Pays to be alert...

**Wolf** · 17th February 2007, 23:47

Went out for a night ride with a friend of mine on the back of the bike, headed out along the main road to Morrinsville from the top of Cobham Drive, through the 60km/h zone, down the hill and up the other side. Noticed the back end was wobbling a bit and, knowing my friend is an excellent pillion and thus would not be causing the symptom, I instantly signalled and pulled over.

Rear tyre is totally flat. We took it in turns pushing it back to the Caltex on Cobham Drive (engine idling, bike in first gear so it moved itself up the hill).

Filled the tyre but it went down very quickly. Ended up deciding to quietly and slowly ride it home - stopping along the way to drop my friend off - and hope that I wouldn't do too much damage in the process.

Will have to wait for daylight to better assess where the leak is.

Damned good thing I was riding cautiously and paying attention to how the bike was performing.

Looks like I'll be walking until I can afford to fix the tyre.

**Pumba** · 18th February 2007, 00:08

Bugger. As you say pays to be alert. Nice spoting and fingres crossed it does cost to many dollars

**onearmedbandit** · 18th February 2007, 00:17

Originally Posted by Pumba

Bugger. As you say pays to be alert. Nice spoting and fingres crossed it does cost to many dollars

That's nice isn't it?

(I left the typos in, few drinks tonight huh?)

**Gremlin** · 18th February 2007, 00:38

very quickly eh? hmmm depending where hole is, size, etc, you could possibly get away with a dogturd, which will be cheap as.

Least you didn't find out the tyre was well under pressure when you tipped it into a corner doing at least 100k.

punctures suck

**0arbreaka** · 18th February 2007, 03:27

atleast you didnt have a full on blow out otherwise shit could have got nasty

**Mr Skid** · 18th February 2007, 09:42

Originally Posted by Gremlin

hmmm depending where hole is, size, etc, you could possibly get away with a dogturd, which will be cheap as.

A dogturd in a tube?

**klingon** · 18th February 2007, 10:00

Originally Posted by Wolf

Noticed the back end was wobbling a bit ... Rear tyre is totally flat.

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?

**blacksheep** · 18th February 2007, 10:06

Originally Posted by Mr Skid

A dogturd in a tube?

exactly what i was thinking,must be a clever bugger

**Madness** · 18th February 2007, 10:34

The world needs more lerts.

How do you get a dog to crap in the right spot?, my dogs walk around in circles for ages before deciding on the perfect spot to pinch one off.

**Disco Dan** · 18th February 2007, 10:49

Originally Posted by klingon

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?

Go to your local gas station and inflate both your tyres to the correct pressure... go for a little ride around the block and back to the gas station.. drop the pressure by 3-4 psi and then take it real easy round the block again and see if you can notice the difference. That way if you ever get in that situation at least you should start to notice things going a bit wrong earlier. And get in the habbit of checking your tyres over for nails etc before every ride.

**j_redley** · 18th February 2007, 10:52

Originally Posted by klingon

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?

Depends which wheel it is that goes flat. A rear flat tyre makes it alot harder to accelerate, and you would notice the handling on corners etc, more dramatically if your travveling at pace.

The front tyre should be a bit more noticably, especially once you know your bike and how it normally performs.

**Wolf** · 18th February 2007, 11:30

Originally Posted by klingon

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?

I was doing well less than 80km/h as I had stopped to fasten my jacket securely and had only just pulled away from the edge of the road - I suspect I may have sustained a puncture when I pulled over.

Over the noise of the bike and my helmet I didn't notice any road noise. Steering was ok, just a distinct wobble in the arse end while travelling in a straight line - as Gremlin said, good thing I wasn't cornering at speed.

I suspect that it wasn't fully deflated when I noticed it but certainly on the way down and it was deflated by the time I carefully pulled over.

**Gremlin** · 18th February 2007, 12:36

Originally Posted by Mr Skid

A dogturd in a tube?

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.

**mstriumph** · 18th February 2007, 12:39

Originally Posted by MAXIMUSDEMERITUS

The world needs more lerts.

How do you get a dog to crap in the right spot?, my dogs walk around in circles for ages before deciding on the perfect spot to pinch one off.

gotta be a veeeeeeeeeeery small dog .....

anyone heard anything of WINJA lately?