punctures

[BruKen]

Got caught out 100 plus plenty miles from home with a nail in the rear tyre. The assortment of tools needed to repair a puncture on the road is fairly extensive so unless on tour I don't bother. Well for a 15p patch I was forced instead to call breakdown recovery  instead. Who and what is the best plan to cover these irritations. Short of carrying a kilo plus of akward tools in a backpack, what clever ideas are there. Not much space under the seat for anything useful :(

[rf9rider]

Can of tyre weld seems to be a popular choice, dunno if it would fit under the seat though.
Strap a can somewhere on the bike?

[Mustang]

Same happened to me once , thankfully Mrs. M was there too and she patiently waited on the side of the road while I went home on her bike and got the trailer , we were about a 100 from home too.............

the pig is too big and 6 plys metzlers don't come off so easy on the side of the road . In theory you are supposed to be able to ride the bike in a slow speed circle on the flat and the tire will come off the bead for you , never tried it myself , the trailer option was so much easier  :D

[Nick Calne]

Is the tyre weld stuff safe to use with inner tubes?

[NeilD]

its 'supposed' to be, although I think it depends on what has caused the punture, anything too long can tear the tube, which I dont think it will seal.. I've always gone straight to the recovery option...   :?

[akendall1966]

Slime is avail in two types tubed and  tubeless. Tho' you supposed to put  it in as a preventitive measure not a repair once you have a puncture. Never used  it in the steamer but read of its use in big trailees

[rybes]

i used some slime stuff once for a while. bloody good at its job. had a slow puncture that would take about a week to go flat. thought to meself, this stuffs crap im gunna get somenew tubes. when the tyre came off i found the cause of me puncture. a small piece of stainless tig wire was stuck in it. then i saw the hole in the tube. musta been all of 2 inches long and jagged. my opion changed then, it works well. only prob i found with it was it made the steerin a bit slower otherwise gets a thumbs up from me  :D

[Rocinante]

I´ve done quite a few puncture repairs at the side of the road, maybe 8-10 in all, and it´s doable with the right tools. The challenge is that some tyres are a real pain to work with, especially getting it off the rim. Sometimes it´s been fairly easy, other times I´ve had help and still we struggled.

But as said, it´s doable. The tools you need is two tyre irons, patches (or spare tube if on a longer trip), one leg jack (or center stand) and a hand pump. Either bring it in a small pack or find fixed places on the bike.The one leg jack and pump can be hidden behind each of the rear side panels, strapped along the rear sub frame. The irons goes under the seat, and the rest is small enough to go in front of the rear light.

The jack is something like this:

While the bike is on the side stand, the jack goes either under the swing arm for the rear wheel or under the engine guard for the front. Use a zip tie or other remedy to keep it from sliding out of position.

The rest is practice practice. Getting the tyre off the rim can be hell or it can be easy. See videos on youtube and practice.

First time this happened to me was in front of a hospitable house in Oregon, and we practiced with cold beer at hand. The next time and for three days in a row due to a bad spell, it happened in Copper Canyon in Mexico, with nothing but warm water at hand. Here´s an example of a modern marriage:

Photo: Me