Artiee
R1200RT
Early this morning, as I headed home from a night shift, I was approximately 10-12 miles from home, when I noticed my lane changes and cornering were begining to feel a little mushy instead of the clean, crisp snap I normally feel during execution. Suspecting a possible tire problem, I checked both tires after pulling into the garage, but didn't immediately notice anything. As I had to be back to work tonight, I didn't spend much time looking but planned to check again after getting some sleep.
When I woke up, I again checked my tires. This time, I noticed the rear tire was very low - 12 PSI. I re-pressurized the tire to 35 PSI and began running a soapy sponge over the tire. Almost immediately I found a small hole blowing bubbles in the soap suds. There was no time to work on a flat tire ( that will have to wait until Tuesday) so I headed to work in my car.
As I was driving I got to thinking about previous motorcycle tire punctures I've suffered over the years, as compared to car tire punctures. I've had the motorcycle since the spring of 2006 and have put almost 80,000 miles on it. During that time, I've suffered approximately 6 or 7 tire punctures (one tire lasting only 20 miles ). During that same time period, I've suffered only one puncture to a car tire.
As a basis for comparison, at my household, in addition to my motorcycle, there are three cars -- my wife's car, the car my high school age daughter uses, and the car I use when I can't use my motorcycle. That means at any give moment there are 12 car tires (not counting the spares) and two motorcycle tires -- a 6-to-1 ratio of car tires over motorcycle tires.
From the spring of 2006 through today, the miles driven by cars (all three) is approximately equal to or great than the 80,000 miles I've put on the motorcycle. All other things being equal, statistically, the odds say I should have had more car tire punctures than motorcycle tire punctures. Now I know there are differences in the construction of motorcycle tires and car tires, but are those differences significant enough as to make a motorcycle tire more prone to a puncture versus a car tire?
What are your views/opinions on this?
(....or am I just unlucky when it comes to motorcycle tires? )
When I woke up, I again checked my tires. This time, I noticed the rear tire was very low - 12 PSI. I re-pressurized the tire to 35 PSI and began running a soapy sponge over the tire. Almost immediately I found a small hole blowing bubbles in the soap suds. There was no time to work on a flat tire ( that will have to wait until Tuesday) so I headed to work in my car.
As I was driving I got to thinking about previous motorcycle tire punctures I've suffered over the years, as compared to car tire punctures. I've had the motorcycle since the spring of 2006 and have put almost 80,000 miles on it. During that time, I've suffered approximately 6 or 7 tire punctures (one tire lasting only 20 miles ). During that same time period, I've suffered only one puncture to a car tire.
As a basis for comparison, at my household, in addition to my motorcycle, there are three cars -- my wife's car, the car my high school age daughter uses, and the car I use when I can't use my motorcycle. That means at any give moment there are 12 car tires (not counting the spares) and two motorcycle tires -- a 6-to-1 ratio of car tires over motorcycle tires.
From the spring of 2006 through today, the miles driven by cars (all three) is approximately equal to or great than the 80,000 miles I've put on the motorcycle. All other things being equal, statistically, the odds say I should have had more car tire punctures than motorcycle tire punctures. Now I know there are differences in the construction of motorcycle tires and car tires, but are those differences significant enough as to make a motorcycle tire more prone to a puncture versus a car tire?
What are your views/opinions on this?
(....or am I just unlucky when it comes to motorcycle tires? )