Potholes and the Ejecta From Them

To the SI problems add that the water trapped in the gravel freezes and expands. Thus cracking the hardened subgrade.
The temperature range is not something the NI generally has to put up with
 
chrisk said:
Meanwhile, “Drive to conditions” signs abound, these legally cover councils from law suits from damage to vehicles and personal injury caused by such fucked roads ...
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I wonder whether such signs have any legal meaning at all. Some years ago, one of the guys in the motorcycle club I belonged to crashed on a dodgy bit of road, smashed up his bike and broke his arm. There was no sign to warn drivers. My mate tried to sue the local council for medical costs and damages. But the council argued that they were unaware of the problem. If they had known about it, they would have fixed it or put up warning signs, but how could they be held liable for a problem they didn't know existed. The council won the case. My mate got nothing.

The logical conclusion would then seem that putting up a sign is acknowledgment that they know about the risk to road users but have done nothing to fix it. So, does that mean they'd be held liable for any damages that result from a crashed caused by the traffic hazard? Buggered if I know. I think the only safe conclusion for the average road user to draw, is that winning a lawsuit against a government authority is not as clear cut as it might seem.
 
Dunno Cam, if it could be proven that at the time you weren’t ‘driving to the conditions’ as directed by the council sign, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
 
One of the issues the NZ South Island has is when they get one of their frequent earthquakes it produces a thing called Liquefaction. It's similar to vibrating liquid Concrete to compact any voids but there it produces subsidence of the ground surface. I think Musky might be having similar issues after his recent big rocket vibrated the hell out of his beachfront launch site in Texas.

 
Driving to the conditions could be just like in Nepal, where the vehicles we were in didn't get out of first gear for the first two hours, and we all had to hang on tight. The drivers were totally chilled, it was normal for them.
Here in Norway they have this "zero vision" (looking towards nobody even injured on the roads), and the motorcade lobby group is included in decisions regarding road safety. There is a number to call to report very dangerous faults, e.g. a pothole or a big lump on the line in a corner that is bound to take out some rider, but many roads are just as described elsewhere. I have called to report some regular diesel spills and they are on scene very quickly, also told them to talk to the local bus depot who seemed to be overfilling the busses with fuel, and the spills stopped.
 
That same Maico bloke and another mate are off to India in June to do a Himalayan motorcycle tour on Enfilds, sounds great till I asked how high does it get. Apparently 18,000ft. He has some Meditation from his GP to reduce the effects of Altitude, I have Skied at a bit over 10,000ft in Utar and it wasn't so pleasant with the Ice Creme headaches.
 
Vince said:
One of the issues the NZ South Island has is when they get one of their frequent earthquakes it produces a thing called Liquefaction. It's similar to vibrating liquid Concrete to compact any voids but there it produces subsidence of the ground surface. I think Musky might be having similar issues after his recent big rocket vibrated the hell out of his beachfront launch site in Texas.

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Yeah, it's not pleasant stuff. All you can do is shovel it up and cart it away to use as fill somewhere. And it smells.
What surprised me was how surprised people were by the stuff. No-one knew anything about it apparently.
But in my school days in ChCh (late 50's to late 60's) we'd been told that liquefaction was going to be a big problem in a quake as the water table is so high.
Christchurch is basically built on swamp land which has been drained - and raised in some areas. But it's low lying land.
I understand that Ruapuna circuit which is inland from the city - about 30km from the coast - is only about 10 meters above sea level.
 
Vince said:
That same Maico bloke and another mate are off to India in June to do a Himalayan motorcycle tour on Enfilds, sounds great till I asked how high does it get. Apparently 18,000ft. He has some Meditation from his GP to reduce the effects of Altitude, I have Skied at a bit over 10,000ft in Utar and it wasn't so pleasant with the Ice Creme headaches.
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I know a BMW boxer bloke that did that tour Vince. He said there were about 15 x Enfields in his group. All got used, reckoned when they broke, they’d wheel another out of the support truck and the rider did a GP style change.

He raved about the whole trip, loved it. Then again, jumping off a BMW boxer and onto a RE is probability much of a muchness 😉
 
Indian adventure tours are also available on some of the excellent modern bikes also made in India now, if anyone doesn't want to do it on an Enfield. I have friends who did it on pre-historic Enfields a few decades ago, the bikes were dangerous, almost no brakes or suspension and in shit states of disrepair. One was medi-vac´d out after a pretty horrific accident on a steep descent way out in the boondocks.
 
When you see videos of single-lane muddy off-camber tracks with 1000ft drop-offs and trucks coming the other way, it's very adventurous, especially on old bikes. Apparently, there is a 15kg weight limit for luggage on some flys involved. People weight doesn't apply so the cunning plan involves wearing your off-road gear on the plane including helmets boots and all body armour. I hope I get to see the pics at the gate at the airport.
 
Vince said:
When you see videos of single-lane muddy off-camber tracks with 1000ft drop-offs and trucks coming the other way, it's very adventurous ...
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Adventurous indeed. Not to mention quite dangerous, especially given the attitude of other drivers. If they mow you down, they won't stop because if they do, they'll get into trouble with the law. But if they keep going, the chances are they'll get away with it if there are no witnesses. And with the roads being so twisty, the chances are good that there's no other vehicle within sight.
 
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