First Flat tire

[dickwol]

I was out last night enjoying what in New York was probably one of the last super warm evenings. On the way home I got on the interstate for the last 5 miles or so and moving at about 70 mph I noticed something strange with the steering. I got off at the next exit which was fairly close to home and thought for sure that something was wrong either with the front end or transmission. I pulled over, got off the bike and noticed that the rear tire was basically flat. There was a gas station a half block away and so I ever so slowly rode it to the station staying to the side of the rode. After pumping her up (these are new tires with only about 1k miles on them) I could hear the air escaping out one of the spoke holes. I felt around the tire for a nail or such but could not locate what it was. I had just enough air to make it home (about 1 mile away) and got it into the garage. Now I'm wondering how to get it to the shop for a reapair which is about 3 miles away. Has anoyne used the Fix a Flat that comes in a can? That would probably give me enough pressure and hopefully temporarily seal the leak to get to the shop. I probably should have gone for a walk with my wife like she suggested instead of heading out for that ride!!

[Spok]

dang shame ****, don't know bout fix a flat, i'm sure somebody here has tried it and will get back to you.

[Scruffy]

Fix a flat? Works fine. Rode from Mobile Alabama to LongBeach Mississippi with a nail in the rear tire of my old Savage. Dealership was warned ahead of time that the tire had fix a flat in it, so they didn't charge me extra to deal with it. Nail hole? Fix a flat is your friend. However, most shops are going to charge you extra if you forget to mention it is in the tire, the rim has to be scrubbed clean with W40 or such before you can put in the new tube. And if it was just a nail in the tread, the shop should patch the tire, add the new tube, and send you on your way. I have one of Dunlop's tire books at the house, and for tube type wheels, if the cords aren't broken (unlikely with just a nail), patch the inner carcass.

Oh, and if you can pop the rear wheel off and just take it to the shop versus the whole bike, you should save a dcent amount of bucks on the job. Shop I'm at will not remove the wheel from the bike, and we still sell/install multiple tires a day.
-Scruffy

[Constrictor]

Do NOT use fix a flat, especially on a spoked wheel! That crap gets over everything and is extremely difficult to get off. It will get in your spoke holes and cause more damage than good. You might want to just remove the whole wheel and bring it into a shop, or bite the bullet and get it towed.

[dickwol]

Originally Posted by Constrictor

Do NOT use fix a flat, especially on a spoked wheel! That crap gets over everything and is extremely difficult to get off. It will get in your spoke holes and cause more damage than good. You might want to just remove the whole wheel and bring it into a shop, or bite the bullet and get it towed.

Thanks for the quick updates! I just got off the phone with the mechanic and he advised me against using Fix a Flat on the spoked wheel. Said, as mentioned here that it would make a huge mess for him that he would have to clean up. Besides, I had just pulled the 2" decking screw out of the tire and had I left it in I might have been able to get hold of an air compressor and maybe could have made it to the shop before it was completely deflated. They are sending a pickup over right now to haul it back for a fix. Will update later with how much this ends up costing. Hopefully not too much.

[woodchucks800]

Originally Posted by Constrictor

Do NOT use fix a flat, especially on a spoked wheel! That crap gets over everything and is extremely difficult to get off. It will get in your spoke holes and cause more damage than good. You might want to just remove the whole wheel and bring it into a shop, or bite the bullet and get it towed.

How's all the fix a flat get around all the spokes when your inflating a tube with it? Is it all coming out of the nail hole in the tube?

[Constrictor]

Originally Posted by woodchucks800

How's all the fix a flat get around all the spokes when your inflating a tube with it? Is it all coming out of the nail hole in the tube?

Fix a flat is designed to expand, similar to how that foamy sealant is that comes in a can that you put around windows in a house. It gets everywhere. Even a small hole in an innertube will leak out onto the inside of the wheel and will just be that much more to cleanup when its being fixed.

I am not a fan of Fix a Flat at ALL, unless it is a last resort thing and its on a wheel/tire that you aren't concerned with the long term durability of.

[woodchucks800]

Originally Posted by Constrictor

I am not a fan of Fix a Flat at ALL, unless it is a last resort thing and its on a wheel/tire that you aren't concerned with the long term durability of.

The last resort is what I'm talking about , you know like having a flat in the middle of nowhere at 9:00 at night a 100 or more miles from home or the close'st repair shop. Flat tires rarely show up in your own driveway (your lucky if they do) or even a mile from the dealer.

[bluestringer]

I had my first on the 800 last week. Picked up a roofing nail in the rear. I had just ordered 2 new Dunlop 404's, so I had to cancel the rear and went ahead and took it off, went to shop and had it replaced with a 404. The front one arrived today, plan on removing it and installing the new one Friday. The stock stone on the rear was really getting thin with almost 10,000 on it. The front still looks good, but it has what looks like weather cracking in it, so I decided to replace it too.

[Chuckster]

Yep, one of my worst fears is getting a flat. Had one two weeks ago. Luckily, it was on my truck. I ride my bike places as I'm sure a lot of you do that I can't even get a cell phone connection much less a tire fixed. And that's mostly on weekends to make matters worse. Nobody's open even if you can find one. I try not to think about it. I may pack a can of "fix-a-flat", but I would only use it if it means the difference in me getting back to civilization or not.

[1990 zx10 owner]

Originally Posted by woodchucks800

The last resort is what I'm talking about , you know like having a flat in the middle of nowhere at 9:00 at night a 100 or more miles from home or the close'st repair shop. Flat tires rarely show up in your own driveway (your lucky if they do) or even a mile from the dealer.

As a Gm tech and speaking from many runins with the stuff on customers tires, I think it is great stuff as a last resort, I keep a can in all my vechicles! On cage tires it is easy to clean off, now on a bike with spokes, hummmmmmm, I am thinking big mess. And yes I have used it a couple times. works like a charm! Need to tell your mechanics that it is in there though, it is a bad suprise to find it in a tire as you are wearing it all over your pants while breaking the bead!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Plato]

When I was shopping for my latest bike (the 05 Nomad), I looked for models without spoked wheels -just for this issue.

I figure patching tubed tires may make them survive an encounter with a nail and thereby save a buck or two. OTOH, I figure my tubeless tires will take a can of fix a flat and help me avoid a 20 mile hike at 0:dark:30

I do carry my cell phone and have a current ROK membership so in theory I can call for a tow and avoid the walk -but like mentioned earlier that probably don't help much in the places I want to tour next summer or on nights and weekends when no shops are even open to fix that tire...

Fix-A-Flat and tubeless tires are my fist line of defense for a flat more than a mile from my home station.