Day 343, Monday 30 July 2018
I check my tyre pressures at least once a week. On a recent check, the rear tyre pressure was significantly lower than usual, so I pumped it up and checked it again the following morning. It was even lower. Over the next few days it became clear that a fix was required. I’ve done roadside puncture repairs previously, but they are temporary fixes and need a professional repair afterwards, and since the bike was still rideable, I took it in to my local motorcycle tyre shop this morning to have the problem sorted.
The tyre guy found a nail neatly embedded in the tyre, removed it, took off the rear wheel, and did the repair job. He remounted the wheel, and was just about to complete the job when there was a sudden intake of breath. He pulled out another nail, and the hiss of escaping air was obvious. Time to start over. This time he examined the tyre more closely, and found two other nails in it, although these had not fully penetrated the rubber. This is just as well, as there’s a limit of three puncture repairs per motorcycle tyre (that depends on the speed rating of the tyre, and the recommended limit varies by country).
Presumably, one of my recent gravel excursions went over a rubbish-strewn section of road. “Have you been doing a lot of gravel recently”, the tyre guy asked. “I’m trying to cut down”, I protested. “It doesn’t seem to be working”, he said.
Distance travelled: 6 km. Total distance so far: 42,883 km
Motorcycling Streak 