What do I do if I get a puncture?

 Sorry if this sounds an obvious question but I am new on the motorcycle
scene.
I have just passed the CBT and bought a Honda Varadero 125cc.
I love riding the bike and have notched up many miles already.

The only thing that concerns me is what do I do if I get a puncture.
Is there some product that you clever people use?
What do you use or am I just in the hands of a relay service?

Am help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 Dickie Bird wrote:

The big question is whether you have tube-type or tubeless tires, as
fixing them requires different procedures.

Tubeless, there are kits to plug the puncture from outside that if
used properly work fine.  In the US any auto parts store has them.
After you put in a plug though keep an eye on it for a
while--sometimes they stick and stay forever, sometimes they blow out
right quick, sometimes they work for a while and then start to leak.

Tube type, if the puncture is not too bad, "Slime" (brand name for a
puncture sealant in a can) or a similar product may seal it well
enough to get you home, (this also works on tubeless but when it comes
time to change the tire you'll bt sorry you did--it's a dirty enough
job anyway) but if not then you have to pull the tire half way off the
rim and patch or replace the tube (make sure that you got whatever
punctured it out before you fix the tube, and make sure you got _all_
of it, otherwise you'll just have to do it over right away).  If
you've never done that, do it a couple of times at home to be sure
you've got the procedure down.  And you'll have to carry a patch kit
and/or spare tube as well as tire irons.

You'll also be wanting a portable compressor--again "Slime" makes an
inexpensive one (model 40001) that works a treat on tube type tires
and tubeless that aren't off the rim (I even seated the bead on a set
of TKC80s with it, didn't flow enough air to seat Trailwings though,
so don't count on it doing that).  You can also get CO2 inflators that
are a little more compact but they're also one-shot.



--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

 

I carry the biggest can of latex-based Seal N Air (or equivalent) that
I can find.

Slime and that other glycol-based TEMPORARY sealer are corrosive, they
will eat up your wheels from the inside. Slime damaged two of my
aluminum rims.

First time I ever heard about the problem, a rider put Slime into his
aluminum ATV
wheels and the corrosive Slime ate holes in them. Slime pretended they
didn't even know the stuff was corrosive. They bought the guy's wheels
from him for lab testing.

They tried to claim that there might have been some problem in the
formulation of that one batch. What a crock of shit. Slime has a pH of
about 8.0 or 9.0. It's naturally corrosive.

Slime and the other glycol-based sealer use glycol for one reason
only: it doesn't freeze. The glycol flows to the leak and carries some
grey lint to the hole and that plugs the hole.

Back in the 1920's Model T Ford drivers used to pour condensed milk
into leaky tires and the milk would flow to the leak and seal it.
Unfortunately, the water in milk freezes.

Latex-based sealers like Seal N Air make more sense, because latex is
vegetable rubber and it will stick to natural rubber inner tubes and
natural rubber tubeless tires.

You'll hear people say that they never use latex-based sealers because
they don't want "their" mechanic to get mad at them.

That's weird. Who gives a fuck whether the Tire Ape at the motorcycle
store is angry about the gooey latex inside your wheel, if the sealer
did its job and got home home from after a puncture?

Another thing the Tire Apes complain about is that the propellant
inside the Seal N Air can is supposedly hazardous to them in case
there's a spark that could supposedly cause an *explosion*, believe it
or not.

That's like their old wives' tale about hooking up a battery wrong
when jump starting a car and getting a hyydrogen explosion.

Actually, the biggest occupational hazard to Tire Apes is setting
their nose hairs on fire while lighting their crack pipe.

 


when jump starting a car and getting a hyydrogen explosion.

My best friend has one eye. He lost the other one when a battery exploded
when he hooked it up wrong. He rides a motorcycle very well though with one
eye. Likes to be right out front when we're in a large group...

I watched my Dad blow the whole top off the car battery when I was a little
kid by hooking it up wrong. No one got hurt. Car started and we got it
home...

 
|>
|>My best friend has one eye. He lost the other one when a battery exploded
|>when he hooked it up wrong. He rides a motorcycle very well though with one
|>eye. Likes to be right out front when we're in a large group...
|>
|>I watched my Dad blow the whole top off the car battery when I was a little
|>kid by hooking it up wrong. No one got hurt. Car started and we got it
|>home...

    I guess that's why they invented the Maintenance Free "Screwed"
battery lids, instead of the replenishing cells I liked so much.

    The chemical cartridge batteries were my favorite and very difficult
to re-open after you pop the lid on it, but the new semi/gel ones are pretty
bullet proof for negligent incidents .