R1200R in heavy rain or standing water

[redwing]

Need advice about riding in heavy rain where standing water is on the road.
My PR3s worked great. I left the house not expecting a hard rain but found myself in a gully washer. It rained so hard water pooled inside my jeans. The water sloshing around my lap was distracting.
I found myself in water across the road several inches deep. The splash from my front tire was washing onto my boots...bout ankle high and at about maybe 15 or 20 mph.
Should counter steering be used? What happens if I change lanes with my front tire in maybe 4 inches of water? What affect does standing water have on the dynamics of a motorcycle? I think the standing water covered bout 50 feet of road but curved over the 50 feet. Everything felt solid but I didn't know where my limits were at...
The neighborhood has a bad reputation or I might have pulled over.... when I finally found shelter I waited 45 minutes for the rain to let up.

Robert

[deilenberger]

Staying SMOOTH is the most important thing. Tires have amazing grip now, even in water, even in standing water. You don't want to go so fast that the tire can hydroplane, and you need to be cautious, since all water looks the same depth from the top, but a huge pothole, sinkhole, gully, crater, Grand Canyon could be lurking under the water.

Staying smooth (braking, accelerating, turning) keeps your traction to a maximum. Being non-smooth means you're going to risk losing traction with the resulting fall-down. Counter steering? Above walking speeds there is no other way to turn a motorcycle.. the physics don't change due to wetness. If you mean actively and consciously pushing down on the bar side you want to turn toward - that negates "smooth" - so it might best be avoided.

[xprof]

+1 on remembering that a pothole can be hidden beneath a pool of water. On a previous bike (a Suzuki) I cruised at about 40mph through a pool on my usual commute and hit a hidden pothole that wasn't there before, hard enough to bend both rims beyond repair and snap off one foot peg. Proceed through deep water with caution; you can't see what is under it!

[Caol]

Had the misfortune of riding through a deluge in northern New Brunswick last month. Streamlets running in the main traffic ruts, the whole bit. I have Michelin PR3's on, with the front at the "replace me" point, but still with usable tread. (Replaced the next day actually)

The biggest single thing I noticed, was the drag on the machine when traversing the stream of water running in the wheel ruts. Generally, by keeping out of the streams, the probability of hydroplaning was greatly reduced. But, the bike felt solid all the way. As Don said, "Smooth", smooth is very important. Basically you're engaging in "inertia management", so you knock off some speed and keep things as smooth as possible and things are less likely to go haywire.

I was lucky, even though I was on a road I didn't know, there were no big pools of standing water where a pot hole might be lurking, so evasive maneuvers weren't required and I never had to grab the brakes suddenly so the ABS was never tasked.

Generally I treat water like every other "undesirable" road surface - gravel, milled surfaces, metal mesh bridge decks etc. Slow down, take it easy and no sudden moves.

Kyle

[tinytrains]

Should counter steering be used?
Robert

There are two kinds of riders; those that counter steer and know it, and those who counter steer and don't know it. Truly understanding the principles of turning puts you in much more control of the motorcycle. Keith Code has a great video on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWH_QiXw5n4) where he shows it is impossible to turn a bike without using counter steering. It is well worth watching for any rider of any experience.

I think your question really, how hard should one counter steer? To that I would say gently as with all actions in the rain.

[NakedRider]

Staying smooth (braking, accelerating, turning) keeps your traction to a maximum.

Bingo. Smooth has it all the way.