[SSR] Please, please check your tire pressure

charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:47 pm

After 8 months of knuckle-busting and another week of the administrative hassle of insuring, registering, and plating the CB, I couldn't wait to take it out on the road for a shakedown cruise. In my madass rush to get going, I neglected to check the tire pressure.

After a couple of rounds of aggressive acceleration, I was happily cruising along at 40 when the back end started to fishtail and the bike started to weave from one side of the lane to the other in an almost uncontrollable manner. After a few seconds of butt-puckering terror, I was able to get it safely stopped on the shoulder. Looked down, and the back tire was flat as a plank.

After a one mile walk-of-shame, I got it home and pulled the wheel off. The combination of under-inflation and hard acceleration had caused the tire and tube to slip around the rim, severing the valve stem completely from the tube:

So, whether you're running with tubed or tubeless tires, please don't make the same dumbass mistake that I did. Checking your tire pressure regularly is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to add to your safety cushion.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:50 pm

doh! Glad you didn't wipe!

I always forget about tire pressure until I don't get good pickup and mpg, then I look and...

That's the only thing I miss my car for. it was fantastic for adding pressure to my scooter tires with a small compressor

.

avonpirate · Post by **avonpirate** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:57 pm

Glad you are ok and I had a huge education reading tire pressure threads this summer. I use a bike pump to inflate mine and check pressure but those stems are a challenge. I saw some 'Stem extenders' on line. Anyone have experience or opinion on same?????

rsrider · Post by **rsrider** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:58 pm

I check tire pressure once a week, on everything. The scooter almost always needs air. Just a couple of lbs. or so, but it makes a difference. I have a compressor at home and an air tank, and like 5 different gauges...........If riding MC's my whole life has taught me one thing, proper tire pressure is a must for two wheeled vehicles.

BeefSupreme · Post by **BeefSupreme** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 3:58 pm

I got some of the valve stem caps from walmart that have the indicator built in. They're for 32psi tires. They show green above 27 and show red below. It's a good easy way to check cold pressure in the morning. My 2¢

Cheshire · Post by **Cheshire** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:16 pm

If dealing with an air compressor is a hassle (I hate noisy powertools), a bicycle floor pump works wonderfully and is cheap. Mine's lived outside for 4 years now and still works just fine. No reason not to check air pressure.

JAEGER · Post by **JAEGER** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:43 pm

Yikes. Nice save, and good on ya for not eating shit; the Walk of Shame is better than the Ride of Pain in that funny white-red truck with the lights on top.

--Jaeger

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 5:56 pm

Cheshire wrote:If dealing with an air compressor is a hassle (I hate noisy powertools), a bicycle floor pump works wonderfully and is cheap. Mine's lived outside for 4 years now and still works just fine. No reason not to check air pressure.

Yeah, a regular bicycle pump is plenty for repressuring a scooter tire. The volume's large, but the pressure is lower. Heck, I've even used mine to pump up a tire on my car... it just requires a bit more stamina and patience.

amy · Post by **amy** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:02 pm

skully93 wrote:doh! Glad you didn't wipe!

This HAS to be related to the "butt-puckering terror".

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:13 pm

amy wrote:
skully93 wrote:doh! Glad you didn't wipe!
This HAS to be related to the "butt-puckering terror".

Very much so

.

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 11:10 pm

avonpirate wrote:Glad you are ok and I had a huge education reading tire pressure threads this summer. I use a bike pump to inflate mine and check pressure but those stems are a challenge. I saw some 'Stem extenders' on line. Anyone have experience or opinion on same?????

Avoid using a stem extender that stays on the valve.....same applies to any valve cap that is heavier than the stock plastic or metal cap.

Centrifical (Or centrifugal, depends on view) force at speed will overstress the valve stem at its base and it will shear off.

Bad Ju-Ju!

I saw a lot of these failures a few years ago when it seemed everybody was putting on valve stems that had a flashing light built in.

Rob

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 12:04 am

Yikes! I feel for ya, man...I was riding on the old Riva last Sunday and the old FujiLocks on the rear hub unlocked at 55mph! Amazing how quickly a docile old scoot can turn into a buckin' bronco! I got it hauled down and over to the shoulder in time; the wheel had lost one nut and washer and the other two were spun out to the end of the bolts.

Good thing I was en-route to meet some friends for an evening ride; they were able to get to an AutoZone and get me some fasteners and blue Loctite to wrench the wheel back together. It worries me, since I'd just installed a new tire and re-torqued the rim bolts the night before and already put a hundred miles on the back tire.

easy · Post by **easy** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:33 pm

cold temps will cause low air pressure

anthony · Post by **anthony** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 6:57 pm

thank you for this post! I'd been meaning to check my tire pressure lately, but kept forgetting. This post made me determined to remember and when I did I found that my rear tire was in the high teens! Scary, and glad I discovered this before something terrible happened.

TomCat · Post by **TomCat** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:06 am

avonpirate wrote:Glad you are ok and I had a huge education reading tire pressure threads this summer. I use a bike pump to inflate mine and check pressure but those stems are a challenge. I saw some 'Stem extenders' on line. Anyone have experience or opinion on same?????

This gizmo makes tire pressure maintenance much easier, plus eliminates any strain on the valve when maneuvering the gauge or pump onto the valve.

http://www.getagauge.com/accessories.cfm

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:20 pm

Good post. I made my wife read it. This summer when I was out of town for 3 weeks, I came home to find both scoot tire pressures very low with my wife cruising around town blissfully unaware (even though we'd discussed this before).

I keep one of the portable Slime compressors in the pet carrier. It's such a simple process to check and maintain tire pressure, I don't know why it's so often overlooked.

Rob

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:52 pm

Don't even get me started, Rob!

My wife hasn't maintained her truck at all, and it's held out nicely. however the MPG is way low because she won't go fill it up, and who knows when the battery was done. Also, I bug her about the oil changes, but she's not very diligent about those either

.

if we have kids, I'm going to make them do such things themselves, or at least keep track of service intervals. Not being mechanically inclined myself, often I pay for service, but doing on time is the owner's responsibility.