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Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 8, 2015 0:40:55 GMT -5
Well, there's ALWAYS something new to watch out for...
Around here (and I suppose elsewhere too...) there seems to be an obsession with putting medians with curbs in the middle of 4-lane surface streets where they're not needed. I suppose they were done anticipating making a left-turn lane into a strip mall that never got built.
At any rate, these things pop up by surprise in the most inopportune places... And, once "aged" they blend in with the road-surface, becoming hard to see in daylight, and totally "camouflaged" at night. You'll be travelling along at 40-50 mph in the left lane, and suddenly there's a 10" high curb right in your lane, and you have to make a panic lane-change to the right. Some of these are SO notorious that suspension-repair and body-shops have popped up right at the site of the offending curb. Sometimes, the upcoming curb has telltale "warning signs" in the form of shattered mag-wheels, shredded tires, bent springs and shocks, etc. littering the gutter.
If you hit one of these "ghost medians" in a car or truck, you'll DESTROY the wheels, tires and suspension... But if you hit one on a scooter or motorcycle, you will surely be killed, or worse.
Having come WAY too close to a few of these lately (nicking one with my left foot once, and clipping one with my front tire as I frantically changed lanes) I am going to upgrade my headlight. I haven't come dangerously close to hitting one in daylight, but at night, they are a true menace.
My old Kymco has an excellent headlight as far as cycles go, but still not bright enough to make these dull concrete curbs visible in time for safe evasion. They REALLY call for the piercing blue-white light of a quality LED spot. I have a pair of CREE LED spots coming which put out 30 watts each, drawing only 15 watts each of juice. Even aimed down enough to not blind oncoming traffic, they reach out over 100 yards with near "daylight"... SWEET!
I had one like that but in a floodlight pattern on my old Chinese 150 and it was a life-saver. But a pair of spots can be aimed WAY out ahead, one close, one far, without blinding traffic, and should show up ANYTHING in the way, whether a drab curb, debris, dead bodies, road-kill, etc. in time to avoid it.
On the old 150, I had to install a bridge-rectifier to convert the AC current to DC, and I disconnected the brights and hooked the dimmer-switch to the LED "bright". The Kymco has DC lights, so, I may do the hookup the same, with the spots replacing the brights. Or, more likely, I'll connect directly to the battery with a good off-road-light switch and just keep the spots totally separate. They're MANY times brighter than the factory brights, but I want them set up to run most of the time, at least when on poorly lit streets.
It will be a while, but I'll post the setup as I fabricate it. It's not easy to find a solid mounting method with the whole front end being plastic... But it can be figured out. I may tie the mountings into the windshield posts. They have to withstand 80 mph "push" from the windshield, so they might be a natural anchoring point.
Wherever you ride, do watch out for those pesky "no-seums"... I can't imagine hitting a tall curb head-on at 50 mph... Or maybe I CAN... EEEWWW! The EMT's would be picking you up with a stick and a spoon...
Ride safe!
Leo (gonna shed some serious light on the ghost-curbs) in Texas |
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Post by shalomdawg on Jan 8, 2015 2:33:48 GMT -5
howdy leo. good post. i see them putting those here on a new stretch where there is absolutely no need for them. i think they should be painted some distinctive color since i'm shade of color defficient enough that they sneak up on me as well. also from the point of someone who delivered construction materials in town with sometimes 70 foot long vehicles , i can tell you those things are &%$# on the tires since there is not enough room to mnnoevre so as not to run over them with the pup tires. then to make matters worse they usuall put some kind of signpost or marker right on the spot you have to run over. just totally un-necessary and plain revoltin'.
ken
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Post by SylvreKat on Jan 8, 2015 8:46:45 GMT -5
Dunno if this would accomplish anything, but have you tried calling the city about painting them?
We had a spot of road repair that wasn't quite fixed right when they repaved. There was a very distinctive valley all around the repair. I called the city and told him about it and that I could feel it when my car went over so worried when I drove my scoot (which I hadn't yet) that it would cause me to wreck. It was fixed the next afternoon. (and yes, I called the day after to thank the nice man)
If you're courteous and point out a potential hazard, seems most of the time folks will respond and fix the problem.
>'Kat
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Post by wheelbender6 on Jan 8, 2015 8:48:00 GMT -5
I have bounced off these almost invisible curbs in my truck a few times.
I was surprised Sunday by a curb in a throat on a 4 lane road.
The unpainted curb ran perpendicular to the 4 lane road.
Its difficult to see a concrete curb in the middle of a concrete road in broad daylight.
I don't know how local governments get away with not painting or otherwise marking these curbs.
If you ride slow enough to see these curbs, you risk being rear-ended.
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Post by rockynv on Jan 8, 2015 12:41:25 GMT -5
I got caught by one on a dark cloudy night a few months ago with an asphalt curb traffic island the same color as the roadway at 50 mph. The curb was left black and had no reflective post to indicate it was there.
The 15 tires on the Aprilia handled it pretty well though it took a moment to realize what the invisible thing was that I was running over. Thankfully I kept it upright and there was no damage to the bike.
