When the fairies strike - a motorbike?

[661-Pete]

Pardon my ignorance, I have no experience of PTWs but I know lots of you guys have. Are we allowed to use the P-word in this setting? Anyway, one of my colleagues was this evening in a right lather, unable to get a garage to come out to fix his puncture - apparently getting the wheel off a motorbike is no mean task. In the end, I think, he had to abandon his wheels and take the train home.

Any useful tips I can pass on (when he's more or less conversational again tomorrow)? How often does this happen?

 

[Norm]

Doesn't happen often but he should join the AA.

You can get puncture repair kits for motorbike tyres. They involve finding the hole, squeezing in a load of glue (I know it's not really glue but let's call it that because it's easier than typing vulcanising gunk), pushing in a rubber mushroom and hoping that it all bonds. Then using a couple of CO2 cylinders to get pressure back in. BMW kits are allegedly quite good but I'm in the AA so I have called on them both times (in about 100k miles) that I've had a puncture.

You might take along a track pump if you have one. That's what I use to keep the motorbike tyres up to pressure.

Of course and depending on the bike, taking the back tyre off might be fairly easy. Have a Google on the make/model, you might even find something on YouTube.

 

[potsy]

Pardon my ignorance, I have no experience of PTWs but I know lots of you guys have. Are we allowed to use the P-word in this setting? Anyway, one of my colleagues was this evening in a right lather, unable to get a garage to come out to fix his puncture - apparently getting the wheel off a motorbike is no mean task. In the end, I think, he had to abandon his wheels and take the train home.

Any useful tips I can pass on (when he's more or less conversational again tomorrow)? How often does this happen?

Don't they just use the spray stuff that seals and inflates,then get to a garage later?Never ridden one but that's what I assume.

 

[weevil]

The best answer is to get some sort of recovery cover, either included in insurance, or independantly.

How often does it happen? I guess I've had half a dozen p*nct*r*s in 20 years of motorcycling. In my experience, they're more common as the tyres reach the end of their life, which is a good reason to change early. I have had one in a 100 mile-old rear tyre, which is galling, given the £120 cost of the replacement.

As for roadside changes, that depends upon the bike in question. Less sporty bikes may have a centrestand, which would facilitate wheel removal, but most bikes' tool kits wouldn't really be up to the job. BMW's excellent kits may be the exception.

For those with sub-optimal toolkits, or no centrestand, the best solution is one of these

http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/products_id/6830

They're intended as a get-you-home repair, with a speed limit of about 50mph. However, I know of at least one rider who treated such repairs as permanent on his bikes and happily rode them with complete abandon. He worked as a motorcycle tyre fitter, so could easily have replaced the tyres if he had any concerns over the durability. YMMV!

<Damn! Norm clearly types faster than I.>

 

[amnesia]

I have had one in a 100 mile-old rear tyre, which is galling, given the £120 cost of the replacement.

Me too - got a nail in my rear tyre on the way home from getting a new tyre fitted a few years back

I was NOT happy.

 

[Norm]

<Damn! Norm clearly types faster than I.>

Yes, but you remembered the warning about the very limited speed until they are properly fixed.

 

[weevil]

Yes, but you remembered the warning about the very limited speed until they are properly fixed.

I remembered to state it. I might not always have abided by it