Flat Tire 60 miles from home.

Yesterday, I was about 60 miles from home when I got a flat tire. I was doing about 60 on a two lane country road in Racine County WI. I didn't hear anything and I didn't feel anything. I just noticed that the steering was a little stiff and wanted to stay straight. Almost like I had a steering dampener that wanted fo hold the handlebars straight.

When I slowed for the stop sign I could then feel a vibration comming from the rear tire. After stopping for the sign I pushed the bike into the shady driveway of a farm house.

The good news was I was carring my Pocket Tire Plugger kit. Tire plugs, tools and four co2 cartriges. I have never used this kit before so I hoped it would work. After putting the bike on the center stand I looked for the hole. I figured I would see a nail, but couldn't find anything. After rotating the tire about 5 times I finally found a puncture in the base of a tire groove almost dead center in the tire. I could see the impression of a round head bolt in the smooth part of the rubber. I figured the tire ran over this bolt and tipped it up directly into the tire groove forcing it through the tire. After it did its damage the bolt must have gotten launched from the tire.

1000 miles of wear on a brand new set of Roadsmart II's. #@$%!&*%#@!

After plugging the tire per instructions on the kit, I proceeded to use the co2 cartridges. First cartridge gave me about five pounds of pressure, second about 11, third about 20 and last cartridge got me up to 26 psi. Good enough to get me to a gas station. The first gas station I found was about five miles away. Before filling the tire with air I checked the pressure one more time. It now had 28 psi I think mostly due to tire heat but the plug was holding. I overfilled the already hot tire to 45 lbs. psi. and headed home. At this point still over 50 miles. At first I drove pretty slow on the back roads but later I got on the interstate and kept up with traffic. 65/70 mph.

When I got home I let the bike cool for a few hours and checked the pressure again. 38 psi after cooling. I filled it up to a full 42 and I will check it later to see if it is holding. I will order a new tire ASAP.

No one recomends ridding on a plugged tire but this temporary fix was great. I can't say enough about this Pocket Tire Plugger. I went to their website today to check out new co2 cartridges. But I bought a nifty mini compressor instead ($34.95), plus some other items to hit their $50 free freight.

Check it out at Stop and Go International - Tire Repair and Inflation Products Plugger kit with co2 (Sku 1001) $47.95. Tubless puncture kit (Sku 6000) with compressor $64.00

The flat tire wrecked a nice ride but the plugger kit saved the day.

Anybody else got any flat tire stories?

 

I am glad it work for you and get you home safe. :thumbsup: Money well spend.....

 

Thanks Bud!

 

I helped a Yam fz1 with that same set up. Didnt know the guy I just saw a fellow rider on the side of the road that needed help. Just like you posted with 4 cartridges you dont get a lot of pressure. Since this was the first time useing this I kinda screwed up the first cartridge so I didnt get all the air in the tire. I think when it was said and done he had 22 psi in the tire. The nearest gas station was 5 miles away. I asked if he wanted me to follow him but he said no. Now I carry 6 cartridges in case of more screw ups. It really works well and I was pleasently impressed. I looked at getting a small compressor but I like to do some trail rideing on my peddle bike and its a small enough set up to bring along. You do meet the nicest people on a Honda. That Yam rider didnt even give me a thanks btw.

 

Glad it turned out save. You can still ride your plugged tire for its life.I rode my plugged tire rear 5k after the flat plugged and it worked fine.I used the sticky glue one cheap auto store variety but it worked.
You can buy a new tire as a back up ready at hand but I would ride the old one unless it losses air.

 

Good post! I'll have to pick one of those cartridge kits up.

 

Glad the CO2 kit worked out for ya! I've got one under the seat, never know, eh. How do you carry that mini compressor??

 

The far better alternative to riding on a plugged tire is to fit a PLUG/PATCH from the inside of the tire after you get home.

 

I have a similar story, but helping someone with a flat on a car. It was a nice spring day - temp just perfect and the ground...blah blah I'll save my short story skills for later lol. Make a long story short - a young guy and gal were pulled over with a front flat. I stopped first followed by a fellow co-worker next. I got all dirty changing their tire which their spare was also flat, but they drove on it anyway after I told them it was flat. The fat ass didn't help AT ALL, and didn't say thanks! His chik was ready to get dirty before him. I wanted to tell him what a b*tch he was, I'm sure he read my face though. Next day I helped an older guy that had a dead battery in his van. He was so thankful and polite. Diff between young punk ass kids and adults.

 

I like the marketing piece above - for those of you that aren't HHonors members I highly recommend joining LOL! I just booked two rewards rooms for my club members for the 2012 Moto GP in Indy - night of Aug 17th baby - whoohoo can't wait! Sorry, back to tire stories!

 

I used the exact same kit a couple years ago for the first time. Worked like a charm.

 

Sorry I havn't checked back for a while. The plugged tire held air all the way home so I topped it off the next day to get the pressure right. I was unable to ride all week so last friday I pulled the wheel off to take to the shop to get a new tire installed. Just for the heck of it I checked the pressure and it only had 15 lbs. So from 42 lbs. on Monday to 15 lbs. on Friday I lost 27 lbs. (Not me, the Tire!) I used the little reamer they give you with the kit and was told to ream the hole pretty good. I think next time I would ream slightly less so I could keep the hole smaller and maybe the plug would have been tighter.

Anyway new Tire is on so all is good!

I received the stop N Go electric pump this week along with more CO2. I was able to take the tools out of the kit and put them in a seperate pouch. I put the new CO2 in the original pouch and fit both pouches under the seat.

I tested the new electric air pump by plugging it into the Battery Tender plug comming off the battery. It seemed to work great but I noticed the L.E.D. worklight on the pump did not work. I decided to call Stop-N-Go just to let them know. They were very nice and told me they test every pump before they send it out. I told them I was not concerned because I didn't buy it for the light, I just wanted the pump. They were still concerned that mine didn't work so she put me on hold and went to talk to the testing engineer. It turns out if you plug it into the Battery Tender plug you get reverse polarity and the pump works but the L.E.D. will not. If I would have used the cigarette lighter adapter or the two alligator clip adapter it would have worked fine, light and all. I didn't test it yet with the other adapters but I'm sure they are right. She told me If I had any problem at all I should call and they would be happy to replace it.

Bottom Line this seems like a pretty good company to deal with, and it looks like they are willing to stand behind their product.

I will now keep the CO2 kit under the seat and when I use the Honda bags I will carry the electric pump as well.

 

Rode 1500 miles on a GSXR1000 with a plug in the rear tire. Cruised between 50-90 mph. Plug didn't lose any air, and at the end of the trip I knew where the plug was, but couldn't see it, as it had melted into the tire. Plug was in the centre of the tire, which I think probably made a difference, seeing as every rotation basically held the plug in place.

 

Thats going to go in the hard bags when I use them.

 

The theory I heard is the front tire stands the object up and sets it up for a perfect hit to the rear tire.

Yes the old tire is gone. Local shop won't patch a tire and I don't have the equipment to take it off the rim without damage. $175 for Tire and $43 to mount and balance. Cheaper than me screwing up the rim!