I was riding home from Sedona yesterday afternoon and was doing an indicated 70 mph down a hill when the scooter began doing a dance I have grown familiar with over the years. The hindquarters began moving around fluidly and with more grace than I cared to try to handle. Yes, folks, I'd picked up a big ol' nail and had a flat rear tire. It wasn't too hard to control until I'd gotten below about 20 mph...I suppose that it still had a bit of air at the faster speeds. It did, however, let me know that it was going to go to the left regardless of my input. I got it stopped and waited for traffic to clear than ran it over to the right side where I had room to work.
I pulled out my handy-dandy tubeless tire fix-it kit (specifically for motorcycles and purchased at Wally World). I followed the instructions and successfully plugged the hole. Then I pulled out my handy-dandy CO2 cartridge fill-it device (also specifically for motorcycles and purchased at Wally World), only to discover my step-son had exhausted the cartridge filling the tires on his go-ped.
"Well, crap," I said.
I phoned my dear wife (who works in Sedona) who stopped at a local hardware store and picked up a foot-pump for me to carry around. Before she arrive, however, a kindly gentleman named John stopped and pulled a little pump out of the back of his Jeep, hooked it up to his battery on one end and my tire on the other and within moments I had a fully inflated tire.
I waited for my wife, extended my undying gratitude and love, smooched her and sent her back to work. I jumped on the Scarlet Streak and blasted the rest of the way home (about 15 miles). No problem...still went 60-70 most of the way. It's still inflated this afternoon. Fortunately I have about 4 spare tires in my garage (thanks Tryg).
--Keys
