Blew a rear tire at 120 in Kitchener

Buddhacide

Buddhacide

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2 up, on the way to Kincardine Friday evening. Scary stuff. Thank god I researched how to handle this, because it happened very fast and there wasnt alot of time to ponder options. I highly suggest doing the same.

CAA, was amazing and so was Zdeno Cycle in Kitchener, who had me back on the road first thing thing the following morning.

Interestingly, this wasnt the closest I came to dying this weekend. Today on our way home some lunatic jammed on his breaks after being passed by a fire truck on the 401 eastbound,. almost causing a multi vehicle pile up. AND, 20 minutes later on the DVP some soccer mom who missed her exit decided to stop and reverse into oncoming me.

I have had enough fish tailing this weekend to last a life time. Stay Safe :)
 
Cheers. Happened too fast to freak out. Clutch in, blinker on, no brake. Had to cruise for 100m or so until we could get to a safe place to stop.

It actually was pretty manageable. My girlfriend didn't fully realize what happened until she got off the bike. - at which point the "OH ****-ting" began :)

It ended up costing me a ton of money I didnt intend to spend, and it was really scary, but I am so elated it happened in a way that offered some control. If we were in the fast lane on the 401 at the time during heavy traffic the outcome could have been very different.

PS, To the Rider that apparently exited the highway just to backtrack and offer us assistance, my hats off sir. You are good people
 
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TopoGeigeo said:
So why did the tire blow in the first place?
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The official explanation at the shop was "**** happens"

PSI was at 33, The book says 32 for 2 up, so tad high but not too bad. Passangers and gear were about 350 pounds. Book says 397 max. Plus we have travelled at least 25,000 on a few tires and never had a problem with weight. The tire had 25,000km on it - and looked like it had alot more life in it - Lots of tread, no signs of excessive wear (It was a Pirelli Mt-66. It looked like it would do another 25,000.

Who knows.
 
Glad you're OK.. At least it was the rear.. Seen a guy with a blown rear pass 2 trucks @ 190 a few years back lol
 
Buddhacide said:
good lord.
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Catching up to him to let him know wasn't easy.. We ended up waiting for CAA in front of some carpet store... New hot-spot for riders :cool:
 
How long do you reckon you could ride around on a flat before damaging the rim? The dude at the shop got on it and rode it to their back area. He didnt seem to concerned. Clearly you can go a little while. I wouldnt have thought it was possible to do what you're describing Firestart.
 
frekeyguy said:
glad your ok dude!!!
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Thanks Man!!!!

PS, I have to see you soon. Half my rig doesn't work any more post-storage. I looked but just see wires, lol. I need your skills.
 
Yikees!
Glad you're all right.

Question to people:

What is the correct procedure in this case? The OP pulled the clutch in. I wonder if doing so is right?
 
Buddhacide said:
How long do you reckon you could ride around on a flat before damaging the rim? The dude at the shop got on it and rode it to their back area. He didnt seem to concerned. Clearly you can go a little while.
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My dad had a nail in his tire last summer. He decided to carefully drive the bike home (around 1km), then take the wheel in to the shop. Alas, the flat tire slid around the rim, and the nail poked about a hundred small holes in the rim, all the way around.

On the other hand, his mechanic said he'd never seen anything like it before :)
 
Buddhacide said:
20 minutes later on the DVP some soccer mom who missed her exit decided to stop and reverse into oncoming me.
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That's ****ing bonkers.
 
Buddhacide said:
2 up, on the way to Kincardine Friday evening. Scary stuff. Thank god I researched how to handle this, because it happened very fast and there wasnt alot of time to ponder options. I highly suggest doing the same.

CAA, was amazing and so was Zdeno Cycle in Kitchener, who had me back on the road first thing thing the following morning.

Interestingly, this wasnt the closest I came to dying this weekend. Today on our way home some lunatic jammed on his breaks after being passed by a fire truck on the 401 eastbound,. almost causing a multi vehicle pile up. AND, 20 minutes later on the DVP some soccer mom who missed her exit decided to stop and reverse into oncoming me.

I have had enough fish tailing this weekend to last a life time. Stay Safe :)
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I thought it was just me, this year has been bad so far, 3 crashes for me and just got slapped with 4 unecessary tickets last week. I'm glad you and your passenger are okay. last year i had the rear go on me at medium acceration at about 80-90kmh, it was on a modified drz400 supermoto the tube in the tire just blew from a tiny sharp pebble, just a normal reaction i lifted and moved forward, like in a rolling burnout position, and slowly sat back down and just let the bike slow down it self, trying to handle the handle bars was the hardest... massive wobbling. You are one lucky person that happening at 120kmh with weight on the back is messed up. definately Ride safe, this season has been 3 times more worse then last year so far.
 
Mistero2009 said:
Yikees!
Glad you're all right.

Question to people:

What is the correct procedure in this case? The OP pulled the clutch in. I wonder if doing so is right?
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it is from experience, in my case, if i didn't pull the clutch in when this happened to me the gearing would have tried to slow it down, while the flat trying to do the same at a different speed and the difference between the two could send the rear spining left right left right and out of control. pulling the clucth in makes sure the bike slows down with the speed of the flat tire on the back without forcing the flat tire and rear rim to perform in the same manner as a inflated rear tire engaged in gear "friction difference between flat and un-flat tire and engaged gearing". Ever felt the rear tire skid when you down shift too soon, thats what would have happened with clucth engaged to the flat, the flat would be at different rate of slowing speed then with engaged gear of the transmission. basically the bike with a sudden flat would become twice if not more slow as to the engaged transmission speed it was before the flat with inflated rolling friction.
 
I had a rear blow out last year on the QEW at about 80 - I was suprised that it wasn't harder to manage.
120 with a passenger sounds a bit harrier - glad you and your gf are ok, OP.

I shudder to think what a front blow out might be like.

Clutch in should be the first reaction to any mechanical failure, I would think - it is the most likely to keep you rolling smoothly.
 
jolomatic said:
I had a rear blow out last year on the QEW at about 80 - I was suprised that it wasn't harder to manage.
120 with a passenger sounds a bit harrier - glad you and your gf are ok, OP.

I shudder to think what a front blow out might be like.

Clutch in should be the first reaction to any mechanical failure, I would think - it is the most likely to keep you rolling smoothly.
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Had my front tire go out on Saturday night on the way to Hess Village in Hamilton. I was actually very surpised at how manageable it was clutch in , and coast it out. Although the slower you would get the more aggressive the front tire would shake. If I would of pictured a front tire going before last weekend, i would pictured something out of a movie, where the front tire goes and catapults the riders 18 feet away. Thankfully, not the case in real life.
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