Commuter Sumbitch!

[Porcupine224]

Mike,
Glad to hear you're ok.
It seems that ATGATT proves its worth again.
Whenever I think about a shortcut while suiting up,
I recall the kid I saw in Miami: sandals, shorts, helmet, on a scooter, throttling with the right hand and texting with his left. So it goes.

And gee, you still have that swell leather stuff.
But if wear that to the office they might get the wrong idea.

Heal up, ride soon.

Ed

[HalfPlate]

Glad to hear your alright. Getting off at those speeds on 95 with only the damage you received is a testament to the gear, always wear the gear. Hope to see you and those awesome hacks sometime soon.

[Davo-55]

Typical KLR owner. " I will reuse that tube"
Kidding aside, glad to hear you made it out of that with "minor" injury. A rear blow out happens FAST. It has happened to me twice on a KLR. Luckily both times I felt some thing funny and was able to slow down before the tire completely deflated. For those who have not had the fun of a blowout, It is kind of like whacking the throttle open on a sheet of ice. You have almost no control, and the tail wags back and forth violently.
Excellent job on the play by play and the pictures.
Speedy recovery VAC!

[VACommuter]

Yep, I'm a cheap bastard. Probably not any more though! Got into the habit of re-using tubes as the Hacked-KLR eats rear tires every 4K miles. Mishap occurred at about the 165 mile marker. Didn't pull wheel yet but will do tonight.

VAC

[jgsatl]

Originally Posted by SLiP210

You want a toe? I can get you a toe. Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon....... with nail polish.

shut the fxxx up, donny.

[Boon Booni]

Originally Posted by VACommuter

Yep, I'm a cheap bastard. Probably not any more though! Got into the habit of re-using tubes as the Hacked-KLR eats rear tires every 4K miles. Mishap occurred at about the 165 mile marker. Didn't pull wheel yet but will do tonight.

VAC

Did the bead break? It doesn't look like it from the photos.

[SLiP210]

Originally Posted by jgsatl

shut the fxxx up, donny.

Great movie. Me and H14 actually work with a guy named Donnie who will come to the lunch table halfway thru break and ask questions about the conversation we started 15 minutes ago. He hears that line a lot!!


Hope you're doing good Mike and healing up allright. See ya at LF

[jgsatl]

Originally Posted by SLiP210

Great movie. Me and H14 actually work with a guy named Donnie who will come to the lunch table halfway thru break and ask questions about the conversation we started 15 minutes ago. He hears that line a lot!!


Hope you're doing good Mike and healing up allright. See ya at LF

i see by your avatar you have excellent taste in movies.

[Dorito]

Originally Posted by VACommuter

I dig out my phone and then spend a few frustrating minutes dealing with Progressive.

Seems like a bad time to be asking Flo for a price quote, doesn't it?






Too soon

[Lobster]

Glad you are OK. It's been about 22 years since I tread around them highways regularly...you can have em!

I know the feeling. I had the exact same "almost" crash on I96 this summer...rear tire got flat, lots of fishtails, trucks nearby...but for the Grace of God I was able to get it to the shoulder upright.

Cheers. Happy Holidays. Get better soon.

I think the only real therapy is to get back on the bike and get the confidence back. I'm trying on mine...

[Dave2]

I commute on I95 on my KLR from Bawlmer to Silver Spring. I'm gonna have nightmares from here on out - I have a used tube in the rear tire!

[baloneyskin daddy]

I had the same happen this spring on my beloved Elite 250. Got slowed from 60+ to about 20-25 with it fishtailing like hell when it finally pitched me off. No harm to me , a little scuffing on my boots and jacket and minor scrapes on the scoot. The psychylogical damage however was harder to shake. I swear ,everything I rode for a month afterwards felt like the assend was woozey.I bet I pulled over a dozen times and checked for low tire pressure in the following weeks. Weird how the mind works.

[VACommuter]

Well I finally got the wheel off and dismounted the tire. I was hoping for absolution and that I would discover massive damage from road debris. However, that is not the case. Tire is slightly mishapen from flatenning at speed but there is not a mark on it. Beads look good and interior seems fine. The obvious culprit is the valve stem that was completely yet neatly torn off the tube. Rest of the tube looks great and I could not discern any additional holes or punctures. My 2 ounces of dynabeads are still happily rolling around inside the stemless tube. Soooooo, my lesson here as the man earlier states is to use new tubes everytime I mount new tires. I made special pains to make sure the external valve stem nut was not tight against the rim as I heard that can sometimes lead to shearing if the tire slips on the rim. I think I'll try to remount the tire with a new tube and see what that looks like. The tire might be deformed or out of round. Toe color is more normal with less swelling, pain and throbbing. Still bleeding at the nail but seems to be getting better. Course of antibiotics complete and a big bottle of percocet left over for a "rainy day". Any other words of wisdom, possible hypotheses or general abuse?

VAC

[ecubed]

Hi Mike,

WOW, sorry bout the crash.....glad you are OK.


My 02 is to use GOOD brand name tubes...not Bikemaster or whatever is cheapest. Use tire brand tubes IE Dunlop, Metzeler, Moose, etc. Real good rubber tubes. I use the Moose heavy duty tubes in the dirt bike.

Also, Install a rim lock.!!! I can guide you for the install. It keeps the tire from rotating and tearing the stem in the event of super power wheelies or low tire pressure.....

CIAO
Eric

[Boon Booni]

Originally Posted by VACommuter

Any other words of wisdom, possible hypotheses or general abuse?

VAC

Thinking the tire was low,maybe 10psi or less. Probably from a leaking valve stem. Tire migrate around the rim until it finally tore the valve stem completely off.