bmwhd
Well-known member
I'm closing in on 200k miles of lifetime riding (started very late ) but last night was my first experience with losing a tire at speed.
I was heading home from yet another late-night fix of some crisis or another at my mother in law's house when I started smelling burning rubber. I was doing 75-80 on the Interstate south of down town Ft. Worth and it was after midnight. Not the place you want to break down...
Just about the time I started believing the burning rubber was from car in front of me, I noticed the bike was not wanting to steer when I was changing lanes. That was the first indication I had that the front tire had gone completely flat. I managed to make it to the shoulder without dropping the bike (it only wobbled at very low speed) and then limp it to a gas station at the next exit. That station was closing and the owners indicated as they drove off that I did NOT want to be hanging around there after they left. Great...
I couldn't find the puncture and anyway, I'd left my tire kit on the other bike (especially dumb given that bike has tube tires. D'oh!). Fortunately, I've got a good trailer and even better friends and they came and got me.
I rode the bike another couple of miles at walking speed looking for a safer place to wait for them and that front Storm never popped off the bead or gave me any trouble at all. Damn near a run-flat tire!
Lesson 1 - Listen to your brain when it senses something wrong.
Lesson 2 - Don't leave home without puncture kit and air pump.
FWIW, my massive home construction project was the culprit. I've been trying very hard to keep the drive free of nails but I managed to cut the tire on one anyway. It just took a while to fail.
I was heading home from yet another late-night fix of some crisis or another at my mother in law's house when I started smelling burning rubber. I was doing 75-80 on the Interstate south of down town Ft. Worth and it was after midnight. Not the place you want to break down...
Just about the time I started believing the burning rubber was from car in front of me, I noticed the bike was not wanting to steer when I was changing lanes. That was the first indication I had that the front tire had gone completely flat. I managed to make it to the shoulder without dropping the bike (it only wobbled at very low speed) and then limp it to a gas station at the next exit. That station was closing and the owners indicated as they drove off that I did NOT want to be hanging around there after they left. Great...
I couldn't find the puncture and anyway, I'd left my tire kit on the other bike (especially dumb given that bike has tube tires. D'oh!). Fortunately, I've got a good trailer and even better friends and they came and got me.
I rode the bike another couple of miles at walking speed looking for a safer place to wait for them and that front Storm never popped off the bead or gave me any trouble at all. Damn near a run-flat tire!
Lesson 1 - Listen to your brain when it senses something wrong.
Lesson 2 - Don't leave home without puncture kit and air pump.
FWIW, my massive home construction project was the culprit. I've been trying very hard to keep the drive free of nails but I managed to cut the tire on one anyway. It just took a while to fail.