Roadsmart Front Tire Failure

wjbertrand

wjbertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
4,425
Location
Ventura, CA
Rolling down the off ramp to work this morning I thought the front tire felt a little weird. SmarTire indicated full pressurization present. It was too dark to see much when I arrived but I finally got free to go down to the parking lot for a look





Not visible in these photos, unless you peel back the rubber a bit, are the broken and exposed steel belts. No way I can plug this one. I've also noticed that most of the air has now leaked out too. Crap, here I am stuck at work. Must have hit something on the road this morning but I sure didn't notice anything. My first ever, in 40 years of motorcycling, front flat!
 
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That's not good!
Glad it got you to work without issues!

I think you're going to pay through the nose for the replacement tire!
 
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If yer gonna have a flat front tire, finding it in the parking lot is the way to go!

Just glad it didn't deflate at speed! :eek:
 
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I have a plan. Diane is bringing me a used but usable front tire I have in the garage at home and a local independent guy says he can install it for me for $20. Gonna have to watch that he doesn't break my SmarTire Sensor.
 
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What's going on with the front tires???? MotoMac and now you... I think I may just leave mine in the garage until this bad, front tire, mojo is over.... :22yikes:
:cool:
 
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Crap is better the Crash! Although both are a PIA! :eek::

Just glad you were able to look at it in the parking lot and not after picking the bike up after ....:22yikes:
 
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How about this one. My front tire went down very quickly one day, but I was able to stop without too much drama. The bike had to be flat bed towed because of the one inch slash. They found a box cutter blade inside when they changed the tire.:eek:
 
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It's amazing what you can pickup on the roads. :(

My first set of PRs had about 5,000 miles on them when I picked up some sort of aluminum tube or nail that was about 1/4 of an inch in diameter and there was about 5 inches sticking out. This is when I was working in San Burn-arse-dino and I rode it over to Chaparral where they were more then happy to replace the tire for $250. Tire plus Labor! :eek:4:
 
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Whoa, that looks nasty! I wonder what the heck you hit?!
As others have said, glad you made it to your destination safe and sound.
 
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wjbertrand said:
Rolling down the off ramp to work this morning I thought the front tire felt a little weird. SmarTire indicated full pressurization present. It was too dark to see much when I arrived but I finally got free to go down to the parking lot for a look





Not visible in these photos, unless you peel back the rubber a bit, are the broken and exposed steel belts. No way I can plug this one. I've also noticed that most of the air has now leaked out too. Crap, here I am stuck at work. Must have hit something on the road this morning but I sure didn't notice anything. My first ever, in 40 years of motorcycling, front flat!
Click to expand...

Please tell me that wasn't a Dunlop Road Smart tire. Seems I've seen a few of these stories about the front tire coming apart.

Dalee:confused:
 
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Yikes. Glad it wasn't followed by a crash.

My last 4 flats, 2 on the ST, 2 on the cage were in the parking lot.
Doe$n't feel like good luck LOL.
 
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ChipSTer said:
What's going on with the front tires???? MotoMac and now you... I think I may just leave mine in the garage until this bad, front tire, mojo is over.... :22yikes:
:cool:
Click to expand...

Yeah, who's gonna be #3?? :D (Not me, neither ST is running right now.)
 
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Well, at least I have a way to get home. Diane brought me a used front tire and I dropped it and the wheel off at the local independent shop here. Just received a call that they have completed the swap. Now I just need to coerce someone here to give me a ride back over there to pick it up.
 
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Sounds like you're going to be able to make it home at your regular time even with having a flat today!
:)
 
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Did I mis-read your post Jeff ?, it looked like you said " SmarTire indicated full pressurization present ".

Did the tire go flat ? In other words full de-pressurization ?

I have had a similar type of cut in a car tire from a piece of bumper cover plastic. When that stuff breaks it can leave sharp shards of plastic on the road that will cut a tire easier than glass.

As can a piece of broken tail light plastic etc. Hard to say what it was.

Larry.
 
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Blue One said:
Did I mis-read your post Jeff ?, it looked like you said " SmarTire indicated full pressurization present ".

Did the tire go flat ? In other words full de-pressurization ?

I have had a similar type of cut in a car tire from a piece of bumper cover plastic. When that stuff breaks it can leave sharp shards of plastic on the road that will cut a tire easier than glass.

As can a piece of broken tail light plastic etc. Hard to say what it was.

Larry.
Click to expand...

I probably wasn't clear. At the time I noticed the front end felt funny, as I was exiting the freeway, the TPMS indicated full pressurization. By the time I had a chance to look at it 5 hours later in the parking lot at lunch time, it was totally flat. Either it was a relatively slow leak, of the insult occurred right at the end of my commute. Whichever is the case, I'm thankful it happened at one end of my commute or the other and not in the middle in the dark!

Update: picked up my wheel with the replacement rubber on it and reinstalled it on the bike. It really pays to have done this a number of times at home so you know exactly what to do. Saves a lot of time. I'll have to make up a little time before I leave for home but at least I had a clear afternoon with respect to meetings!
 
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wjbertrand said:
I probably wasn't clear. At the time I noticed the front end felt funny, as I was exiting the freeway, the TPMS indicated full pressurization. By the time I had a chance to look at it 5 hours later in the parking lot at lunch time, it was totally flat. Either it was a relatively slow leak, of the insult occurred right at the end of my commute. Whichever is the case, I'm thankful it happened at one end of my commute or the other and not in the middle in the dark!

Update: picked up my wheel with the replacement rubber on it and reinstalled it on the bike. It really pays to have done this a number of times at home so you know exactly what to do. Saves a lot of time. I'll have to make up a little time before I leave for home but at least I had a clear afternoon with respect to meetings!
Click to expand...



Ahh de-pressurization from sitting with slow leak. Much better than instant flat from road debris.

Good that you were able to get mobile quickly. There are a lot of advantages to being your own ST maintenance and repair tech. :)
 
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