Tar melt warning

**tri boy** · 15th January 2008, 19:20

My lines through corners on these type of conditions totally changes.
I'm solely searching for the more abrasive middle section of the road that the truck tyres barely touch. (more chip on them, so much less bare tar).
If the road is so bad that these areas don't exist, I ride like a wimp, and find a straight hwy.
Definitely not the time for bravado.

with regards to Aussie roads, I spent 7 yrs in the Pilbara,(Nth West WA), high temp, huge trucks fully loaded, and the roads were in excellent nick.

Transit should hang their heads in shame.

**C_A** · 15th January 2008, 19:23

not so much a trucks problem as much as it is volume of traffic and poor road construction I think.

went on highay between natioanl park and wanganui over new years and experienced worst tar melt I've driven on. car understeered heavily on a corner that i was tkaing extreme caution on. so glad I wasn't on my bike that day....

**tri boy** · 15th January 2008, 19:36

Actually the trucks are a major problem. Prior to the temps rising, the sheer weight/side force of the steering tyres literally rip the chip away from the tar, helping to expose it.
the truckies can't help it. they don't use inferior road building techniques/design, neither do they set the front axle weight limits that are out of sync with our goat tracks and tightening radius corners.
Sure, the cars do alot of the wear on the chip, but they certainly don't lift the surfaces into lumpy berms, or force water into the splits anywhere near like a B-train does. Imagine pointing a 3000psi water blaster at a deteriorating road, and thats pretty much what a heavily laden truck tyre on a wet road does.

**yungatart** · 15th January 2008, 19:41

Originally Posted by tri boy

Transit should hang their heads in shame.

Shouldn't they just!!! Bastidges...

**trumpy** · 15th January 2008, 20:08

Worst damage is usually on the uphill side of the road(left hand side going uphill). If there is a passing lane available use that as it is usually more stable than the left lane (less truck use).
Like sAsLEX says, watch out around Taupo the roads were REALLY bad today.

**yungatart** · 15th January 2008, 20:10

Wairoa is really bad too.

**MSTRS:Me** · 15th January 2008, 20:21

Originally Posted by trumpy

Worst damage is usually on the uphill side of the road(left hand side going uphill). ...

Really? I would have said that the worst area would be a corner at the bottom of a dip, or any downhill corner on a road facing N to NW.

**trumpy** · 15th January 2008, 20:33

Originally Posted by MSTRS

Really? I would have said that the worst area would be a corner at the bottom of a dip, or any downhill corner on a road facing N to NW.

My experience on the Napier/Taupo rd in the last two years around this time of the year was that virtually all the the uphill lanes were badly damaged, same applies to uphill sections on Murapara/Awakeri rd (even on quite sheltered sections heading towards the dam...the northern end of Galatea rd can be damn near liquid on uphill left lane). The same applies to the Mangakino/Wharepapa South rd etc, etc.
Vehicles, particularly trucks, apply a lot more pressure to the road surface on the uphill side of the road.
My observations only, may in no way be scientific.

**crynsie** · 15th January 2008, 21:41

Thanks for all of the advice here...

Nice to know I was right in being cautious...

Summer...best riding weather...worst roads.....damnit!!!!

**Mike748** · 15th January 2008, 22:01

Originally Posted by crynsie

Thanks for all of the advice here...

Nice to know I was right in being cautious...

Summer...best riding weather...worst roads.....damnit!!!!

Leave earlier, worst time is from say 11am till as late as 4pm depending on the weather, north facing and number of overlays on the road.

**SVboy** · 15th January 2008, 22:09

Mr Sensible, Ghost Bullet and I rode down Porters Pass a few weeks ago and it was a black river of tar-stress levels were high. The Akaroa GP oops I mean highway is deteriorating too, with high traffic and temps.

**janno** · 15th January 2008, 22:12

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4357437a11.html

This is scary stuff.

I got my licence in Aus so have only ridden on hotmix in high summer temps. Surely it must cost Transit a fortune to be constantly repairing cruddy tar, rather than the initial higher outlay for hotmix?

**Toaster** · 15th January 2008, 22:16

Originally Posted by MSTRS

If riding in or out of the Hawkes Bay, please take special care. There is tarmelt everywhere and it's not pleasant.
Just heard a truck is stuck on SH5 due to no traction. Imagine the mess that's gonna leave!!!

Thanks for the reminder mate... yeah this time of year means a heck of a lot more cleaning of the chrome!

I've also noticed some road subsidence and the tar coming up forming hard ridges either side of past truck tracks where the road foundations were poor.... they cool and solidify and turn into one heck of a nasty bump in the road.

**sAsLEX** · 15th January 2008, 22:18

Originally Posted by tri boy

Transit should hang their heads in shame.

I fuckin near bent the cage wheel on a manhole cover tonight, had to cart some stuff around, which was sitting around two inches below the steel ring it sits in.

Who is negligent in this case? As if I hit that on a bike it could flick me, and in the least damage the wheel, who do I send the bill to!>?