2nd Flat Tire 🛞 in 30 Days

1000 3C

1000 3C

New member
Location
Connecticut USA
1975 1000-3C I had 2 Vintage Dunlop tires mounted With new Tube and New Rubber straps that covers the spokes in the rim. Back wheel 🛞 has 2 Tire Locks. When I got the 1st Flat Tire coming home from The IMOC Event in Sturbridge Mass. The “Tech Guy” didn’t see anything unusual that would have caused the flat. The tube was broken and bunched up because I drove it a 1/4 mile to truck stop where I took the back wheel off. Again the Back Tire went Flat yesterday as I was driving home. 🤬
Any ideas đź’ˇ???
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7968.jpeg
    IMG_7968.jpeg
    348 KB · Views: 20
  • IMG_7943.jpeg
    IMG_7943.jpeg
    593.4 KB · Views: 20
Tire Locks?
Mine doesn't have any and I've never had a puncture in forty-nine years.
How old are the tires? (Date code on the sidewall)
Do you still have the original plastic spoke covers?
Which tubes did you use? Avoid heavy duty ones, they aren't suitable.
What pressures are you using?

Forensically check the inside of the tire and the wheel for sharps?
 
Tub of water for the tube and spit for the valve. I was going to say hard rubber rim tape, mine was hard as glass and just as sharp but you said it's new. Did you say 2 rim locks, or tyre locks on the rear rim, to stop tyre creep, why on a street bike? I like steel valve caps just to cover that. Check for rough surfaces on the inner rims and spokes poking through too far, or maybe a pinched tube after the first repair.
 
Tyre locks make the fitment of the tube and tyre unnecessarily fiddly, good chance the tube gets pinched by one, or both, if no foreign object has been found to pierce the tyre.

Locks are pretty unnecessary as well imho. If pressures are kept where they belong the tyre generally will not creep, even under the hardest acceleration a triple could muster... the spoked rims even have knurled edges that help keep the tyre in place.

I've often found rims covered in decades-worth of gunk inside, good idea to thoroughly clean the rim with a steel brush before fitting new tape and tube, as well as checking for protruding spoke ends, especially if spoke adjustment/tensioning has been performed.

piet
 
The Sock said:
Tire Locks?
Mine doesn't have any and I've never had a puncture in forty-nine years.
How old are the tires? (Date code on the sidewall)
Do you still have the original plastic spoke covers?
Which tubes did you use? Avoid heavy duty ones, they aren't suitable.
What pressures are you using?

Forensically check the inside of the tire and the wheel for sharps?
Click to expand...
I always use heavy duty tubes, I hate punctures.
Rubber ain't what it used to be says the father of 9.

Use only European tubes, and even then.

If the tyre has just been fitted, tube is likely pinched.

Paul
 
Paul Marx said:
I always use heavy duty tubes, I hate punctures.
Rubber ain't what it used to be says the father of 9.

Use only European tubes, and even then.

If the tyre has just been fitted, tube is likely pinched.

Paul
Click to expand...
Paul, if by heavy duty tubes you mean the ones I fit to my XR400 trail bike for off tarmac use, they are not rated for higher speed road use and may overheat and fail the manufacturer tells me.

Stuart
 
The Sock said:
Tire Locks?
Mine doesn't have any and I've never had a puncture in forty-nine years.
How old are the tires? (Date code on the sidewall)
Do you still have the original plastic spoke covers?
Which tubes did you use? Avoid heavy duty ones, they aren't suitable.
What pressures are you using?

Forensically check the inside of the tire and the wheel for sharps?
Click to expand...
There was a spate of Avon Speedmaster failures which was eventually traced to the label being stuck to the inside of the tyre and left in place when fitted and "worrried" the tube till it failed.

I can't imagine this in this case but agree that meticulously cleaning the inside of the tyre, the rim of the wheel and a little Johnsons Baby Powder (recent formula without Asbestos) are all positives.

On security locks, I found that the security locks on my off tarmac bike deteriorated over time and the rubber edging broke down to present a relatively sharp edged alloy casting which may have severed a tube. Again, meticulous checking.

For two failures in quick succession something is going on.

Stuart
 
stuartmetcalfe said:
Paul, if by heavy duty tubes you mean the ones I fit to my XR400 trail bike for off tarmac use, they are not rated for higher speed road use and may overheat and fail the manufacturer tells me.

Stuart
Click to expand...
Yes.
I never ride for any prolonged period at high speed, ie motorway. The risk of damage through overheating is inexistant and the risk of puncture, considerably lessened.
Tubes are 3mm thick I believe.
Paul
 
And if it wasn't anything mentioned above.

