Experience with flat tire in no signal zone.

[deftoner]

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]As one who really has made a lot of bad decisions, I think there's a big difference between those and things that were learning experiences before I learned better. On that note, I'd like to say thanks to the OP (Deftone) because this is one of those threads where folks can live, learn, and share. [/font]

Yup. I ride motorcycles for years, I did long trips around brasil, Uruguay, argentina, and now I'm starting to do it here in the USA. I bought the bike with the 2 plugs that I say for first time when I came back from key west (since the slime started to leak from them) both where not visible, I checked the tires. I changed the plugs, in first place because I wanted to inspect the size of the hole and be sure that the plug is correctly on, and I mostly did THIS trip to test it. I'm on my city, 15 miles from home, what can go wrong? I didnt know that 10 miles from home there was a signal black hole... hahahaha!

I'm planing to do a trip to north Caroline in 2 weeks (need to ask in other post good points and routes too). I was about to change the tires anyway, but still don't know a good place to do it. I had BAD experience with guys that marked all my rims when changing tires...

I'm a tech guy, and I want to be prepared always, I have a sat phone, I have radio, I have a BT adapter to talk between phone without signal. But again, i didnt know that 10 miles from home I will be on a signal cero zone.

But in other hand I learned new things, about slime (I will never use it again), and how to try to inflate a tire out of the rim... and that people clicked more on pictures where my wife is. LOL

thanks for the reply

 

[Blind Squirrel]

I was going to suggest switching your phone to Verizon, but it looks like that is a dead zone for all phone companies. The next best thing would be the Delorme.

 

[~TABASCO~]

This has happened to me before. Had a nail in the tire for about two hundred miles and I was doing about 70 down the highway with a flat rear. The K60 felt totally normal until I stopped for gas. The bead broke on the tire on both sides and almost came off the rim completely. I put it up on the center stand, plugged in my pump and started the pump going. Found the hole and plugged it. Then I kept the pump running and grabbed the tire and shook it back and forth up against both sides of the rim, I don't know if I got really luck but it seated right up in about twenty seconds and I stood up and let it finish pumping up... Put everything away, hopped up on the bike and ran that rear tire just like that for another six months. I will say because I was running the tire at speed for a long time, the tire was HOT, that might of helped seal up the beads again... I think that was just a cheep slime pump from Wal-mart...

 

[deftoner]

I was going to suggest switching your phone to Verizon, but it looks like that is a dead zone for all phone companies. The next best thing would be the Delorme.

I guess is something about the indian reserv. Because there is a lot of houses around there and traffic, so I thing is on purpose
.

 

[deftoner]

This has happened to me before. Had a nail in the tire for about two hundred miles and I was doing about 70 down the highway with a flat rear. The K60 felt totally normal until I stopped for gas. The bead broke on the tire on both sides and almost came off the rim completely. I put it up on the center stand, plugged in my pump and started the pump going. Found the hole and plugged it. Then I kept the pump running and grabbed the tire and shook it back and forth up against both sides of the rim, I don't know if I got really luck but it seated right up in about twenty seconds and I stood up and let it finish pumping up... Put everything away, hopped up on the bike and ran that rear tire just like that for another six months. I will say because I was running the tire at speed for a long time, the tire was HOT, that might of helped seal up the beads again... I think that was just a cheep slime pump from Wal-mart...

this look like you had a personal angel...

 

[FrontRangeRider]

Get a Delorme Inreach, like a Spot, but you can text via GPS. So you could text a friend or family and have them call a tow truck or come help. Talk to a guy on the road once who had the same issue of a flat out of a dirt road somewhere. His spot saved him, being able to contact a tow company and get help.

+1

I use an InReach and can text family members to ask them to send help when I do not have signal to call AAA. I also use it when riding the backcountry alone; I turn it on and SWMBO can query my location. I can also send her a free message to check in or to ask her to send help. Finally, I carry it in whatever vehicle I am driving/ riding in the event I encounter a vehicle accident in an area without cell phone coverage. Happened last week at the top of Gore Pass during a motorcycle trip; one of our numbers went down hard and there was no signal to call for help.

 

[EricV]

+25 on Slime causing the plugs to come out.

