I almost did it AGAIN!

[flyingzonker]

Out today PCXing. It is morning, maybe 10 am. I am on a road with a 35 mile speed limit. I'm doing close to 45. It had rained earlier in the morning, but for the time being there was only a faint misty drizzle. Suddenly I see, about 20 or 30 yards ahead, a very large iron plate covering 3/4 ths of the my lane. I must have been 12 ft wide by 20 long. It was wet. I swerved instinctively toward the meridian--the plate obstructed all the rest of the lane to the shoulder of the road. There were cars approaching from the opposite direction. I squeaked through the gap between the cars and the iron.

I know that if I had tried to cross over that wet plate I would have reached the other side of it either flying sideways, or lying down.

One more thing to be aware of, riders, one more booby trap to dodge.

This is the shit they throw at us two wheelers. A motorcycling highway commissioner would never resort to this strategy for covering excavations--he'd know better in his bones.

[fish]

Nope....
You would have been just fine riding over a metal plate.
No different than any other surface which offers less traction to a two wheeler.....just don't brake or swerve or do anything to compromise the traction you do have.
Riders cross wet metal plates and bridges every day without drama.
Fish

[iceman]

Nope....
You would have been just fine riding over a metal plate. No different than any other surface which offers less traction to a two wheeler.....just don't brake or swerve or do anything to compromise the traction you do have. Riders cross wet metal plates and bridges every day without drama. Fish

I started to reply to the initial post stating the same thing, but wondered how thick the plate was. As with most metal grates and ice patches, unless you have to swerv or brake, don't - just roll over without touching the brakes or rotating the steering.

[honkerman]

If you're going straight, a metal plate, even a wet one, should be no sweat. If you were leaned over in a turn, that would be an entirely different scenario.

As for the allacrity with which the various DPW's and DOT's find new and exciting ways to try to kill us. Here in Lancaster County PA, they use pitch and gravel for paving many of the back roads. This makes using such roads a journey of constant excitement.

[homie]

If close to a stop light or on a curve I get plenty cautious too when I see those large metal plates.

[Mel46]

Let me tell you about adventures that have happened here with those metal plates. The first adventure happened to my wife while driving along a street that has a 45 mph speed. There were two metal plates, one on each side. On her side, a big delivery truck was in front of her and ran over the plate at full speed. At the time my wife was driving her Volvo wagon, which has sense been replaced. The delivery truck cased the metal plate to bounce up and shift just before my wife reached it. Her front right wheel went down into the hole that the metal plate had been covering. After our car was towed out of that hole and taken to the garage, we called the county roads people and told them what happened. We had pictures and a police report, so they agreed to pay for the $3,000 repairs to the car, and immediately senthought a crew to handle the problem with the road, which the police had blocked off. Imagine what it would have been like if she had been on her bike!!
The second incident happened when they put too thick of a plate on the road and a motorcycle ran over it. You can imagine what it did to the bike front end. Different road crews in different areas seem to do things differently. I would have thought that they all use the same standards. I guess not, so be careful. You never know about those metal plates. Most are fine, but then there will always be that odd one that is either not all the way over the hole, or too thick, or something else is wrong with it.

[DailyRider]

There are metal plates everywhere here, especially since our flood.

The tricks to surviving lots of metal plates...
1. Don't tailgate--you want to see them coming well ahead of time
2. Don't speed, because you won't have the space to slow down before you reach them
3. Straighten up and keep a firm grip on the handlebars
4. Scan the outside edges for holes and sharp metal corners and make gentle course corrections to avoid them

[homie]

Mel it's true, second to cross traffic road construction signs get my full attention when on two wheels. Perhaps born out of wanting to keep tar, gravel and concrete run off away from my bikes, but the mystery as to whats going in the street is happening fast at 45 mph.

[easyrider]

I was driving the other day and was in a 55 mph zone when suddenly a curve came up and it went down to 45 and hidden by trees. As I started into the curve lying crossways was a branch 3-4 inches thick covering the whole lane. Must have fell off a landscape truck. I was in my vehicle , but I thought about if I was on the PCX that could have been disastrous. Road hazards are everywhere and when you least expect it they pop up.

[flyingzonker]

I started to reply to the initial post stating the same thing, but wondered how thick the plate was. As with most metal grates and ice patches, unless you have to swerv or brake, don't - just roll over without touching the brakes or rotating the steering.

This plate--actually there were two of them together, as I learned today when I went back to take a pic--was thick. I would have bounced if I had taken them at the speed I was approaching at. That bounce, I feel, would have destabilized my bike--and what happens to a bike that is doing the front wheel shimmy (like your sister Kate) on a wet metal plate. In my next post I will put up a pic of these monsters.

[flyingzonker]

here is a pic of the plates that freaked me out yesterday. Thick and mean, if you ask me.

[flyingzonker]

These were placed just beyond a side street exit, so that someone turning right at night might have a fight on their hands--especially a biker. No?

[Jge64]

Yup, nasty ......

[homie]

That's a potential bust your ass on any bike LOL

[alx123]

What it is for? If it is to temporarily cover a road damage, they should've put an early warning sign on the road.

[homie]

What it is for? If it is to temporarily cover a road damage, they should've put an early warning sign on the road.

They are very effective if you need to keep a hole open temporarily for service and not close the road, but present a lllllllllllittle problem for bikers when wet

A white knuckle moment... we love it!!!

[GlassMan]

As mel said, be careful but also be SMART !! Your doing 45 in a "35" things tend to come at you faster like maybe........ a Cop! Remember...Never ride faster than your gardian angel can fly!!!

[Mel46]

It is hard enough going over those things when everything is fine. Add wet roads and it is down right scary. Heck, even cars brake for those things. Seems to me that they could put some kind of coating on them for better traction for everyone. When I was stationed on an icebreaker in the Antarctic region we mixed sand into our paint to give us better traction while the ship was rolling in the waves. Sand may wear off but I am sure there is paint out there that helps traction....and maybe they can paint it bright yellow while they are at it.

[homie]

Never ride faster than your gardian angel can fly!!!

put a gremlin bell and these challenges always go well...

WHERE THE HELL IS MY GREMLIN BELL!!!

IT FELL OFF?