Rear tire puncture

I was riding up to meet a friend in Boulder last week. The first thing I do before any ride is check my tire pressure - it was fine in the rear, 33 PSI. As I was pulling out of my neighborhood I heard a sound that sounded like something coming loose on my scoot - I stopped and looked, but didn't see anything, so I continued my journey.

About 4 miles later, at about 65MPH, I noticed a slow steering wobble. Shifting weight forward didn't seem help, so I thought I better stop and look the bike over - sure enough the rear tire was flat (probably about 5 to 10 PSI at that point).  I aired it up enough with my portable pump to find the leak (I couldn't see it, so I had to listen for it), and sure enough I saw the cut in the rear tread. 30 minutes of struggling with the plug kit and I had the tire plugged up for a ride home (hint: it would have been good if I tested the plug kit at home when I replaced the previous tire which was worn out - it would have been better to learn that in the garage than the side of the highway - especially since the instructions had a pretty major error). I wasn't going to test my luck and ride further than I needed to with the plug - the tire was quite hot when I plugged it, so I figured it was internally damaged. That's a shame for a tire with maybe 1,000 miles on it.

What amazed me was how non-dramatic this was.  The bike was controllable, even at 65 MPH, with a very flat tire.  I thought it would be more exciting than it was.

I got my replacement tire this week and mounted it up and balanced it yesterday. It took me to the top of Mt. Evans, where I had to try really hard to not gloat while some air-cooled Harley riders kept asking, "So that made it up THIS without any problems?" They were complaining about their bikes overheating, pinging, etc, going up the mountain (it's not a hard ride, but at 14,000+ feet the air doesn't cool things as well, and it's all slow speed riding).  One of them wouldn't start after they shut it off. Etc. But I'm proud to say I didn't gloat (I've learned enough to learn karma will get you if you do...).

One tip for do-it-yourself tire changers: I change multiple tires a year and have always used dish soap + water as tire lube. I splurged for this tire change and bought a gallon of Ruglyde at Napa (this is actual real tire lube).  It cost $15 and will last me years and years.  It does work a lot better than the dish soap, particularly in this hot and dry climate.

Oh, one more thing: At home, when I removed the plug, I found out why that side stand is so damn short. I can't get the bike on the center stand with a flat rear, and if the side stand was longer, it wouldn't support the bike when it has a flat rear.

Ride Enough and flat tires happen. Suggestion on good rubber lube=fine.

I "Ride On" as both balancing agent and sealant an have for several years. For me, throwing bad tire out has always been good idea.

John, just as a note of info for you, the Goldwing rear tire comes off SO easy compared to the Silverwing. A few screws and bolts removes the rear cover under the licence plate, then the rear wheel is held on by 5 lug nuts, just like a car. No exhaust, swing arm, or anything else to remove. From what I've read, Goldwing tires last 15-20K miles.

john grinsel wrote:

Ride Enough and flat tires happen.  Suggestion on good rubber lube=fine.

I "Ride On" as  both balancing agent and sealant an have for several years.  For me, throwing bad tire out has always been good idea.

While I'm usually a firm believer in "Ride On", but I've got a slow leak in my new-er (May/June) rear tire. I haven't found any nails or been able to identify a leak source using soapy water, and Ride On hasn't solved sealed the leak either.

Next step is to remove that rear wheel and drop it in a large bucket of water. Maybe something will show up then.

Seems like I'm spending all this nice weather either watching the grandkids or fixing the scoot. Man, I'm never gonna get to Alaska...

Tim

I'm pretty lucky with tires - In my other vehicles I get maybe one puncture every 250,000 miles or so.

I like my tires balanced with weights - it takes me all of 5 minutes to put the weights on and I think it's better for lots of reasons and frankly probably less work than dealing with tire goop, but I won't start an argument here - to each their own. FWIW, the hole was big enough that I don't think any amount of tire sealant would have kept my tire from going quickly flat. This was definitely a job for a plug. Otherwise being that the tire was already toast from getting so warm, I would have just aired it up and rode (slowly) the 5 miles home without bothering with the plug.

Cosmic_Jumper - you might pay special attention to the bead area. That's where I usually see slow leaks, particularly if I get lazy and don't clean the rim well after removing the old tire. That's also an area that wouldn't get coated with Ride-On. This is probably doubly true if you use a car tire (I don't remember if you do), since the bead area is distinctly different between a car and motorcycle tire, so I imagine getting it to seat well can be difficult.

Good idea on cleaning rim bead area at each tire change----shops usually do not waste much time on doing it.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

I've got a slow leak in my rear tire. I haven't found any nails or been able to identify a leak source using soapy water, and Ride On hasn't solved sealed the leak either.
Next step is to remove that rear wheel and drop it in a large bucket of water. Maybe something will show up then.

Tim

Last year I had exactly the same problem with the rear tyre. Soapy water found air seeping around the bead. Took it to my local spannerman, he cleaned up the rim, put in bead sealant - problem solved.
Last week - same problem with the front tyre! Back to the shop, same solution - all now OK. Ride On (Puncture Safe in UK) won't cure seepage around the bead, you need the rim cleaning at each tyre change to allow the tyre bead to seat properly on the rim.

Graham.

Follow up: This afternoon I did the PITA job of removing the rear wheel. Mind you, I dont have access to a garage, shed or shop, so I'm doing this work in my driveway while laying on an old piece of 'fridge cardboard. After removing the wheel I took it to the back yard hose and used some Dollar Store bubble liquid to check for leaks. The tire beads were sealed okay but the leak was coming from the tire valve where it passes thru the rim.

It may be that when I had the tire mounted at a local Honda dealer that the mechanic replaced the right-angle valve with one that was handy rather than using the appropriate valve. Anyway, the hole in the little plastic valve stem support seems a bit large for the valve stem itself and may have allowed the stem to vibrate enough to cause the rubber seal at the rim to fatigue and crack.

So, whoopee! I get to do this job all over again after I locate the correct Honda part and take the wheel off again and back to the shop to have the new valve put in.

I wonder if bead sealant were used to install the new valve if it would also help seal it. Ride-On or other tire sealant only coats the contact area of the tire and wont cover the rim area because of centrifugal rotation.

Tim

Just my two cents. How about trying a can of Fix-A-Flat? I've used this on several car tires in the past and it works great. If it's a slow leak in the valve stem it might just seal it.

Tires are something not worth screwing around with, particularly on these right-angle valve stems - I'd fix the bad valve stem by replacing it. FWIW, the hole in the plastic standoff is supposed to be larger than the valve itself, and it will vibrate somewhat in the hole.

jmaslak wrote:

Tires are something not worth screwing around with, particularly on these right-angle valve stems - I'd fix the bad valve stem by replacing it.

Agree - I've had both valve stems replaced with metal ones, similar to these, much better. Don't affect handling either. (Just pre-empting a possible question!)

Graham

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/K-L-90-DEGREE-ALUMINUM-TIRE-VALVE-STEM-RIGHT-ANGLE-32-5414-/371121667201?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5668933c81

Valve stems need/should be replaced now and then---for me 30,000-40,000 miles on bike that is less than 2 years old-----older bikes, just do it!!. OEM seems to work best on SilverWing rear for me.

I've just had mine replaced (the rear with a right-angled metal one). The originals were leaking at the base because Ultraseal was eating the inside of the wheel!!!!!

  

All scraped out and washed so ok now. Time will tell.