Rubber ball bearings inside of tire

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dcarver

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Changed PR2's today on KrZy8. No complaint, nothing but kudos for these skins..

Central Kali --> Stowe Vt --> Salem Or --> Central Kali --> Lots o' commuting, and finally, these tires are toast.

1.jpg


But, when changing tires, found these little 'ball bearings' inside, at first thought wheel bearing failure.. But the size is too small, the number too many. And the wheel bearings are fine, thank you...

2.jpg


These pix show tire inner side - the goop is lubricant..

3.jpg


I had noticed that when spinning the rear tire during daily pre-ride check flight, I could hear something moving about... and wondered if I had left some debris during tire install.. but I'm pretty careful installing tires so didn't think that was it..

Final shot

4.jpg


Any idea? The 'ball bearings' are soft, can be fingernailed to death, indicating rubber.. But where did it come from? Anyone else have similar experiences? :huh:

 
Any idea? The 'ball bearings' are soft, can be fingernailed to death, indicating rubber.. But where did it come from? Anyone else have similar experiences? :huh:
The bead is sliding on the rim. Last time I saw this was at the gold room when Warchild tried some Contis with ubersoft sidewall. Either you've been a very bad boy out and doing lots of 1/4 mile starts, your tire choice is sketchy (which I don't think as we've had good experiences with the PR), or maybe this slipped for some reason.

 
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The bead is sliding on the rim. Last time I saw this was at the gold room when Warchild tried some Contis with ubersoft sidewall. Either you've been a very bad boy out and doing lots of 1/4 mile starts, your tire choice is sketchy (which I don't think as we've had good experiences with the PR), or maybe this slipped for some reason.
That explains it. I've had a leaky 90 degree valve stem and this tire has run 'soft' for many miles. Interesting, I mark, using indelible pen, where wheel weights have been installed, (so I can tell if one has been thrown) but never the tire to rim position. Easily done, think I'll start..

Also, this time I cleaned the rim bead area with brake kleen and wire brush - it had quite an accumulation of tire gook there.

Thanks Iggie -

dc

 
Just a couple of weeks ago, when spinning the rear wheel.I noticed the sound of something rolling around as well. PR2's just as your's are. This helps to explain the noise. I thought the dealer who did the last tire change had perhaps used something like Dynabeads.

 
Just a couple of weeks ago, when spinning the rear wheel.I noticed the sound of something rolling around as well. PR2's just as your's are. This helps to explain the noise. I thought the dealer who did the last tire change had perhaps used something like Dynabeads.
Still, I have a hard time understanding how the tire could slip *that much* on the rim to create all the 'bearings' inside. The pix show only 1/2 the total, how much rubber/slipping would it take to produce the amount seen?

I thought they looked like little goat turds. Didn't you go through Oregon? Visit Ray or SPU? :eek:
Oh, no, SPU is too much a gentleman..

Ray, on the other hand.... :p

 
I mount 20-30 tires each season and see this a lot. A lot of them are HD products so we know it isn't from burnouts. I think it starts as small pieces rolling around and just grow larger like rolling snow around to make a snow man.

For those of you that don't understand snow. It's like Howie rolling Don in the flour to find the wet spot :rolleyes:

Don, If SPU is such a gentleman, why was he in the goat pen and we were in the shop with you trying to seduce Stormy. :eek:

 
I mount 20-30 tires each season and see this a lot. A lot of them are HD products so we know it isn't from burnouts. I think it starts as small pieces rolling around and just grow larger like rolling snow around to make a snow man.

For those of you that don't understand snow. It's like Howie rolling Don in the flour to find the wet spot :rolleyes:

Don, If SPU is such a gentleman, why was he in the goat pen and we were in the shop with you trying to seduce Stormy. :eek:
Ahh, Stormy, :chickawow: :wub:

So, I got to thinking about these little rubber ball bearings and Iggie's reply - I don't see how any rubber lost by the tire slipping on the rim could work to the *inside* of the tire?

 
Tire Pearls are formed by spontaneous creation. Just like the Big Bang, instantly something from nothing. Or, it is some of the soft inside tire liner that flakes off a little dust and in the fashion of rolling a snowman it starts to ball up over time. At some risk let me say that when we pulled off MEM's rear PR2 she had no balls, but when we pulled off my PR2 I had lots of balls :unsure: :lol: There does seem to be a relationship between running a tire a bit soft and hot that promotes the formation of Tire Pearls.

 
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Talking about warm ,soft,balls and MEM all in the same post could get things off topic in a heartbeat. Just an observation :rolleyes: :dribble:

 
I was wondering where me balls went.... :blink: I lost 'em someplace in Stowe.

Sheila was happy to regain the space in her purse. ;)

 
Tire Pearls are formed by spontaneous creation. Just like the Big Bang, instantly something from nothing. Or, it is some of the soft inside tire liner that flakes off a little dust and in the fashion of rolling a snowman it starts to ball up over time. At some risk let me say that when we pulled off MEM's rear PR2 she had no balls, but when we pulled off my PR2 I had lots of balls :unsure: :lol: There does seem to be a relationship between running a tire a bit soft and hot that promotes the formation of Tire Pearls.
Don,

Alan explained it right there! It's a guy thing. (also, it's better to have little ones' than none at all!) ;)

 
Those look like pictures of some poor bastards "Colonoscopy Fail" :dribble:
Speaking of colonoscopies:

Colonoscopy Journal:

 

I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.

 

A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis . ..

 

Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.

 

I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!'

 

 

I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America 's enemies.

 

 

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous.

 

Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.

 

 

Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug.. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon..

 

 

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose, watery bowel movement may result.'

 

 

This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

 

 

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything.. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

 

 

After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.

 

 

The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

 

 

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked..

 

 

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep.

At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.

 

 

When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere.. I was seriously nervous at this point.

 

Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.

 

 

There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate.

 

 

'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me.

 

 

'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

 

 

I have no idea. Really. I slept through it.. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.

 

 

Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that IT was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

 

 

 

On the subject of Colonoscopies...

Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous..... A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:

 

 

1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone before!'

 

 

2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'

 

 

3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'

 

 

4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'

 

 

5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'

 

 

6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'

 

 

7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out....'

 

 

8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'

 

 

9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!'

 

 

10.. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'

 

 

11.. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'

 

 

12.. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'

 

 

And the best one of all:

13.. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?'

 
Those look like pictures of some poor bastards "Colonoscopy Fail" :dribble:
Speaking of colonoscopies:

Colonoscopy Journal:

 

I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.

 

A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis . ..

 

Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.

 

I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!'

 

 

I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America 's enemies.

 

 

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous.

 

Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.

 

 

Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug.. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon..

 

 

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose, watery bowel movement may result.'

 

 

This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

 

 

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything.. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

 

 

After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.

 

 

The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

 

 

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked..

 

 

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep.

At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.

 

 

When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere.. I was seriously nervous at this point.

 

Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.

 

 

There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate.

 

 

'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me.

 

 

'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

 

 

I have no idea. Really. I slept through it.. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.

 

 

Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that IT was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

 

 

 

On the subject of Colonoscopies...

Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous..... A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:

 

 

1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone before!'

 

 

2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'

 

 

3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'

 

 

4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'

 

 

5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'

 

 

6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'

 

 

7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out....'

 

 

8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'

 

 

9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!'

 

 

10.. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'

 

 

11.. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'

 

 

12.. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'

 

 

And the best one of all:

13.. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?'

Doc , "What are you doing with a hand on each shoulder?"

 
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