Can't stand these things. Always feel them. Would be great if they were outlawed! Not sure which is worse though... for some reason MnDOT around here outright ignores maintenance on some stretches of asphalt 4-lane, and over a few years the pavement joints rot out to the point of leaving a gap 3-4+ inches wide. That's the other extreme.
In NH, they are on virtually every road to some degree. We have harsh winters and the freeze/thaw, combined with ample road salt and the mechanical friction of snowplows, causes cracks on even the newest asphalt. I’ve been riding the same roads for almost 40 years and the darn things still manage to provide that “Oh, s**t” rush at least a few times each season.
Had a rider get one stuck to her tire last week. We were at a stop light and she was honking and pointing at her front tire to get my attention. I look in my mirror and it looked like her front tire was ripped open. We pull off and here it's the road snake stuck to her tire. We just pulled it off and were good. Never had that happen before.
Here's the cure - make roads completely out of tar snakes, so we're always sliding a bit, a little flat-tracking - but because we're used to it, it's not a problem.
Unless they decide to fill any holes in the tar snakes with asphalt. Then we'll all get stood up and then we'll high-side.
Worst experience was on Jubilee Pass, north of Shoshone, going into Death Valley.
Fresh tar.
Warm/hot weather
Made for a squirrely ride on the CB.
I know I’ll be more watchful going forward. I feel better that it’s not just me. At 1st I didn’t know if I was feeling things, I see now ‘tar snakes’ are for real.
We get the darn things all over here as well, again due to freezing in winter etc. In French they are usually called slugs (as the slimy molluscs) instead of snakes:
![[Image: c01299bab6a48ef3439e929c84a7b694.jpg]](https://cb1100forum.net/forum/uploads/imp/202007/c01299bab6a48ef3439e929c84a7b694.jpg)
When I came back to motorcycles in 1992 it was on a brand new (leftover) 1989 Honda NT650 Hawk - a bike I should have kept - but that's another story.
One day I was swinging through the bends on a warm sunny day on a country road with lots of nice curves.
I was new to riding again after 34 years away from the sport and knew nothing about tar snakes. On one of those curves I encountered a bunch of tar snakes and the bike began to slither, squirm and shake. For a couple of seconds I thought I was a goner, but somehow I held onto it and made it through the curve.
Believe me, that really scared me!
I carried on with the ride, but took more notice of the road surface - then and ever since - especially in the corners.