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Post by earlwb on Jan 8, 2015 15:41:42 GMT -5
Out here we still have some city streets with the old 1960's huge hemispherical lane divider bumps. The bumps are like 8 to 12 inches or so tall. The bumps look like a big 1/2 of a ball glued to the road and may still have some old yellow paint on them. The bumps are actually made from cast iron from the appearance of them. Some have little fins on them like they need cooling or something. Others are just 1/2 round and smooth like ball. They had glued them down many years ago and merely reused them when they repaved the road no less. You definitely need to watch out for them. People have complained to the city and everyone passes the buck and won't do anything about it. The city says it is the county the county says it is the state and the state says it belongs to the city. The bumps would damage your car tires if you ran over them and it would be really bad to hit them on a two wheeled vehicle.
The even more insidious thing to watch out for is the gaps in the road pavement expansion joints. This is even more worse in the winter when the pavement shrinks etc. Then the gaps become even more wide. Wide enough for a scooter or motorcycle or bicycle wheel to fit into with obvious consequences. I have known a couple of people so far that crashed because of it already. Anyway at one example out here, it is a turnabout over the freeway to get to one side to the other on the side access roads. It has a longitudinal gap in the middle of the road going almost the entire length of the overpass, and is about six to 8 inches wide amazingly enough. I know at least one person riding a scooter that wrecked out because of it too. The city says it isn't their problem, the state says it belongs to the Feds and the Feds say they gave it to the state.
Train tracks crossing the road at a angle can be particularly hazardous too. It is super easy to wind up with the front or rear wheel getting caught on the metal rail and gap and then you lose control and wreck out.
Potholes are a classic. If it is raining or just rained, you need to avoid riding through water puddles as there could be a huge pothole lurking under the water. Even when dry the potholes can bend rims and blow out tires still.
Oh yeah, the drain grates or sometimes the drain grate is missing can get you too. Usually on overpasses and bridges they put drain grates down to help drain the water. The grates invariably have the slots running parallel with the traffic flow. It is easy to get the wheels to catch on the slots and it may cause you to crash if you aren't paying attention. of course the thieves stealing the manhole covers or drain grates are not helping matters either.
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Post by BadCattitude on Jan 8, 2015 16:45:10 GMT -5
Manhole covers that are set a couple inches below the road surface, speed humps in parking lots, unpainted median divider curbs, drain grates and even lawn cleanup debris that blows into the street are my biggest obstacles here in Florida.
I don't ride the scooter very much after dark but any additional lighting that makes it easier to see or be seen is a plus in my book!
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Post by ricardoguitars on Jan 8, 2015 17:13:55 GMT -5
We have lots of speed humps that are not painted, almost invisible at night, one of those broke my muffler  |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 8, 2015 20:43:47 GMT -5
Well, these little booby-traps are all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Lots of folks have complained loudly to at LEAST paint the dang things white, or something. It falls on deaf ears. Earlwb has it right... He lives right near me, and complaints just get passed around, with each jurisdiction claiming no responsibility.
It reminds one of the constipation ward... Nobody gives a ... you know...
One of the WORST was recently featured on local TV news... They set up a camera and filmed vehicle after vehicle smashing into the median, shedding wheels, suspension, etc. Amazing NO 2-wheelers in that 5-minute film. Even after AIRING that disgusting film, the city still balked for days, but FINALLY put up some orange barrels in front of the curb. Just THAT act certainly saved millions in vehicle damage, and maybe some lives. It's likely no further action will be taken.
It amazes me that no multi-million-dollar law-suits have been filed. Maybe they have, but everybody in the government just claims victims need to sue someone else... The "Not my problem" attitude prevails.
Everybody please DO READ Earlwb's post... He brings up some VERY good things to watch for!
Ride safe!
Leo |
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Post by ramblinman on Jan 8, 2015 20:43:46 GMT -5
this thread gave me flash backs to my first experience jumping a curb. it wasn't evel knievel style, more like an episode of jackass. scoot hit the curb and went left while i flew like superman... luckily landing in wet grass.
glad to hear your reflexes are still sharp enough to avoid months of recovery.
ride safe my friend.
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Post by rdhood on Jan 8, 2015 21:00:52 GMT -5
This: libability poor road conditionsFirst, you have to see who is responsible. THEN you have to see if they can be sued. THEN you have to put them on notice (can they be liable if they dont know there is a problem? you have to have proof that they know there is a problem. YOU have to tell them). And then someone can sue. Spray paint is cheaper than lawsuits. Hopefully, no one will get killed before they handle it. |
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Post by rockynv on Jan 9, 2015 5:45:46 GMT -5
In the industrial district of the town where I grew up in New England it was train switches imbedded in the cobblestone streets. If you did not cross them just right your front wheel would fall into them and if they were switched to pass traffic from the other angle your front wheel would wedge and you would go over if you couldn't stop in time. My brother still has the scar from his encounter.
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Post by jerseyboy on Jan 9, 2015 7:55:40 GMT -5
Will keep an eye out Leo thanks!
I know its a bit off topic but you need to watch out for those center lane reflectors as well if plowing snow,, when I worked for the county I hit one with my plow guess it was a little high,,that sucker knocked the cover right off my steering wheel and about lost my two front teeth...true story. The guys went out and grinded it down the next day.
Tom
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Post by earlwb on Jan 9, 2015 15:23:20 GMT -5
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Post by rockynv on Jan 9, 2015 23:16:05 GMT -5
Roadways buckled due to extremely hot weather are another danger that can be hard to see. Imagine landing this one on a scooter:
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