A Good Chooice in Tire Repair Kits

[Greg Field]

After trying everything from bicycle pumps to electric pumps to CO2, here's the tire kit I found to be the best and handiest for use on a Guzzi. It's got an engine pump, patches for tubes, plugs for tubeless tires, and the tools to insert the plugs. It all fits in a handy little bag that stows under the seat of my V11 or in the saddlebag of the Eldo. You could even shove it in a jacket pocket. It takes up 1/4 the room of the smallest electrical pump and weighs less than half. You can't ever run out of cartridges, though you can run out of plugs if you have a very bad day. Carry at least five.

 

The plugs it comes with are the sticky, rope-type plugs. These are far better than those mushroom plugs for use in any tire that has steel cords or belts. Why? Those cords will eventually cut right through the stem of the mushroom plugs, and the plugs'll get sucked into your tire, and the tire will go flat. This happened to me several times before I gave up on them. Best of all are the thicker, brown plugs made for car tires that you can get at any good auto-parts store. I buy these and throw them into the kit. The pic below shows one I installed when I got a flat 90 miles from home on the way back to the National.

 

 

Yes, I know the tire is worn out. The left side had been roasted 1500 miles ago, so I spent most of the way back hanging off the left side and leaning the bike right and riding any reverse road crown I could find to shift more of the wear to the right side of the tire in effort to nurse it home. Stupid? Probably.

 

 

That metal end is the pump itself. Thread it into one spark plug hole. Once you start the bike, compression from the engine drives a piston in there to pump fresh air into the tire. Be sure to ground the unused plug and wire to the engine somewhere to prevent damage to your ignition.

 

 

The other end screws solidly onto the valve stem. After plugging your tire, start the bike, rev it a little, and the tire'll be up to pressure faster than you could ever believe. I think that little pump'd be able to seat a bead, if it had to.

 

These are available from any Parts Unlimited dealer. We have 'em at Moto Intl., if your local dealer does not stock them.

[Guest ratchethack]

Best of all are the thicker, brown plugs made for car tires that you can get at any good auto-parts store.

I've carried these for years, used maybe a dozen on my own and others' tires, put many thousands of miles on them, and have yet to see one fail.

[Tom M]

Another good thing to carry if you have the room is a gauge like the one below. You can add or bleed air while the chuck is clamped on your valve stem. Very handy if you or a buddy needs to add a few pounds at a gas station with an air chuck that won't fit past your brake disk.

 

[FalcoLion]

Greg,

 

I got stupid question. If this air pump goes into a place of your spark plug, how do you start an engine with one spark plug?

[John in Leeds]

These are available from any Parts Unlimited dealer. We have 'em at Moto Intl., if your local dealer does not stock them.

 

 

A great idea, better than carrying the electric pump. Thank you

[Slavomir Musilek (R.I.P.)]

Greg,

 

I got stupid question. If this air pump goes into a place of your spark plug, how do you start an engine with one spark plug?

 

it will start even with one spark, dont worry.

[Dan M]

+1 on the brown rope plugs. Better than a patch as the hole is sealed all the way through so there is no ply degradation from water rusting the belt. The only time they won't work is if the injury is too big. I prefer CO2 just for size limitations. I carry a kit in each bike with 3 cartridges. Two will inflate a tire enough to limp to a gas station.

 

Edit: On the earlier issue of not knowing when to change a tire without center grooves, it is time for the tire pictured

[Guest ratchethack]

Edit: On the earlier issue of not knowing when to change a tire without center grooves, it is time for the tire pictured

But, . . . but DAN -- how could you possibly have deduced wot for so many seems such a bafflement and a mystery??

 

Enquiring minds. . .(well, you know). . .

 

Good call. Without even looking at it, the wonky handling would've been my first wake-up call.

 

But o' course, that's just me.

[Greg Field]

When I left for the National, that tire had 1800 miles or so on it. In the past, they had always lasted 7,500 miles, so I felt pretty comfortable leaving on a 3,500-mile trip on them.

 

The center wasn't bare until the last 50 miles or so before that pic. The left side, however was completely roasted and had been nursed 1500 miles by that point by staying off the power in left curves and by leaning it right on the straights to bias the wear to the right side. Worked like a charm but was strenuous. Had I been home, I'd've changed the tire 1,500 miles ago. I was in the middle of nowhere, though, and I do not trust anyone else to work on my bikes. Note that the plug is to fill a hole in the bare area on the left side of the tire. I must've picked up a nail in a curve. There was no wonky handling until the tire went flat. Even a brand new tire goes wonky when flat.

[tmcafe]

Weird for the tire to wear out so fast. You've run the Stradas before, right? What do you suspect this time?

[Greg Field]

Heavy load. High speeds. Thousands of miles of twisties and full throttle while leaned over. It sure was fun.