Re: What do I do if I get a puncture?

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:49:56 GMT, paul c <toledobythesea@oohay.ac> wrote:

|>
|>I've heard many people say that carrying a can of tire-inflating foam is
|>good enough to get you home where you can do a proper repair. I've seen
|>it work myself on a friend's small scooter (70 kph top speed).
|>
It's also "fun" to test the condition of the can after a year or
so...

|>1) Many mechanics where I live refuse to use anything but a mushroom
|>plug on a bike/scoot tubeless tire (this kind requires that the tire be
|>removed, it is inserted from the inside). Reputedly, there are
|>jurisdictions where it is illegal to use an external auto-type plug on a
|>two-wheeler.
|>
That's a bummer, is that the same mushroom plug Curtis Rock was
talking about, he must have bought his Majesty for educational purposes
only...?
I have used external plugs that worked just fine for years...I
usually forgo the rasp some and nearly break my arm in getting it into a
hole 3% the size of the plug......the rasps are usually too wide...
|>
|>My friend commutes on his scoot, about 20,000 klics a year. I was with
|>him once when his rear went flat in about 5 seconds, he had been riding
|>for a few weeks with a quarter inch hole plugged with an auto-style
|>plug. He had extras with him but after several more plugs, none of them
|>would last more than a minute. I went to a local auto store and got a
|>can of foam, which got him home (about 60 klics away).
|>
Foam works great for small punctures, or rim leeks, and also they
work great with external pugs.....

|>I saw him a month later and asked whether it was a bother to clean out
|>the foam (which I've heard tire shops complain about). He didn't know

Yep it's a trip to the big sink, and a lot of scrapping and manual
work that makes a motorcycle mechanic wonder what he spent all those years
in M/C school for....they really don't like that trip...they always let you
know with the huge labor bill.....

|>because he was still commuting every day on the foam! It was another
|>month before he bought a new tire. Now I always carry foam with me, car
|>and scoots, although I think I would avoid highways on my faster scoots
|>if I had put foam in the tires.
|>
Foam does make a shimmy wobble like a car at a certain speed only
then goes away if you ride faster....try to use a minimal amount, but it's
best to be safe, unless your stranded somewhere....

|>Also, it is a great skill to be able to swap a tubeless tire. I think
|>most people can learn to do it themselves and with a bit of hunting, the
|>tools needed might be got for less than the cost of a new tire. Very
|>frustrating at first but with practice one discovers it involves as much
|>"feel" as "muscle". Two-wheeler tires, especially the rear's, don't
|>last nearly as long as a car's tires, sometimes as little as 5,000 klics
|>, so they become vulnerable to the various causes of flats when they
|>might be less than a year old. It is a lot more economical to learn how
|>to change one's own tires when the cost some shops charge to do it might
|>exceed the price of a new tire. I found a local truck tire dealer who
|>changed a few tires for me (after I had removed the wheel myself) and
|>charged only fifteen bucks. But once I saw how quickly it was done,
|>with minimal tools, I determined to practise doing it myself, now I can
|>do it anytime, doesn't matter if the dealer is closed.
|>
Maybe I'll look up your address when I get need a wheel replacement,
the shop's price is usually pretty scary, and unless you have room to work
in, it's no use doing it all yourself....