Beware of State Installed Parallel Tar Snakes

STraymond said:
I would agree with Tom if we are speaking of your normal, run of the mill tar snakes - that experienced riders just ride through. But the combination of long parallel wet snakes with a 12 - 18 inch strip of regular pavement between them can set up a slide, grab, slide motion when crossing. When the front and rear wheels are going thru this at different times when changing lanes, the bike can go into a severe wobble.
Click to expand...

My 2002 ST1100 has Traction Control and ABS. If the wheels are spinning at different speeds, the system will do its magic. After 160K, I've seen it in action a couple of times. IMHO, TCS would have helped you in that situation.
 
Traction Control is a separate system from ABS. Get the bike stuck in two inches of mud & you have to turn TCS off on the side panel next to the ABS shut off switch to get the rear wheel to spin enough to gain traction.
 
Yes Tom, it was a failure to control his vehicle, but there is an expectation of reasonably safe roads .

I have no idea if the repaired road meets legal standards, but the repair in this case doesn't sound safe to me..


Ray,
You might start here for "standards" of roads requirements , or perhaps your state has its' own
set of standards .

http://www.astm.org/Standards/road-and-paving-standards.html
 
mcthorogood said:
I was under the impression that TCS/ABS only operates "while braking" and I don't apply my brakes on tar snakes.
Click to expand...


I guess that if TCS does operate without braking or throttle acceleration to even out the different wheel RPMs, then it may have helped me.

Ray
 
v8-7 said:
Yes Tom, it was a failure to control his vehicle, but there is an expectation of reasonably safe roads .

I have no idea if the repaired road meets legal standards, but the repair in this case doesn't sound safe to me..


Ray,
You might start here for "standards" of roads requirements , or perhaps your state has its' own
set of standards .

http://www.astm.org/Standards/road-and-paving-standards.html
Click to expand...



Stan-

Thanks for the logic and the link. Ohio DOT does have some standards for tar snake width and height. My preliminary research indicates that the width is not to exceed 2 inches - which would mean that many snakes are not in compliance.

Ray
 
If you are found not guilty, you can thank the judge for the impetus to sue the State for your damages ..
 
v8-7 said:
If you are found not guilty, you can thank the judge for the impetus to sue the State for your damages ..
Click to expand...


Yes! I have asked State Farm if they were interested in recovering their $1000 - I doubt if they would bother.
 
DAS said:
hate tar snakes. A few years ago I finally got to ride the Chief Joseph hwy in Wyoming but it must have been the day after the cracks were sealed and it was about 95 so had to take it really slow.[video=youtube;RAqGMNrwzBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAqGMNrwzBE[/video]
Click to expand...

Many wrecks on that road that summer. The State used a patch compound that had no sand and was really slick. I was there and lots of people in Cody were talking about it. Fortunately they didn't kill the Bear Tooth Highway.
 
Update: Well, I finally got my day in traffic court. Although the judge thought my arguments were interesting, she found me guilty of failure to control my vehicle. She, however, did impose the minimum possible fine of $15 plus court costs. Of course the problems posed to motorcyclists by the special configuration of parallel tar snakes still continue. I, for one, will put this problem up near deer threats as one to be alert and concerned about.

Ray
 
I could respond with several IMO comments but...
I'll just say, Ride Safe. :)
 
Ray.. just glad you weren't hurt.. At least you had your day in court even though it didn't amount to much. Life isn't always peachy!

Hey, at least now you can say " you dun that"!

Ride on my friend.. Hope to see you around next year.
 
DAS said:
hate tar snakes. A few years ago I finally got to ride the Chief Joseph hwy in Wyoming but it must have been the day after the cracks were sealed and it was about 95 so had to take it really slow.[video=youtube;RAqGMNrwzBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAqGMNrwzBE[/video]
Click to expand...


Funny you mention this. My son and I were on this road in 2011. He was only 17 yrs old and a new road rider (he had plenty of dirt experience). I felt the need to pull over and explain to him just how dangerous tar snakes can be after my bike was sliding all over. I remember thinking to myself that they killed a great road.
 
OhioDeere said:
Ray.. just glad you weren't hurt.. At least you had your day in court even though it didn't amount to much. Life isn't always peachy!

Hey, at least now you can say " you dun that"!

Ride on my friend.. Hope to see you around next year.
Click to expand...



Doug -

I am very thankful for not being hurt. I still, however, want to alert riders and DOTs to the especially dangerous road maintenance configuration shown in the photo in post #1.


Ray
 
Ray,

Thank you for sharing your experience with this group. I will be on the lookout for parallel tar strips while riding. I am glad weren't seriously hurt and I hope to see you at another STOC event. We enjoyed gazing over your well-farkled ST1100 at NCSTOC last summer.

Scott
 
Rather than start a new thread I am going to hop on this one, since it is pretty much the same subject I have a question about. Regarding the tar snakes, what is the best way to deal with them? I assume it is just avoid staying on the ones that run parallel to the direction of travel. The ones that are perpendicular to the travel don't cause a problem. When hitting them while on a turn it can be pretty unsettling. Has anyone else gone down from these?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom