Roadside puncture repair?

**awayatc** · 22nd January 2008, 19:51

Most of us will carry some sort of emergency puncture repair kit...but does it work? and have you tried it on your bike? for practice or for real?

Done molesworth with Paulj, who carried levers etc, I had handpump and magic bottle....Paul went Westcoast, I did some Soundseeing.... on my way to Rainbow on my own The dreaded Wobbly.....Did not see anything sticking in my rear tyre, so tried handpump....Most usefull accesory after the newly installed ashtray...
Luckily the large size bottle did the job....ish.

Slowly to the nearest town :Havelock, service station open, but workshop closed being saturday.....Yes I could borrow some levers to get tyre off,what a mission! Young fellow "Noodles" helped and put a patch on....
Won't botter you with all the drama, but without Ivan's very knowledgeable labours I would still be in Havelock (lovely place it is)
Off on the Rainbow-no more "bottle", no levers, no company...late afternoon..
Call it off and go tarseal?
Yeah right, adventure ride it is: I made it just before dark to Hamner...with air in tyres.....

Point is: I could not have fixed it on my own.....had it happened on the rainbow....
So being a proper boyscout...ish, I went out and bought levers, 2 spare tubes,2 magic bottles,repair kit and topbox to store all the crap..... There is a limit to how much adventure I want to put up with in my old and wise years....

And tomorow I am gonna do it just for fun in the backyard.... just to be sure I can do it next time on my own.....
It sounds stupid, but can you?

**tri boy** · 22nd January 2008, 20:07

I think the hardest part on some tyres is breaking the bead. (not all tyres though, and it depends on alot of varying factors).
Theres a wealth of knowledge on ADV world website, but practice is the best.
One thing that alot of people do wrong, is resting the wheel assy on the rubber. It's best to find something that supports it on it's spokes. This makes it a lot easier.
Practice practice practice. It gets easy after a while.

**Transalper** · 22nd January 2008, 20:12

Yes I can, have been up to the job for a fair while now, even done it in the Rainbow when all by my self one evening on the way home the rear tyre on the Transalp (with no center stand) got a nail through it.

Is exactly why I continue to change my own tyres instead if letting the shop do it, just to keep refining my technique.

I do the whole pump up by hand, don't bother with gas cartridges and carry one 19inch tube that can squeeze into my 17inch rear wheel or stretch in to my 21inch front. As a secondary backup I carry a patch kit.

**warewolf** · 22nd January 2008, 20:30

Good plan. This was discussed here during the year.

Personally, um, yep. But there's a twist. I got caught out by a valve stem that had flats machined in the side of the thread, so it would only take a handful of psi before my mtb pump wouldn't seal. Of course, it took a while to work out what was (wasn't) happening.

Generally you only need to carry a 21" front tube as a spare, it will fit in the rear okay. Fit a set of Ultra Heavy Duty tubes, then use the OEM front as your carry-always spare. They're one-third of the weight and bulk of an Ultra HD one.

My latest addition to the kit is a glasses/lens cleaner 40mL spray bottle with a mixture of about 1:5 dishwashing liquid to water. Primo for lubing the tyre, the spray works really well. That's enough to change 3 tyres. The vid in the referenced thread suggests glass cleaner as a better alternative.

**offrd** · 22nd January 2008, 20:56

I changed my back tyre and tube after the EEE run, I could have had firestone change it for free (who you know stuff) but NO

i was going to be the man..

. well i swore and cursed and wished i had not tried, Being too mucho defeat was at this stage NOT an option!

Struggle on...

A while later, the new tyre was on the rim and the nice new HD tube was in, At one point it looked like i could have pinched the tube.... Well it was a heavy duty tube and it would take a bit of a pinch, fingers crossed cause i sure as hell did not want to get the tube back out!

All was fitted up, out came the air line and ... It would not hold air.

Bugger me i aint doing that twice in a day so off to firestone we go!

The buggers laughed their heads off seeing a BRAND new tyre on the rim with a BRAND new tube with TWO bloody pinch holes!

Indeed it cost me nothing to have it repaired, It did cost some blood sweat and tears, well no blood or tears but some mighty colourfull language!

End of the day what i learned from the guys at firestone was good, Yes i will attack my next change or repair.. but.

Use lube, be carefull, start at the valve and finish at the clamp thing.

