Scooting to Bonnaroo! 900 miles 4 Days - Need scoot wisdoms!

JasonH · Post by **JasonH** » Sat May 24, 2008 2:43 pm

New Jersey to Tennessee! Starting out the 7th of June and hoping on arriving the 11th. Rigged up an extended rear rack to store tent/backpack/sleepingbag for the journey. Camera bag's going under the seat and my butt on top of it.

Going to try to stay off major highways, keep it scenic. Not going to hit any hotels and gonna try to do my own cooking if I can find a place to have a small fire.

My dad brought up what i thought was an excellent point about this journey

What happens if i get a flat? I really don't know. I can carry a can of that goo with me that you spray in the tube, but i'm not sure how reliable that is or how far you can go on it. Theres two scooter shops in the area i'm travelling into, might be able to get AAA towed to one of em if that happens. Maybe I could carry a tire with me and tools, looks like a challenging tire change though, especially the rear tire. Whatdya think?

brimstone · Post by **brimstone** » Sat May 24, 2008 2:49 pm

i've heard that the bright green slime stuff for bicycle tires is ok for scooters and motorcycles. but not the actual fix a flat. the slime just pust a coating on the entire inside of the tire, where as the fix a flat is too uneven and can through off the balance of the tire too much to ride safely.

someone correct me if i'm wrong. this is just something i've heard so take it with a grain of salt if you will.

good luck, have fun and ride safe.

*edit* you should look up camp sites along the way and plan accordingly.

maribell · Post by **maribell** » Sat May 24, 2008 3:05 pm

If you bought your bike new, you could still have Genuine's roadside assistance.

Drumwoulf · Post by **Drumwoulf** » Sat May 24, 2008 3:37 pm

maribell wrote:If you bought your bike new, you could still have Genuine's roadside assistance.

Which ain't gonna help much if there's no scooter shops in the area that carry Genuine products, right?

( I don't know how this 'assistance' thing works, but maybe they might reimburse you some expenses later?)

I would absolutely bring along a good tubeless flat fixit kit (one with those co2 cartridges) so I could at least plug a flat on the road, then put in enough air to get to the next gas station where I could fully refill the plugged tire. Then my next stop would be at the closest scooter shop (they wouldn't have to sell Buddys), where I could get the standard 10" tire replaced.

I rode once with a friend who had a flat with his Vespa GT200. He plugged the tire, with a kit, refilled it, and rode the rest of the day with us w/o further incidence. Next day he replaced the tire..

There are also auto tire shops that will put on a 'hot patch' for you, and these can last for a good while. But you have to be able to get to them first. (If you have somethng like AAA, and let them know it's a bike when you call, they could probably pick up the scoot). But I'm guessing that at the tire shop you'd probably have to remove the wheel yourself...

Best of luck. Don't push it too hard, and enjoy!

BuddyLicious · Post by **BuddyLicious** » Sat May 24, 2008 4:35 pm

Hey does that Ultraseal tire sealer work? If it does everything it's claimed to
then this could be your answer to tire flats. Anyone used it before?

http://www.ultraseal.com/

Tim

Drumwoulf · Post by **Drumwoulf** » Sat May 24, 2008 4:51 pm

BuddyLicious wrote:Hey does that Ultraseal tire sealer work? If it does everything it's claimed to
then this could be your answer to tire flats. Anyone used it before?
http://www.ultraseal.com/
Tim

If you read the paragraph "Sealing Capabilities" on that site, the disclaimer as to what this stuff will not do doesn't look very promising. (LOL! -Any 'serious punctures' will still generate slow leaks! So what's a "non" serious puncture?? And most tubeless tires will leak slowly when punctured anyway!!)

If this stuff was so good at self-sealing flats, how come most bikers and scooterists haven't heard of it and don't use it? Word usually gets around pretty fast when there's an excellent product available in the two-wheeled world.

Sounds like mostly BS to me.........!

Post by **ericalm** » Sat May 24, 2008 6:30 pm

For a trip like this I recommend a plug kit and one of these:

Portable inflator. It's fast and has hookups for your battery or battery tender. Good for topping off air on the road, too. Should run around $30, though I got mine on sale for $10 at Auto Zone.

I'd really like to see a pic of your rear rack rig if you could post one!

And keep us posted on how the trip goes.

DennisD · Post by **DennisD** » Sat May 24, 2008 7:18 pm

Get a plug kit and a mountain bike air pump. One of the small ones, mine is a Blackburn. Be sure it is for schrader valves, that's what your scoot has. Most minipumps will do presta or schrader. Electric inflators are nice, CO2 is nice, but the old hand pump is almost fool proof. I've had electric pumps go out, CO2 is one use and if you screw up... Yes, I've seen people screw it up.
The minipump is reliable, but slow. Slow is better than, "now what?". One of the biggest advantages it has is that it is very light. Weight will be a concern as you pack on everything people think you need. Including all your camping gear, clothes, food, first aid kit, etc., 40 pounds should be plenty.

Get a plug kit. Don't use slime. AAA won't make bike calls. I've tried.

No matter what you take, no matter who you ask, you are going to have so much fun and learn so much. Tennessee this year, next year, who knows?

The only things you need besides a plug kit and pump are:

credit card
cell phone
cash
camera

But that will come later.

Dennis

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Sat May 24, 2008 7:24 pm

Get a prima tire repair kit for what type of tire you have, it comes with 4 c02 air cartridges that you can use to inflate the tire with if you get a flat, just fill it with goo, plug it, and refill with the c02, it should fill to around 35psi.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Sat May 24, 2008 7:35 pm

DennisD wrote:AAA won't make bike calls. I've tried.

They will if you have AAA RV Plus. They certainly came and got me outside Portland in '06. RV Plus is a little more expensive than the regular AAA coverage, but worth it's weight in gold if you need it.

NOTE: I'm told this is not the case in California, but I see the OP is from New Jersey. Could somebody from California please get the latest, greates correct scoop from your AAA agent and post it here, please? I'm hearing conflicting stories and don't know what to believe.

Thanks!

DennisD · Post by **DennisD** » Sat May 24, 2008 7:43 pm

jrsjr wrote:
DennisD wrote:AAA won't make bike calls. I've tried.
They will if you have AAA RV Plus. They certainly came and got me outside Portland in '06. RV Plus is a little more expensive than the regular AAA coverage, but worth it's weight in gold if you need it.

NOTE: I'm told this is not the case in California, but I see the OP is from New Jersey. Could somebody from California please get the latest, greates correct scoop from your AAA agent and post it here, please? I'm hearing conflicting stories and don't know what to believe.

Thanks!

Yes, please do. My membership is AAA Plus, not AAA RV Plus. Haven't heard of that one.
AAA Plus been worthwhile. Think I'll call them Tuesday morn and find out from the horses's mouth about Florida.

Dennis

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Sat May 24, 2008 11:17 pm

I think I would carry a list of every scooter shop and a number of tire shops between you and your destination. Carry that lsit of phone numbers and addresses with you.

Good luck and have a great time. I'm a little envious.

Howard

Post by **ericalm** » Sat May 24, 2008 11:18 pm

I have AAA RV Plus in CA and have used it for my scoot. We're covered in CA!