Rain tyres for motorcyles

Question

I have recently started driving a motorcycle to work (60 km/day). I have a Honda XR125L. Today I had an accident. I was driving at 10-20 mph and wanted to break for cars that were standing still. I had about 15 meters to break so it was not an emergency maneuver. As soon as I used the front break my front wheel slipped out and I hit a parked car head first. I am perfectly fine given the low speed but I am a bit shaken up. However, I want to equip my bike as good as I can to prevent this from happening again.

I have been told that my tyres are not decent for daily driving, let alone wet conditions.

The tyres on the bike at this moment are Pirelli MT60 with a bit of wear though since this bike is a second hand one. Since I am not going to drive off-road any time soon I was thinking about buying tyres that are suited for road use and have better performance in wet conditions. However, I am finding it hard to find good tyres that are suited for wet conditions. So my question is, is there such a thing as rain tyres for motorcycles? I have tyres for my car that are built for rain (Uniroyal RainExpert) specifically. I was hoping to find something similar for a motorcycle.

Answer 1

The answer is "sort of". Yes you can get dedicated "wets" which are race tyres for wet tracks. They are soft and heavily grooved but are not a practical solution for daily use.

To be honest I think this is really a matter of learning the limitations of your tyres in different conditions and riding to the conditions. There isn't a magic tyre that will make you safe.

The tyres you have should be fine. In fact i would say that you will have a hard time finding a better tyre for your bike. Maybe an MT90. You might get a 5% improvement, but not a 50% improvement.

However even the best tyres will struggle if there is oil, diesel or road film on the surface. If it hasn't rained for a long time, roads can be very slippery when it has just rained a little.

It is possible with a bit of practice and /or training to brake safely/heavily in the wet.

The first thing to think about is your position on the road. Avoid the center line where oil drops from cars. Especially near intersections. Watch out for shiny bits and worn asphalt.

Start braking early. Use both brakes together. As you begin, apply the brakes gently, and allow the bikes weight to transfer to the front wheel. Once you have more weight on the front wheel you can start to apply more front brake by gently increasing the pressure on the brake lever.

On a flat and reasonable surface you should be able to stop in a similar distance as you would just riding normally.

The most common mistake I've seen is riders grabbing the front brake quickly. The sudden braking is just strong enough to break traction and lock the front wheel. Then they lose the front. I've even seen one person lock the front while still holding the throttle open (it didn't end well).

Answer 2

Adding to Peter's answer: hold the handlebars straight aligned. Especially on slippery surfaces, breaking while in the middle of a turn is not recommended. I have the same tyres on Yamaha XTZ250, and once went down at very low speed because of this mistake.