jordan@greipa.UUCP (Jordan K. Hubbard) (05/10/85)
Uh, all this talk of tires and flats ect. has re-awakened an old
fear of mine. Namely, what happens when one of your tires blows
at 55+ MPH? I travel about 80 miles a day on my bike (freeway) and
frequently glance at my front tire wondering "gee, if it blew out,
I would...".. Has this ever happened to anyone? Front or back tire?
Does the bike do anything that might be construed as fatal?
Do bike tires even 'blow out' that often? Hope not..
Apprehensively..
--
Jordan K. Hubbard
@ Genstar Rental Electronics.
Palo Alto, CA.
{sun, decwrl, dual}!twg!greipa!jordan
Leave me alone.felcher@reed.UUCP (William Abernathy) (05/11/85)
I had a front wheel blowout last summer and would like to relate to all what occurred.
Having made a tire change that same day, I discovered the ease with which one can put nasty nicks in inner tubes. "No sweat" says I, putting no fewer than four patches on my front tube,"it holds air and it's a new tire, so it should
keep pressure.". A friend wanted a ride to the airport, "No problem", I say,
tossing her a helmet and gloves. We're cruising down the main drag two-up to
the airport. Everything is now as it was except... You Are There.
Every thing is fine until you suddenly feel a substantial wag in the front end. You wrestle with the handlebars to keep the bike in a straight line.
Peering over the headlight, you notice that your once proud, firm, erect tire, is now only so much flaccid latex. You contemplate the futility of human
existence. Perhaps Mother was right about motorcycles. Common sense vaults to
the fore. "Stay away from the front brake.",you think, as the bucking gets
fiercer. Light back brake, applied with scupulous delicacy to avoid lockup
brings the speed down most efficaciously. The voice of your high school physics
teacher pops into your head. "Grasshopper,the gyroscopic ying stability of the
front wheel decreases as you slow down, while the unstable, yang force of the
tire cha-chaing under the wheel is remaining constant.". At between ten and
twenty MPH, you hear the theme music from "KOYAANISQATSI" and, down you go.
The worst possible scenario is complete, clear off the rim blowout.
For these contingencies, one wears lots of leather. Keeping your bike up after
a rapid deflation gets easier with your brawn/bike weight ratio. That is to say
that a piano mover on a dirt bike has a much better shot than the average mortalon a GS1150.
For rules of thumb, though, remember to stay away from the front brake,
ease off the power, grapple as best you can until you it's down to the 10-20
MPH range, and then expect to pay bux to your fiberglass dealer.
lee@unmvax.UUCP (05/13/85)
Not personally. I met two guys though. They were riding together, "somewhere in Kansas", when one of the bikes front tires blew. It was on a Goldwing. He described it as the ultimate endo. The guy that it happened to was returning home via the backseat of a station wagon. His wife was driving as he was in a body cast; all four limbs immobilized. His riding partner was still on his bike for the return trip. I took a good look at my front tire and replaced it the next day. The poor guy claimed that there were no hazards on the road. That the tire blew pretty much because it was worn out. --Lee
tjs@cbdkc1.UUCP ( Tom Stanions) (05/13/85)
In article <192@greipa.UUCP> jordan@greipa.UUCP (Jordan K. Hubbard) writes: >Uh, all this talk of tires and flats ect. has re-awakened an old >fear of mine. Namely, what happens when one of your tires blows >at 55+ MPH? I travel about 80 miles a day on my bike (freeway) and >frequently glance at my front tire wondering "gee, if it blew out, >I would...".. Has this ever happened to anyone? Front or back tire? >Does the bike do anything that might be construed as fatal? > >Do bike tires even 'blow out' that often? Hope not.. > > > Apprehensively.. >-- > Jordan K. Hubbard > @ Genstar Rental Electronics. > Palo Alto, CA. > {sun, decwrl, dual}!twg!greipa!jordan > > Leave me alone. How often is "rare", it only takes once. The problem with a blow out occurs when the tire seperates from the rim. Once this has happened the bike tends to ride on the tire on one side pushing you to the left and then ride on the other side pushing you to the right. You have to experience it to understand the sensation (once experienced you will never forget). My current bike (a 1975 Honda CB750) has only had one blow out in 67000 miles. The tire I had on at the time had a "safty bead" (this means that it is very hard to seperate the tire from the rim, especially when you want to change tires :-). I was able to slow from 60mph to about 40 before the tire seperated, then all the flats I had during my dirt bike days came into play. Your first reaction is to ditch the bike, don't do it, don't brake with the tire thats flat, just stay upright as long as you can. By the way, Goodyear made a tire called the Eagle GT-II. I ran one of these tires on my bike after the above flat. The bead came out around the rim and therefore could not seperate. This was a great idea and gives a good feeling of security. However, due to law suits not related to the locking bead idea Goodyear no longer makes motorcycle tires :-( . I hope someone else picks up the ball. {allegra|ihnp4}!cbdkc1!tjs
rsellens@watdcsu.UUCP (Rick Sellens - Mech. Eng.) (05/14/85)
In article <192@greipa.UUCP> jordan@greipa.UUCP (Jordan K. Hubbard) writes: >Uh, all this talk of tires and flats ect. has re-awakened an old >fear of mine. Namely, what happens when one of your tires blows >at 55+ MPH? Several years ago the rear tire (stock Bridgestone) on my CB400T picked up a nail in some construction. The result was an instant deflation on a rain grooved curved ramp at approximately 65 mph. (the tire did not blow, but the tube had a 4 inch gash in it) My first clue was the back end coming out due to loss of traction. I eased off the throttle, steered into the skid and managed to come to a stop upright (with a pulse rate pushing 200!). I guess my point is that flats at speed don't have to spell disaster. If you keep your cool, *and* are lucky you can ride it down. Rick Sellens UUCP: watmath!watdcsu!rsellens CSNET: rsellens%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet ARPA: rsellens%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa