Question (sort of) for Motorcyclists at this Time of Year

[DGS49]

In Western Pennsylvania, where I live and ride, the people who are in charge of roads have a way of adding a year or two of additional life to an asphalt roadway. It's called, "tar & chips." What they do is spray the roadway with tar, the spread about a quarter inch of fine "chips" (I think it's ground up slag). So for the next month or so there is a residue of loose "chips" on the roadway, mainly in the center of the lane (where car tires don't grind it into the existing asphalt).

For a MC, this coating of "chips" actually makes the roadway unsafe, and God help you if you have to make a sudden stop (to avoid a deer, for example), or make a quick turn. Usually, if this has been done recently, there is no way of avoiding that road, because you don't know it's there until you actually start riding on it. I've never heard of anyone having a MC accident in these conditions, but such accidents would probably not involve personal injuries or significant property damage. Only to the motorcyclist and his bike.

Anybody else have that issue where they live/ride? I hate it.

 

[BULLDOG]

In Western Pennsylvania, where I live and ride, the people who are in charge of roads have a way of adding a year or two of additional life to an asphalt roadway. It's called, "tar & chips." What they do is spray the roadway with tar, the spread about a quarter inch of fine "chips" (I think it's ground up slag). So for the next month or so there is a residue of loose "chips" on the roadway, mainly in the center of the lane (where car tires don't grind it into the existing asphalt).

For a MC, this coating of "chips" actually makes the roadway unsafe, and God help you if you have to make a sudden stop (to avoid a deer, for example), or make a quick turn. Usually, if this has been done recently, there is no way of avoiding that road, because you don't know it's there until you actually start riding on it. I've never heard of anyone having a MC accident in these conditions, but such accidents would probably not involve personal injuries or significant property damage. Only to the motorcyclist and his bike.

Anybody else have that issue where they live/ride? I hate it.

Any accident on a bike has a high likelyhood of personal injuries. Emergency rooms call them donorcycles.
A long time ago, before they started making cars better, they called the center of the lane the oil strip, where cars leaked motor oil. It sucked for a lot of different reasons. Experienced riders know you should ride closer to the center stripe anyway, so you can more effectively maintain your visible position in the flow of traffic. If someone passes the car behind you, they might not even know you are there before they have to pull back into their lane, leaving you no place to go.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

Trade in the old bike for a trike!!!
Much better ground grabbing area!!
Plus, if you spin out, you won't fall over, you'll just do a "donut"!!

Or, if you want to be BOOOOORING............

 

[rightwinger]

Tar and Chips is a common coating on secondary roads in rural areas. It is cheap and beats dirt or gravel roads

My advice to motorcyclists on one of these roads….
Slow down if you don’t trust the road surface

 

[DGS49]

Yes, I do slow down. And it pisses off the 4-wheelers behind me, sometimes inducing them to pass me in a dangerous maneuver.

Accidents under these conditions would generally be of a "bike slid out from under me" type. Not life threatening.

 

[Ringel05]

Trade in the old bike for a trike!!!
Much better ground grabbing area!!
Plus, if you spin out, you won't fall over, you'll just do a "donut"!!

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Or, if you want to be BOOOOORING............

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I'll be boring but only if you donate about 25K to my purchase fund.......

 

[Canon Shooter]

In Western Pennsylvania, where I live and ride, the people who are in charge of roads have a way of adding a year or two of additional life to an asphalt roadway. It's called, "tar & chips." What they do is spray the roadway with tar, the spread about a quarter inch of fine "chips" (I think it's ground up slag). So for the next month or so there is a residue of loose "chips" on the roadway, mainly in the center of the lane (where car tires don't grind it into the existing asphalt).

For a MC, this coating of "chips" actually makes the roadway unsafe, and God help you if you have to make a sudden stop (to avoid a deer, for example), or make a quick turn. Usually, if this has been done recently, there is no way of avoiding that road, because you don't know it's there until you actually start riding on it. I've never heard of anyone having a MC accident in these conditions, but such accidents would probably not involve personal injuries or significant property damage. Only to the motorcyclist and his bike.

Anybody else have that issue where they live/ride? I hate it.

We don't have that here in Florida, but I can only imagine how much it sucks...