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Another flat tire

VStarRider

Well travelled
Beautiful ride today. Over 100 miles, with another 30 to go to get home. Bam, another flat tire. Second one in three weeks.

It’s the rear tire. Luckily, both happened at slow speed and I maintained control.

Im currently waiting for a tow and for my wife to come get me.

I replaced the tube after the last flat, last week.

I am not fixing it this time. There’s got to be something wrong … a spoke or something popping through. Is this a warranty issue?
 

Bluestrom13

Well travelled
Location
--'Coventry'....
Commiserations.
I had my first tubed flat in 50 years the other day. 80 miles from home. Got good service from my breakdown service and recovery people tho'.
Sort of annoying tho'. In the last 3 weeks I have mended flats for OTHER people, and this is the reward that fate dishes out.

Anyway, to your problem.
The cause of my puncture was a 5mm x 40 long sheeting bolt, so easy to spot.
(edited to add pic)
SCREWED.jpg

Before you replaced your tube, did you check the tire for "foreign bodies"? (The cause of your first flat - Nail, thorn, etc).
Are you sure the rim tape was positioned correctly?
And, is it possible that the tube could have been "nipped" during last week's efforts?
 
Last edited:

VStarRider

Well travelled
Commiserations.
I had my first tubed flat in 50 years the other day. 80 miles from home. Got good service from my breakdown service and recovery people tho'.
Sort of annoying tho'. In the last 3 weeks I have mended tubed flats for OTHER people, and this is the reward that fate dishes out.

Anyway, to your problem.
The cause of my puncture was a 5mm x 40 long sheeting bolt, so easy to spot.

Before you replaced your tube, did you check the tire for "foreign bodies"? (The cause of your first flat - Nail, thorn, etc).
Are you sure the rim tape was positioned correctly?
And, is it possible that the tube could have been "nipped" during last week's efforts?
No, I did not specifically check the tire for a potential foreign object in the tire. I attributed the flat to a valve stem that broke away from the tube, but it is possible that was not the cause and there may be an object that popped it the first time. I did not see anything on the surface of the tire (such as a nail or screw head), and nothing obvious was in the tire as I was wrestling with the tube getting it back in.

So - it is possible that whatever caused the original flat is still in the tire.

I was pretty careful with the rim tape. There were a few spots where the spoke screw head had caused a small tear. I "repaired" those with 3M electrical tape on the bottom of the rim tape and on top. Who knows what happened when putting it all together. I was as careful as possible, but it was the first time I have done this job.

I will take it to a shop and let them give it a good look over and replace the tube and rim tape. Safe to assume that this is not a warranty item? My RE dealer is 75 miles / 125 km from home anyway.
 

Eatmore Mudd

Moderator
Staff member
Valve stem tears happen when the tire slips on the rim. Slips on the rim usually happen when braking. The root cause is low low pressure, usually due to a leak from punctures.

I'd like suggest poaching any old junk moto wheel off Craigslist and practicing tire removals/installs whenever you get spare time. I'll bet ya lunch that you get REALLY good at it by the 12 time, masterful even.
Then red velvet ropes will part, champagne will rain from the heavens, women will swoon. Not realy but your buddies will be amazed maybe a little jealous of how quickly and easily you fix their flat. Lunch or beer are acceptable thank you gifts 😉
 

Laserman

Well travelled
Staff member
Location
Yuba City, CA
My 5-speed riquimbili was a notorious shearer of 26x2.125 Schrader valve stems when doing too many full-power take-offs, regardless of tire pressure. Back in 2010 it went through 6 tubes in 3 months! I had to go to Tannus Armour and a 1.25" Presta tube to keep it in place. Been okay for about 8K miles, and this is the only tube I have that doesn't run Slime.

I've used Slime for over 30 years in my tubed tires, am very familiar with the quirks involved with it, and ended up using Slime on my Himalayan's rear tube when I got a small puncture back in March. There was a little bit of bleeding out of some spokes at first, but that stopped within a few days and the tube usually drops about 2-3psi a week.

Figure it'll hold up until I replace the rear tire, already have a spare tube.
 

grymsr

Well travelled
Location
Maine
You might consider adding a fender extender to the bottom of th front mudguard...the front tire has a tendency to fling road debris into the path of the back tire...I toured over 60,000 miles on my last bike so-equipped with zero rear flat tires...just a thought
which extender did you choose? pics?
 

