| Author | Message | ||||||||||||
     Spike |
I picked up something in the rear tire of my Ulysses on my way home from work earlier this week and ended up with a flat tire. As it turns out I was only a few miles from home, so I was able to have my wife pick me up. While I was waiting on the side of the road it occurred to me that I should have a better plan for dealing with flat tires. All three of the flat tires I've had while riding were due to something puncturing the tire (bolt, allen wrench, etc.) and could have been repaired with a standard rope plug. I could easily carry a few plugs and the tool to install them, but putting air back in the tire is another story. There are plenty of tire repair kits out there that use CO2 cartridges to refill the tire, but I've never tried those and I'm not sure how well they work. Another option would be to carry a small air compressor, it would just be a matter of finding one small enough to fit on the bike somewhere. What do you guys do for flats? Have any of you tried the tire repair kits? | ||||||||||||
| Newbolt |
I have used the progressive plug kit with success. You can find them on the progressive suspension website. They are around $50. To fill tires I found a compressor at Walmart for $8. It looks rather big, but with some modification you can pare down the size. I removed the case then the plastic cooling fan. I cut the cigarette lighter plug off and soldered on a connection for a battery tender so it hooks to the connector on the bikes. I have not had to use it since I put them system in my bag. I use the pump all the time to adjust tire pressure. Hope that helps. | ||||||||||||
| Terribletim |
I go home, get my trailer and take it to Psyco Bros. Hard Core Customs! They are right down the street from home, and good friends! | ||||||||||||
| Twig |
Spike, thanks for bringing up the subject. I do well over half of my riding by myself, and carry a spare drive belt and tools in the tailbag, but no backup for a flat tire. Just plain ole stupidity on my part. From what I've heard, the cartridges will give out enough air to get you to a gas station. Aerostich has a $39 compact compressor that might be worth trying out. I'll probably order one in a couple of weeks along with a string plug kit. | ||||||||||||
| Cowboy |
go to wal-mart and pick up a pump like used for basket balls(they are dirt cheap)they are small and can be hide any where on the bike. Will give you enough air to reach a station if you dont get to wild.String plugs dont take up much space eather. | ||||||||||||
| M2nc |
Hey Spike - Here is what I posted on a different thread on the topic. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/406 2/335307.html I am glad to report that after a week the tire was still at 42# cold. No pressure loss at all. So with the kit and air pump I can fix a flat on the road. | ||||||||||||
| Deadduck |
http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet /Product?storeId=10101&Pr=p_Product.CATENTRY_ID%3A 2007536&productId=2007536&catalogId=10111 well long thread link but a cheap alternative to carrying a compressor around, or a pump for that matter. Back in my BMW days, everybody I've ever rode with carried these things. | ||||||||||||
| Spike |
I did some measuring under the seat of my Ulysses. The storage area under the seat is at least 8" x 6.5" x 3". That's more than enough room for one of these:  http://www.slime.com/product_111_Power_Sport_Tire_ Inflator_(40001).html | ||||||||||||
| Dynasport |
I bought a Slime air compressor from JP Cycles. It comes with lots of options for power and is pretty small. I have used it to add air to my car tires and it worked fine. Not really fast, but it worked and I like all the options it came with. This is not where I got it, but it looks like it is the same one. http://www.ascycles.com/detail.aspx?ID=44175 | ||||||||||||
| Corporatemonkey |
I have one of these. Best motorcycle air-compressor made http://bestrestproducts.com/celestia/products/cycl epump/ | ||||||||||||
| Danger_dave |
Innovations plug kit and co2 bottles. fits under the uly seat. | ||||||||||||
| Jlnance |