-I have found that many tubes nowadays keep air pressure just a couple of days. Worst I have tried this far were Michelin Air Stops, that were believed to be excellent even by me. On motorcycles I use Continental at the moment. The Pirellis are still waiting for a try, even they are made in China nowadays. In mopeds the best have been this far the believed to be worst brands such Duro (Taiwan), Deli (Indonesia) and Veloce (Vietnam). Possibly these have most amount of natural rubber instead of butyl rubber.

-If tyre lever was flipped over 90 degrees when fitting tyres, this it one typical reason that caused damage on tube during installment

-Just not careful enough with tyre lever or other tools

-Tube compressed somewhere, possibly when filling with air for first time, between the rim and tyre for example

-The air valve and its nuts. Tubes are often delivered with two nuts. Depends of the rim, but I mostly install the nuts one on each side. Seems to be suitable for many rims. With some rims leaving the nut off from the underside can be cause drag for the valve area on tube.


In Finland even professional shops do all of the above errors and many more. Worst seem to be shops that do motorcycle tyres just randomly.
 
Paul Marx said:
Yes.
I never ride for any prolonged period at high speed, ie motorway. The risk of damage through overheating is inexistant and the risk of puncture, considerably lessened.
Tubes are 3mm thick I believe.
Paul
Click to expand...
One of the benefits of living in the UK and free world (currently)...your bike and you can fit what you wish...

I don't ride my XR400 on the motorway either...

I do find fitting the heavy duty tubes to the front wheel with security bolts takes some patience on the XR.
 
I check pressures before every ride; in 2 weeks, they can lose 5 psi. My car never loses any pressure. I think my Pantah has a valve nut inside the rim; the valve doesn't stick out enough to fit my compressor connection.
 
I just reused a 20 year old tube in the rear of my 750 as I couldn't bring myself to fitting the new heavy duty [940grm made in Thailand pure rubber] tube over the 520grm tube it was to replace. Unsprung weight and all.
I also fitted a heavy duty tube up front to my GS BM as I fitted a non tubeless Pirelli MT21 tyre for a trip to remote Israelite Bay, 80 kays of soft sand and clay pans. The road to get to that 80 kay track involved really rough gravel and rocks. Once that trip was over I changed out that tube for a much lighter one as I normally use the bike for mainly gravel/dirt roads that don't require 20lbs or less pressure.
 
IMHO if a road tyre requires a thick tube for safe and reliable puncture resistance then it must be a crap tyre or there's an issue within causing damage (as per Vince). I've used tubed tyres in every bike I've ever owned over the last 53 years and have had ONE puncture. That was a large piece of metal that went through the tyre on the SF1 about 120km east of Mt Isa. Spare tube fitted on the roadside with my little tyre levers that came in a mate's BMW toolkit and my trusty mini pump. I've had punctures on my road bicycle from the plastic covering on patches becoming brittle ... since then I always remove it.

No way I'm dumping a 1kg tube into a front wheel on a bike where I've endeavoured to keep unsprung weight to a practical minimum. I have noticed that modern tubes don't hold air as well as they did 25 years ago. I have to inflate mine every fortnight to retain correct pressure.

When I first started using modern 17 inch tubeless tyres with tubes there was a scare campaign that it would cause overheating at speed. I've put that furphy to bed through solid first-hand testing experience :cool:
 
chrisk said:
6 x Self tappers a side, through the rim into the tyre. Oh …. that was in the days of Speedway at 6lb for a slick track…
Click to expand...
Tried that with my 350 Bultaco Sherpa, quickly tore them all off as well as the valve, beer o'clock came early. ;) Went back to those nasty rim locks.

I've found that Vee-Rubber tubes from Thailand(?) hold their pressure well. Lightweight and very pliable, easy to fit with no issues after at least 90-100 tyres fitted with them. They also seem to be very uniform around their entire circumferance, tyres fitted with them require very low quantities of balancing weights.

piet
 
Last edited:
piranha-bro2 said:
IMHO if a road tyre requires a thick tube for safe and reliable puncture resistance then it must be a crap tyre or there's an issue within causing damage (as per Vince). I've used tubed tyres in every bike I've ever owned over the last 53 years and have had ONE puncture. That was a large piece of metal that went through the tyre on the SF1 about 120km east of Mt Isa. Spare tube fitted on the roadside with my little tyre levers that came in a mate's BMW toolkit and my trusty mini pump. I've had punctures on my road bicycle from the plastic covering on patches becoming brittle ... since then I always remove it.

No way I'm dumping a 1kg tube into a front wheel on a bike where I've endeavoured to keep unsprung weight to a practical minimum. I have noticed that modern tubes don't hold air as well as they did 25 years ago. I have to inflate mine every fortnight to retain correct pressure.

When I first started using modern 17 inch tubeless tyres with tubes there was a scare campaign that it would cause overheating at speed. I've put that furphy to bed through solid first-hand testing experience :cool:
Click to expand...
Just wait until you have a valve rip out on a new made in Asia tube.
Guess how I know. Luckily, the rear.
Paul
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top