**blackballs** · 22nd January 2008, 21:08

here's some late night reading on this very subject

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...r+tube+removal

**marks** · 22nd January 2008, 21:15

tire changing was invented by satan

**Peril** · 22nd January 2008, 21:20

So I'm guessing trail side repair means bike laying on it's side? (unless your bike is modern and has a centre stand)
Since I have a puncture on a non running bike at the moment,I might invest in some tyre levers and get a bit of practice for next time since the Motul tyre sealant only just got me home.

**Transalper** · 22nd January 2008, 21:44

I lay mine on its side as needed. No other reliable way with my DR.

**awayatc** · 23rd January 2008, 06:48

Originally Posted by tri boy

I think the hardest part on some tyres is breaking the bead. Practice practice practice. It gets easy after a while.

Indeed imposiible on mine, so bought a "G clamp" for that purpose yesterday, practice day today....

Originally Posted by Transalper

done it in the Rainbow when all by my self one evening on the way home the rear tyre on the Transalp (with no center stand) got a nail through it.

Is exactly why I continue to change my own tyres instead if letting the shop do it, just to keep refining my technique.

Well done....inspirational

Originally Posted by warewolf

Generally you only need to carry a 21" front tube as a spare, it will fit in the rear okay. Fit a set of Ultra Heavy Duty tubes, then use the OEM front as your carry-always spare. They're one-third of the weight and bulk of an Ultra HD one.

My latest addition to the kit is a glasses/lens cleaner 40mL spray bottle with a mixture of about 1:5 dishwashing liquid to water. Primo for lubing the tyre, the spray works really well. That's enough to change 3 tyres. The vid in the referenced thread suggests glass cleaner as a better alternative.

Great info, thanks

Originally Posted by Transalper

I lay mine on its side as needed. No other reliable way with my DR.

I am looking into adding a homebuild centrestand....
On the off chance I come up with "sumfin cleva" , I will shout it out on KB..

**cooneyr** · 23rd January 2008, 07:44

Definatly worth the effort of practicing it yourself. I've never had a shop change a tyre for me and I'm now a whole lot better than I was when I started. There are lots of little techniques so defiantly worth doing some reading as well.

Hardest thing normally is breaking the bead - another bikes side stand works wonders if you are out in the bush and don't have a G clamp or similar.

I made a leg out of an old telescoping tent pole to support the bike so you can take the wheel off. Just put it under the RHS foot peg. I was going to make a center stand but decided the limitations of it were not worth it.

Another thing to think about is the glue in the puncture repair kit. You pretty much have to get another tube once you have opened a tube. It normally dries out and hence goes hard after one use (unless you are fixing punctures every couple of weeks). I've not found a good place for purchasing just the little tubes without a whole kit (dont need any more freekin patches).

Cheers R

**Gizzit** · 23rd January 2008, 19:06

There is excellent info in this thread, and I have learned a lot from reading it. The link is excellent as well.
Thanks to all those guys who have shared their knowledge. This place continues to provide a wealth of information!
Don't think I'll attempt it on the CB1300S ..... as it only has a side stand. I'll have to wait until I get "unlucky" on my next bike.
Cheers,
Grant.

**Peril** · 23rd January 2008, 19:22

Well I can safely say Kenda tyres are a bitch to put back on.Damn they have a stiff sidewall,which led to me pinching my new tube.Oh well.
Might just biff the Kenda and get something else,along with a new tube tomorrow.

**awayatc** · 23rd January 2008, 20:55

Originally Posted by Peril

Well I can safely say Kenda tyres are a bitch to put back on.Damn they have a stiff sidewall,which led to me pinching my new tube.Oh well.
Might just biff the Kenda and get something else,along with a new tube tomorrow.

That is exactly what I meant, so much easier to find out what's what at home....and not somewhere on the backroads where we all wanna be....
Found out today at home a back spoke had broken off causing a slow puncture again....good I was practicing....

Got the tyre off though!!!!! learned a lot again, bought new bearings while I was at it, found out g clamp no good,

of to plan B...
Found a replacement spoke....mision in itself

Anyway should be a bit older and a lot wiser tomorow.....

Yeah right...

**Transalper** · 23rd January 2008, 21:39

Originally Posted by Gizzit

..Don't think I'll attempt it on the CB1300S ..... as it only has a side stand. I'll have to wait until I get "unlucky" on my next bike.
Cheers,
Grant.

I assume the CB1300S also had tubless tyres which will make a lot of this info useless as I'd expect you'd use a plug kit on them.