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Old July 2nd, 2016, 12:20 PM   #1
momoru
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Beware of Tar Snakes

Went for a ride today on a twisty road I've ridden many times, and I kept feeling my tires slip in corners. I had just checked the tire pressure so I was sure it wasn't wrong pressure, but at first I thought maybe I had oil on my tires or maybe had a lapse where I wasn't giving enough throttle into the turn, yet some turns I had tons of grip and no problem. Eventually I realized the difference... tar snakes everywhere!

http://www.motorcycletraining.com/te...of-tar-snakes/

Didn't realize these little buggers would cause so much slippage on a dry, relatively cool day (70 degrees).
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Old July 2nd, 2016, 12:30 PM   #2
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Hate those things!
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Old July 2nd, 2016, 01:34 PM   #3
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Few weekends ago was up on Monitor Pas and watched as a bunch of new tar snakes were hatched by a CalTrans crew filling in the cracks.

Tis tar snake season and it only gets worse. Bleh
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Old July 2nd, 2016, 05:18 PM   #4
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I used to think that since it was a rubbery surface that it would have more grip. I hadn't considered that the wheels bite into the asphalt and just sorta press against the tar. That said, a sudden change in grip, positive or negative, is never good, but I learned better... The scary way. Didn't crash, but I did slide a little, enough to make me gasp. Got home and read up on them a little bit
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Old July 2nd, 2016, 09:11 PM   #5
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Ugh. Yeah, I tend to try and avoid these. Haven't slipped yet, but I'm always ready for it.
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Old July 2nd, 2016, 09:48 PM   #6
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when they are new they are slick in all condition. after a few rains the oils will raise out and wash away giving them a bit more traction in the dry but they are always to be respected in the wet.
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Old July 2nd, 2016, 11:26 PM   #7
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I haven't had any terrible experiences with these things yet, but I'm always on the lookout.
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Old July 2nd, 2016, 11:46 PM   #8
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I drove through some fresh ones on my way to work the other day. I was riding along at a constant 50ish MPH on a straight road. Instantly started to spin up the rear triggering the TCS on my FJ. Still got all sorts of out of shape. I have started taking another route until the oil gets washed off.
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Old July 3rd, 2016, 05:36 AM   #9
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The oil does not get washed out for the ones near my house for some reason. They filled some cracks in the residential neighborhood (25mph limit) with these tar snakes in March (3 months ago). The bad thing is that it's a pretty winding road and these snakes are parallel to the road. On days where it's below 70 degrees, it's just a tiny bump. But once the temps hit 80+, you really feel the bike sliding around.

I purposely hit them at a higher lean angle than necessary to get used to the feel. The secret (and I feel this applies to almost all things) is to be very loose on the handlebars.

Because traffic is very light in this residential neighborhood (no thru traffic), it's taking a long time for the tar snakes to be pressed in and be flat with the asphalt.
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Old September 13th, 2016, 09:08 PM   #10
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I've had some close calls, now I pay more attention when riding
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Old September 13th, 2016, 09:44 PM   #11
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ahhh.. so that is what you call it.

Had a few close calls too with that bugger. I personally call it "holy sh*t".
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Old September 14th, 2016, 09:45 AM   #12
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This intersection has so many tar snakes you can see it from space! I often get on the main road from the snake covered ramp on top of the image, that is also an off camber and incline, with a yield sign. Great combo!
Screen Shot 2016-09-14 at 12.41.13 PM.png
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Old September 14th, 2016, 08:06 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jBazz View Post
This intersection has so many tar snakes you can see it from space! I often get on the main road from the snake covered ramp on top of the image, that is also an off camber and incline, with a yield sign. Great combo!
Attachment 41553
This is no small snake. This is an Anaconda.
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Old September 14th, 2016, 08:07 PM   #14
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Imma take a few pics of my road. It's like a road map of LA... soooooo many tar snakes
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Old September 21st, 2016, 08:40 AM   #15
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I don't think I've ever heard of them causing a crash, but the tar strips that go in the direction of travel definitely cause slippage. I've played with it on the ride home and experimented. The rear slips right across them. If one were leaned at max, hypothetically, and hit a wide tar strip, it seems it could eat up that last percentage of traction. Stay loose, y'all, and let the bike do its thing.
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Old September 21st, 2016, 05:57 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by csmith12 View Post
Imma take a few pics of my road. It's like a road map of LA... soooooo many tar snakes
Have you taken the pics Chris?
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Old September 23rd, 2016, 10:55 AM   #17
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Sorry, here is what they did to me.




