Removing tar from tyres, wheel , and bike

Mr Bungle
Mr Bungle Posts: 114
edited August 2013 in Workshop
Yes indeed".............

Riding down country road. Workmen everywhere but the only road closed ( and signs saying closed ) was off to the left.
I was going straight on.

All of a sudden a shout of " stop, don't ride through there"

I was riding through wet tar and the shout made me skid and almost come off.

The road was not closed and no warning signs.
The result. A nasty ride home as despite 2 of the workmen spraying stuff ( something like wd40 which will not harm your bike) on my tires they were sticky collected dirt stones etc and made breaking very hard.

An absolute nightmare as you can imagine

2 questions

1- has anyone done this, any advice on getting this off. The surface of my tires are covered and I have pretty much written them off. It is the wheels I am most worried about as the rims have some on, also the breaks and break blocks.

2- what Can do i about it. I have already phoned them, and to their credit they were nice and polite and promised to call me back and seemed quite worried. My fear is it may turn into my word against theirs, and I will not be able to prove there were no warning signs etc.

Cheers

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Comments

  • Mr Bungle
    Mr Bungle Posts: 114
    Just posted this and relised the workshop is more relvant

    Yes indeed".............

    Riding down country road. Workmen everywhere but the only road closed ( and signs saying closed ) was off to the left.
    I was going straight on.

    All of a sudden a shout of " stop, don't ride through there"

    I was riding through wet tar and the shout made me skid and almost come off.

    The road was not closed and no warning signs.
    The result. A nasty ride home as despite 2 of the workmen spraying stuff ( something like wd40 which will not harm your bike) on my tires they were sticky collected dirt stones etc and made breaking very hard.

    An absolute nightmare as you can imagine

    2 questions

    1- has anyone done this, any advice on getting this off. The surface of my tires are covered and I have pretty much written them off. It is the wheels I am most worried about as the rims have some on, also the breaks and break blocks.

    2- what Can do i about it. I have already phoned them, and to their credit they were nice and polite and promised to call me back and seemed quite worried. My fear is it may turn into my word against theirs, and I will not be able to prove there were no warning signs etc.

    Cheers
  • bikeit65
    bikeit65 Posts: 999
    I do car and bike valeting and Autosmart Tardis works a treat.....
    https://www.instagram.com/seanmcgrathphotography/
    Trek Domane SL7 GEN4
    Planet X RT58
    Cannondale CAAD 10 2012.
    Pain.. Is weakness leaving the body.

    HATING LIFE-CYCLES FROM 2011
  • frisbee
    frisbee Posts: 691
    I've used Autoglym Tar Remover before on cars and motorbikes. Seemed to work pretty well and didn't start dissolving the paint. The tar used to suddenly break down and wipe off.
  • Mr Bungle
    Mr Bungle Posts: 114
    Cheers just checked it YouTube and looks good

    Will need it for the bath too, as after the shower it is all over the place
  • Mr Bungle
    Mr Bungle Posts: 114
    Thanks
    Is it on the tyres?
  • bikeit65
    bikeit65 Posts: 999
    It will remove tar from the frame, not too sure about the tyres but as you have wrote them off you could try it, or some diesel.
    https://www.instagram.com/seanmcgrathphotography/
    Trek Domane SL7 GEN4
    Planet X RT58
    Cannondale CAAD 10 2012.
    Pain.. Is weakness leaving the body.

    HATING LIFE-CYCLES FROM 2011
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    Diesel then wash straight away with car soap.

    I'll admit to having used petrol before too but you've got to be very careful when using it and consider where you dispose of the rag that you use to clean it. No smoking, no naked flames, don't wear synthetic clothes, do it in the open air and let the rag dry out (so that theres no chance of fumes building up in the bin).
  • Jizer is good stuff. It will break down tar very easily, won't harm the paint and can be just washed off.

    I don't foresee any problems with the tyres. You may want to remove them if the tar has got between the beads and rim.
  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,218
    I'd be careful about cleaning the braking surface. WD40/GT85/Diesel will probably get it off, but you might be left with a nice greasy coating on the rim unless you clean it off afterwards (brake disc cleaner maybe?).

    If there are stones in the brake pads then you can try picking them out using a screwdriver but it might be easier to write them off, especially if they weren't particularly expensive ones. Braking with the stones in the pads sounds like a good way to make a mess of the wheel rim.

    It is probably too late now to go back and take photos to show the lack of signs: they would have put them back overnight while they weren't working, or the bitumen will have been covered in stone by now.

    Did you report it to the council as well? The company working in the road were probably employed by the council so they might be interested to know that they didn't have warning signs out. Around here they sometimes close the while road to do surface dressing, or close 1 side and have traffic lights, or have a rolling road block on side. As soon as the stone is down people are allowed to drive on it (slowly). I've never seen a road left open with wet tar and no chippings though.
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    They're called BRAKES.

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.
  • Mr Bungle
    Mr Bungle Posts: 114
    declan1 wrote:
    They're called BRAKES.

    So sorry wise one :)
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    Mr Bungle wrote:

    So sorry wise one :)

    You will be :twisted:

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.

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