What do you think? Was it just that I got off too easy on the first
two flats, or what?
In September 2020, a week after returning from our second motorcycle tour across America on US 20, I went to pull the Goldwing out of the garage, only to discover that the rear tire was flat. No worries, with nearly 10,000 miles on the tires, they were needing to be replaced. Then only two weeks later, I went into that same garage to do some maintenance on the FJR. And what did I find? You bet, a flat...rear...tire. So, having never had a flat on a motorcycle before, I now had not one, but two such beast. Though honestly, in the garage and not out on the road. Yeah, pretty simple I must admit.
But wait, the story continues. No, I’m going to sell you “Ginsu Knives”. Ha! Only a day prior I had called my mechanic in order to schedule the purchase and mounting of tires a month from now in late June, a week prior to my annual Oregon ride.
And then comes yesterday. My big plan was an attempt to confirm the mileage and time for a Memorial Day ride that I organize annually. Fueled up, my hope was to ride the entire 150 miles, stopping long enough only to write down information for a few landmarks or checkpoints. All was going as hoped until, well … it wasn’t.
Again, I’ve had two flats before, but as I mentioned above, both were in the garage. I had no concept of what a flat might feel like while riding a motorcycle. This experience to me, it was similar to driving my car while the alignment is absolutely out. I had no ‘counter-steering’ control. And honestly I was not initially thinking tires. The good news, only a short distance from my awareness of a problem I was able to pull into a service station. Immediately upon lifting the bike onto the center stand did I realize that yes, in fact, I have a flat.
A couple years ago I had purchased a ‘Dynaplug’ for those emergency tire moments. The only issue is that I tried to use this device on both of the garage flats without success. I wasn’t even able to push the plug into the hole. And this even included drilling a small pilot hole. Because of this information I had chatted with my mechanic who had heard good things about a product called ‘Stop & Go’ Pocket Tire Plugger. I not only purchased one right then, I had both it and the ‘Dynaplug’ on the bike at the time of the flat.
Within
the ‘Stop & Go’ kit are eight items, including more than a
dozen plugs (I honestly hope that I never have to use that many ~~
just saying), as well as the pump and great instructions. The only
additional item required are pliers, which should be an obvious part
of anyone's tool kit. Right?
After placing a plug, I attempted to fill the tire. Quickly I discovered that a second plug would be required for this flat. The second plug proved to be sufficient! Inflating the tire took approximately 7 minutes with the pump within the kit, and the FJR was back on the road. Sweet!
I did stop to check the pressure about 30 miles into my 75 mile return home. Only a pound or two was lost. By the following morning the tire had lost all of it’s pressure. That said, I consider the mission a success!
I’ve averaged 10,000 miles in the saddle per year over the past
eight years. Whether you’re able to put on that many miles or
simply a few thousand around your home, I would surely consider
adding the ‘Stop & Go’ as part of your routine tool kit. For
me, this kit is a definite thumbs up! 100% ... And no, I don't receive anything from the company. But ....
