Flat Tires On The Road

[fleuger99]

What are you guys/girls using out there when doing long distance rides in the event of a flat tire? Thanks.

[Lost Rider]

I carry a standard "string" plug kit, including glue and tools for normal "long" trips.
Tried all the other gimmicks and gadgets, the strings have just worked better than the other options for me.
On trips where I know I'll be way off the grid or out of roadside service reach, like when I'm in Mexico, or going to be far off tarmac, I carry tire irons and patches too.... just to be sure I can fix it no matter what. Had to resort that only once so far though.
I'm heading up the coast this week to Oregon camping the whole way and will only bring strings since I'll never be too far off the beaten path.

For air I carry a Slime Top Off mini air compressor, the smallest and cheapest one that has served me well on and off road for years.
Carry a real air gauge though.
http://www.amazon.com/Slime-40020-Top-O ... B002ZC1EOM

Change the plug on the compressor to an SAE, with a SAE tail coming direct from the battery and you're good to go.

It's well known though that the more you prepare for a flat, the less likely you are to actually get a flat.

Happy riding!


Finn

[deilenberger]

Ditto on Joe's experience. The better prepared you are - the less likely you'll need it (Eilenberger's Law of Spares.."You never need what you have") I carry stringy things and the one with the rubber plug in the handle. I've used the rubber plug on other people's flats. So far - knock on wood - I've been lucky on the R12R and haven't had to use the stringy things. I carry an Airhawk portable compressor - plugs into the hard wired auxiliary outlet I installed (fused, not switched.)

[mogu83]

I carry the Stop & Go (http://www.stopngo.com/) plug kit but have never used it.
I also carry the Cycle Pump air pump (http://www.aerostich.com/cycle-pump-air-compressor.html) but in retrospect I think the Stop & Go or the Slime pumps are a better deal. The Cycle pump is almost three times the cost of the other pumps and it doesn't have an air gage in it. I have used it on the road and it works just fine, but for the amount of time it's used I wonder about the cost, but then when I needed it I didn't worry about the cost.

I also cut off the alligator clips and put on the same connector as used on my heated clothing. The clips kept falling off the small terminals on the motorcycle battery and if I didn't have a friend handy to hold them on I would have had a problem.

[websterize]

String, quality gauge and the non-electric BMW foot pump. I need the exercise when and if …

[fleuger99]

I carry the Stop & Go (http://www.stopngo.com/) plug kit but have never used it.
I also carry the Cycle Pump air pump (http://www.aerostich.com/cycle-pump-air-compressor.html) but in retrospect I think the Stop & Go or the Slime pumps are a better deal. The Cycle pump is almost three times the cost of the other pumps and it doesn't have an air gage in it. I have used it on the road and it works just fine, but for the amount of time it's used I wonder about the cost, but then when I needed it I didn't worry about the cost.

I also cut off the alligator clips and put on the same connector as used on my heated clothing. The clips kept falling off the small terminals on the motorcycle battery and if I didn't have a friend handy to hold them on I would have had a problem.

Thanks for the great advice on these products. I watched the tire plug demo at Stopngo and it was simple and didn't require the wheel/tire to be removed. I also bought the same pump at Stopngo for $10 less than at aerostich

I am planning on riding from Boston to Toronto Canada in the Spring and now I have piece of mind for a flat in the middle of no where. Thanks again.

[fleuger99]

Thanks to everyone for your advice, much appreciated. This forum is awesome with the info and willingness of members to share info.

[objectuser]

We use the Stop&Go plugs and have had to use them twice. They are easy to use and work very well.

We also have the Slime top off pump. The first one we had died after a short while. We bought another one, but don't expect it to last forever.

[OU812]

http://www.stopngo.com/products/TUBELES ... PILOT.html
I use and older version I won at a R1150R Bash and a mini compressor.