Pays to be alert...

[Ixion]

This is interesting for a newbie like me. I would have assumed that a flat rear tyre (especially with a pillion aboard) would have made the bike impossible to handle and been very dramatically easy to notice. This obviously isn't the case. Any other symptoms I should be aware of if this ever happens to me? For exampple is there likely to be a noticeable change in road noise, steering etc?

It depends very much on the bike and the tyre. A light bike, and old fashioned crossply or bias tyres can sometimes be ridden perfectly well with a completly flat tyre, the sidewalls are strong enough to cope ( A BSA Bantam with a 3.50 inch rear could be ridden for weeks not only with no air but with no tube. Do not ask me how i know this) . A heavy bike with a sports type tyre may well be completely unrideable

Front is usually more noticeable than rear and will often shake the bars or feel "weird". Back often just seems "weavy" on the straight and "wallowy" in corners. For greater or smaller values of weavy and wallowy. Biggest danger is that a flat tyre can roll itself off the bead all of a sudden, then you're down for certain.

I think the advise below is good, deliberately let your tyres down a little at a time and see what it feels like.

[Gremlin]

And that will work for *all* tyres?
Including that on Wolf's bike?

I have no idea what bike he was riding.. it could have been something not listed on his list of bikes, and on top of that, I have no idea what a xt225 is anyway

I went to shop, said I definitely had a puncture. They found it, I asked them to do what was best, and asked if I could still ride off the edges of it...

been fine since

[Wolf]

I doubt your plan would work on my bike, Gremlin, sounds more like a solution for tubeless wheels. I run spokes and tubes - the XT is a Dual-Sport/road-trail.

Unlike Mr Ixion's BSA, the walls of the Pirelli Scorpions aren't sufficient to hold the XT up so I did a bit of wallowing around a couple of corners riding quietly home from the service station.

If I haven't totally buggered the tyre I might get away with just a replacement tube. If not, I'm looking at new tube and tyre.

[Gremlin]

I doubt your plan would work on my bike, Gremlin, sounds more like a solution for tubeless wheels. I run spokes and tubes - the XT is a Dual-Sport/road-trail.

ah, right. No, dogturds ain't for that.

Then its more like a bicycle I guess, you find the hole in the tube, and see if you can patch it...

[RT527]

no, you put it in the tyre. Its a small strip of very sticky substance, that you bend in half, stick on a tool, and force into the tyre. Half way in, you pull the tool back out, and cut off the remaining tail. Its like, <$5 for it, plus labour if a shop does it, or you can do it yourself if you know where the hole is, etc

Running with one in my rear tyre right now... haven't had a single issue.

I heard they aren't allowed anymore ...go and check it out with another tyre shop.

[pritch]

so I did a bit of wallowing around a couple of corners riding quietly home from the service station.

You done good!

I tend to avoid big public rides... too many muppets.
Last year I went on the local Easter Egg run for the benefit of a pillion.
Lotsa bikes, lotsa people.

A man says where we're going and suddenly there's a rush,
"I need gas."
"I need a loo."

Shit people! The least you can do is turn up with a full tank and an empty bladder!

Later we were told some muppet fell off on the first corner because his back tyre was flat.

If I was a lot more charitable than I am, I might believe it was a sudden deflation, but really the thing had probably been going down (for months?) since he last rode it.

It ain't rocket science, it just takes an intelligent interest in what you are doing (about to do?). At least some of us get it right. Have bling!

[Wolf]

OK, what are the chances that I wrecked the tyre by riding it from Cobham Drive to Killarney Road (via Hamilton East)?

I suspect that the tube is utterly knackered considering how fast it deflated (you could hear the air pouring out - sounded like it does when the valve is removed - and it went from 28psi to 0 in less than 60 seconds) and that was before I rode it oh-so-slowly home. I suspect we're not talking an easily patched pin-prick, here.

Is there anyone in the Hamilton area who can have a look at the tyre and advise me whether or not I'm up for replacing that or anyone who can advise whether riding it roughly 3.5km two-up (around 140kgs total) and then around 6km alone (roughly 80kg weight) at 20-40km/h is likely to have buggered the tyre.

I'm looking at around $60 for the tube including fitting and an additional $93 for a replacement tyre if that's stuffed.

Edit: The reason it'll cost me so much just for a tube is because I don't even have the tools to remove the rear wheel, let alone tyre irons to remove the tyre.

Seriously need to get myself 3 of these:

http://www.blueridgeracing.com/Images/tire%20tools.JPG

2 x 22mm and 1 x 19mm (2 x 22mm nuts on rear wheel, 19mm and 22mm nuts on front wheel)

[Ixion]

Tubed tyre, light weight bike and rider, slow speed. And the tyre does not need to be rated for high speed. Short distance.

I'd guess that you'd be unlucky to have done any damage. Just ask whoever does the tube to check the sidewalls for cracks or damage.And check the bead and see that it is still round. If those are good I'd use it.

Of course, in theory, ......

[Wolf]

Well, last night I decided I'd save a few dollars by taking the rear wheel off - providing I could borrow tools and find some means of propping the bike up (no centre stand and no paddock stand) - so strayj could take it in to the shop.

While poking around the garage looking for something that would suffice as a makeshift paddock stand, I noticed the rear wheel of the TT225 that Motu kindly gave me. It then occured to me that if I swapped the wheels over I would be able to take the wheel to the shop myself.

After a lot of mucking around I eventually found my grandfather's old tool kit and located a 22mm spanner and a 10" crescent so, with the bike perched on a couple of old computers I had in the garage (Roj, you were wrong about me never finding a use for them), I swapped the wheels over.

The TT225 wheel fitted perfectly on the XT using the XT's brakes and axle.

This morning I bungee'd the XT's wheel to the back of the bike and dropped it off at the bike shop.

Big ups to Motu for giving me the bits of TT225. Definitely owe him

Should be able to pick up the fixed wheel after work and swap them back over - won't be chucking out those old 'puters just yet.

[Wolf]

Well, yesterday's ride home on the knobby tyre was the worst ride home I've ever had! It was extremely difficult and required a phenomenal amount of focus. It was a battle. I had to fight every inch of the way to avoid the impulse to turn off into strangers' driveways and start ripping up their lawns trying out the off-road handling of the tyre.

Fortunately I was able to remind myself they might get rightfully peeved and curbed my impulses.

Whew. Hard job, though.

Strayj had picked up the XT's wheel for me so it was waiting when I got home. Including all the mucking about getting tools and computers out of the shed and putting everything away again afterwards, swapping the wheels took a little less than half an hour - despite a slight delay when I knocked the bike off the paddock stand, I mean stack of computers.

It was great working by daylight, I kept humming "What a Diff'rence The Day Made" - all the more annoying to others since I could only remember the first few bars.

It's nice to be able to corner confidently on tarmac again. I'm well pleased with the folk at Boyd Honda, they did a great job and charged only $35 including GST for the tube and labour.

The mighty XT rides again.