Log in

View Full Version : Puncture repair... so easy even a chick can do it...



buellbabe
14th May 2008, 07:20
Yep! Ya know those wee puncture repair kits that have the wormy things, tools and gas cylinders? Well I bought one a couple of years ago and it has been stowed under my seat ever since.
Anyway this is a bit of a tale, I never do things half-arsed... LOL.
Yesterday I was leaving work, the bike had been sitting idling while I fluffed around putting gear on and then when I sat on it I thought WTF? she seems to be sitting a bit low in the arse end... of course I knew what it was even as I was getting off.
FARK! back tyre was flat-as-a-pancake. We are talking soooooooooooflat that I couldn't even contemplate riding it to the nearest garage.
Said rude words, loudly and repeatedly.
Then I remembered "THE KIT".:woohoo:
So pushed it (bloody heavy...) out of the parking building and across the alley into my works loading dock which has decent lighting. It was pretty chocka with stuff and there was only just enuf room but it squeezed in.
Anyways the culprit was a easy to spot hunk of metal!
So I went back inside to grab some pliers to pull the metal out and in passing hit the loading dock door close button...

WELL F**K ME! It seems I had misjudged things and the door came trundling down and met resistance in the form of my number plate... so it cut out.
Refused to go up or down!

Saying VERY RUDE words at this point but got the bike out from under the door, just a bent plate so could have been worse.

Well I got to work on the puncture repair and honest-to-god-truth I had the metal out, hole reemed, worm inserted and tyre inflated in roughly 10mins! I couldn't believe how easy it was. I HIGHLY recommend these kits...oh yea you can get them for tyres with tubes as well...
However there is just one thing that I would point out... when you've got the CO2 cylinder attached to the tyre put your gloves back on before depressing the little valve and releasing the gas. The outside of the cylinder freezes, my fingertips are burnt from the extreme cold of it. LOL.

So repair done and feeling quite chuffed with myself there still remained the problem of the door. My boss says "3 of us should be able to get the bike up the steps and into the building". YEAH RIGHT! In your dreams! Anyways because it was in a tight space we couldn't turn it to get the right angle for the steps...
Eventually one of the guys stood on tippy-toes on the top of a ladder and just manged to catch hold of the end of the rope attached to the over-ride mechanism. He pulled on that while the boss and I manhandled the door up.

YEEEEEEHA!

I had just finished gearing up for a 2nd time when the door repairman arrived... figures... LOL...

CookMySock
14th May 2008, 07:38
whaaaaaat? chix can repair their own flat tyres ? :crybaby: :no:

;)
DB

awayatc
14th May 2008, 07:41
Good yarn, normaly the puncture repair itself is the hardest part.....:scooter:

Zuki Bandit
14th May 2008, 07:43
Nice write up! I gotta get one of these puncture repair thingies!!!

u4ea
14th May 2008, 07:43
Bloody excellent chick!!!!!! :2thumbsupnow wheres that bloody Murphy:2guns:.......can't beleive the bad luck what was attached to that flatty!

Grub
14th May 2008, 07:55
Good stuff buellbabe ... how many bottles of gas did you have? Apparently for my tyre (180/55/16?) you need one more bottle than the kit comes with.

It probably doesn't matter too much as long as it's enough to get you to the servo and an air hose.

Hitcher
14th May 2008, 09:28
Seems like it's the season for it. I had a flat on Sunday and ended up buying and using one of those dog turd kits. It worked!

buellbabe
14th May 2008, 12:08
I had 2 cylinders and only used 1, they have all the relevant data on the can. 1 will inflate yr average rear tyre to 32psi. Thats enuf to get ya to a garage and inflate it more.
I have already gone and bought another gas refill 2 pack.

So so so easy LOL. But what a frigging drama with the door, after I stopped swearing (almost said the 'C' word) I just started laughing... what else could I do?

dipshit
14th May 2008, 12:25
Absolutely!


<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6n86_e6g3CM&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6n86_e6g3CM&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

vifferman
14th May 2008, 13:27
LOL! What a squeeeeeaky door on the Merc!:crazy:

driftn
14th May 2008, 19:21
Get it fixed properly ASAP.

riffer
14th May 2008, 20:08
So... how good is a repair on a tyre?

I have an Avon Azaro which has a nice little hole about 3mm wide exactly in the centre.

It's only got about 1500kms use on it. I guess a mushroom repair would be good.

How much can I trust a tyre after that though?

driftn
14th May 2008, 20:16
So... how good is a repair on a tyre?

I have an Avon Azaro which has a nice little hole about 3mm wide exactly in the centre.

It's only got about 1500kms use on it. I guess a mushroom repair would be good.

How much can I trust a tyre after that though?

Providing it has been done right it will last the life of the tyre. i have repaired a fair few tyres in my time and had no proplems at all. At the sprints a few months ago i averaged 257kph over the flying 1/4 on a mushroom plug no problems. Wouldnt catch me doing that on a poo plug how ever.

riffer
14th May 2008, 20:31
At the sprints a few months ago i averaged 257kph over the flying 1/4 on a mushroom plug no problems.

Don't be offended dude, but that doesn't surprise me coming from any members of your family. I half expected you to emulate Rollie Free to get up to 260km/hr.

That bike sounded sooo nice though.

Given that I use it for commuting it's definitely worth getting it fixed then. I won't be doing the sprints on the old girl (its done over 115000 kms.)

buellbabe
15th May 2008, 06:37
I have had a previous tyre plugged with the worm (done by a bike mechanic) and it lasted the life of the tyre.

For WOF purposes you need a proper mushroom patch... so I have had that done but quite frankly my own repair was perfectly ok and would have lasted till the next change...unfortunately the warrant is due today LOL.