By Bill Kenney
Yup, it happens! Twenty years or so ago, I was riding along on my K100RS when I came across a gaggle of big twin riders parked on the side of the road looking at one motorbike in particular. I waved and kept on my way but decided to turn around and see what was going on. Sure enough the lead bike had run over a nail and had a flat tire. They were in the process of cancelling their ride and sending someone to get a trailer.
They were a friendly bunch and didn’t make fun of me for wearing full gear on an eighty degree day so I dismounted, pulled the nail with my leatherman, plugged the hole with my Stop N Go tire plugger and filled her up with air from a homemade compressor I used to carry. It took me longer to get out of there due to everyone wanting to thank and pay me than it did to do the repair! The last thing I heard was , ” Them f*”N BMW guys have everything!”
So, what is your favorite tire repair kit? And what do you use to replace the air that you lost? In the old days, BMW bikes came with a kit that matched your bike. A patch kit with a tube of glue that was always hard by the time you needed it for the old Airhead riders like Mike Desarro or sticky ropes with CO2 cartridges for the more modern riders with tubeless tires.
I have always carried a compressor of some sort because if you don’t get the repair done correctly the first time, you will run out of CO2 and be stranded. With a 12v compressor you have endless amounts of air. I also carry both types of repair kits, sticky string type and my favorite Stop N Go plug kit. I don’t know why but sometimes one type will fail and the other won’t. The string kit I carry ( photo ) was recommended by a guy in Fairbanks AK when Carl, myself and Craig Cleasby were visiting his tire shop due to Carl abusing the tire on his rental bike. He swears the string kit he has will vulcanize to the tire. I have removed tires that have been repaired and I wouldn’t say they were vulcanized but they were definitely better than what I have seen elsewhere.
The bottom line is that these kits come with great instructions so they can be used by anyone and I believe they are still able to be purchased for less than a hundred dollars. Whether you are five miles from home or five hundred miles, flat tires can ruin your day if not prepared. I prefer tubeless tires as they are safer when punctured and easy to repair. They are safer due to the fact that they will usually stay on the rim while getting the bike stopped, where a tubed tire wants to dismount and can lock up your wheel should that happen. All repairs are considered temporary until the tire is inspected and repaired from the inside of the tire.
I have included photos of the gear that I have and one photo of a puncture that I had on a back mountain road when on a trip with Roy Jackson in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. It is the oddest I have ever seen and to this day I have no idea what caused it. On a side note, I have been told by folks in the know that 99% of the time it is the rear tire that gets the nail. The front tire runs over the nail, stands it upright and BAM!! the rear smashes it and gets a hole!
Some day over coffee you might want to ask a OSBMWR about the time ten guys tried ten times to PLUG Joanne’s tire before one of them realized it had a tube in it !
