Road Surfaces vary

Road surfaces change throughout the country due to the availability of local raw materials, traffic flow, cost etc For safety’s sake, extra high grip surfaces may be sited near schools or pedestrian crossings to enable secure braking, especially in bad weather and this kind of initiative is welcome.

How the change in road surface affects 2 wheelers

All of these changes in road surface are understandable and are often an enforced compromise, but for riders of two wheeled vehicles, it is WHERE these changes in road surface occur, that is important.

It is often the case that the arc of a corner means that a bike is still leant over near the exit to that corner and a change in tarmac quality can have a profound effect on grip levels, when the effect will be minimal for a car.

The high grip coatings that are a common sight on the entrances to roundabouts are laid for the benefit of 4-wheeled vehicles and often stop abruptly at the point where a motorcycle tyre is already working hardest and is least able to cope with the change.

Tyres are asked to cope with a lot of changing grip levels in various weather conditions as they pass over all these different tarmac surfaces, but when they are confronted with a shiny wet piece of iron, it’s no wonder that they call “enough”. Why is 19thC technology still being used in 21st Century roads?

GET A GRIP!- from the