Tubed Tyres can KILL YOU!

[Racey Rider]

SO I'm trundling along today on the KR heading home to NP. I'm caught in a line of cages doing 95Km/h. So at the passing lines a few of us pass the slower cars, as you do. I have the chance to pass one more ute, so contuine on at 109km/h and make the pass. But just as I pull back into the lane, I feel the back off my bike trying to come round and OVERTAKE ME!

No Idea whats going on. Feel like I've lost the axle from one side or something with Stuff all control of the bike! I choose not to hit the brakes cause I don't know how that will affect what the bike is doing? I button off the throttle in the hope I can ride it out. I have very little control of the steering, but manage to keep it upright for presious metres while I slow somewhat to 90 odd Kmh. But at that speed I hit the grass verge and the bike Highsides me off to roll down the roadside on the grass!

Thankfully I have ALL my saftey armour/Leathers/Back protector on, so all I come away with is a bruised knee. But "What The 'WT' happened There!!"

Looking at the bike, I see a flat tyre on the rear!
Now I've had flat tyres before, but with tubeless tyres, they always gave a bit of warning before becoming totally deflated. But What I didn't know before, was this wheel off my spares bike had a tube in it!
And when it pucture there was No warning. Just Dead flat! And a loss of 90% of control!
NEVER AGAIN WILL I ROAD RIDE ON TUBED TYRES!

Only by Gods grace I ended up in the grass verge and not through the windscreen on oncoming traffic! Lesson Learnt!
Don't let it happen to YOU!
Racey

[Dadpole]

How did we survive?

[Waylander]

Run flats are great.:2thumbsup

[Motu]

How did we survive?

I've died a thousand horrible deaths according to these guys - like a gruesome zombi I just keep going,still riding a bike....tubed tyres and all!

[Dadpole]

Guess we are just too old to die. :banana:

[Warr]

So did the cages stop and applaud ??

No seriously Racey,
Tubeless can go down pretty quick too.
Last weekend on another delivery mission. I was bein doubled by Teflon on my VTR750. Rear tyre looked a bit sus, so had discussed its condition with the bike shop the previous day. Well Teflon & my weight together is prob. a little more than mine and Mrs Warr. I hadnt put any extra air in it and riding along there is this bang and instant flat at 110k's.
Teflon got us stopped ok but what had happened was tyre overheated and a couple of patches had letgo and air all rushed out.
No crash thankfully

Good to hear your gear all worked for you too

[DemonWolf]

Good to hear that you are alright Racey Rider.. Hopefully the bike isn't too damaged?

What bit of road heading to NP?

[Racey Rider]

How did we survive?

Alright! Now that I've had a nights sleep and claimed down a retration is in order.

Tubed Tyres ARE Fine. Being a UseLess Rider with a Flat Tyre Can Kill You!

Happened between Elthan and Stratford.
Damage to bike is fairly superficial. Indercators/ headlight bracket/ handlebar/ dented tank. Had no flairings on it at the time, so will have it back in race bike mode fairly easy.
Speical thanks to the HP Officer who gave me a ride all the way home.

[DemonWolf]

ahh.. then I've seen you a couple times =)

Hows the bike?

[Racey Rider]

That was only a one off trip I made. You wouldn't have seen me there before.

Bike damage edited into previous post.

[Dadpole]

Just a PT there Racey Rider.
I will agree with you about tubed tyres. They are crap, and tubeless is the way to go. Can't claim to have personal experience with a deflating tyre though. Over 30 years on bikes, God knows how many km, and one (yes one) puncture which went down overnight.

Will this post offend the biker Gods? - perhaps I should let my tyres down now.

[DemonWolf]

ahh..

well glad its only superficial damage.

I've only had one puncture on a GS550 with a mate on the back.. very interesting wrestling with the steering to stay on the road... hell loud bang when it ripped..

[Yokai]

Guess we are just too old to die. :banana:

Yup - too old to die, too weird to live!

[Motu]

I've had a few blowouts,front and rear - but ony one at a speed enough to cause concern.

Coming back from Hamilton on a sunday afternoon on my Triton,set up with rearsets and clipons,kinda like a modern sports bike,but we are talking 1974 here.I came past the Karaka turnoff and slowed down to 70mph,I had been travelling at 90mph all the way (ah,the good old days when you could ride SH1 at 100mph for as long as you liked) As I went over the causeway the bike snapped out full left lock sideways,aiming me at the medium strip (grass and bushes then)that was not where I wanted to go,so flipped it over to full lock the other way and rode off the motorway.In those days the sides were loose gravel and I went into that at 50mph (80kph)flipped to the other lock and somehow got it to stop.No crash and I was able to manouver without tangling with cars.