I have had a similar experience to Tobasco's, also with a K60. 2nd leg of the IBR, I took a 25 mile gravel road short cut and was romping pretty good, standing on the pegs and flying along. Hit pavement and the rear tire got loud, then really LOUD and I realized my rear K60 was flat. Pulled over in the middle of Canadian farm land no where, see the rear tire off the bead, manage to get the bike up on the center stand, (no small feat with full bags and a nearly full fuel cell, as well as the flat tire), and get my tools out. By the time I was ready to go to work, the hot tire had re-sealed itself on the beads, so I put some air in, found the nail, pulled that and reamed the bejesus out of it, then installed a sticky string plug, which quickly vulcanized to the hot tire. By the time I had pressure up to normal, all the tools were put away. Trimmed the plug excess and ran that tire the rest of the leg, swapped it out for the third leg and shipped it home. Put it back on and ran it to end of life later w/o issues.

A good sticky string repair becomes part of the tire and just as strong.

As a side note, the state police motor cops, where I used to live in Oregon, would run plugged tires up to three plugs, as long as they were A. In the tread and B. no two in the same quarter of the tire.

When we talk about plugging tires, I only believe in sticky string type plugs that vulcanize to the tire and become part of it. Just filling the hole with a rubber plug is only good enough to get you somewhere that you can fix the tire correctly or replace it. The sticky string is a permanent repair, when done correctly.

edit - and I carry a short ratchet strap just for tire repairs now too. One with a good handle for really cranking it down tight. That trick works. ::013::

 

[Velvet]

As a side note, the state police motor cops, where I used to live in Oregon, would run plugged tires up to three plugs, as long as they were A. In the tread and B. no two in the same quarter of the tire.

Wow....thats very interesting that the department would actually let them plug a tire on a motorcycle. When I was on motors for New Mexico State Police it was strictly VERBOTEN to plug a tire on our BMW RT's. ::005:: We all carried the BMW supplied plug/inflator kits but those were only used to get the bike to the nearest dealer for a new tire.

 

[EricV]

Moto cops ride on the shoulder a lot. And there is a lot of debris there. Just a sad state of being that they suffer a lot of flats. Having ridden on plugged tires for tens of thousands of miles, it's just a waste of a good tire in most cases to toss it simply because it needed a hole repaired. I'm surprised NM could afford that expense. And that someone in the Dept didn't toss those crappy BMW repair kits and get you some real repair kits that do permanent repairs.

 

[deftoner]

+1

I use an InReach and can text family members to ask them to send help when I do not have signal to call AAA. I also use it when riding the backcountry alone; I turn it on and SWMBO can query my location. I can also send her a free message to check in or to ask her to send help. Finally, I carry it in whatever vehicle I am driving/ riding in the event I encounter a vehicle accident in an area without cell phone coverage. Happened last week at the top of Gore Pass during a motorcycle trip; one of our numbers went down hard and there was no signal to call for help.

Thanks both, I'll look into it!

I already have a sat phone but need to activate each time that I plan a trip, and its a little expensive.

 

[deftoner]

Moto cops ride on the shoulder a lot. And there is a lot of debris there. Just a sad state of being that they suffer a lot of flats. Having ridden on plugged tires for tens of thousands of miles, it's just a waste of a good tire in most cases to toss it simply because it needed a hole repaired. I'm surprised NM could afford that expense. And that someone in the Dept didn't toss those crappy BMW repair kits and get you some real repair kits that do permanent repairs.

That's true, every time that I saw them riding on the dirt on the shoulder I can't stop thinking how much time the end up on a tire shop hahaha

thanks for the reply

 

[Velvet]

Moto cops ride on the shoulder a lot. And there is a lot of debris there. Just a sad state of being that they suffer a lot of flats. Having ridden on plugged tires for tens of thousands of miles, it's just a waste of a good tire in most cases to toss it simply because it needed a hole repaired. I'm surprised NM could afford that expense. And that someone in the Dept didn't toss those crappy BMW repair kits and get you some real repair kits that do permanent repairs.

The department has no problem with repairing car or truck tires, but not motorcycles. I suppose that they felt that it was a safety factor and it certainly made me feel better, especially with the speeds that were attained at times coupled with the desert heat.

I never actually used those BMW kits and I always had my Stop n Go kit and Slime pump with me. I had three flats in nine years of motors, so maybe our road shoulders are a bit cleaner.

 

[FrontRangeRider]

Thanks both, I'll look into it!

I already have a sat phone but need to activate each time that I plan a trip, and its a little expensive.

After you buy the device and pay activation fee, the InReach "Safety Plan" costs $12.54 per month to operate. That gives you unlimited pre-defined messages (that you define with a set group of addressees) and 10 "free form" messages. After that, messages cost you $0.50 each. If you choose the "Freedom Plan," it costs more per month but you can turn it off and on a month at a time.