 Click picture for more info. I bought two of those after rubberdown fixed a flat for me on the side of the BRP, exhausting his CO2 supply. It's $20, the gauge is accurate, and it works. Can't really claim it works better than any of the other pumps show, but options are good. I know you're a tank bag person, but going with the more options are better theme, I ride with one of these on the back of the bike.  If you throw up the tripple tail, it's very easy to strap on (there are stays under the seat.) The pump, plug kit, and a bunch of tools will fit in the bottom of the bag. I also carry a quart of oil and some disposable funnels in there. The Uly seat is long enough that having the bag does not take any of the room you would actually use. In fact, you can strap a sleeping bag in front of the bag and still have enough room to ride on the bike. | ||||||||||||
| Spike |
Jim N.- How big is that air pump? Will it fit under the seat of the Ulysses? I'm trying to piece together a complete tire kit that will fit under the seat. That way I'll always have it with me and it's not taking up space in my tank bag. | ||||||||||||
| Reepicheep |
I carry a can of pressurized tire slime, and a rope kit. The if the slime holds well, it's just done, and I keep riding. If the slime holds badly, I used to have the tire professionally patched from the inside... but now I have access to a Harbor Freight changer so I will probably patch from the inside myself. If the tire is near shot anyway, I plug with the rope, and ride it home to install a new tire. I have a small bicycle pump (about the size of a really big cigar) with the right schrader valve packed on the bike as well. I expect actually using it to fill a motorcycle tire would be something between "really really sucks" and "flat out impossible"... but it takes up little enough space that its worth carrying along, even if its a bad option. Given the number of garages and cars with air pumps installed, I am guessing that your best bet would be 1 hr a week in the gym (so you can push your bike 1/4 mile to the nearest house) or a paper and fat marker to make a sign that reads ("Need Air") would be just as effective. | ||||||||||||
| Honu |
I also carried a small bicycle air pump and two 12 gram co2 cartridges with a plug kit. Then I decided to test both air supplys, let all the air out of the rear, the two 12 gram co2's put about 6-8 psig into the tire, the small bicycle pump, like Reepicheep said needed more effort than I had in me. So I did what Corporatemonkey did and bought the cyclepump, it works great.  | ||||||||||||
| Spike |
I found this table for the co2 cartridges:
http://www.genuineinnovations.com/yieldchart.aspx The way I see this working in my head is that I will end up wasting at least one of the cartridges while fiddling with the kit on the side of the road. I also assume that the numbers in the chart above are in optimum conditions, so I'd expect my results to be at least 10% lower. On top of that, while 20psi would be enough to keep the tire on the wheel I don't consider that to be a ridable pressure. I figure I'd want at least 30psi in the tire before I'd consider it fixed, especially if I'm riding two-up or have the bike loaded down with gear. Considering all that, I'd want my kit to include at least 4 of the 45g cartridges or 6 of the 16g cartridges. | ||||||||||||
| Thumper74 |
Not to mention they're one time use... You'll spend $15 a can for the 45gram cans. A pump would probably last the life of the bike. I see the benefits of the co2 cans in a time sensitive environment like a rally or cross country racing... I wonder if there would be a way to rig up a nitrogen tank (for paintballing) to dispense air for your tires... I'm not really too thrilled about keeping high pressure canister's on my bike. I th | ||||||||||||
| M2nc |
I was riding back from C3jr ride with my 12yo daughter on Devil's Race Track no less when I notice the bike was wallowing in the curves. I knew the tire was low so I slowed down. At the end of the road there is church, a volunteer fire station and old cinder block garage. No one was around but sure enough the rear tire was flat. I noticed an air line on a hook out side the old garage. I decided to give it a try and sure enough, it was live. Pumped up the rear tire and rode the bike the five - ten miles to the dealership. From there I called the wife to come get us. Can't plan on that kind of luck. I will have to see if my pump will fit under the seat. I think it is a little too wide though. The great thing about the pump is that its powerful enough to seat the bead on the rim during a tire change. | ||||||||||||
| Spike |
That could be quite a benefit for repairing a flat tire. While trying to limp home on my flat tire earlier this week I noticed that the bead was working its way loose. If it had become fully unseated there's no way you'd get it back with just co2. | ||||||||||||
| Igneroid |
