FYI - Watch out for that damn tar seal

[PVD_FZ6R]

Just a word of caution to be EXTREMELY careful when cornering on a hot day and try to avoid that tar sealant they put down. I nearly lost it (pucker moment) at lunch today exiting a highway ramp. The DPW crews just slathered that sh!t on (looked very fresh) and it was all over the exit. My bike felt like I was riding over a tub of squids (or something jellylike). Ended up doing <20mph for the rest of the exit just to play it safe.

Hopefully now that the weather is calming down in temps - it won't be as much of a problem. Anyway, just wanted to vent a little.

 

[JSP]

We call those little buggers "tar snakes". Not fun at all as you have found out. Be careful indeed.

 

[cbzdel]

I dunno whats worse a wet tar snake or a hot/melted tar snake...

 

[Reddog]

Funny you should mention this - I had two close calls in the last week on tar snakes. One was on a 60 mph curve on my 835lb. cruiser, the other was a simple left turn on the FZ6R. In both cases the front wheel slid sideways about two inches. I can relate to the pucker power statement. All turned out well though !!!

 

[dart1963]

glad you survived, my department of transportation thinks it's cool to put gravel on the "secondary" roads.
Well, the theory is that it presses into the blacktop, and prevents cracks, bad thing is it creates lines in the road (the whole pucker feeling tonight...) that when your tires hit it, it grabs your bike and "holds the line", no matter what you're doing (push and lean left go left.... not happening, lean left into this crap and your still going straight with the line) I felt my bike "jump" 3 inches, well, I was expecting a gentle left and it didn't go left went straight for a while, so it felt like a jump...

Been looking at some of these advanced riding courses, seems they tell you how to push your bike to it's limits instead of what you think you can do, which is nice, but...
Anyone know of a course that teaches how to react to these real world road situations? I've been lucky, I live on a road where I have gravel for about 300ft, I've learned how to handle the occasional shifts in the bike, but it still throws me a bit, tonight was weird as I was trying to go left and hit that line that kept me straight or something.

 

[Fastprof]

Now you know why up here we call them banana strips. Glad you were able to keep the rubber side down.

 

[tractorboy]

I find em slippery whether hot or NOT......Squids legs is a good comparison cuz it gotta say...it just feels WIERD!!

and we are in the "Country" and this is the time of year for the small gravel on the secondaries. did it to our street and has made the corner BAD.

People thought I was crazy when I got so mad cuz there was so much of it that I took my tractor to the corner and backbladed all that loose shit off.....before one of us two wheelers kill ourselves!!

 

[WenMark]

Just a word of caution to be EXTREMELY careful when cornering on a hot day and try to avoid that tar sealant they put down. I nearly lost it (pucker moment) at lunch today exiting a highway ramp. The DPW crews just slathered that sh!t on (looked very fresh) and it was all over the exit. My bike felt like I was riding over a tub of squids (or something jellylike). Ended up doing <20mph for the rest of the exit just to play it safe.

Hopefully now that the weather is calming down in temps - it won't be as much of a problem. Anyway, just wanted to vent a little.

They should be outlawed extremely dangerous. When somebody loses a life I hope not but then maybe they will not put these on roads!

 

[JonKerr]

The other road condition that skeired the crap out of me a week or so ago was when they grind away the edges of the lanes in preparation for re-paving. Sometimes those grooves are a good 2" deep and you can get your tire stuck in them very easily. That was scary.

 

[BluePill]

As much as I don't like tar snakes, at least if there is only one you regain traction after slipping a few inches sideways. The real thing that ought to be outlawed is blowing grass clipings out over a whole lane. That leaves you nowhere to go if it comes up in or just after a curve. They ought to allow open season hunting of those fools.

 

[zig308]

The VA DOT does that all the time here. They'll mow down a median or one of those triangle spots between a turn lane/travel lanes and 3' tall grass will be everywhere.

Some landscapers aren't much better...

 

[cbzdel]

I just hit a frozen patch of dirt this morning, scared the crap out of me!! It was worse than the tar snake!