Good deed for the day.

[activpop]

My daughter came up for a visit yesterday and as I was checking out her car...oil level, tire pressure, etc I saw she had a nail in one of her tires. I took the wheel off and threw it in the truck and headed over to Discount Tire for a free fix. About four miles from home there were two bikers pulled off in a bad spot. I parked nearby and asked what the problem was. He said he picked up a nail and couldn't ride because it was hitting the frame. I don't know how or why that tire picked this thing up but it was in the tire to the bend. I asked him what he was planning to do. He said he would take his wife's bike home and get the trailer. I told him to sit tight, I'll go home and get my stuff to fix it. Came back with my plug kit and Airmoto and got him good to go.  They were an older couple on two well traveled '17 GSA's and were very appreciative. I felt good about getting them going again and I got on my way to get my tire fixed. Also I think he will be carrying the right tools when going for a ride. It's not like those bikes don't have any storage space.

8

[Pressureangle]

Funny,
On a long ride I'll carry a pump and plug kit. I always have them in the car. 
But I don't always take them on short rides, and one day I'll pay the price.

[p6x]

45 minutes ago, activpop said:

My daughter came up for a visit yesterday and as I was checking out her car...oil level, tire pressure, etc I saw she had a nail in one of her tires. I took the wheel off and threw it in the truck and headed over to Discount Tire for a free fix. About four miles from home there were two bikers pulled off in a bad spot. I parked nearby and asked what the problem was. He said he picked up a nail and couldn't ride because it was hitting the frame. I don't know how or why that tire picked this thing up but it was in the tire to the bend. I asked him what he was planning to do. He said he would take his wife's bike home and get the trailer. I told him to sit tight, I'll go home and get my stuff to fix it. Came back with my plug kit and Airmoto and got him good to go.  They were an older couple on two well traveled '17 GSA's and were very appreciative. I felt good about getting them going again and I got on my way to get my tire fixed. Also I think he will be carrying the right tools when going for a ride. It's not like those bikes don't have any storage space.

8

This reminded me of the good old days, when I started riding. Whatever happened to you, you were NEVER alone. Other motorcyclists would ALWAYS stop to check on you if you were on the side of the road. This was some kind of frat devotion that you would carry forward yourself.

Fortunately, here in Texas, it still happens. I have had people pulling up to check on me many times now. Not motorcyclists, but pickup trucks. The last experience was in Lafayette, a guy had a workshop in his truck, and helped to put the Quota back in running mode.

Thank god for these road saviors...

[p6x]

43 minutes ago, Pressureangle said:

Funny,
On a long ride I'll carry a pump and plug kit. I always have them in the car. 
But I don't always take them on short rides, and one day I'll pay the price.

You won't. Someone will stop to help you. It is in the human nature.

In all that madness that seem to surround us nowadays, you can still find good people aplenty!

Edited March 30 by p6x

[Scud]

I carry kits in the cars, but I have gotten silly with too many bikes, and do not have a kit for each one. So I don't do a good job of swapping the kits between the bikes - and am therefore unlikely to have the kit when I need it. And as I write this, I realize how dumb/cheap I am. If I can afford multiple bikes, I can afford multiple repair kits.

I really like the airmoto pump. Just went to Amazon and it is on sale (28% discount) today. Add to cart...

[activpop]

10 hours ago, Pressureangle said:

But I don't always take them on short rides, and one day I'll pay the price.

I have upgraded my AAA service to include my bikes. My Sport had a bad regulator that left my battery dead 1.5 miles from home. I figured I would get a ride home from someone and hook up the trailer, but then said screw that. I gave them a call. They came and loaded the bike in with great care and backed it right up to my shop. I was impressed...they have a great system for bikes. 

 

[Gmc28]

On 3/30/2025 at 10:32 AM, Scud said:

I carry kits in the cars, but I have gotten silly with too many bikes, and do not have a kit for each one. So I don't do a good job of swapping the kits between the bikes - and am therefore unlikely to have the kit when I need it. And as I write this, I realize how dumb/cheap I am. If I can afford multiple bikes, I can afford multiple repair kits.