 

[Philistine]

Well I might be over Cautious, but for me plugs are a way to fix my tyre out on the road and get me home ::008::, then that's it !!! New tyre for that rim :'(
I think that once the tyre has been punched you have no idea what has happened to the steel belts in that casing and with the tyres carrying about 380Kg from gravel roads to highways and twist's ::26:: there is NO WAY I will be trusting that tyre again Its just not worth it ::005::

As for inflating the tyre Always take the Valve out and that will give you a little more volume flowing into the tyre, but you probably already know that ::008::

 

[Velvet]

Well I might be over Cautious, but for me plugs are a way to fix my tyre out on the road and get me home ::008::, then that's it !!! New tyre for that rim :'(
I think that once the tyre has been punched you have no idea what has happened to the steel belts in that casing and with the tyres carrying about 380Kg from gravel roads to highways and twist's ::26:: there is NO WAY I will be trusting that tyre again Its just not worth it ::005

Amen, brother! ::012::

 

[EricV]

We all have our comfort level, and nothing wrong with that. ::008::

One additional comment about this, why do riders think the world is going to immediately end if a plugged tire loses air? I've had more flats than I can count over the last 300k miles or so and never once did I not have warning that the tire was low. Most often a lot and no danger of loss of control, regardless of speed being traveled.

If your steering is getting wooden, your front tire is low. If the back is weaving, odds are your rear tire is low. Stiff sidewall tires, (and in some cases higher speeds), reduce the warning, but any rider that's paying any attention at all is going to notice a difference.

There is a big difference between a rubber plug stuffed in a hole and a self vulcanizing repair string. The former is only a temporary repair to get you someplace where it can be replaced or repaired correctly. I don't bother carrying those. The later is a permanent repair, that if done correctly, (that doesn't always happen by the side of the road), will last the life of the tire and be just as strong. Any cut steel belts won't impact a sticky string repair. They can cut a rubber plug though.

And if you're really paranoid, or the damage is larger than a simple nail/screw hole, there is the from the inside patch/plug style repairs. I have one of those on a tire that required two plugs to seal on the road side, but was still leaking some air. When I got home it got un-mounted and taken to a tire shop for a proper repair, and has been running highway speeds to rocky dirt paths ever since w/o losing any air.

Ok, off the ::009:: now.

 

[caillou]

And if you are stuck in the middle of no-where with a flat that can't be repaired with a patch or a string, you can put a tube in your tire and go back home. I'm sure many will say that it is not recommended, or did not even think it was possible but many adventure bikes have flat fixed with a trip because that is the only way to finish the... well, the trip. BTDT.

 

[Velvet]

There is a big difference between a rubber plug stuffed in a hole and a self vulcanizing repair string. The former is only a temporary repair to get you someplace where it can be replaced or repaired correctly. I don't bother carrying those. The later is a permanent repair, that if done correctly, (that doesn't always happen by the side of the road), will last the life of the tire and be just as strong. Any cut steel belts won't impact a sticky string repair. They can cut a rubber plug though.

I once contradicted my tire philosophy when I had a flat on a big twin Harley. I plugged the puncture with my Stop n Go kit then forgot about it continuing to ride the for another 5-6,000 miles until the tire was down to wear indicators. The plug worked like a charm and the tire never lost air anymore than normal.

Well, Eric, though I'm not conceding the use of plugs, but based on your experience I think that I just may carry a quality vulcanizing string kit now. I like the term "permanent repair" that you inserted above. ::008:: I have never actually used strings.


Ok, I'm now slowly stepping off of the ::009::

 

[patrickg450]

Well I might be over Cautious, but for me plugs are a way to fix my tyre out on the road and get me home ::008::, then that's it !!! New tyre for that rim :'(
I think that once the tyre has been punched you have no idea what has happened to the steel belts in that casing and with the tyres carrying about 380Kg from gravel roads to highways and twist's ::26:: there is NO WAY I will be trusting that tyre again Its just not worth it ::005::

As for inflating the tyre Always take the Valve out and that will give you a little more volume flowing into the tyre, but you probably already know that ::008::

Man, if I had to buy a new tires after every hole I put in it I'd never get more than a few thousand miles out of one..............and I'd be poor.

 

[yz454]

I could not afford the bike if I had to buy new tire every time I got a flat .