They have given me several rude awakenings when my front wheel would slid an inch sideways in a curve.
Black Tar Snakes
While on a riding vacation out in southern Utah visiting some of the National Parks we encountered these pesky black tar snakes by the thousands. Never realized how dangerous these pesky things could be until riding over an entire roadway covered in them... The black tar snakes being the squiggle lines in the roads where transportation departments decide to lay down gallons of tar to fill cracks in the roadways. And apparently the gallons of tar used baking in the desert sun can become quite slippery to motorcyclists.
While riding the Streetglide into some curves suddenly the front end felt like I was ice skating and was going down. Decelerated without biting it and was confused as to the cause at first until the next large group of curves with the pesky tar snakes. Then I suddenly realized the culprit.
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While riding the Streetglide into some curves suddenly the front end felt like I was ice skating and was going down. Decelerated without biting it and was confused as to the cause at first until the next large group of curves with the pesky tar snakes. Then I suddenly realized the culprit.
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They did this in my neighborhood recently. The big spots that are roughly the size of a trash can lid will really mess your world up...
Tar Snake is one thing......40 of them in one spot is when you repave the road.......
BUT....THAT would require common sense....which has become extinct in our govt. whether state or Federal....Tar Snake is one thing......40 of them in one spot is when you repave the road.......
Government does not equal common sense anymore. Most officials wouldn't have the common sense to shove their thumb up their ass if their guts were sliding out.....BUT....THAT would require common sense....which has become extinct in our govt. whether state or Federal....
sorry for that - this is how they fix the roads here in utah - they are suposed to just fill the crack but they get lazy and keep the trigger pulled on the gun causes spill over - if the snakes line up in a curve can cause you to go down - it happens once and awhile - we talk about it at pilot meetings - we pass it back on radio - slow down and point - don't hit your brakes ride it out - keep cars off your butt slow down to 20mph - we have lobbied the hwy dept to put some sand in the tar mix - they say will clogg the pump and degrade elasticity neccessary for the gap seal to work properly. after tar and before re pave they put down chip seal is even more dangerous like dumping gravel on pavement takes 3 days to dry out and make a smooth course driving surface sorry for that - hwy dept worries about glass damage so they just do short sections and slow everyone down to 30mph which helps. utah has lots of neat things to see but it gets over 100 in summer and below zero in winter causes roads to crack, buckle and blow apart - our state symbol is the orange road construction barrel - be careful not to hit one - they get blown into roadway by trucks - not a good idea to ride anywhere in utah after dark
They're worse in cold weather , kind of like a frost heave...you guys in the warm states don't have to deal with them...head shakes ( your's AND the bike ) :eek
Same in Georgia
I went for a ride a couple of weeks ago here in Georgia, and found a beautiful smooth road through the mountains (they're really just hills- ha) and one stretch of road had those crazy tar snakes all over - and I had a freak-out when I hit the first bend going 60mph... the bike just did a slip-slip-slip-slip as I went over the tar strips, and I slowed it way down.
Do they actually cause crashes? or is it just unsettling like crossing cracks on the freeway?
I take it real easy on those roads now!
I went for a ride a couple of weeks ago here in Georgia, and found a beautiful smooth road through the mountains (they're really just hills- ha) and one stretch of road had those crazy tar snakes all over - and I had a freak-out when I hit the first bend going 60mph... the bike just did a slip-slip-slip-slip as I went over the tar strips, and I slowed it way down.
Do they actually cause crashes? or is it just unsettling like crossing cracks on the freeway?
I take it real easy on those roads now!
My experience has been one of tracking, not slipping. Let it go and you should be fine.
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my dunlops made road snakes a nightmare - the shinko dont pay much attention
What county in the US has money to repave roads? Mine doesn't......Tar Snake is one thing......40 of them in one spot is when you repave the road.......
Speaking of bad road repair...does any other state perform "Chip Seal"? This is when they spray hot sticky tar on the pavement and then throw a bunch of small size gravel on top of it. This is Indiana's cheap-ass way of fixing their roads. Actually they even do this to roads that are still in pretty good shape. They actually make good roads SUCK. They don't smooth out any bumps first either. The road is like driving on gravel and if it rains within a few days after the chip seal is laid down...WATCHOUT as it is dangerously slick on a bike.
FYI INDOT has done this to both east and west bound lanes of US30 between Wanatah and US35 and they are starting it east of Plymouth.
FYI INDOT has done this to both east and west bound lanes of US30 between Wanatah and US35 and they are starting it east of Plymouth.
Chip and seal is great! After a year! It's there to keep the frost heaves and pot holes from happening. The cracks in the roads let water under the road surface, when the water freezes in the winter it will bust the road up into more pieces and then we get pot holes and ridges. The chip and seal actually gives you better traction after some traffic runs the gravel in and pushes the loose stuff to the side of the road. They did every road in the area 5 years ago and it's been a blessing.Speaking of bad road repair...does any other state perform "Chip Seal"? This is when they spray hot sticky tar on the pavement and then throw a bunch of small size gravel on top of it. This is Indiana's cheap-ass way of fixing their roads. Actually they even do this to roads that are still in pretty good shape. They actually make good roads SUCK. They don't smooth out any bumps first either. The road is like driving on gravel and if it rains within a few days after the chip seal is laid down...WATCHOUT as it is dangerously slick on a bike.
FYI INDOT has done this to both east and west bound lanes of US30 between Wanatah and US35 and they are starting it east of Plymouth.
Yup. Chip Seal is common here in Virginia. I agree, they make a road go from "nice" to "high pucker factor" in mid-curve. Gotta love the stone chips on the paint too!
I did 8 + miles of chip seal last Wednesday and by Monday any loose stone has worked to the edge. Doing a chip seal is like sealing your driveway but you add stone for a couple of reasons. Without stone added you get a hell of an undercoating on a vehicle, trust me, I seen it when a duffus drove around the asphalt truck and had the stuff dripping all over. The other reason is it helps build the road surface up a quarter to a half inch per application. When the old road surface starts showing cracking and the stone looks warn flat then it's time to apply a coating. I rotate the roads treated every three to four years on a cycle. If done right there is very little problems. We apply a rapid set asphalt with a polymer addative and use a power chip spreader to apply a light coat of stone. Right behind that is a rubber tired roller to set the stone firm into the asphalt. Within a 15 minutes of the application the asphalt is set up. We had a hard rain on Thursday evening and there was no sign of bleeding of the roads. On Monday I tried brooming one road because there is a bicycle race across it this Sunday and there was very little excess stone on it. The guy that corridinates the race called me and complimented about the road. I have a small budget to work with and I can pave a half mile of road for $75,000 or chip seal 9 miles of worn out road surface for $100,000 I get a bigger bang for my buck doing the chip seal.
Wrong........Just did a Southern Utah ride and in the cool morning air the "slip strips" as my buddy calls them, are not noticeable, but when HOT they are way worse.They're worse in cold weather , kind of like a frost heave...you guys in the warm states don't have to deal with them...head shakes ( your's AND the bike ) :eek
The state DOT and some other municipalities use the tar snake crack filler. A little is alright but the pictures that have been posted show roads that should have a repave or at least a slurry seal done. A couple of state roads going through my town are sooo bad there are holes between the center lines wider than the gap between the center lines and 6 inches deep. No tar snake will do anything for these holes. I'm thinking they need a rebuild but the state has been talking that tune for the last 5 years or so. I guess we need a few accidents caused by the poor road conditions with a few law suits thrown in before anything changes.
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