamazoo - bone dry, nice sunset, clear skies, etc. As I started to go north to go back home there was just a wall of blackness that I drove straight in to. It went from sunny and nice to thunder and downpouring literally all at once.

I was in a car (thank God) cuz the wife decided to carpool yesterday but it still sucked. Visibility was 0 and the streets in H-town were flooded in a lot of spots.

[Chris Schneiter]

Yup! I think that's the one! it was going SW

[mkramer1121]

Oh, and my CB did just fine, but my buddys '96 shadow had headlight problems!

Yeah , I am still surprised that my 30+ year old bike had no water issues what-so-ever on my little ride in the rain...

Gives me the courage to wash the thing finally 

Yeah, I just now remembered that my points cover gasket is barely hanging on/falling apart.  I'm surprised my bike held up.