Flat tire change
#1
12-13-2012, 12:07 AM
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: WMNF, NH, USA
Posts: 1,264
Flat tire change
So I've now changed a tire a few times. All of them with rimlocks. Got it figured out, pretty well. Until I got cocky and didn't tighten the rim lock enough. Who needs a torque wrench for a rimlock? I guess I do.
Been losing pressure in the rear since I put it on.
Today at lunch, I went out to check my pressure, it was 7lbs. OK, grab a bike pump from our shop, come out and pump it up. As I lean down to unplug the pump, I can hear air hissing out from the rimlock!
I could also see the rimlock was slightly rotated! No one to blame but me. 
Wondering what to do, I went back to work. Called a local distributor, no tubes! Called the local ex-mx racer/mechanic good guy, sure enough he had a tube! Borrowed a car from the guy who I used to pick up when it snowed and headed to the shop for a tube.
Got back to work(I had punched out before I went for the tube) and rolled the bike into the warehouse. Asked the other motorcyclist if he, by any chance, had some ratchet straps. Yes he did! A plan was forming to get the rear end off the ground. In my work area I have a warehouse shelving/rack(like in home depot or costco) over me that is empty underneath. I backed the bike in, put the ratchet strap over the cross beam and attached the hooks to the nomad rack. Started cranking away, off the ground she came. It was 4:10pm, we close at 5. I can stay late and lock up, but hate doing it. I hate setting an alarm when I don't have a key, I'm to OCD about crap like that.
I had the wheel off in minutes and the tube out in a few more. Sure enough it was punctured by the rimlock that I failed to tighten enough. There was a puncture mark at all the teeth. I blew up the tube if I remember correctly to set the bead, never aired it back down, then tightened the rimlock. This time like I should have(I was tired and cold last time I changed'em), I set the bead, let the air out, tightened the rimlock, THEN aired up the tube.
Put the wheel back on, rode it back out to the parking lot, and jumped in the shower at 4:55!
Oh yeah, I didn't have my Bead Buddy, so I used a real buddy to stand on the tire, now I know why the call them that.
Been losing pressure in the rear since I put it on.
Today at lunch, I went out to check my pressure, it was 7lbs. OK, grab a bike pump from our shop, come out and pump it up. As I lean down to unplug the pump, I can hear air hissing out from the rimlock!
I could also see the rimlock was slightly rotated! No one to blame but me. Wondering what to do, I went back to work. Called a local distributor, no tubes! Called the local ex-mx racer/mechanic good guy, sure enough he had a tube! Borrowed a car from the guy who I used to pick up when it snowed and headed to the shop for a tube.
Got back to work(I had punched out before I went for the tube) and rolled the bike into the warehouse. Asked the other motorcyclist if he, by any chance, had some ratchet straps. Yes he did! A plan was forming to get the rear end off the ground. In my work area I have a warehouse shelving/rack(like in home depot or costco) over me that is empty underneath. I backed the bike in, put the ratchet strap over the cross beam and attached the hooks to the nomad rack. Started cranking away, off the ground she came. It was 4:10pm, we close at 5. I can stay late and lock up, but hate doing it. I hate setting an alarm when I don't have a key, I'm to OCD about crap like that.
I had the wheel off in minutes and the tube out in a few more. Sure enough it was punctured by the rimlock that I failed to tighten enough. There was a puncture mark at all the teeth. I blew up the tube if I remember correctly to set the bead, never aired it back down, then tightened the rimlock. This time like I should have(I was tired and cold last time I changed'em), I set the bead, let the air out, tightened the rimlock, THEN aired up the tube.
Put the wheel back on, rode it back out to the parking lot, and jumped in the shower at 4:55!
Oh yeah, I didn't have my Bead Buddy, so I used a real buddy to stand on the tire, now I know why the call them that.
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