F%#ing flat tires!!!

gunslinger_006

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Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
This is going to be a rant, you have been warned.

I got a ride ending puncture in the rear of my tenere a few months ago. Fixed roadside then replaced.

Then two weeks ago the wife’s Prius catches a screw. Out comes the tire plug kit again.

This morning: my buddy comes over on his ktm and mentions the rear isn’t holding air....another screw and this one was huge, ruining a new Road5 with less than 1500 miles on it.

What the hell is with the punctures 2020? Seriously?


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cyclemike4

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Sep 18, 2016
Messages
815
Location
ky
what seems like not so long ago I put new tires on. Rode 15 miles to work and in the parking lot I heard click click click. Park the bike get off and look. I had a 4 inch 10-32 screw in a brand new tire! That sucks. I know it was not the right thing to do but I do keep a close eye on my bikes I did put a plug in that tire and rode it for 8000 miles with no issues. If I had been planning a long trip I would have changed it though.
 

Sierra1

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Nov 7, 2016
Messages
14,812
Location
Joshua TX
Stay off of shoulders when making turns; especially anywhere there's new construction. Even on highways, anything that falls off/out of vehicles, ends up on the shoulders. So, when making a turn, and you move over, the chances go waaaay up for punctures. Another bad time is after heavy rains; all kinds of crap gets washed into the street(s) Around here we don't get a lot of rain, but when we do, it comes down hard and fast, and causes plenty of minor street flooding. The longer we go in between rains, the more crap ends up in the street.
 

bnschroder

2014 Super Tenere ES
Joined
Nov 17, 2014
Messages
559
Location
Atlanta
I was driving on I85 in North Atlanta today and there were three cars within a few hundred feet on the shoulder with flat tires, and then we passed a fourth that was driving with hazard lights and clearly a flat front tire. Guess someone lost a box of nails or screws off their truck. That stinks!
My wife used to pick up roofing nails every time someone had roofers in the neighbor. I started plugging those holes with Slime worms and have had no issues with the fixes. Lame car though: Nissan Leaf - so no high performance tires.


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Stantdm

Active Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
174
Location
Belle Fourche South Dakota
We live on a farm. I think the previous owners must have rebuilt fence and corrals and building and then tossed all the nails and screws into the driveway so they would get good traction in the winter.

We have had around four flats a year since moving here twenty years back.
 

RCinNC

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Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
2,816
Location
North Carolina
Maybe I'm the balance to your bad puncture karma. I've been driving since 1980 and riding a motorcycle since '84, and I've literally never had a puncture in any of my tires. I know that's not helpful for you, but your post made me seriously think about it, and I realized that it's never happened to me.

Of course, now that I've identified this anomaly, the universe will work overtime to correct it.
 

gunslinger_006

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Joined
May 21, 2016
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961
Location
Seattle, Washington
We live on a farm. I think the previous owners must have rebuilt fence and corrals and building and then tossed all the nails and screws into the driveway so they would get good traction in the winter.

We have had around four flats a year since moving here twenty years back.
Man that is terrible. I wonder...could you just buy a super powerful magnet and drag it around where you drive?


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gunslinger_006

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Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
Maybe I'm the balance to your bad puncture karma. I've been driving since 1980 and riding a motorcycle since '84, and I've literally never had a puncture in any of my tires. I know that's not helpful for you, but your post made me seriously think about it, and I realized that it's never happened to me.

Of course, now that I've identified this anomaly, the universe will work overtime to correct it.
Before this fall i went like 15 years event free. Now three in three months, all different types of fasteners: One stainless bolt, one deck screw, and one self tapping finishing screw.


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R

RonH

Guest
I think I've had 100 flat tires over the years. Maybe exagerating a little, but not much. I've had two flat tires whithin a two day period before for sure, and on this Super Tenere with only 800 miles on it, picked up a 8mm bolt about 6" long through the tire. One flat years ago I took out a knife blade about 1" wide by 3" long out of a tire. Last one on a Goldwing never found the object that did the damage, but had a hole 1/2" diameter at least.
Kind of funny in a way that some have more flats than others. Back in 1974/75 a buddy of mine and I had the exact same bicycle, used the exact same tires/tubes and rode all over together. I had too many flats to count, he had nearly zero.
 

gunslinger_006

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Joined
May 21, 2016
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961
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Seattle, Washington
I am very careful about where i ride: never the shoulder, avoid unkempt parking lots, etc....

I think that is part of why ive had mostly good luck in the past.


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Sierra1

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Nov 7, 2016
Messages
14,812
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Joshua TX
Man that is terrible. I wonder...could you just buy a super powerful magnet and drag it around where you drive?
Can't you find those at an H-D dealership? :rolleyes: I thought they sold them so their riders didn't lose any parts that vibrated off. :D
 

yen_powell

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Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Messages
257
Location
UK
I work outside lots and lots of building sites in London and the first thing I look for is spilled screws and nails from the carpenters and the hoarding people, they must chuck half of their entire stock away before each job just for luck! I am very keen on ringing ahead and getting my contractors to have a sweep up of the road outside before I arrive on my bike.
 

Edbo1960

Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2018
Messages
98
Location
Connecticut
When I had my house re-roofed, I bought a broom like device but has a metal magnetic bar instead of a broom to pick up metal objects, I run around the house and property, works great.
 

VRODE

Easy Does It
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
940
Location
Northern Vermont
In my experience the likelihood of you getting a nail in a tire (or dropping your helmet) is directly proportional to how new and expensive it is.
 

gunslinger_006

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Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
When I had my house re-roofed, I bought a broom like device but has a metal magnetic bar instead of a broom to pick up metal objects, I run around the house and property, works great.
This is precisely what i was hoping to recommend to the other guy with the farm. I have seen these used at construction sites.


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