Not a great story, but it finally hit the road.

[Guest]

This was taken on Apache Trail at Canyon Lake. Went for a ride with a buddy and he snapped this.

[Allie]

You, your friend, and your bike out on a beautiful day - stories don't get any better! I hate those steel bridges, it's like riding on a floor of snakes.

[1_v8_merc]

There's a bridge on the delaware river that has Two Oposing Lanes crammed into the size of THAT bridge in the picture.
And it's about 10 times longer.

I always cringe going over it, because it feels like your riding on Two wobbly wheels, with cars all around you....and absolutely nowhere to bail in an emergency.

You better have a steady throttle or you're tipping over like a cow.

[spyug]

Great pic. After reading about that kind of grating on bridges many years ago I have tried very hard to avoid them. Unfortunately, there are quite a few of them on the way to Niagara Falls ( over the Welland Canal) and a few weeks back on a run there I had to go over one. Despite knowing to stay loose and let the bike find its way I tensed up. I couldn't help myself.

Now never having ridden on a floor of snakes like Allie seems to have , to me it feels like riding over a pond of ball bearings. Very scary.

A bit later on as we were heading for home we found ourselves on some roads that were grooved for resurfacing and that was another experience of of the wobblies. Now I've ridden on gravel roads ( and fallen in a gravel parking lot) and I don't like that much either but that grating is nasty. I'd hate to experience it in the wet.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Spyug

[B.C.G.S.]

You, your friend, and your bike out on a beautiful day - stories don't get any better! I hate those steel bridges, it's like riding on a floor of snakes.

Tell us about the time(s) you rode on a floor of snakes.

[Steve]

The bike's response to metal grates and "milled" road surfaces has a LOT to do with the tread pattern.

If there is a groove running down the center of the tread (especially the front tire), it WILL follow the irregularities. The Shinko 230s that I put on my 850 did that on a bridge that I crossed in New York a few months ago. However, the tires that I have on my Wing are rock-steady, I can't even tell I am on a bridge, let alone one with a metal grate surface.

These tires will feel squirmy:




These are rock steady:


.

[Raid3n]

my bike never had a problem with grooved pavement. my friend's xs400 was all over the place, my gs400 felt a little off, but fairly planted considering the conditions.

*edit* after seeing steve's post that makes sense cause my tires didn't have a channel up the middle.