Sometimes 20 is better than 200...

[Daniel Meyer]

Just got back from my Goodyear dealer...

Turns out I didn't shred the belt...a surprise to me given the size and bluntness of the pin I picked up on the Oklahoma turnpike. <-click for da blog entry





Y'all might recall I string-plugged it (somebody forgot his mushroom plugs) with what had to be 8 year old sticky string plugs left over under my seat. That kept me from having to hoof it down the Oklahoma turnpike and then carried me the rest of the way to Michigan and back.

My philosophy on tire repairs...vulcanizing mushroom plugs on the road (or whatever it takes), and if the tire tread is any good, once home from the trip I pull them and patch from the inside. Heh...should have done it over a week ago...but I've been busy. I've just been keeping an eye on the pressure...or was till I tore up a u-joint a few days ago (143,000-some miles) slamming the big machine through Dallas traffic. Of course there's a blog entry for that too.

Anyway, since the belts were intact, they put a stinger patch in it for me. Good as new!

$20 vs somewhere near $200.

Yeah, 20 is better than 200 sometimes!

I could have done it myself but my Goodyear guy will mount/dismount tires for me and it's a friggen 100 degrees out there today.

U-joint's now replaced as well.

I do believe it's time for me to fly!

(and no, Scott...I still haven't washed her!)

[Normandog]

Daniel, that dirt's been on there so long ya best leave it there. May be all that's holding the bike together. 
I enjoyed the "anatomy of a fat lady's rear end session at Shanty Creek. Thanks. Until then I thought all there was to a fat lady's rear end was two cheeks and crack. 
I've got to quit procrastinating and order me some vulcanizing mushroom plugs. I believe if I'd used one of those instead of the stop and go I'd have made it home from NM on the tire I left home with. 

[Challenger]

I ran over something a couple weeks ago on a less than 4000 mile Metz, when I got stopped, there was wire hanging out of the tread, I string plugged it to get home and the next morning it still had not lost a pound of air. Tire was not salvageable, got to love those cheap little string plugs!

[sandy]

Flat tire story. I met a guy 2 days ago who told me this true tale. He's got a Wing with an aux tank. 11 gal capacity. On his way back from Barrow Pt in Alaska, he hit a big chuck hole. Took out both tires. On the side of the road he removed both wheels. I know: how'd he get the front one off? Then he hitched 400 miles back to the nearest town he could get tires mounted. Two days later he hitched back to his bike and repaired it to continue his journey.

[Chili Pepper]

So I ask you...which vulcanizing mushroom plugs do you use (got a link?) and can they be used with the stop-and-go gun thingy? 

and btw...if you google "vulcanizing mushroom plugs" this post is on page two. You're moving up in the google world, Daniel!   

[Daniel Meyer]

Get them and the glue from patchboy.com

Yes, get the correct size and use them with the stop and go. Throw the plugs that came with it out.

Smear the wound/ream with reamer dipped in cement. Get lots in. Dip the plug, stuff in the gun, dip the tip...lots is good, insert and done! Act fast, but the glue will lube the plug etc.

It doesn't mess up the gun either. It's just rubber cement as far as the gun is concerned and won't stick to steel/peels off.

Give it a few minutes and air it on up. That plug could be considered permenant at that point, but if the tire has decent tread I always pull them down when I get it home and have a stinger patch put in. That is a better repair and also covers the air-liner inside the tire to eliminate slow leaks later (a plug may not and slow leak sometime later in the life of the tire is common with plugs).

[Chili Pepper]

Kewl! Gooey stuff! Thanks, Daniel.