This thread is very interesting to me.

I went down hard on my 2010 Road King recently, you can read about it here:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/gener...went-down.html

I was going through a low water crossing and my back end slipped out from under me like I was riding on an ice rink. The rear tire was new with at least 350 miles on it, so I know the factory release agent had been worn off long ago.

I'd like to see who else is experiencing rear-end slippage on wet surfaces.

-Alex

 

Not an expert here, but I went from a Fat Boy to a Street Glide in 09. Don't ride in the rain much, but have not noticed what you are seeing. I am still getting use to the Street Glide because it is a much bigger and heavier bike that what I was use to, and what you are use to. Take is easy for a while.

 

How much do you weigh?

 

just need to scrub it off a lil'

 

Well I have about 3,000 miles on my stock tires. Maybe 140 of those in the rain. Other than turning a corner at an INTERSECTION. I experienced a very slight slip with my wife on it,,(She about sqeezed me in half, didn't say a word) but it didn't do much other than maybe scoot out a couple inches on me. I rolled off the throttle and it bit again. She asked me about 5 miles later,, did you loose traction back there? I said, uh,, yea, a little.... she just hugged me a little and said,, "good save"! Man I have a great wife! I assume that in the middle of an intersection, FRESH rain, I had hit oil in the center,, still sure that's what it was. These tires MAY not be the best out there, I won't likely go back with them, (I also like Metzlers) But they are certainly fine,,, at least when new!
Braking in the rain, especially without the Abs,, (I love it!) you really have to be careful to balance. If you put too much on the front, the weight transfers forward, and the back will get light,, personally I use a little more rear in the rain than I would on dry pavement, you can control how much you give it easier.
I don't think it's the "lack of weight" over the tire.. really I think you just messed up. NO OFFENSE meant at all, but I have a few more miles than 20,000 total experience,LOL,, about 15 times that, and have only taken the Basic MSF course way back in 93 so I could ride onto the base I worked at. (Not the experienced one, I would LOVE to take that, and may this summer)
Not KNOCKING your experience ok? PLEASE don't take offense. But there is nothing inherently wrong with these bikes and the stock tires IMHO.....

 

Rode my new SG home in the rain, had the same issues. The ABS popped on and saved my *** at the first stoplite. The next time I was out in the rain it was 1000+ miles later (about 2 wks) and it wasn't as bad. Was out yesterday in a torrential rain coming home from work (8000 miles now) and they were even better. Give em some time and hit some twisty roads to scuff em up a bit. My new problem is the tar snakes, it's been hot here lately and the road crews have been out in force filling the cracks. Those things will bite ya in the *** right now, seen a sportbike guy lay one down the other day because of them. Be careful out there.

 

Yep,,, I agree on that one!

 

JUST MY OPINION. You need to slow down. If it’s wet or even at dust when sun goes down in the cooler months you need to slow down even more. Nothing magic about it. The tires could be soft as pencil erasers and you can be perfect with application of front and rear braking and a bike will not come close to the stopping distance that you are use to in a car with 4 wide pieces of rubber on the road. A bike only has two narrow strips. Hope you wake up and quit blaming your equipment before you kill yourself
JUST MY OPINION.

 

The 09 up touring bikes have that big wide tire on the back, to me i would think they would be horrible in the rain compared to the older skinnier tires. Anybody noticed a difference going from a 08 and older to the 09 and up in the rain?

 

On my 09 RK I get that slip every once in awhile...I think its the road and wider tire...my bike has 37.7k on her and I have a lot of milage under my belt. I did change the shocks and watch the psi's. The shocks have helped but even the wife feels its once in awhile. She said its like getting a flat feeling.