'Sticky' roads?

[Littleman]

Hi. Just a question as its my first summer of riding.... how should I treat sticky/shinny tar on the roads during the hot days? Is it hazardous? Should I avoid it? Does it provide more traction? or will it depend on the road?

Experienced advice would be appreciated...ie save my ass.

[James Deuce]

Shiny, melted tar is as bad as diesel. Avoid.

[MattRSK]

Shiny, melted tar is as bad as diesel. Avoid.


Good to know. Thankyou.

[Drum]

Can I please say that there is no tar on New Zealand Roads. Yes, I am being pedantic, but we use bitumen not tar.

[MattRSK]

Can I please say that there is no tar on New Zealand Roads. Yes, I am being pedantic, but we use bitumen not tar.

Ok, you can be pedantic.

[Hitcher]

Yes, I am being pedantic

Ooh! My nipples hardened.

[Drum]

Ooh! My nipples hardened.

My greatest contrafibularities to you sir!

[Chisanga]

My greatest contrafibularities to you sir!

Hope he didn't cause you any pericombobulation

[Ixion]

Hi. Just a question as its my first summer of riding.... how should I treat sticky/shinny tar on the roads during the hot days? Is it hazardous? Should I avoid it? Does it provide more traction? or will it depend on the road?

Experienced advice would be appreciated...ie save my ass.

Bad. Very bad. About as bad as can be. Not the tar (bite me) , but the oil which distills out of it and sits in a shiney layer on top. Most deadly of all is a hot day followed by a cool night. The next morning dew will settle on that oil: instant off.

Avoid it at all costs.

[SimJen]

Melted roads often have the oils coming to the surface leaving them slippy as shit.

Edit: As Ixion said above, we posted within 1 minute of each other....

[Drum]

Technically known as "bleeding" or "flushing".

[Chisanga]

Avoid it at all costs.

Sorry to show my ignorance but what exactly does this look like on the road and
does it happen frequently on our roads?

[gijoe1313]

Derrilydashing-do avoid the onganglia tar-snakes with the apoxiated mentioned shiny surfaces. Need to gasherfullery the lozengelo scabs and much perumfitid-diliation the wounds from gravelmunchsurfing!

Avoid the shiny bits, the hole bits, the roadkill bits, the pebbly bits ... and any other foreign, extraneous matter on the road! Hang back more from the traffic ahead to give you more reaction time... :yes:

[SimJen]

Just looks like a shiny almost wet patch. Happens all the time, most usually on corners and up hills where trucks often have trouble with traction.
Afterwards if it gets wet, it gets really slippy.
I have a stretch of road near me, thats had the same bit of melted tar for years, even now when wet in the mornings it can be lethal.
Just learn to keep an eye out, just like avoiding road markings etc.

[terbang]

Should I avoid it?

Yup like the plague. Often referred to as Tar snakes.
Simple rule, treat anything on the road with a shiny appearance with suspicion and ride with caution near it.
One of the skills that a motorcyclist must develop to a higher degree than a cage driver, along with many others, is to read the road surface.

[Chisanga]

Avoid the shiny bits, the hole bits, the roadkill bits, the pebbly bits ... and any other foreign, extraneous matter on the road!

Um this is New Zealand.... I thought this stuff was the roads.

[James Deuce]

Can I please say that there is no tar on New Zealand Roads. Yes, I am being pedantic, but we use bitumen not tar.

You can use whatever you want. The quality of NZ's road surfaces have diminished at an almost exponential rate over the the last 20 years, irrespective of the road mix components.

Once upon a time the only bleeding bitumen you saw was the over run that spilled over the edge of the concrete gutter.

Now the surface and quality of bitumen and seal can change half a dozen times in 100m, like it does over the Rimutakas.

Once upon a time the Rimutakas were smooth, evenly sealed and never broke up except when there was a really heavy frost or snowfall.

Now every 40km/hr corner or less is rippled on the way in, bumpy through the apex and furrowed on the way out, and usually changes surface on the entry, apex, and exit.

On a hot day the bitumen will move around when the bike hits it to compound the slippery surface issue. I had the unpleasant experience of stopping in a layby on the Napier Taupo highway last Summer and sinking sole deep into the bitumen. Took ages to scrape it off, even using the dangling boots on the road surface while riding at speed method.

[Littleman]

Bad. Very bad. About as bad as can be. Not the tar (bite me) , but the oil which distills out of it and sits in a shiney layer on top. Most deadly of all is a hot day followed by a cool night. The next morning dew will settle on that oil: instant off.

Avoid it at all costs.
Thanks Ixion, Jim2 SimJen et al for the reply.

Just another reason to curse those Fulton Hogan sign waving chaps I guess.

I have winter and rain to look forward to.

[Drum]

I blame price-before-attribute competitive tendering.

[James Deuce]

I agree wholeheartedly Drum.

Dad used to be a ganger for the MoW and the roads they laid were astounding, in retrospect.

Never ever let a Government sell off infrastructure or infrastructure maintenance.

Hang on.

LOOK WHAT YOU LOT DID!

[SixPackBack]

Now every 40km/hr corner or less is rippled on the way in, bumpy through the apex and furrowed on the way out, and usually changes surface on the entry, apex, and exit. .

I blame those evil Gixxers and Pilot Powers.

[Motu]

If you see a road bleeding tar,you are lucky - Chuck Norris passed this way....and you missed him....

[Jimmy B]

When Chuck Norris rides in the rain he doesnt get wet....the rain gets Chuck...

Edit: Sniggering over Motu's post so forgot to mention that more often than not when you can smell the tar on a hot day its time to take care.

[Toaster]

awful stuff to get off ya bike too after it sprays all over the underbelly.

[James Deuce]

Turtle Wax removes tar brilliantly.

[nadroj]

What you are talking about is referred to as flushing (or bleeding tar).
Note the location in detail & ring 0800 444449 - follow the prompts & you'll get to speak to someone at Tranzit. They will contact you back if there is any confusion over the location when they send someone to look at it and will give a timeframe as to when it will be fixed. I have done this several times and have had response within 2 weeks.