Road engineers - Tar snakes?

[Katman]

Because motorcyclists have accidents, and they're punishing us for being evil.

Many a true word is said in jest.

[zeocen]

Yes, they are definitely made with a different substance.

There are pieces of roads in Auckland that look like a patchwork quilt and the bike simply won't grip on them. Before you ask, rear suspension is ohlins, michelin PR2 or strada tyres, etc, the snakes have no grip, ESPECIALLY in the wet.

Nelson Street turning right onto Victoria street has one massive long snake and I've really got to hit it at 10 - 15kph in the wet - even then it still slides a bit on the rear because it's on the corner. Michelin PR2CT on VFR800 here.

And don't EVEN get me started on the sorry excuse for a "road" in the roadwork area of Manukau Southern Motorway.

[sinned]

Has anyone had a bin from a tar snake. I have hit a few (lots on the Paekakariki Hill Rd) and they are disturbing with strong rectal reaction. So far I have survived the dreaded tar snake and would like real evidence of how dangerous they are - so who has binned? The need to change the undies is not a bin.

[Deano]

A while ago the Taupo track was littered with them.

Didn't seem to slow anyone down.

They were slippery as fuck during the VMCC winter round actually. I avoided them like the plague.

[mashman]

from what i've seen while waiting at roadworks. They get a hot flame and melt the tar in the back to a liquid state to fill the gap between the tram lined surfaces. It then cools and sets like glass. If it gets wet, you can be riding in a straight line, hit the stuff and be flying through the air, FACT. It's really dangerous stuff, tram lines are much safer. And that's saying something.

[Ocean1]

They're supposed to chuck sand on the fresh hot bitumen, but I've rarely seen it done on fresh snakes. Doesn't last long anyway, sinks into the bitumen.

They do need to seal the cracks somehow, not realistic to completely re-lay a section of road just 'cause of a few cracks. Just be nice if they refined the SOP to get some grip on the surface...

[mashman]

Has anyone had a bin from a tar snake. I have hit a few (lots on the Paekakariki Hill Rd) and they are disturbing with strong rectal reaction. So far I have survived the dreaded tar snake and would like real evidence of how dangerous they are - so who has binned? The need to change the undies is not a bin.

Scotland, November some years ago... dreak day, a car driver watched me go through a corner in a straight line and upright, before, for no reason whatsoever, being thrown into the air and almost off the bike... speed was not a factor, I was going 50 in a 60, his words, and I was concentrating hard enough, that I didn't even see the guy in my mirror... good on him for stopping to see if I was ok... I came pretty close to shitting myself... amongst other things.

That's as close as anyone needs to get 'orrid ain't they...

[Katman]

Scotland, November some years ago... dreak day, a car driver watched me go through a corner in a straight line and upright, before, for no reason whatsoever, being thrown into the air and almost off the bike... speed was not a factor, I was going 50 in a 60, his words, and I was concentrating hard enough, that I didn't even see the guy in my mirror... good on him for stopping to see if I was ok... I came pretty close to shitting myself... amongst other things.

That's as close as anyone needs to get 'orrid ain't they...

Maybe you should have had your eyes open.

[=cJ=]

Maybe you should have had your eyes open.

That's a bit rough Katman, it's bloody hard to pick tar out on a wet road, one glistening surface looks pretty damn similar to another, even contrasting road markings are hard to see if the surface is wet and the light's wrong...

Anyways.

Re Taupo, as far as I know they got re-treated with epoxy mixed with sand to get the grip levels back up.

Prior to that, I think the repairs were epoxy rather than tar if I remember an old magazine article correctly, but were still supposed to be as slippery as buggery.

[cold comfort]

the best solution is not to ride those horrid, dangerous things and buy a nice safe SUV. If you insist on owning a bike, buy some quirky old thing and keep it in the shed where it's nice and safe.

Great idea- preferable something old and British that leaks oil, with riding intervals a mere percentage of maintenance time These bikers are SUCH a liability-if you can't tax them off the road just kill them!

[Supertwin Don]

As Mom said, these are to fill up SMALL cracks in the road surface - the main problem is not that per se, but the "applicators" don't use the correct method. These things should be NOT MORE than 40 - 50mm wide, and should be applied with a "shoe" to control the width - but it's much quicker to pour the bitumen out of a flattened watering can spout !

[Big Dave]

As Mom said, these are to fill up SMALL cracks in the road surface - the main problem is not that per se, but the "applicators" don't use the correct method. These things should be NOT MORE than 40 - 50mm wide, and should be applied with a "shoe" to control the width - but it's much quicker to pour the bitumen out of a flattened watering can spout !

i'm going with approximately the same width as road lines and slightly more slippery - 6 weeks after installation.

[mashman]

i'm going with approximately the same width as road lines and slightly more slippery - 6 weeks after installation.

and horizontally across the road too

the raise on the edge on the "vertical" snakes too. hit it anything other than perfect in the wet and yer fucked

[swbarnett]

Look, as long as noobs keep falling off bikes we have no right to complain about tar snakes. The best solution is not to ride.

When motorcyclists stop having at-fault crashes we will have the right to complain, until then assume the position please, and don't expect a reach around.

So you're saying that they'd be justified if installed permenant black ice over the whole road simply because we make mistakes now and then?

It is not unreasonable to ask that the road surface at least be one that is suitable for every legal mode of transport.

[swbarnett]

er, er, er yes... everytime they dig something up, it's tar snakes or tram lines that are left...

With proper planning and execution this is totally unnecessary. There is not one tar snake in Switzerland (that I saw in the two years that I lived there). I did, however, see road works. The philosophy is that if the road is dug up they do every bit of maintenance they can think of while it's up and resurface the whole width of the road afterwards.