The Scary Bridge

[bigbird]

It could throw an inexperienced rider into an crash, but that's about it

It's not about being an inexperienced rider, it's more about never having encountered an open metal grate bridge deck.
It would freak a seasoned rider out if they had never encountered one before, especially one so long.

 

[670cc]

Let's not get too carried away with this bridge. It's not unrideable; It's just considerably more squirrely than other grate bridges for some reason. It could throw an inexperienced rider into an crash, but that's about it

Sorry to get carried away. I‘ve ridden around 300,000 miles, including dirt bikes, so not inexperienced. I would not have crashed, but in a sense it scared me, and I didn’t enjoy It.

 

[jspivy]

I grew up outside Paducah so I'm very familiar with that bridge and have ridden several motorcycles across it. Honestly, the posted speed limit is a bad speed. Ride a little faster and it gets better. Too much faster and it gets worse. Same for a car, the posted speed is bad. After I figured out a good speed for my bikes, the only time I was scared was when I came across a basketball sized hole where I assume someone lost part of their load. Avoidance maneuvers on that bridge are scary especially with oncoming traffic.

After buying a bike or scuffing in new tires, that was my first destination. One bike I bought had practically new tires so I took it across that bridge, came back on I-24, and ordered new tires. Scuffed in the new tires, took the bridge again, and came home across the bridge. Never worried about grooved pavement much if my tires could handle that bridge.

*edited to correct spelling error

 

[Possummanj]

Milled road way (prior to resurfacing) is almost as bad--and it can go on for several miles

 

[Doc True]

This video of the Brookport Bridge popped up in my youtube feed today and make me think if this old thread. Doesn't much info, but does give a good sense of how narrow it is

 

[halfSpinDoctor]

Two weekends ago, I drove over Black Hawk Bridge, over the Mississippi River from Wisconsin to Lansing, Iowa. Fun ride. Definitely looked down.

Not my photo, just a screenshot of Google Maps.