| Author | Message | ||
     Fullpower |
So, after a really busy day at work, I thought i would take a little ride. Temps are way up in the fifties yesterday, so did not bother with leathers, heated vest, etc. Just pulled on helmet and gloves, figured i would ride half an hour then get back to shop and work a couple more hours before dinner. ( It is the BUSY season) Warm the XB up a few minutes, head across town, snap a few small wheelies, redline the lower gears a few times, get some unleaded- 42 miles per gallon around town usage. try to get a buddy to come out and ride... no go. Headed back to the shop, coming down a long grade. top gear standing up on the pegs, arms spread wide... kind of enjoying the "soar like an eagle thing" pretty heavy gust of wind has me sit back in saddle real quick. speed is down to around 50 or so and I hear, and feel, a very loud BANG yes loud. thinking i must have run over a huge rock, or maybe a stout pit bull with a heavy steel collar, i check therearview mirrors, peek around and make sure the muffler straps didn't come loose. nothing amiss. feeling some vibration, but of course there is that big sportster motor down there, so...... thought the bik felt some how different, i am thinking maybe the rear axle snapped? so I am looking around carefully at the bike, still making about 50 MPH, cant see anything amiss, so crank it up to about 65 or so. feels a slight bit loose, but there is a bit of sand on the roads here, so I figure thats about right... My friend Mikeee pulls alongside and is looking at me funny, after half a mile he motions for me to pull over. As you have no doubt guessed, the rear tire was completely flat, with a finger sized jagged hole in center of tread. while the tire was still HOT, I stuffed a few sticky string-type repair plugs in, with some glue, and my brother stopped by with his little 12 volt compressor. ran it up to 38 pounds, and returned to shop. in the morning the tire was flat again, so pulled it off rim, and used an inside patch, the kind with a fat rubber stem that pokes through. Will see how that holds up, I would like to get another thousand miles out of this Pirelli if possible. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Nice. Any idea of what you hit? | ||
| Fullpower |
forgot to mention the rear hugger/mudguard was shattered, central impact probably from the screw or bolt that went in the tire. My biggest surprise of the day was just how STABLE and completely ride-able the bike was with absolutely zero air pressure. | ||
| Ducxl |
That tire is toast,don't put your life on the line for less that $200. it 'aint worth it. Or maybe it is to YOU,but "a few" plugs is waaaaayyy too many. Ride on dude,i'll pray to my god for you. | ||
| Fullpower |
hey ducxl, thanks for the tip there mate. I have a few tires on order, should be here next week. Thought I would try to get some more use from the good part of this rear thanks for the prayers. Ciao. Dean | ||
| Diablobrian |
mine was nothing like stable when I had it happen last homecoming, but even 2 up I was able to bring it down to a safe stop. Pirelli makes a good tire, but do yourself a favor and replace it. A vulcanized patch from the inside while safe and holds air it will change the way the tire performs. If you don't ride that hard then it's no big deal, but a hole large enough to stuff "a few sticky string-type repair plugs" into it is a pretty major hole, and it will have a pretty large effect on the way the tire responds, especially after that area is thickened with a patch and hardened by vulcanizing. | ||
| Tank_bueller |
So you didn't have your hands on the bars, (no problem, I do it too) and your front tire didn't hit "whatever" it was..... Where did the thing come from???? The bike?? I'd be checking for missing bolts. Big ones. Glad to hear the event was "uneventful". | ||
| Etennuly |
Put the patch on, some air in, get the video camera out and burn it 'till it pops again!  Seriously though, keep it off the road with that big of a hole repair. | ||
| Sparky |
Wow, your karma was pulling 100% for you that day! It's a good thing it happened to the rear. Usually the front will just roll over an object like a bolt, nail or piece of metal. But this tends to pick up the object enough so that the rear runs over the end of it. Not much we can do about that. Well, maybe we can...  | ||
| Tom_b |
Depending on the tire and the sidewall strength a rear can pop at highway speeds and still maintain driveability until you slow down due to the centrifugal force of the tire wheel spinning keeping it up so to speak. this has happened to me twice, both times rear tires and till I slowed down it wasn't too weird |