I haven't had the pleasure of fixing these tubeless tires bikes like my M2 use but have fixed many tubeless log truck tires on the side of some desolate mountain in the middle of the night. To get the bead to seat, I would spray some starting fluid in to the tire and while the anemic compressor is pumping air into the unseated tire, use a lit straw or stick to ignite the starting fluid. The small explosion seats the bead right now. I wouldn't recommend this procedure to pyromaniacs or anyone with no comprehension of how volatile starting fluid is( a little squert is enuff, ask me how I know). | ||||||||||||
| Thumper74 |
I watched a tire blow up once doing that... | ||||||||||||
| Igneroid |
I watched a tire blow up once doing that... Were you there that day?? I didnt recognize anyone till the ringing in my ears subsided and my vision returned... | ||||||||||||
| Frankfast |
Plugging at tire for me would only be a temporary fix. I plugged a tire once and it lasted about a week with no pressure lost. Then, doing about 60mph it blew with no warning. The rear was wobbling all over until I got it slowed down. From now on I'll always replace the tire no matter how new. | ||||||||||||
| Hughlysses |
I had a flat ~100 miles into a long weekend trip last Thanksgiving. Plugged it and thought I was OK but developed a slow leak. Subsequent plugs kept blowing out. Ended up stranding me on my return trip until I could replace the tire. I was NOT happy. I did a lot of research on available types of plugs. Complete info and links here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/320852.html?1196206433 I already had a Stop-n-Go kit and cheap Walmart air pump (which works well). I wound up buying a Safety Seal kit too. I figure between the two plug kits I can pretty much seal up any kind of puncture short of a big cut. | ||||||||||||
| Ikeman |
I've got the Slime kit as well. Fits under the seat on the Uly just fine. Haven't had to use it on the road but I have used it for bicycle tires and a basketball. I got it as a gift so I'm not complaining... | ||||||||||||
| U4euh |
THE SLIME KIT- I bought it when I worked @ auto zone. Promptly took out all the extra 12v plugs and put in a tire plug kit and glue. Hadn't had to use it on the road, but I know it works on a car tire. Plus the one at auto zone comes with a zippered case to put the extra goodies in. Don't know if the one online does or not. | ||||||||||||
| Jlnance |
Spike - I haven't tried to fit it under the seat, but I expect it would fit. Here is a story which will illustrate why I now carry an electric pump rather than CO2. I was riding with rubberdown on the Parkway. We were headed to Mitchel and I was running a plugged tire. All of a sudden the bike wants to turn and I realize I've lost the plug. I stop on the side of the parkway and Mike comes back a few minutes later. I have nothing with me. Mike has a Stop-N-Go kit with CO2. We put a new new Stop-N-Go plug in, and inflate the tire with the CO2. It takes a LOT of CO2 to inflate a motorcycle tire. We used up ALL Mike's CO2 and probably had 15 PSI in the tire. Then we cut the stem off the plug and watched in horror as it plug was slowly pulled into the tire. Our precious CO2 as now squirting out the hole. Mike had the good sense to put his finger over the hole as we tried to figure out what to do. Our solution was to load up the plugger, ram another plug into the hole, and not to cut the stem off this one. That actually worked, and I rode back into civilization with a terribly underinfated tire with a plug stem sticking out of it. Thats the problem with CO2. You get one shot. If it doesn't work, you're toast. Or you can carry a lot of CO2. But given you can get an air pump for $20, investing in $50 worth of CO2 makes little sense. Beyond that there are times when you're out somewhere and you or a friend needs some air. You don't have to evaluate whether it's really important enough to blow a CO2 cartridge if you have a pump handy. | ||||||||||||
| Jk3campbell |
I have a CO2 kit for now but used to carry a small bicycle pump. I actually tested it before carrying it just to make sure it would work. about 50 pumps got me 1 PSI in a 160 rear tire. Its a PITA but it can work. I'm looking for a pump that can fit under the Uly seat now. | ||||||||||||
| Igneroid |
Has anyone tried those cans of "Tire REpair" you can get at Canadian Tire or most parts stores? They are just a can with a hose that screws on to your valve stem. Apparently it sqwerts some kind of gorrilla snot into your tire that plugs the hole. |