Litterally, they tared and chipped my side road to my house and then when I get to what WAS decent pavement, they come along and do this crap.

I am pretty frustrated with the county road department.
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Old September 23rd, 2016, 10:56 AM   #18
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I literally have have 4 miles of this crap on top of the 1 mile of gravel.
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Old September 23rd, 2016, 10:57 AM   #19
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On the positive side, I have been looking for words written in the tar snakes. I figger it would be funny if the road crew put hidden messages in there somewhere. hahahhahahaha
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Old September 23rd, 2016, 11:26 AM   #20
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Maybe you should add a few hidden words! Black spray paint? Is it illegal to spray black paint onto a black surface?
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Old September 23rd, 2016, 11:31 AM   #21
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From my track riding at Nelson Ledges (worlds only paved mx course lol), I am ok with the bike moving around under me. Cold, hot, wet or dry you can feel these under the tires (even in the car/truck). It mostly sucks... the bike is talking to you all the time and you have to figger out what is traction vs noise.
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Old September 23rd, 2016, 02:08 PM   #22
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My work parking lot has a windy entrance way. Was fun. Now it's tar snake city. Hope they get better soon.
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Old September 23rd, 2016, 05:17 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by csmith12 View Post
Sorry, here is what they did to me.




Litterally, they tared and chipped my side road to my house and then when I get to what WAS decent pavement, they come along and do this crap.

I am pretty frustrated with the county road department.
Wow, where do you live, it looks amazing there. I am like 3 min from Disneyland crazy all year round, I would love a view like this.
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Old September 23rd, 2016, 06:28 PM   #24
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I live in northern KY, some of the roads here rival the dragon in TN except much, much, much longer. For example; this is the road I take to go virtually anywhere.

http://www.motorcycleroads.us/roads/ky22.html 107 miles, about 1000 curves of various types but about 3k steering inputs.
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Old September 26th, 2016, 12:44 PM   #25
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They are usually no great problem, but I very nearly came undone in Summer on some fresh ones that had been laid right at the turning point of an intersection, in a transverse pattern.

I knew they were there, but what surprised me was how slick they were. I actually dropped the bike by kicking out my leg and caught it as the front wheel completely stepped out when I passed over them.
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Old September 26th, 2016, 05:53 PM   #26
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well, at least the good side of this is that your road is even. In Malaysia, they do this tar snakes on uneven roads and on roads which are slippery (due to oil spill).

Idiots.
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 06:37 AM   #27
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Noobs!

Quote:
Originally Posted by InvisiBill View Post
In related news... #PureMichigan

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PIC OF THE DAY: This photo of a road that has been sealed - a lot, has been trending on social media with the caption "Pure Michigan road fix." Nick Bouma tells us he took the photo in Hudsonville, MI outside of Grand Rapids.
Where I personally ride, I've never seen it that bad. They just seem to be in the worst places, like on a blind uphill curve near an intersection.

Chipseal (which is what that thread was about) is becoming the bigger problem around here. With the Volt, I've discovered just how much louder it is and how much more fuel it consumes to drive on a rough chipsealed road. I'm sure it does wonders for tire life too. It's not too horrible a surface to ride on once it's done, but on a recent ride I actually ran into the construction crew. I got to ride over wet tar and deal with loose gravel all over too. It used to be a nice out-of-the-way, wooded, curvy road along the river. =(
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 03:09 PM   #28
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Noobs!



Where I personally ride, I've never seen it that bad. They just seem to be in the worst places, like on a blind uphill curve near an intersection.

Chipseal (which is what that thread was about) is becoming the bigger problem around here. With the Volt, I've discovered just how much louder it is and how much more fuel it consumes to drive on a rough chipsealed road. I'm sure it does wonders for tire life too. It's not too horrible a surface to ride on once it's done, but on a recent ride I actually ran into the construction crew. I got to ride over wet tar and deal with loose gravel all over too. It used to be a nice out-of-the-way, wooded, curvy road along the river. =(
holy poop on a stick mr hat!!!! I thought the roads in Akron, Oh were bad.....
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 04:34 PM   #29
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Strangely, sort of reminds me of this:

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