A329 M40 to Thame ... Dangerous Surface

The Bede

The Bede

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Out of the frying pan
... A329 from M40 Junction 7 to Thame, between the Motorway and the Oxfordshire Golf Club ... This stretch has a 'temporary surface' warning, but you'll miss it in the hedge ... :rob

... If there is any water about it is lethally slippery :eek: , both the exposed bitumen and centre-line chips, at way below the signed maximum speed, let alone 'real world' velocities :nono

... Two arse wobbling, foot down, rear-end saves in less than a mile through there at mere pussy-speed this afternoon, newish Tourrances, correct pressures, suspension just a gnats firmer than handbook settings ... we're doomed y'ken, all doomed!
 
Thanks for the warning. That road is only 2 miles from me and one I regularly use. Haven't had any problems to date (but it has been very dry). Will keep a careful eye on it from now on (especially since there are some curves along there I rather enjoy :) ).

One thought nags in the back of y mind - I once had a set of Tourances which needed no excuse to let go for no apparent reason. All the many other sets I've had were fine.

Paul
 
MMC said:
Bloody council too busy spending all the money on traffic calming that no-one wants. Drop an e-mail to geoff.barrell@oxfordshire.gov.uk and let him know.
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Excellent idea ... thanks for the contact detail, I'll write.

The road is OK ish, and yes it does have one or two mildly delicious curves to it ... albeit occasionally punctuated by a tractor, but with the wet on it, it was like ice. I'm curious to know if it's crap leeching out of the bitumen with the recent heat then lifting with today's rain, or is it just naturally non-adhesive

Incidentally I haven't been overly impressed with the Tourrances so far, after 5K happy miles on Dunlop 607s ... the back now needs little excuse to step a little and the front looks so shagged from 'modest' braking exertion that I'd be surprised if it outlasts the rear and it often starts to drift off when pushed into corners... anyone know what got them their apparantly excellent reputation?
 
Conscious that we are going off topic but what pressures are you running? I'm fairly sure Metzeler recommend 36/42.

Paul
 
Paul Wakefield said:
Conscious that we are going off topic but what pressures are you running? I'm fairly sure Metzeler recommend 36/42.

Paul
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Good and pertinent point ... I was running a lot of pillion miles so I kept (sorry in Bar) F2.5bar, R2.9Bar which is BMW spec for load carrying. (I'll do a calc and see what that is in PSI when I have the inclination)

I have reduced to F2.2 & R2.6 to compensate for the lack of passenger, but haven't tried the slick A329 yet on the revised pressures (I'm slightly nervous about doing so) ... though on a few miles on other roads it hasn't done much to improve my perception of the Tourrances and in less than 48 hours I'll be pumping air back in for a pillion run.

... TBH when this set is shot I think I'll go for BT020's, I use my GS as a road tool not a trailie.

John
 
Went down that stretch of road this am in the cage (haven't mastered 4 people and luggage on the bike yet even though it is an RT ;) )

They've moved the temp road surface sign so it is more visible. That stretch was subject to extensive repairs about 18 months ago. Looking at it, it seems the tar in the hot weather has leeched to the surface and is very smooth - I can imagine it is rather exciting when wet as you found!

It must have been in the latter part of the hot spell as it was OK a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, if that stretch is like that there must be roads all over the country that are going to cause problems when it is wet. I wonder if we ought to put a "Be careful out there" reminder in a more general area of the forum?

Edit: Thread now started in Beak Chat

Paul
 
st13phil said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/5268788.stm
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... Tragically interesting ... I was away for the weekend but heard about the road closure, an air-ambulance and van in a farmers field. But the public bar version also included a motorcycle ... the Beeb didn't mention this so I'll put it down to Flowers IPA and an excess of pork-scratchings on the part of the recountor.

... Following my underwear stains on this section I'd written to Oxfordshire Highways and had a reply from the posh sounding Mr Purcell-Smith. Apparently this piece of road is 'under guarantee' from a resurfacing project a couple of years back, so it is known defective and awaiting a permanent rectification. I guess this tragedy will focus the attention of the Oxon Highways dept and cause much anal twitching at the offices of the contractors.

... Ride free panel van dude
 
If they knew the surface was defective and didn't TRO the road then surely Oxfordshire County Council are ultimately liable :spitfire
 
The Bede said:
I guess this tragedy will focus the attention of the Oxon Highways dept and cause much anal twitching at the offices of the contractors.
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:jes

That is a joke, right?

Oxfordshire CC Highways Policy (in full)

"The answer's a :censor::censor::censor::censor:ed-up, poorly implemented lower speed limit and a traffic calming scheme so lethal that the Police have to write a detailed report expressing their concerns (which we'll deny we've even seen) that we then ignore and carry on regardless. Now, what was the question again?"

Focus the attention of OCC Highways? Excuse me whilst I go and completely piss myself laughing. :spitfire
 
Nice 'n' Fat said:
If they knew the surface was defective and didn't TRO the road then surely Oxfordshire County Council are ultimately liable :spitfire
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Their get out will be that there was a sign saying "Temporary Road Surface" at the start of the long dodgy area.

Of course we are all rather assuming it was the road surface that was the cause; in reality I have absolutely no idea hat happened. I get cross when people jump to conclusions about motorcyclists but here I am doing the same. :eek:

Paul
 
... As usual a sage observation PW. The BBC report, which is the only one I have been able to 'google,' quotes Thames Valley Plod as "seeking witnesses" so they haven't got a firm idea of the cause and it wouldn't be the first time that a single-male in his twenties has ploughed off the road on a perfectly good suface.

... Still every silver-lining has it's cloud and if the bereaved family has lawyers I can imagine they might try to make hay with the 'dangerous surface' issue.

... Still no-one wins ... hat, coat, pub ... need to cheer up a bit :eek:
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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