Flat on the Fly

By Rod Kilduff

A while ago, while it was still summer, I took a little ride to blow the cobwebs off and just because. I didn’t ride much this year due to several outside factors and needed a fix. I have a favorite loop I take, one of several, that takes me north out of Conway on Hwy 25, through Wooster to Hwy 285 up to Damascus then west on 285 to 92 and south on 9 to Morrilton and then back in on 64. A variation will take me south on 9 to 113 and 60 and back to Conway. It just depends on how time I have and how good the ride is.

Anyway, this particular day I headed out on my Airhead, since the K was still awaiting paint and this is a good Airhead kind of ride. Oh yeah, the K is all fixed now, looking good as new. I plan to ride it on our New Years Day run so you may see it then.

I was heading north on 285, just a few miles north of Wooster when I suddenly started hearing a loud clicking sound out of the back. I slowed down and so did the click. It seemed to follow the speed of rear wheel. ???? So I whipped into someone’s driveway. A nice new one with lots of space, parked the bike got off and started looking. Hmm, first thought was a flat, nope, the tire seemed plenty hard and pressure checked out. I couldn’t see any sticks caught in the back. I rolled it back and forth a bit and heard nothing? Maybe it was that truck that passed me at about the same time and not the bike at all? So I got back on and started to ride out and click, click, click.

OK so it was me. I then got to wondering if it was something in the drive shaft. So I borrowed a piece of lumber to get the rear wheel off the ground, I have a ride off stand, so I could spin the wheel and listen and look. That’s when I saw it. A 4 inch nail sticking out of the side of the tire in the edge of the tread just below the side wall. It must have been hitting something, probably the swing arm as it rotated. It was protruding about an inch or so. My bike has snowflake wheels, but I am running tubeless. There is a lot controversy about running these wheels tubeless but I choose to do it for just this reason. With tubes I would have had a flat right then! Instead the tire was holding pressure with a 4 inch nail sticking out of it!

Well my plug kit was home in the garage of course! So what to do? I decided to just drive the nail the rest of the way in and then ride it home, which is exactly what I did. I used a brick for a hammer.

My plug kit is one of those Stop & Go Tire Plugger kits. It has mushroom headed plugs that get inserted from the outside with a pistol looking device. I have had it for a few years and never used it. So I decided to try it out. I first read the directions carefully. It recommended practicing once or twice to get the feel of it and learn how to properly insert the plug, etc. You will need to do that.

The plug is inserted into the lubricated ‘gun’ barrel first. There is a pointed probe tool that has a funnel shaped sleeve called the nozzle adapter that screws onto it. You remove the nail, and the tire goes flat. Then you insert the probe into the hole and seat the probe and the nozzle adapter. Then you unscrew the probe from the adapter and remove the probe leaving the adapter in place in the hole. Next you carefully screw the ‘gun’ barrel to the nozzle adapter. Then you use the gun lever to force the plug through the adapter into the tire. There is a definite technique here, which is why you need to practice. Once you have the feel it’s is actually pretty straight forward. When the plug goes into the tire and out of the nozzle the mushroom head will expand. Then you carefully remove the gun and nozzle together leaving the plug in the tire. The stem of the plug will be left sticking out of the hole. Then you take some pliers and pull on the stem to seat the head on the inside. The directions say to stretch the stem 1 to 2 inches to accomplish this. Then just cut off the remaining stem even with the tread. Add air with the method of your choice and off you go. Standard disclaimer information applies about the plug being a temporary repair and to keep speed down, go no more 100 miles to a permanent repair. I suspect that there is healthy margin of safety though. The whole process should take less than 15 minutes if you are practiced and it can be done with the tire still mounted, I did.

Well everything worked as advertised as far as I could tell. My tires were pretty worn though so I replaced both about month later. In that time the tire held air pressure just fine. When I had the new tires mounted I inspected the repair and found that I had not pulled the mushroom head far enough against the inside of the tire. I probably needed to lube the stem a bit more, I was a rather sparing with the lube. The kit comes with lubricant that is standard 10W30 motor oil. I will do some further testing on some old tires I have to polish my technique. But the plug worked fine anyway.

I would definitely recommend this kit over the ‘String’ type plugs. I have used those on my car and still had leaks. The kit is a bit expensive, but the last time I had a flat on my airhead I was running tubes and I was five hours getting things repaired. That’s a long story for another time. I will take 15 minutes to repair the tire any time over that.

Ride safe and Wear the Gear!

Great Truths That Little Children Have learned

Compliments of Lee Kubicki

Moto Guzzi Newsletter

1. No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize a cat.

2. When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don’t let her brush your hair.

3. If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.

4. Never ask your 3 year old brother to hold a tomato.

5. You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.

6. Don’t sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

7. Never hold a Dust-Buster and cat at the same time.

8. You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

9. Don’t wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

10. The best place to be when you’re sad is Grandpa’s lap.

Ride Report

Gwen Rakes

As promised, a few lines on Bikes, Blues and Barbeque in Fayetteville. I went down on Saturday, it was a beautiful day, the report was that there were over 50,000 bikes in attendance, and as many as I saw on the road and around town, also every motel was packed, so the numbers were probably correct. I know a back place to park near Dixon St. so got in with no trouble, there are no cars allowed in the rally area, only bikes, and one can ride in and through the crowds with ease. I wandered around the vendors, they had a lot of new ones there this year, of course mostly geared to Harley riders, but there were some others. I tried to find some BBQ to eat as it smelled so good, but after walking up and down the line could not find the end of any of them so I gave up on food, as I didn’t need it anyway! Instead I found a place on the street and watched the parade of bikes, did see a few BMW’s and Triumphs, but mostly Harleys and Hondas. It was reported that people came from Florida and Alaska this year. This rally is going to be the third biggest in the USA at the rate it’s going, and I wonder where they will find room for everyone as it gets bigger. Sunday there was a steady stream of bikes on I-540 riding in the rain as everyone started home. It was worth the short ride to see it all, and plan to go again next year.

I

From the Editor’s Desk

by Mike

2004 Dues

Please Pay Your Dues! The rates are still the same bargain at $10 per individual and $15 per family. Send to:

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Wanted Newsletter Material: Always

We are always soliciting for newsletter articles. Send that article you have always intended to write. Many thanks to those of you; who have submitted material already. You are allowed to send in more. Send the materials to: Mike Wingfield, 2402 S. Taylor, Little Rock, AR 72204, or e-mail to: CMWINGFIELD@UALR.EDU.

New Members

Welcome to:

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Bob and Shirley Forbes

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Activities

Naturally Beemer Annual Meeting, Noon, March 27th

Western Sizzlin’, Conway, Arkansas. Off I-40 at exit 127,turn west toward downtown, then look left at the first traffic light past the interstate.

Doo Dah Tax Revolt Rally, Village Creek State Park, Forrest City Arkansas.

Wilderness Rally, April 15-17, close to Harriet Arkansas.

Annual Naturally Beemers Club Campout, May 14-16, 2004. Location to follow in next newsletter.……

Arkansas Guzzi Rally, June 16-18, Eureka Springs KOA, Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

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BMWMOA CLUB #181 Chartered 2/88

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Steering Committee

Otto Ising…..........................President

Barry Phillips…..............Vice President

Elmer Sveda…......................Activities

Jerry Reynolds…...................Treasurer

Rod Kilduff…………………. .Secretary

Annual Membership Dues:

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