Warm ?Crack Filler? a Hazard Riding?

[widude]

Just wanted to see if anyone else has an opinion. I was out riding the other day, temps in the mid 90’s, very warm pavement. I was doing a gentle turn, one road to the next at an intersection.

I felt the front tire slip a little, well short of anything close to losing it. I noticed I had turned on about a 3” vein of the rubberized type/ asphalt ‘crack filler’. I had taken this warm crack filler more parallel, as opposed to crossing at a right angle.

At the time I felt if I had more turn, speed, or ‘cornering’ It could very well be an issue. This crack filler seemed to be at least a year or two on the road, not this year anyway. Of course it was warmed up with 95 degrees and full sun.

I’m up on loose sand, gravel, even grass on the road, has warm crack filler been a hazard too, or is it just in my mind? Maybe it’s just me?

 

[pekingduck]

Tar snakes almost claim another victim! That's a hazard everywhere, especially when hot. Angeles Crest Highway has plenty of them.

 

[widude]

Never heard the term ‘tar snakes’, it is fitting though.

 

[the Ferret]

Fresh crack filler can sure make you pucker when your wheels lose grip for an instant

 

[peterbaron]

Had similar incident few days ago...ugly and be careful.

 

[Cormanus]

Nasty, nasty tar snakes. They’ve come up in conversation elsewhere on the forum recently, http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=15700&pid=269738#pid269738

 

[widude]

Now I see. I’ve been riding a good amount, this was the 1st time I remember ‘slipping’ on one. I’ll keep it in mind going forward.

To any rider not familiar, put it down as another thing to be wary of when out riding.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

They make for very effective speed bumps.

 

[the Ferret]

Even when they are not slick, it always amazing to me that you can feel your tires roll over them, when they are so thin to begin with.

 

[Houtman_imp]

They can be dangerous when it is hot and also when they are wet. We had some bad ones on I 40 years ago but now they are much narrower . Some states like NY had strict regulations on the with of them , other states did not care about motor cycles and the danger of wide tar snakes.

 

[MN-Ed_imp]

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.

 

[mjturmelle_imp]

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.

 

[KiowaEagle_imp]

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.

 

[pekingduck]

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.

 

[SportsterDoc]

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.

 

[widude]

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.

 

[Henrik_imp]

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:

 

[Rocky_imp]

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.