A little bit of extra colour about that day - as I was pushing it up the motorway to the Takanini off ramp a mate stops in his old truck going south,and we have a converation shouting across the motorway.He says he'll come back and pick me up.Choice,no more pushing and I can get the bike home no worries.I wait for ages and he doesn't come back - prick,and I haven't seen him since that day.At that stage he was on the run having been caught with a doz stolen bikes at the old pad in Ponsonby,he did a runner from Police custody and was living on an island in the Waikato river,he must of seen a Cop and decided not to get involved in my roadside salvage - damn those 70s were a wild time eh?

[pyrocam]

I had a rear puncture on a tube at about 70k. not fun and very little control over steering. managed to get it to the grass verge inbewteen the 8 lanes of traffic on the NW..... ahh good times. (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=17183)

[Racey Rider]

Thankyou Pyrocam.
Thats what this thread was about really,
Sharing experiences. :drinknsin

[Racey Rider]

For your interest,
It seems someone had patched this tube before. And while I was riding it, the original puncture tore futher out from under the patch area creating the sudden flat.

[Motu]

Could also be someone has tried a ''Pando'' type repair in a can previously - this will weaken a patch...or just plain lift them off.For me it's nice to know what repairs my tubes have had,and that I did them myself so know what they are covering.

[Rhino]

I have been riding since 1968 (lots of tubed tyres then) and have had my share of punctures, both front and rear. The only one that really worried me, was a front blowout while exiting the old Waimakariri River Bridge in North Canterbury. The bike (a Yamaha DS7) decided that it wanted all the road and them some. Managed to stay on and stop in the grass at the side of the road.

As I'm sure Motu will agree, the main thing is to relax and DON'T FIGHT THE BIKE. The moment that you stiffen up your arms, you are in deep doo-doo. Stay calm and GENTLY guide it without touching the brakes.

[Holy Roller]

In 25+years of riding there has only been once My front tyre has puntured (Road bike that is the farm bike always got flats) Ran overa possum on my XR 500. Diddn't notice the flat untill I turned a sharpish corner, felt like riding through deep sand. Thank God for steel cap boots, no off but a long push the rest of the way to work (Te Teko to Edgecumbe).

[XXplosive]

i have tubed wheels

i had to ride 4 miles home with a rear flat two days ago.

it handled great haha

[pyrocam]

i have tubed wheels

i had to ride 4 miles home with a rear flat two days ago.

it handled great haha

owch.

I know the feeling.

[Shadows]

Nice nail delivered rear blowout on a right hander near Rimutaka Incline using tubes before the road was made boring. Had just overtaken a string of cars when tyre went all of a sudden. Beautiful speedway style crossup finished off on the edge of a bank at the left side of the road. Even got some congratulatory beeps from the cars I just passed.
Heart in throat stuff but I think it would have happened anyway with a tubed tyre, unless you're going ballistic you probably won't really notice a slow rear tyre deflation until you try to take a corner. Just the crossup may not have happened until the next corner.

[Wolf]

Had a rear tyre blow out on the old Puch as I was accelerating off the lights and around a corner - wasn't going even 50km/h when it happened. The arse end of the bike wobbled all over the show but I managed to ride it through and stop. Worst part (worse than the sudden fright I got when the arse-end went haywire) was trying to push the bike from where I came to a stop to the side of the road. The Puch was heavy and a bit of a bitch to push at the best of times and the blown rear tyre made it feel three times heavier or like I was trying to push it through axle-deep treacle.

Most of the bikes I've owned or ridden have had tubed tyres and I've only had a couple of slow leaks and that one sudden blow out in all that time - I don't class myself as particularly experienced in dealing with rapidly deflating tyres and I do dread the possibility of a blow out on the front (especially if it goes as nuts as the rear wheel of the Puch did) or at speed.

Still, it hasn't happened yet and may never do. Even if it does, I may surprise myself and keep the front end under gentle control.

[Racey Rider]

Have you ever posted a thread that you later wish would just DIE quietly!

and people keep BRING IT UP!!! :brick:

Thankyou for your input people.
Not one of my better moments.:shutup:


GOODNIGHT! :drinknsin

[Bonez]

I can't be doing to bad. 1 front flat. 3 rear all in the space of a few decades. One was two up , and she not a small girl, with Gerty loaded to the gunnels going around a corner at 120 odd ks.

Glad you survived your ordeal to post about it.