VStarRider

Well travelled
Commiserations.
I had my first tubed flat in 50 years the other day. 80 miles from home. Got good service from my breakdown service and recovery people tho'.
Sort of annoying tho'. In the last 3 weeks I have mended flats for OTHER people, and this is the reward that fate dishes out.

Anyway, to your problem.
The cause of my puncture was a 5mm x 40 long sheeting bolt, so easy to spot.
(edited to add pic)
View attachment 5149

Before you replaced your tube, did you check the tire for "foreign bodies"? (The cause of your first flat - Nail, thorn, etc).
Are you sure the rim tape was positioned correctly?
And, is it possible that the tube could have been "nipped" during last week's efforts?
You win the prize. I brought the tire to a local shop, they found a cotter key in the tire. The guy who cashed me out could not say whether it was floating around in the tire, or had punctured the tire and was still in the rubber. Regardless, that is what popped the tube. They replaced the tube and remounted the tire, it was done in less than 24 hours for $45 USD. No complaints here.

Thanks for the advice! Some valuable lessons learned here.
 

Bluestrom13

Well travelled
Location
--'Coventry'....
Thanks for the advice! Some valuable lessons learned here.
And thank YOU for the feedback! It's always welcome.

One more piece of advice....Always 'check-in' your tools after replacing a tyre. :whistle:

Waaay back in the day, a very young man, well, boy really, who shall remain nameless, replaced his very first "real motorcycle" tube and tyre.
All seemed good, but for the life of him, he could not find lever (spoon) #3....
Of course, it couldn't just have vanished into thin air.
And it hadn't.... It had 'vanished' into COMPRESSED air...inside the new tyre. o_O

Miracle was, the young man found it..(applied logic), and the tube remained intact.

As you say..valuable lesson learned. (He only uses two levers these days).:)
 

grymsr

Well travelled
Location
Maine
And thank YOU for the feedback! It's always welcome.

One more piece of advice....Always 'check-in' your tools after replacing a tyre. :whistle:

Waaay back in the day, a very young man, well, boy really, who shall remain nameless, replaced his very first "real motorcycle" tube and tyre.
All seemed good, but for the life of him, he could not find lever (spoon) #3....
Of course, it couldn't just have vanished into thin air.
And it hadn't.... It had 'vanished' into COMPRESSED air...inside the new tyre. o_O

Miracle was, the young man found it..(applied logic), and the tube remained intact.

As you say..valuable lesson learned. (He only uses two levers these days).:)
reminds me of one of my tool check-in failures. I was working on my jeep and after clean up couldn't find a screwdriver. I didn't follow up and headed off for a drive. With no doors and top down, I heard a strange ticking noise. When I finally go where I was going, I noticed something shiny on one of my tires. After grabbing some pliers and tugging on it, I discovered my screwdriver but only the blade. Ten inches of steel running parallel through the thread but no puncture! I drove home and the tire lasted another two years.
 

OldGuy

Well travelled
Location
Seattle,WA
Valve stem tears happen when the tire slips on the rim. Slips on the rim usually happen when braking. The root cause is low low pressure, usually due to a leak from punctures.

I'd like suggest poaching any old junk moto wheel off Craigslist and practicing tire removals/installs whenever you get spare time. I'll bet ya lunch that you get REALLY good at it by the 12 time, masterful even.
Then red velvet ropes will part, champagne will rain from the heavens, women will swoon. Not realy but your buddies will be amazed maybe a little jealous of how quickly and easily you fix their flat. Lunch or beer are acceptable thank you gifts 😉
Halleluya!
 

Laserman

Well travelled
Staff member
Location
Yuba City, CA
BikeSeal sure looks fancy. Those tube sealants are mostly liquid latex, no different effectively than Slime.

One can do both tires on their Himmie with a 16oz bottle of Slime, under $15.
 

OldGuy

Well travelled
Location
Seattle,WA
BikeSeal sure looks fancy. Those tube sealants are mostly liquid latex, no different effectively than Slime.

One can do both tires on their Himmie with a 16oz bottle of Slime, under $15.
Yup, I carry a can in my panniers all the time. I used to own a 2003 Mini Cooper S that came with no spare, so carried 2 cans and a pump at all times. Sold the MC a while back, but it's really cheap insurance.
OG
 
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