Surviving a front tyre blowout.

[FROSTY:Me]

Your riding along on your yamukawnda having a fine old time.
The front end gets reall heavy and soggy all of a sudden.
something is very wrong.Then the bars start to slap pretty violently.
Yep youve just had a front tyre blowout.
SOOO--what do YOU do next??
(after ya fill ya pants and cry for mummy)

[Karma]

start indicating left, slow down gradually without turning the front too much

[Korea]

Wheelie all the way home.?:slap:

"...and this little piggy went 'Wheeliewheeliewheelie'... all the way home"

You beat me to the punchline SM!

[Ixion]

Pray to the Biker Gods. Indicate, or hazard lights if you have them. Look for somewhere soft to land, move your weight as far rearward as possible, try to gently edge left (toward that soft place) and gradually slow down. NO BRAKES, or very gentle only. Don't fight the bars, but try to keep them more or less pointed ahead. Pray some more. Pray lots. A few good blasphemies, obscenities and assorted cuss words probably help too. Did I mention, pray. And try to keep the front end light.

[FROSTY:Me]

OK Ill remember all this NEXT time the front tyre on YEE AWD xj750 decides to explode at 100km/h going round a corner
My answer BTW is to quietly say SHIT then use the back brake whilst putting throttle on every time it shook really bad.

[boomer]

Good to see you saved it Frosty.

I think the term blow out doesn't happen with tyres of this era, a fast puncture yeah but a blow out... nah

[Motu]

First time it happened to me I was sideways in 3rd gear on a gravel road,I didn't know something was wrong until I found my hand hitting knee - kept it under control and stopped ok.Last time was on the XLV750 in a 100kph corner,I was expecting it as I'd felt the front whack something half a km back - the bike had such strong engine braking I was able to slow down pretty quickly.

Use the rear brake to slow and don't fight too hard on the bars,it will understeer on both locks - kinda like riding in deep soft sand.

[FROSTY:Me]

And the chokkie fish goes to MOTU for the most correct answer

[Motu]

I think surviving a front tyre blow out is a benchmark in your riding skill,to come out of this rare event right side up means you've got a pretty good skills package.But you need a few things going in your favour....sometimes I think I'm riding with a loaded deck,which is why I like to keep my experiance as broad as possible.

In the first case I was already in control of an out of control bike,no way was my mind in any sort of cruise mode,and tossing a front tyre blow out into the mix was just one more thing to cope with....it wasn't what I was expecting,but then I was ready for the unexpected.
In the second case I was expecting a front tyre blow out....the fact that I was doing 100kph in a corner when it happened was in my game plan,I knew I could cope with it.

To most riders losing control of the front tyre is what happens in the last instant before they come off...a front wheel slide is the last act.Off road you get to have front end washouts occasionally,but doing flattract is the ultimate in front wheel control.As you shut off and toss the bike into the turn,the front wheel pushes and you fight a front wheel slide around the corner - I've paced out 3 metres or more of black tyre marks on a clay track where my front tyre was houling like a boi racer doing a burn out,if you can ride out something like that,a blow out is a bit tame....

[Coyote]

Kahuna Dumpster the bike

[Wonko]

I thought you threw your bike into the nearest cowshed, catch a ride with the next passing biker to the pub and buy a beer was the order of the day?

[kiwifruit]

id like to think i would keep it shiney side up...
keeping wieght off the bars
no front brake, light rear brake
still, never know until it happens....

[Graham Allardice]

Slow gently using the rear brake only - another reason to avoid linked brakes - and move as far back on the seat as possible. If your bike has hazard lights, set them going. And look ahead where you want to go to maximise your chances of going there rather than where the soft front tyre may want to take you. Tubeless tyres seldom blow out but deflate slowly, so avoid tubed tyres if possible.

Graham

[terbang]

Havn't had "Blow outs" but I have had both front and rear flat tyres at various times on GSX1100's (rode this type for many years). The old 1100's (even at 260 odd KG) are a bit like trail bikes being more orientated to the rear wheel and a larger front wheel. The front going flat is much more managable than having a flat on the rear. I have intentionally and quite easily ridden for several miles on a completely flat front tyre by using the afore-mentioned techniques (trashed the tyre but better than abandoning the bike), much to the shock horror of my friends, whilst I have only managed a few metres with a flat rear before ending up uncontrollably sideways. I have had a flat tyre on a 1200 bandit that was a little more orientated to the front wheel though I chose not to continue and had a tubeless repair kit under my seat as a better option. Bandit was certainly much less stable than the 1100 with a flat an I suspect it would end in grief if I tried to ride it on one.

[Ixion]

Depends, on a light bike it's not too bad. In fact you can get away with riding the back flat, just relying on the sidewall.

The other week on my way to werk, I noticed that Ratty was wallowing around in fast corners. Hmm. Oh well, 'twas not too bad. Come to go home, and handling was "interesting". Made it home without anything scarey but, checked the tire, 6psi. Checked the next morning, no reading on the guage. But I was still able to ride it , safely enough albeit slowly, up to the servo and pump it up. Went flat agin though ,a nd as the tyre was down to 1.6mm tread, he's now got a nice new one. And I have a pain in the wallet that will have to be explained to SWMBO.

Once rode a Bantam home from Whangarei to Auckland on a dead flat tyre (valve was ripped out of the tube)

Heavy bike is another matter.