Unintended Upgrade from Pilot Road 2 to 3
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:37 pm
This morning on my commute into work, my on-board computer alerted me to the fact that the tire pressure of my rear tire was low (29psi) (and that's the first time I had ever seen the alert). I had noticed that it seemed maybe a bit soft, but hadn't had a chance to fill it up yet. Also, virtually every kind of air pump I have access to refuses to squeeze between the spokes of the rear wheel (grrr!) so I have limited options.
Around lunchtime, I went outside to see if I could get the chuck of my CO2 emergency air thingy onto the valve stem. As soon as I got near the rear wheel, though, I noticed a couple of small bright spots on the very top of the rear tire -- punctures! People who get nails or screws in their tire at least have a catchy refrain -- "I got screwed"! But no such luck for me. Mine was a staple with the top cross bar worn off. There's just no good catchy phrase that doesn't sound like I just had surgery.
Well, because I'm an f-wit, I had to f-wit it. I got out a pair of pliers and pulled one half of it out. I then put a dab of spit on it to see if the carcass had been penetrated -- bubble, bubble, bubble. Sure enough, it was now a slow leak. Damn. That was stupid. Now how am I going to get home?
So a quick phone call to my favorite dealer (San Jose BMW / Vespa) who confirmed that they had the Pilot Road 3 in stock, and I was off! Well, okay, I was limping over there as fast as I could, since they could fit me in right that moment or not at all. I was very conscious all the way over that the tire had a slow leak, and I was being extra cautious. Which is to say that I kept my speed below 80mph.
Less than an hour later and I'm the proud owner of a new PR3 rear tire. The front PR2 was still in reasonably good condition, so I'll keep riding that one for a while.
The good news here is that I got almost 11,000 miles out of the PR2 rear when it got punctured. That's 98% freeway commute miles. The bad news is that the tire probably had at least 3,000 more miles left on it, judging by the tread depth at the center. It had started squaring off a little bit, but not very much. Hey, at 11,000 miles of freeway and barely square, that's what I call an awesome tire. I hope the PR3 performs as well.
Around lunchtime, I went outside to see if I could get the chuck of my CO2 emergency air thingy onto the valve stem. As soon as I got near the rear wheel, though, I noticed a couple of small bright spots on the very top of the rear tire -- punctures! People who get nails or screws in their tire at least have a catchy refrain -- "I got screwed"! But no such luck for me. Mine was a staple with the top cross bar worn off. There's just no good catchy phrase that doesn't sound like I just had surgery.
Well, because I'm an f-wit, I had to f-wit it. I got out a pair of pliers and pulled one half of it out. I then put a dab of spit on it to see if the carcass had been penetrated -- bubble, bubble, bubble. Sure enough, it was now a slow leak. Damn. That was stupid. Now how am I going to get home?
So a quick phone call to my favorite dealer (San Jose BMW / Vespa) who confirmed that they had the Pilot Road 3 in stock, and I was off! Well, okay, I was limping over there as fast as I could, since they could fit me in right that moment or not at all. I was very conscious all the way over that the tire had a slow leak, and I was being extra cautious. Which is to say that I kept my speed below 80mph.
Less than an hour later and I'm the proud owner of a new PR3 rear tire. The front PR2 was still in reasonably good condition, so I'll keep riding that one for a while.
The good news here is that I got almost 11,000 miles out of the PR2 rear when it got punctured. That's 98% freeway commute miles. The bad news is that the tire probably had at least 3,000 more miles left on it, judging by the tread depth at the center. It had started squaring off a little bit, but not very much. Hey, at 11,000 miles of freeway and barely square, that's what I call an awesome tire. I hope the PR3 performs as well.