flat tires!*#+<"

[desert1]

I was interested in hearing from you Xsives out there who've had flat tires in the middle of nowhere and how you've delt with it. Especially those of you who have repaired the flat with a patch kit, how long did it take you? Did you have tire irons or substitute? How did you get a pump or did you carry one?
Anyway , lets here the tales of woe and the triumphant repair jobs as well......maybe we all could learn from your trials and tribulations!

Bruce Doucette
78XS1100 Hell of a bike!
79XS1100 Special.....

[Doyle]

re: flats

Bruce, besides my XS, I ride a pretty improved KLR dualsport and last summer went over 11 mountain passes (primative) on the thing with other fast riding friends. Over 3 months, there were about 4 flats amoung us. 3 of them were repaired using fix a flat that we always carried, the 4th tore the tire carcass apart on a really sharp boulder, 2 of us broke away and brought a 4wd truck back. Of the 3 fix a flats, 1 of them required an additional can every hour to stay inflated. These were all tube situations deep in the wilderness. Our rule was, whenever farther than 40 miles from trucks or home, bring a tube, fix a flat cans, 3 tire bead prying tools, obvious regular tools, hand cleaner and patience! Oh yeah, carry the tube size for your largest tire, it'll temporarily work in either tire. Later, Doyle

[Geezer]

My best recommendation is to carry a tube on long distance tours. It beats the hell out of carrying the wheel a long ways to get the tire patched.

Geezer

[TopCatGr58]

I would think a spare tube would be a bit tough to install without having to pull the tire! Plus you would have to remove the valve stem assembly on a tubeless setup. I had flat on my ole TX500 twin while riding in Japan, the shop just pried the tire loose, pulled the tube out and patched it on the bike!

I carry a can of Fix-a-Flat with me along with a plug kit for bigger holes! I haven't gotten a patch kit, guess I should, but then again, the plug should work for most simple punctures until I can get it to a shop for a proper internal patch! Course, now I have a trailer, so I would just need to bum a ride back to get it if it was really bad!!
T.C.

[pgg]

Keep a tyre pando (fix a flat) wired up under the back mudguard.

[KurtG]

Like the earlier poster I have a KLR650 and have become adept at changing and patching tubes in the boonies. However for street bikes I much prefer tubeless tires since I have had good success putting plugs in them from the outside with the tire still on the bike, and yes I know the tire companies will tell you not to do that so decide for yourself. The point I'm getting to is that the XS11 Standard started using tubeless wheels late in the '79 model year and they often pop up on ebay. The tubeless wheels are clearly stamped with "approved for tubeless" on one of the spokes. I found a set last year for about $75.00.

[mastan]

During the last two years, I've experienced 3 flats. Two were local, but the last one was 200 miles from home in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, a motorcycle mechanic who had a shop not 3 miles from where I was stranded happened by and picked me up.
That experience led me to try ride-on this year. Installation was a breeze. I was a little concerned about the tires becoming unbalanced, but everything went fine. I'll let you know how it works. I have been looking for tubeless wheels for the beast, but I thought I'd try this first.
I bought the ride-on from their web site at www.ride-on.com. It got great reviews from Rider magazine this year.
Mark Stanton

[Never2L84Ridin]

A goup of us went on a journey(much like everyone else's). One of the guys in the group drove over a tack lookin' thing. Luckily one of the other riders had fix-a-flat on his bike. It lasted him on the trip and I think since then he took the tire in to get it fixed. While patching is better, in a pinch the fix-a-flat does the trick

Kevin

[Phyxius]

Thanks for the heads-up on Ride-On, Mark. Looks like I'll be making yet another addition to the ol' gal, but this sounds to be something very worth my while. Have a very slow leak in my rear tire (just had to put air in after 3 months of riding), and this sounds like just the thing. They mention the possibility of a slight vibration for the first 5-10 miles until the sealant coats your tires. Any truth to this?

Again, thanks for the info. Safe riding to all of us.

[mastan]

There was a VERY slight vibration at 40mph for the first 2 miles, then it evened out beautifully. If anything, it seems to have put the tires in better balance. Also be aware that if you let the bike sit for extended periods of time, you will have the same situation.
Mark Stanton