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Fresh Oil? Fresh Oil!
#1
It's not that kind of oil thread, read on...

On my way home yesterday, I was a bit perturbed at work (something wasn't working and I couldn't figure out why), so I left late, and in doing so, forgot to don my boots. That was annoyance #1.

Annoyance #2 was that I needed gas. I don't like getting gas in the morning when it's warm because stopping makes me sweat profusely and getting into work all sweaty is just no bueno. So I left it for the evening commute, and it being late, all I wanted to do was get home. Even better was that I was running on fumes as the last block had been blinking practically all the way to work in the morning.

So there I am, riding along in the 104*F, 35% humidity that is Arizona in July during monsoon season, when I take the exit for the 202 San Tan loop from I10E and I notice the HOV lane along with the left lane (lanes #1 and 2) are black. Like, super dark black. Quite a bit blacker than the other three lanes. I've seen this somewhere before. That... resembles... oil! But who in their right mind would oil asphalt. Can't be. Ride another half mile or so and a big orange sign, helpfully put up by ADOT well AFTER one would be riding/driving on it, that says "FRESH OIL" Crap! And I'm not wearing my boots. Figures. Well, I didn't need my ankles anyway.

In the most ginger way possible, I changed all the way to the right lane, and rode another few miles to my exit (not my normal exit, but the one I take to get gas early when I believe I won't make it home), and made the slowest right hand turn off the highway I could possibly make.

I made it to the gas station without sliding or anything weird happening. I'm not sure why ADOT decided they needed to oil asphalt... it's not like it's a oil and chip road. Quite dumb IMO. I wonder if they realize they're putting the motoring public's safety at risk with that stupidity?

Incidentally, for those playing along at home, I got 192 miles on that tank, had more than three tenths of a gallon left, and got almost 54mpg.
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#2
Wow, all that in socks! Impressive.

The other day I squeezed 183 miles out of my tank and was ecstatic. No way I would have made it to 192. Another impressive feat by you. Glad you made it through unscathed and without running out of gas!
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#3
I see what you did, MG.

AzBob, I'm also glad you made it through OK. For what possible reason would your authorities put oil on the road?
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#4
(08-04-2015, 07:12 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: I see what you did, MG.

AzBob, I'm also glad you made it through OK. For what possible reason would your authorities put oil on the road?

Make it look like they repaved the road without actually ripping up the old asphalt and laying down new? They play a game, "let's see how many motorcyclists we can kill this week?" Honestly, I have no idea. Oil seems like the very last thing anyone, anywhere would want to put on a road that has a speed limit of 65mph.
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#5
Mmmm ... But it's not just motorcyclists, is it? A liberal dose of oil on a road can do more than a little damage to a chap (gender non-specific term) in a cage or a truck or any dang thing. I'll drink another glass of wine and ponder it further, but at this moment I can't think of a single reason a sane person would put oil on a road.
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#6
Wow! A new kind of oil thread! Who'da thunk it!

I know oiling gravel roads used to be common, until the environmental pollution was understood. Now it's supposedly not done any longer.

I understand that certain oils like transformer oil can actually be 'sticky', I would think they would use something that's sticky or tacky so it stays put and doesn't run off but I'm just speculating.
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#7
Could this be it? http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read...l-on-roads
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#8
What we really need is a Honda CB wet vac, they put them in the Odyssey vans. Suck up all that oil and use it in the engine. I wonder if it was dino or synthetic? Would save lots of $$$ ROFL
Glad you made it home safe though.
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#9
(08-05-2015, 01:18 AM)Lord Popgun_imp Wrote: Could this be it? http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read...l-on-roads

Could be. The road wasn't in the process of being resurfaced, however. The "stuff" was laid right on top of the perfectly decent asphalt, which I happen to know is less than 10 years old, because I was around well before it was. It's the only road surface I've seen this done on around here in the 17+ years I've lived in this state.

If it was the bitumen stuff, I'm guessing that is sticky like roofing tar. In which case I nearly pooped my pants for nothing.
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#10
(08-05-2015, 04:19 AM)AzBob_imp Wrote:
(08-05-2015, 01:18 AM)Lord Popgun_imp Wrote: Could this be it? http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read...l-on-roads

Could be. The road wasn't in the process of being resurfaced, however. The "stuff" was laid right on top of the perfectly decent asphalt, which I happen to know is less than 10 years old, because I was around well before it was. It's the only road surface I've seen this done on around here in the 17+ years I've lived in this state.

If it was the bitumen stuff, I'm guessing that is sticky like roofing tar. In which case I nearly pooped my pants for nothing.

Could be. The road wasn't in the process of being resurfaced, however. The "stuff" was laid right on top of the perfectly decent asphalt, which I happen to know is less than 10 years old, because I was around well before it was. It's the only road surface I've seen this done on around here in the 17+ years I've lived in this state.

If it was the bitumen stuff, I'm guessing that is sticky like roofing tar. In which case I nearly pooped my pants for nothing.
I think it still was a wise choice to avoid it at all costs.
Can you imagine the effort it would take to clean off spattered liquid road tar from the visible areas as well as the recesses of the CB?
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