'Tar Snakes'

[Bob_Roller]

The streets in my subdivision, were worked on by the city streets department in January of this year .

They blasted the dirt and debris out of the cracks in the asphalt, then filled them in with tar .

Today was the first hot day of the year, air temp 94 F. (34C.), street surface temp 112 F. (44C.) .

I just about dumped the '81 R65 doing not more than 10 mph .

The tar snakes, are about .4 inches (10mm) high, what a rude awakening today !!!!

[Ed Miller]

Even the painted lines on the road can be edge traps, in some places.  I was on an OVM ride a couple of years ago, and went to pass a slower rider, and when I crossed that center line it felt like my back tire was trying to come off!  I rarely ride in that part of Benton county, but most of their roads have very thick paint in the center lines.  Now that I'm used to it I don't worry about it, but that first time terrified me.  I still demonstrated that my Triumph was faster than my friends R75/5, though....

[Semper Gumby]

The best tires I ever used on Tar Snakes was a warmed up pair of Dunlop K70's on the Thunderbolt.  The bike never twitched once.

[Motu]

Yeah,tyres are the key to tar snakes and other road irregularities.I didn't want to jump in with my weird K70's,but since they have been mentioned - I don't notice tar snakes or anything else with them,the bike is on rails...or a slot car track.

[trolle]

In the beginning of my motorcycling career the painted lines was something to avoid; the first time I hit one my adrenalin level rose to a dangerous level. Nowadays I actively seek out ruts, tar snakes, painted lines just to get a better feel of the bike.

On a driving course a couple of years back I experienced that the safety margins are wider than those dictated by my natural fear and that trying out those margins under controlled circumstances makes you a far better rider.

One of the real dangerous things is the combination of cold roads and cold tires. I have seen a rider sideslip leaving a roundabout doing no more than 15 mph. He had to spend four weeks in splinters.

We examined the road thoroughly afterwards and found no trace of oil, gravel or anything that might cause a slip, but the road temperature was below 45F~8C and his tires were still cold as we  had driven no more than  one km~5/8 mile. My hypothesis is that he loosened his throttle in the middle of his right turn and the cold tires lost their grip.

greetings from a clouded (ashclouds?) and cold north

[Barry]

I know what you mean about adrenalin trolle. My bike used to have a real scary reaction to crossing raised white lines at 50 mph or more especially off throttle when slowing down.  

I was disappointed when a new front tire made no difference and very surprised when a new rear tire cured the problem completely. Tire differences are not the easiest thing to comprehend but you sure know when they are working right.

[nhmaf]

They really should outlaw/eliminate those large vinyl appliques that are often being used to mark lanes, stop lines, and turn/direction arrows at many intersections these days - a light coat of rain water or frost and those things a virtually frictionless!  

Not sure if they do it in other parts of the country, but one road in New Hampshire (route 9) saw alot of sleeping driver accidents during morning/evening commutes.  So, the got one of those pavement scarifiers and put rumble strips all along the yellow centerlines in the road - even where it is marked for passing!    Accelerating to pass and driving through those rumble strip divots is very disconcerting, too!

[Bob_Roller]

here in the Phoenix area, there are white reflective lane markers that are 'glued' to the road surface (no snow removal here in this area !!!!) they stick up about an inch or so (25 mm) above the road surface .

When wet conditions exist, those are quite treacherous, as they are closely spaced, and you can't lane change without running over a few of them .

[Patrick_Krivacka]

We had a snow storm in Jan. Feb. here in Durham NC and the grounds people at Duke U (my employer) thought the best course of action was to dump an ungodly amount of sand on the parking lots and roads. It's still quite thick on the roads, but the parking lot of the building I work in is like a beach. It would be funny if it weren't so dangerous for those of us on two wheels.  

[Lucky_Lou]

God knows what planet the people responsible for repairing our roads are on.I came home from a short break to find half my street had the pavement (side walk) ripped up and replaced even though it wasnt that bad, yet the main road at the bottom of the street is like an assault course with potholes from Januaries mini ice age.
The potholes are 2 to 3 inch deep and 2 to 3 foot wide
Lou

[Semper Gumby]

Hey Lou,

That looks like a DUAL SPORT RIDE!!

(woohoo)

[k_enn]

Amen on the sad state of roads and road work.  But tar snakes are not much of a problem around here.  

Around here, when they do road construction and have temporary lanes set up, they paint the temporary lane markings with regular road line paint.  The problem is when they go back to the original lane marking locations and they just scarf down where the marking for the temporary lane had been.  It just leaves a rough irregular surface, which can be any on your intended line of travel.  I will at least say that around here when they are doing re-paving, they do a good job of putting up warning signs for motorcyclists.  

The biggest problem this time of year in New Jersey is the shear number and size of pot holes.  I have hit some in a car that were bad enough to give me a flat tire and bend a rim (sometimes they are so big across the lane that you cannot avoid them).  We get so many of them because of all the road salt they use around here in the winter.  That salt is also causing some big gaps in the expansion joints of some the bridges on Interstate highways around here.  The DOT usually does not get this mess cleared up until late June at the earliest, and sometimes they never get to fixing some of the potholes on the major highways.  

We do have a few local jurisdictions that use sand and gravel for traction instead of salt when the snow falls.  That is alot of fun too, because for the first couple of months of the riding season you have to keep a constant look out for it.  

k_enn

[Barry]

I've got to know where all the pot holes are on my regular ride to work and take the same lines through the bends and on the straights every day to get the smoothest ride.  Easy when you have the road to yourself and can see well ahead and not so easy when following close behind other traffic when by the time you see the the pot hole it's too late to go around it. Best to hang back a bit.

[trolle]

I was disappointed when a new front tire made no difference and very surprised when a new rear tire cured the problem completely. Tire differences are not the easiest thing to comprehend but you sure know when they are working right

Not so mysterious at all: When the rear tire wears the profile changes from a rounded to  a flat profile and as a rounded profile absorbs the little difference in height when you cross the line diagonally better than a flat profile, a new tire will feel far more safe than an old and worn tire.

The best way to avoid  the wrong wear is to corner at the maximum speed every time  [smiley=grin.gif]

greetings from a partly cloudy north (the ash cloud is lifting)

[Barry]

When the rear tire wears the profile changes from a rounded toa flat profile and as a rounded profile absorbs the little difference in height when you cross the line diagonally better than a flat profile

That makes sense.

The rear tire was worn quite flat - not by me though it came with the bike.