Grooved Pavement

[markboy]

I had my first experience on grooved pavement yesterday. No problems or spills just curious about a couple of things. First off, I'm referring to pavement in construction zones where they have ground off the top 2 to 3 inches of blacktop. I noticed two different things:

First: There seemed to be large trough along the center of the lane. I couldn't tell if this was due to the particular grinder that did this job or if it was intentional. Is this normal? The trough was only about a half inch deeper than the rest of the pavement but was about the width of the tires so I made sure to avoid it like the plague.

Second: The grooves created a slight 'weave' feeling which is what I expected. However, I noticed that at about 35 mph the weave sensation went away. I couldn't tell if this was due to 'planing' across the grooves or if the section I was on when I hit this speed was just smoother. Has anybody noticed any difference in their experience based on their speed?

It was a great ride by the way. It was my longest journey yet out to Snoqualmie Falls in Washington which is only about 25 miles from my house but has some great backroads to get there (and extends the ride). I decided to jump on the two lane highway coming back to see how the GZ felt when speeds were sustained at 55 to 60. Not too bad but I could sure tell how light the bike is when the winds kicked up.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by markboy

I noticed that at about 35 mph the weave sensation went away. I couldn't tell if this was due to 'planing' across the grooves or if the section I was on when I hit this speed was just smoother. Has anybody noticed any difference in their experience based on their speed?

I decided to jump on the two lane highway coming back to see how the GZ felt when speeds were sustained at 55 to 60. Not too bad but I could sure tell how light the bike is when the winds kicked up.

The "riding on grooves" experience varies depending your bike type and the tires you have. Once you get a feel for it, it shouldn't change much......unless you change tires and then you might need to learn the "feel" all over again. It has to do with how the grooves in the tread matches up (or doesn't match up) with the grooves in the road.

As for riding on the highway, have you put a 16T front sprocket on yet? It makes for a much more pleasant ride at highway speeds........and at other speeds too.