Motorcycle Madness
So, let me tell you about the awesome time I’ve had with my bike lately.
I had to get new tires put on over the winter. My Dad took the wheels to a guy just outside of Massena who blew 3 tubes in the front wheel and 3 tubes in the back wheel just trying to get the tires on.
I got home and made a few checks and took the bike for a quick spin. Found the front tire wasn’t seated right. I drove back and the rear tube had blown again after the 3 mile run. My dad and I took both wheels off and tossed them in the back of his truck to go back to the guy and I headed back to Clinton.
2 weeks later I’m up and get riding again. Everything looks good for the short run so I take it to Potsdam and back. I get ready to put it in my truck and the rear wheel is flat again after 50 miles. I decide to not deal with the guy again and bring the bike down to Clinton to work on it myself.
I took out the blown tube to find factory patches all throughout the rubber. It’s like someone cut out defects in the rubber sheet and poured new rubber in the holes. it’s along the edges of these patches that it had blown a few holes. I patched them but to no avail.
I bought a much thicker tube but with a much smaller cross section with the assurance that it would streatch and be fine. It got me about 60 miles last weekend before it blew while I was doing 70 down Rt 81. Luckily I pulled over quick and dind’t lose it. AAA was delightfully non-helpful and I used my TomTom to find a wrecker that was closer then the recommended binghamton one 60 miles away.
The wrecker came and found me in 7 minutes. I was impressed until he forgot where the local cycle shop was. We eventually found the place and they replaced the tube. I was on my way within about 2 hours. TomTom said I had 2 hours to go, but then recalculated at some point along my journy and suggested that I not get on Rt 81 agian. 2 hours later I was 50 miles further down the road with an hour and a half to go to get the next 30 miles. All of a sudden my tube blows again. I have no cell service. I’m in the middle of farm country. I’m running low on cash and this not an area to find ATMs. TomTom says that there is a gas station 9 miles up the road. Every house nearby is apparently empty and there’s no answers at the doors. I started walking.
Against all odds, just over the hill is an old farmer who’s fixing a tire on his tractor. I ask if he’ll help me out and he cheerfully agrees (this is why I love the country). We pull the tube to find out that the assholes at the cycle shop put in another shitty factory patched tube that blew 3 holes along its patches. The farmer pulls out a patch kit and I’m filling the tire in no time. It holds long enough for me to drive the last 30 miles. The last 10 miles are spent dodging potholes and trying to keep from wiping out on the gravel roads that TomTom has lead me down. My destination is 500 feet from a minor highway. I get in at 9pm to Andy’s graduation party. I left at 11am for what should have been a 3 hour tour.
I filled the tire with slime and bought a foot pump and a pressure gauge the next morning. I made it all the way back without a hitch.
I spent the rest of the weekend curled into a ball refusing to go outside.
I had to get new tires put on over the winter. My Dad took the wheels to a guy just outside of Massena who blew 3 tubes in the front wheel and 3 tubes in the back wheel just trying to get the tires on.
I got home and made a few checks and took the bike for a quick spin. Found the front tire wasn’t seated right. I drove back and the rear tube had blown again after the 3 mile run. My dad and I took both wheels off and tossed them in the back of his truck to go back to the guy and I headed back to Clinton.
2 weeks later I’m up and get riding again. Everything looks good for the short run so I take it to Potsdam and back. I get ready to put it in my truck and the rear wheel is flat again after 50 miles. I decide to not deal with the guy again and bring the bike down to Clinton to work on it myself.
I took out the blown tube to find factory patches all throughout the rubber. It’s like someone cut out defects in the rubber sheet and poured new rubber in the holes. it’s along the edges of these patches that it had blown a few holes. I patched them but to no avail.
I bought a much thicker tube but with a much smaller cross section with the assurance that it would streatch and be fine. It got me about 60 miles last weekend before it blew while I was doing 70 down Rt 81. Luckily I pulled over quick and dind’t lose it. AAA was delightfully non-helpful and I used my TomTom to find a wrecker that was closer then the recommended binghamton one 60 miles away.
The wrecker came and found me in 7 minutes. I was impressed until he forgot where the local cycle shop was. We eventually found the place and they replaced the tube. I was on my way within about 2 hours. TomTom said I had 2 hours to go, but then recalculated at some point along my journy and suggested that I not get on Rt 81 agian. 2 hours later I was 50 miles further down the road with an hour and a half to go to get the next 30 miles. All of a sudden my tube blows again. I have no cell service. I’m in the middle of farm country. I’m running low on cash and this not an area to find ATMs. TomTom says that there is a gas station 9 miles up the road. Every house nearby is apparently empty and there’s no answers at the doors. I started walking.
Against all odds, just over the hill is an old farmer who’s fixing a tire on his tractor. I ask if he’ll help me out and he cheerfully agrees (this is why I love the country). We pull the tube to find out that the assholes at the cycle shop put in another shitty factory patched tube that blew 3 holes along its patches. The farmer pulls out a patch kit and I’m filling the tire in no time. It holds long enough for me to drive the last 30 miles. The last 10 miles are spent dodging potholes and trying to keep from wiping out on the gravel roads that TomTom has lead me down. My destination is 500 feet from a minor highway. I get in at 9pm to Andy’s graduation party. I left at 11am for what should have been a 3 hour tour.
I filled the tire with slime and bought a foot pump and a pressure gauge the next morning. I made it all the way back without a hitch.
I spent the rest of the weekend curled into a ball refusing to go outside.