I am one lucky IDIOT!

[FutureVentures]

But mostly, I'm an idiot.

 

Many of you read my recent traveling posts, where I flew down to LA to buy a bike and ride it back about 1115 miles.

 

Sooooo, lets just say, the bike handled REALLY weird at slow to medium speeds, ESPECIALLY in turns.

Thought it was just me on a new bike, first time with a fairing.

Heck, I heard these things are a bit top heavy, yeah, that must be it....

 

Sooooooooooo, 1115 miles and a day later, a friend says, "say, your rear tire is low".

Holy friggin crap!

 

Can you say, TIRE PRESSURE!

 

Dumb, dumb, dumbie, I didn't check the tire pressure before departing on my sojourn.

FYI, I TOTALLY blame my own stupid self, not Roy.

As "pilot in command" it's my responsibility to do a pre-flight check, I didn't. Too eager I spose.

 

Long and short, BOTH tires were..............ready for this?

21 lbs low! Not combined, each.

 

Yup, they were about 15lbs each.

 

"Life is tough, it's tougher when you're stupid".

 

Ok, I was lucky enough to survive and learn again, this lesson. Won't repeat this mistake.

The self flagellation continues.

 

Long and short, NOW the bike handles like a dream!

 

I'm soooooooooooooooooooooo happy and yet, mad at myself.

 

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Dang. Wow. Geeze. And a whole bunch of other words that the software and Don wont let me say..

 

Hey, If those tires went over 1000 miles at around 75-80 mph with only 15 pounds of air each, I want to say two things. One...You been livin right, and you have a reason to be on this planet! Apparently God wants you here.

 

And two...those tires may be damaged...I'd deflate them and look for cracks in the sidewall if I were you. If you find any...ANY! ...put new skins on....Like I said...youre SUPPOSED to be here, dont go messin' with His Plans!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Yammer Dan]

If hindsight were....

Glad you made it without any problems. You are Lucky!! Handles a little different? I can believe that!

[Guest Ken8143]

Wow!

[1BigDog]

Another one of lifes little lessons. Glad ya made it safely.

[86er]

Erich! All I can say is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Quick, Go Buy A Lottery Ticket!!!":rotfl:

 

[BuddyRich]

Now it will handle and ride much better. Made a couple of runs to work last year with only 12 in the rear. 200 miles round trip each time. Yea, they feel a little weird and are kinda noisy that low. I was on Avons and had picked up a nail

[tomfromhull]

How was the ride? Smooth??

[Steve S]

I'm glad you make it home safely. It was a pleasure to read your posts as you made your trip. Maybe I will be lucky enough to be able to talk trips with you over coffee sometime.

[a1bummer]

I've had brain farts like that myself:buttkick:

[hipshot]

i HAVE t agree with both Brian(texas2sturgis), and 6er!!!!!!

you are one fortunate individual!

 

 

you know the old saying, "There ain't no cure for stupid", so i wouldn't put you in that class!

just in the "one lucky guy", class, cause you learned from your error!

just jt

[Grandpagak]

I am one lucky IDIOT!

But mostly, I'm an idiot.

 

 

 

 

thats alright!!! some of my best friends are IDIOTS.. glad that you made it safe..!!!!!

[sarges46]

They sure ride funny when the pressures are low dont they! Wait...I wouldnt know that...how would I know that!! Never done anything like that in my life!

[hipshot]

They sure ride funny when the pressures are low dont they! Wait...I wouldnt know that...how would I know that!! Never done anything like that in my life!

 

Rick, i have heard from very reliable sources that they can, get really squirrelly , with 20 #'s of air in the rear tire.

i didn't believe a word of it, so i deflated mine, just to see!

that's my story , and i'm sticking to it.

just jt

[wkboard]

I bought my 99' RSV on ebay last summer in Wash DC. rode it home 900 miles with 22 in the rear and 18 in front. I figured it out about a week later when I FINALLY got around to checking it. Same as you- I was so excited to get started home that I forgot to check it at the guys house, and then had no gauge on the way home.

You are right, it handled terribly with low pressure. Mileage was very bad too.

I replaced them both with Avon venoms this winter and I really like the ride.

So I don't think you are stupid, just carelessly excited like I was!!!! I am glad we both are here to tell about it!!

I live in Hanover Park, il (chicago burbs) Hope to meet you sometime!

[bongobobny]

Yah! They do handle strange with a soft tire, don't they?!!? Don't ask how I know...

[SaltyDawg]

Glad to hear you didn't have any misfortunes because of the tires. It's a funny thing, but on the way in to work this morning I got to thinking about your post mentioning the low speed handling problems with your bike. I made a mental note to find that post and make a comment about the tires. To check the pressure and also to see if the rear tire had the tread worn flat on the bottom. Both of those conditions would have caused a weird feel, and here you have posted about it.

 

Just last weekend I straddled my baby for the first time in a little over 3 weeks (out with gout) and the first turn I made it felt real weird to me. My wife was riding behind me on her bike. I moved into the left lane and rocked the bike back and forth trying to feel her out, my wife pulls up beside me, smiles and waves and keeps on trucking. So I thought to myself everything must be fine and I'm just out of sync. Well we stop at a traffic light and I told my wife the bike feels weird to me and she says and I quote "Well your back tire is flat! I noticed it when we left the house." You could have knocked me over with a feather, my own wife notices I have a flat tire on the rear and doesn't bother to tell me when she is riding next to me. :scratchchin:Hmmmmm Maybe I shouldn't have told her about the life insurance policy.

 

Actually the tire wasn't completely flat, it did have 11lbs of air in it. Good thing for me is I only road about a mile total and never got a heat cycle on the tire.

 

I would replace the tires without question. There is no doubt some sidewall damage has occurred.

[stardbog]

You better Hide this post from Squidley... Hi will kill you if he find about Lo Tires.

[spear]

15 lbs eh?

That's pretty good when you consider that standard air pressure at sea level is 14.7 lbs. (Or doesn't it work that way?)

[MrRadi8]

Close to your idiot status.

 

Got up to outside of Indy to pick this one up. Cranked her up, let her warm a bit, and took a short ride. Same thing. Weird in turns at the school parking lot I'd gone into.

 

But, I whipped out the handy dandy gage to check the forks, mono-shock, and both tires.

 

Forks had 10 each.

Mono had 60.

Front had 30.

Rear had 20.

 

I was worried he'd screwed up the bladders but they came down and held. Sigh.

[SilvrT]

With all that crappy weather happenin, the bike was prolly expectin snow and let out some air for better traction.....

 

:scratchchin:

[Ozark]

Look on the bright side. All those miles on spongy tires and you still loved it. Now it handles like a new bike and you'll love it even more. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronge, but in this case maybe it just makes you wiser.

[Poledar]

Better a lucky idiot....than a DEAD one! Ride safe and learn from your mistakes!

[sarges46]

Too much air in the front forks...shouldn't go more than 7lbs.

[RedRider]

A nice investment of $10 at Wally World will get you a 12V air compressor. It is quite small and can be made smaller with removing the plastic housing. Just wrap it in duct tape or electrical tape to keep the wires from snagging.

 

I carry one on my KLR since I drop the pressure if riding off pavement.

 

RR