I really like the airmoto pump. Just went to Amazon and it is on sale (28% discount) today. Add to cart...

I hear ya.  funny how much time i’ve spent over the years thinking i’ll just get a nice little kit for each bike, then each year I get on a bike and realize it has only a partial kit or no kit, because I probably went on a big ride in previous year and robbed an item from it.  should be so easy, but the tire kit gremlins are sneaky little bastards… 

Small is the usual and obvious goal, so for me the dynaplug little setups are what i usually get (which seem overpriced, but I usually end up with those as they’re small and they work), then either a few co2’s and the adaptor, just to get me to someplace for a proper air fill, or if its a bigger bike with carrying capacity i’m now popping in one of the Fantik (costco, amazon) cordless inflators, since i use those for more subtle pressure adjustments as well.  But it’s the off-road bikes with tubes that give me the headaches… hate having to carry irons, a tube, and all that, because its so much stuff, its a drag to have to use on the trail, and on those kind of bikes there’s less room and more stuff needed.  For ADV bikes i just get or convert to tubeless, but dirt bikes i’m always fiddling with “smaller” vs “easier to use”, based on what mood i’m in that day. 

[Scud]

On 4/4/2025 at 7:31 AM, Gmc28 said:

 But it’s the off-road bikes with tubes that give me the headaches… hate having to carry irons, a tube, and all that, because its so much stuff, its a drag to have to use on the trail, and on those kind of bikes there’s less room and more stuff needed.  For ADV bikes i just get or convert to tubeless, but dirt bikes i’m always fiddling with “smaller” vs “easier to use”, based on what mood i’m in that day. 

For the dirt (Husky 501 same as you) I carry a tool belt that I've outfitted with lightweight tools. Even though I run the Tubliss setup front and rear. I carry the Airmoto pump in the backpack now, since it has 4 pre-set pressures, I have one at set over 100 psi for the small tube and one for about 15, which the max I would run for the knobbies. The pump is less space and wieght than carrying a front tube.

I still carry the tire irons, since they also have the axle nuts on one end. Sometimes, on a longer ADV bike trip, I will put the dirt-bike tool kit in a saddle bag, since it has tape, wire, sockets with T-handle, zip ties, knife, pliers, etc.

[Gmc28]

14 hours ago, Scud said:

For the dirt (Husky 501 same as you) I carry a tool belt that I've outfitted with lightweight tools. Even though I run the Tubliss setup front and rear. I carry the Airmoto pump in the backpack now, since it has 4 pre-set pressures, I have one at set over 100 psi for the small tube and one for about 15, which the max I would run for the knobbies. The pump is less space and wieght than carrying a front tube.

I still carry the tire irons, since they also have the axle nuts on one end. Sometimes, on a longer ADV bike trip, I will put the dirt-bike tool kit in a saddle bag, since it has tape, wire, sockets with T-handle, zip ties, knife, pliers, etc.

I don’t want to derail activepops thread here, but to indulge just a little more…. 

where’d you find tire irons with the axle nut wrenches on the ends for the husky?  great idea… two large-ish tools combined into one.  love that idea.  Update: quick google search reveals lots of options… imagine that.  It’s now dark and rainy, so i’ll get out tomrrow and check those axle nut sizes.

my 501 I use on road as well, connecting sections of off-road, or to get home on all tarmac after days of going 1 direction off road, so i haven’t gone down the tubliss path, though i was going to on my former “all dirt” bike.  I’m toying with a handlebar mount tool bag now for the 501, and a frame mounted tube for tire irons.  problem on the 501 is lack of rear subframe to attach that tool cylinder. 

I used the slime product for years in mexico on our ATV’s, and basically 3/4 of the time it was all that was needed.  seems like more often on the off-road 2-wheelers the flats can be more problematic and not sufficed with slime, mostly because it tends to only work well with the tubeless setups. 

Edited yesterday at 04:24 AM by Gmc28