Glad you liked them...I have fun riding in the little bit of snow we get each year (no salt on the roads here).

 

Jeez, let's be careful not to go scaring folks away from the trikes unnecessarily. I can see it now, someone reads this thread and starts telling everyone "Stay away from those trikes, they are downright dangerous in the rain." Hydroplaning is a serious issue, but unless you live where there's a monsoon season the issue rarely pops up, and is easy to avoid. Especially if you are riding two-up.

We've been from here on the north coast (Lake Erie) and have been to all three other coasts on ours over several extended trips and have never had an issue with it. We have hit numerous downpours and days of heavy rain along the way; literally thousands of miles in the rain. The last trip at 18 thousand miles on the odometer, still on the original tires, three full days of rain (Irma remnants) without problems (but a new Avon is going up front in the spring.)

The only time this would be an issue is during real gullywashers, and I've always slowed down; it's more a vision issue that limits how fast I feel comfortable going, so that's probably why I've never encountered it. If it's raining hard enough that you can't see well enough to be driving, hydroplaning is only one of your issues. If you can't see the lane marker lines or where the edge of the road is, get off. Far off the road, too, the cagers think they don't need to slow down.

Now all that was two-up and fully loaded, and I'm betting that it does make a big difference, so going solo you should use more caution.

The other thing with hydroplaning; you're either having it or you aren't. Speed is the biggest factor, the others being weight, contact patch/tire width and how well the tires funnel water away, but it's one of those speed squared things, the others are constants, with the water depth being the other biggest variable. At a certain threshold of speed and water depth on the surface, it starts, a few MPH below that and it stops. Just dropping your speed a little bit, below the threshold, like 10mph once you feel it, is an effective way to avoid it.

So the answer is can the trikes hydroplane; the answer is yes, more so riding solo. Is it dangerous; significantly, BUT will you have an issue with it? Well, the conditions don't happen very often, and when they do, either slow down to a reasonable speed if traffic allows, or just get off the road. Look at the forecast and radar each fill-up, and for peace of mind, get some LED tail lights; if you slow down, the bigger danger becomes getting run over.

 

Well said.

 

This ....... Dump the oe tires. Also, don't run the book tire pressure. Run two to three lbs less.

 

Here in eastern Iowa when they think it might snow they spray the roads with salt brine for easier cleaning etc. I wont ride after they have started that mess. I cant even imagine trying to clean a Tri Glide after that.

 

I ran Bridgestone Blizzaks on my Acura MDX for several seasons when living in Portland. They had incredible traction in almost all conditions. Stuck like glue on dry and wet pavement. Excellent in snow...and wer pretty good on ice..including black ice.

 

Agreed +1 fred

 

I've had my 15 TG about 9 months now, a DFT trike before that and I haven't had an issue with hydroplaning. I will ride when ever I can including trips to Florida. I have several escorts in the rain. I haven't had the TG in the snow but I will have to try it to see what she does. Snow can come up quickly in this part of the country and I want to know I can get home. Besides Kevin makes it look fun to play in.

 

Just a two-wheeler guy for now but my cousin has a '15 Tri-Glide and he's told me that he has experienced some hydroplaning in heavy rain when he was riding two-up with his wife. She's packing some extra weight and that could be causing the issue but I agree that different tires might eliminate or at least reduce the handling issue. I've experienced this with Goodyear Eagles on a '81 Camaro and when I replaced them. it handled like a totally different car.

The other solution (and probably the best) would be reducing speed on wet roads.

 

Hydroplaning: After experiencing this on our last trip, and reading the information on this tread I did some research, The issue is the recommended tire pressure from HD, followed up by others saying reduce the air pressure more. The tires on the trike are car tires, I have Goodyear Eagle AS tires but I am changing to Michelin Pilot, it is a far superior tire wet and dry. But incorrect tire inflation is the issue more than the tire manufacture. Tire Rack has an outstanding article Air Pressure vs. Wet Performance | Tire Rack they show tire patch in wet standing, and at 60mph. At speed they look at 36 psi, 30 psi and 25 psi all in the same wet conditions and it's an eye opener. HD recommends 22 - 25 psi they use this to soften the ride, using tire pressure to absorb the bumps, what happens however is we wind up using only the outside edges of the tire not the middle and as such when in rain don't have a full contact patch. The water pushes up against the tire, the soft center (25 psi) doesn't provide the resistance a fully inflated tire (36 psi) would and as such it MORE likely to hydroplane. Now to be clear, slowing down in wet is great advice, but even at 35mph in very wet roads with the Goodyear Eagle AS tire (first season / new) at the recommended 25 psi the tires just wouldn't hook on the wet roads. After reading the article it's 36 psi for me. I deal with the suspension with Legend Air, Air Shocks.