Flat Tire Repair be Prepared
‘O no, I’ve got a flat tire!’ said the adventure rider at the start of an new day in the middle of nowhere. Yes, it was flat, but his having been a good boy scout, the adventurist was prepared to make a fix. What he wasn’t prepared for was that time had dried the soft glue in his tube tire patch kit, making even the best of use pray for redemption for not having checked the tire repair kit for a couple of years.
The same happened to a tubeless tire rider on one of those long road between towns up north when his deflated tire would not plug with the dried out rubber snakes in his repair kit. After blowing through his three CO2 containers he was at wits end until a friend helped him with a fresh patch snakes and CO2 tubes.
If your adventure riding is from petrol station to petrol station, not to worry.
Check your flat tire fix kit once a year. Preferable before a big ride. Know how or learn to use it. Try propping the bead with your tire irons. On the side of some dirt track 25 kilometers from the nearest motorcycle repair shop is not place to learn the tire irons are too short or easily bent by a stubborn tire bead.
I carry spare inner tubes for both of my tube and tubeless tires, as well as a couple of former inner tube sections cut in 4x4cm pieces. The can be used on the inside of a seriously cut tire as an inside patch (if your glue is working) before inserting the inner tube to keep the inner tube from popping out through a hole.
