How to drive at night and in the rain
Content
Can you tap on the brakes while applying the emergency brake, take a corner?
Reviews of the BMW Driving Safety Course "Rain and Night" in Trappes (78)
How many of you like to ride at night? Who likes to ride in the rain? And who pumps the night taxis in the rain? Tok, knock, are you sleeping right now or what? I don't see too many hands up, deep in the classroom. The reason is simple: rain at night for many of us is quite far from the definition of a rider's happiness. Slippery road, reduced visibility of obstacles and rocks on the road, much narrower fields of view: everything is there to strain you on the steering wheel, not to mention the small trickle of water that flows along your back and moisturizes your nougats.
The goal of the Rain and Night course is to relax: in less than three hours you will find yourself crushing the brakes like a sick person, slaloming with your knees on the saddle, or cornering with a blind turn. In other words, drive your motorcycle, forgetting that you are riding on wet asphalt. Amazing, isn't it?
The Rain and Night course is part of training courses organized by Team Formation, which offers driving courses in partnership with BMW. Various formulas are available during the day (den followed in 2004 with the R 850 R) as well as at night, on the track and plateau, and on the road. For 22 years, this team has hosted over 9000 motorcycle trainees in training courses for individuals and groups (motorcycle club, companies and municipal police). The Rain and Night course costs 340 euros.
Rain, at night, uh-huh ...
If you don't like to ride at night and like to ride even less in the rain, this course is for you. Because the profile of the participants is diverse: 35-year-old Ludovich, a motorcycle license since 2010, was offered as a birthday present at his request, after completing training on the first day. Philip, 56, is a biker since 1987, whose motorcycle is the only vehicle and has already had two accidents of his own. Or Bruno, 45 years old, allowed since 1992, who is there to better understand wet asphalt and roundabouts. There is also Thomas, a motorcycle license from 2012, who travels 30 km / year in his BMW R 000 GS. Or Joelle and Philippe, who are there to get back to basics and hope not to fall off during their internship. They all have one thing in common: no one says they like to ride in the rain at night, and everyone says they are a little tense under these conditions.
Describe them: this will be the mission of Laurent, today's trainer. Like most team building instructors, Laurent is actually a motorcyclist in the police force. But tonight he came without a uniform and especially without a notebook with a stump, which already makes him nicer. And as a true professional in the field of road safety, Laurent starts the dialogue in a simple and direct way and begins to list the key points for driving in these conditions.
Basic Tips
«Rolling at night in the rain, ”explains Laurent, first of all a matter of common sense... The main thing is to relax. " And starting with common sense means having the car and driver in good condition to deal with the event.
- Check the condition of his car before leaving
- Check the condition of the light and the cleanliness of the optics
- Make sure the chain is lubricated
- Check the condition of the tires
- Check tire inflation: feel free to over inflate by 200 or 300 gramsbecause it will "open up" the "sculptures" of the tires, which will allow better evacuation of water
- Don't forget to heat your tires
- If you often ride in these conditions, choose special tires
- Check his equipment, which should be warm and waterproof, while leaving some latitude on the handlebars.
- Absolutely forbid smoked visors
- Wearing a sun lounger or fluorescent yellow vest will help you see other users better
Rules of Conduct
The same logic of common sense applies to rules of conduct. Laurent explains that motorcycles at night, in the rain,
- Still a little special, like the universe!
- That we take less speed and less angle
- White streaks like the plague should be avoided
- That all obstacles should be avoided, such as a sewer stove
- In case they cannot be avoided: lay the bike horizontally on it and then drop it at an angle after
- That when the rain starts to fall, you will have to wait for a good hour of good heavy rain to evacuate any oils, dust, and gum debris that is rising to the surface
- The fact that the "wooden" lanes that swarm on the roadway and especially on the highways will make you slide a little, very covertly, but that, letting go of it and looking far away, it passes. It's also the key to driving in these conditions: stay flexible, not tense.
- That the appearance is 90% of driving
- Which is better to wind at low rpms to avoid jolts
- That at roundabouts it is better to place yourself indoors, the natural gradient brings impurities out
- On the lanes, avoid the center, curved section, but follow in the footsteps of the tires of cars that have evacuated some of the water and debris
- Usually, with tires in good condition, there is practically no risk of hydroplaning below 100 km / h
- What you should learn to "read the road": using, for example, reflective blemishes messages that signal outside the turn
- That in the corner you must position yourself to look from the widest angle of view out of the corner
No hands!
After the theoretical course comes the long-awaited moment of practical work. Team Formation has around fifteen motorcycles (the BMW F 800 R is updated every year) and a wide range of modular equipment and helmets of all sizes. This is important because then we will be practicing from 20:00 to midnight.
The Jean-Pierre Beltois Driving School in Trapps (78) has several tracks, and the evening training will take place on a small track (which takes place, at best, in third grade) and on a plateau, with constant alternation between circles and exercises on the set.
And it starts strong: we alternate exercises around the cones: both hands on the handlebars, but with feet on the passenger's footrests, standing but with the left hand raised, with both knees on the saddle or in the Amazon on one side, then on the other: each once the logic is the same. Improve vehicle handling and focus on balance rather than road conditions. And it works because you know that simply pressing the footrest, handlebar or tank is enough to start the car without tightening. And it is also impossible to strain, since your four limbs never fully contact the bike. We also understand the need for steering below 40 km / h and oncoming steering above.
Then it continues to be the same strong: Laurent turns us between 4 cones, which corresponds to a slightly larger turning radius of the F 800R. There we directly understand that it is the appearance that does everything, and if we are not constantly looking for the next cone, you will lose balance with the steering bike; the penalty is immediate.
Fred, you filthy pervert!
We know that in the rain bitumologists agree that adhesion coefficient globally halved... As if that weren't enough, the training team uses a filthy pervert. His name is Fred and he comes with his best friend: a tank truck filled with water, and as soon as you pass nearby, he activates his big spear and you will find yourself in a real flood. And, for example, it is at this exact moment that Laurent asks you to activate emergency braking.
So let's sum it up: it's dark. Bitumen is impregnated on the ground. It shines, it shines. You will have to go to 50, then 70 km / h, test the emergency brake first only the rear brake, then the front brake, and then both.
Shortly before that, Fred throws liters of water at you, which resonates on your helmet, like when you pass under a waterfall of hydrospeed speed. In addition to the surprise effect, we don't see anything else. And yet you have to act as if a whole class of grandchildren without yellow vests began to intersect in front of you, in the dark (hello schoolteacher!). In short, now is not the time for existential questions. The brakes must be crushed.
Key: stretch out your arms; look far ahead; let ABS do it; remember that below 6 or 7 km / h the ABS no longer works and expects very little slip at all at the end of braking. Repeating the exercise, then integrating the reaction time with the accidental firing of a light from one of the monitors makes it all automated. “Is it wet on the ground?” Is the question we no longer ask ourselves.
Then we get hot on the latest developments: corner avoidance followed by accidental avoidance in a straight line. Then we change the path of a courageous counterrune, a maneuver that ends this pedagogical evening with an apotheosis.
For the power of this formation lies in making you, in accordance with the bet made by the coaches, forget that you are driving on damp ground. They make you comfortable enough, make you feel the whole functioning of the machine during workshops that follow each other without downtime and without heaviness, to the point where we focus on the main thing: the mastery of the bike, the end point.
