Nothing like doing twistys in the mountains and hitting some fresh tar snakes on a warm afternoon. SJ Ron

 

10-4 on that. One of the roads I frequent on the way to a favorite riding area now has tar snakes. Be it cold or hot we still get the slides out of them. Me on Road King and buddy on Ultra.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great ride. Just that at 67 I still like to drag the boards. Those snakes take the pleasure out of agressive riding. At my age I don't heal as well as I used too.

 

What I want to know is ? has anyone ever gone down because of a tar Snake or is it just an uneasy feeling ?
I was riding HGW. 12 in Southern Utah memorial weekend & they had them tar snakes running NOT across the road BUT Parralell with the road ! I was leaning around a corner and hit one of them, I puckered up & slowed down the rest of the way !

 

Might be a good call to DOT to add some grit to the process.Might take a fatality to get their attention. I hate road gators also,blown apart retreads.

 

We have a few of those on one of my favorite country roads back in Mississippi. The stupid county supervisor who lived out that way did not like the "potholes" and ordered them sealed (they were sealed going in the direction of travel so no avoiding them). I felt like I was going to slide sideways about 20 feet after I found them, and of course it was after a good summer rain storm. I have only had that feeling 4 times in 35,000 miles, once when I hit some sand, once when the rear tire went flat at 80 mph (shudder thinking about that one), once on the tar snakes, and the last time was a week after buying the road king. The last one was an off ramp to the interstate during a BAD rain storm, sharp turn and oil. One guy bit the dust just before I got there, his bike looked rough. Slick roads SUCK!

 

Some folks do go down; you can over-react, hit a snake at a really bad angle at speed, hit a big patch of curve with snakes everywhere, or just be traveling fast enough in a curve that the snake(s) scoot you over to the edge of the pavement where the marbles take over. Gently easing off the throttle and maintaining your body and handlebar position will usually get you through with little more than an increased heart rate, but sometimes its just not your day.

I'd be surprised if there weren't some youtube vids of tar snakes causing bad days.

 

They have a short life span but put a Metzler 880 on the front. then put a good car tire on the back. Makes those tar snakes taste like chicken.