What do I do if I get a puncture?

Sorry if this sounds an obvious question but I am new on the motorcycle
scene.
I have just passed the CBT and bought a Honda Varadero 125cc.
I love riding the bike and have notched up many miles already.

The only thing that concerns me is what do I do if I get a puncture.
Is there some product that you clever people use?
What do you use or am I just in the hands of a relay service?

Am help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

If it has tubeless tyres, one of those aerosol filler things works
quite well as a temporary repair. They never seem to work on tubed
tyres, though. I'd be surprised if a Varadero 125 has tubeless, but
it's easy to check. Just look at the tyre sidewalls.

With tubed tyres, you're generally bollocksed. You need a decent
puncture repair kit (patches, glue, etc), and that's no good without
tyre levers to get the wheel off the rim as well as a pump (or a
handful of those little gas bottles, and I mean a handful, as one or
two is never enough) to re-inflate it afterwards. Oh, and you need the
nous to get the wheel out and back again without messing something up.
And tyre removal is a black art itself (albeit easy to acquire). Carry
a a rescue card.

 

Don't worry about it. I've had about 3 punctures in the last 10 years, and
one of those was down to a corroded wheelrim gnawing its way through the
inner tube. You're more likely to fall off or get hit by a car.

You can get stuff like Ultraseal, but I haven't bothered. Do you have any
sort of recovery service?

 

RAC

 

Cane says...

<Cue Bear>

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Cane

<Bear Mode>

Cunts.

</BM>

 

I don't think Bear would be much use either, not for a puncture.

 

I've only had one puncture in the last 18 years of riding and
that was on the track at Assen - an M6 x 50 cap head bolt straight
into the rear tyre that was only a few weeks old. I didn't notice
until I came in from practice and checked the tyre to find the
finely chamfered head sticking out.

The point is that even when you get a puncture you'd probably
not notice until you stopped. Most punctures are "slow" punctures,
rather than total blow-outs, so you're more likely to spot it
first thing in the morning before you go to work or the last
thing at night before you leave work for home. You've then at
least got options about leaving the bike in situ, being recovered
(either by AA/RAC/OtherCunts or by mobile tyre fitter) or wheeling
it to a garage to get it repaired or pumped up again.

I carried a can under the seat of the RVF for about 4 years
because I was worried about the same thing. The only problem
I had was cleaning all the hardened shit off the bike when
the valve on the can disintegrated.

 

I've used Ultraseal type stuff when I thought I had a puncture [1].
Mostly I call the AA.

[1] Great big lump of steel in tyre.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Do a good job of quietening datatool alarms, they do.

 

I had a run of punctures, averaging one every 5 weeks, when I was
commuting by bike five years or so ago. A couple of them were slow
punctures as you describe, but one of them involved picking up something
while doing a ton in the outside line of the M4.
The first thing I noticed was a slight weave setting in, then when I
tried to lean to move across to the middle lane the bike seemed to want
to stay upright. By the time I got to the hard shoulder, the tyre was
starting to disintegrate with deep cracks starting to appear all over
the surface.

In every case, those friendly bods at the RAC sent a bike recovery van
and dropped me off at a tyre place in Staines. Other than an unexpected
hour or two of my time, it was no great hassle.

 

Catman says...

It's called "the wheel"

 

Lesbian conversions.

 

You mean it prompts the wider question? I'm sure this was done to
death recently, but 'begging the question' means making it unnecessary
or irrelevant.
--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

Snort

 

LOL

Allow, please

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Noticed two out of last three, but over my entire riding history, youre
right.

My last one (a couple of weeks back) was *very* noticeable.
--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

*Alloy* FFS!

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Carrrying a can of that is like having a talisman. You're almost
guaranteed not to need it until you forget to carry it.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"A scone and tea at half past three
Makes the day a little brighter
Keep your cakes and fancy tarts
And stick them up your shiter."

 

<snip>

long rambling flow of consciousness type tale of ultimate heroism in the
shape of a 10 year younger me, the promise of really dirty sex, a flat
front tyre what I stupidly removed the nail from and 30 miles of rush
hour traffic.

</s>

Auntie Carole is your friend.