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What do you do when you have a flat? A friend had this happen yesterday and spent hours trying to find a fix - either a repair or a ride home for the bike. We have a truck - but it has a 5th wheel hitch and no room for a Harley. Any ideas or solutions out there?
Donna

Wouldn't AAA be able to help out in this instance.

Personally, I've got roadside assistance through HOG........an idea for the future?

I carry a small bicycle pump and a tire patch kit, along with other various tools and spare parts (fuses and whatnot.) I'm not confident in any roadside assistance program here in Italy, perhaps in the states it's a much better idea?

donnajak wrote:What do you do when you have a flat? A friend had this happen yesterday and spent hours trying to find a fix - either a repair or a ride home for the bike. We have a truck - but it has a 5th wheel hitch and no room for a Harley. Any ideas or solutions out there?
Donna

Get tubeless tires.

I've had six bikes and only the 2nd one years ago had wire wheels with tube type tires. I got a rear flat out of town and pulled the wheel to get it fixed. I had pulled into a gas station to pull the wheel and there were two other gas stations on that busy corner. No one there would touch a motorcycle tire, I had to get a ride to a bike shop to get a new tube put in and ended up wasting a whole day.

I was in my first year of riding then and since then I've only considered bikes with cast wheels and tubeless tires. With tubless tires you can usually make it home with a slow leak if close to home or stop and plug it and reinflate it if away from home. I carry tubeless tire plugs and an air pump always. I learned the hard way and just don't understand people who put appearance/image over function when buying a bike in this country. If we quit buying an inferior product they will quite selling it. Some even pay a premium price to get the wire wheels and outdated prehistoric tube type tires.

There are plenty of Harley models available with tubless tires, but only a couple of mid size metric cruisers which I've had some interest in.

I purchased roadside assistance through Riders of Kawasaki. It was only around $40 for the year, and that includes gas fill-up, towing (up to $100 worth), and a couple more discount-type advantages. What I mainly wanted it for, though, was the towing. They will only contact places that are familiar with towing a bike. I've already had to use it once to get my biked towed when I had a blown head gasket. It was great - I only had one phone call to make, was able to eat lunch while I waited for the tow truck, and that was that. I paid $25 for the additional cost of the towing, so in all a $125 ride to the shop cost me $65. Honda also offers roadside service as does membership with the AMA.

Cheers,
Loonette

I always assumed (until recently) that all motorcycles had tubeless tires.

Kal wrote:Days after this came up I got my first puncture, sadly I was on the way to work so I was stupid and rode her in...


Which iosnt something I am going to repeat again in the hurry, she made me a little queasy going round corners, and travelling in a straight line for that matter...

Now I just need to talk one of my friends into driving me, some tools and my spare rear wheel over and giving me a hand chopping the wheels over...

You do seem to be quite unlucky with bikes so far.... but hey you appear to have quite a collection of bikes, now.


ps No I'm not gonna drive up to leicester to help!

Once I was taking the bike in to the shop for a spring tune up (after my first winter as an owner -- didn't know how to do this stuff myself at the time).

The drive to the shop was about 40 minutes or so; mostly highway at 120km/hr. The bike didn't feel the way I remembered it from the Fall -- it seemed to be a bit wobbly, though I could hold it and drive it straight. A half hour after I got there, the guys bring me the work order just to go over it with me, and they point out that the bike had two flat tires. I told him my experience on the way over and that I was amazed that the thing was able to be ridden. All he said was that I must have really strong sidewalls.