Things I have found in my tire

Anybody else keep a record of tire impalers? I say tire and not tires because it’s always the back tire, never the front. As I understand it the front tire flips the impaler up so that it can be caught at exactly the right angle and moment to puncture the rear. The odds of that seem to me like flipping a coin and having it land on its edge standing up, a near impossibility. But maybe there are way more opportunities for this to happen than I think are possible. One lesson I have learned though is never to ride the bike to Home Depot or any other home improvement store. The parking lot is a minefield littered with this stuff. That’s where I think I picked up that screw that was so long it even scratched the inside of the wheel.

I have toyed with the idea of a small but powerful magnet or wire screen just in front of the rear tire but never actually did it. Might actually make the problem worse! Nothing like having a $200 near new tire ruined at 2,000 miles. Arghhhhh...

Picked up drill bit one time.

It was my truck, but it was a thing, and it was in my tire so fair game.

They had just graded the gravel road in front of the house. I tried to go to work. Out of the driveway and just a few feet down the road I hear a loud thump thump thump. Stop. Look. See nothing. Drive on. Thump thump thump. Get out look. Tire is quickly getting flat. Discover a very rusty 3/8 inch combination wrench impaling the inner (toward the middle of the truck) sidewall. Back into driveway. Install spare. Go to work - a little later than usual.

Wow, mostly I just get "screwed".

Screwdriver shank, u- shaped fence staples, a large lag bolt and a few nails... oh, and the box of SS L shaped window clips that wiped out multiple car tires, my rear tire and hugger with large 1”X1” L shaped gashes at 70MPH and folks scattering three lanes into the shoulder. That was fun
Majority was when commuting through the everlasting construction zones of ATX

In my pickup I ran over a bungee cord on my way to work one morning and the next thing I heard was that thing slapping around in the rear fender. When ever you see a bungee cord in the road be verrrrrrry careful!!!

Try strapping a large plastic tie wrap to a driveline of a pickup truck! Drives people crazy everytime.

Mostly FOD from screws and nails but one time a piece of bone about 1/2" wide and 6" long. It wasn't even sharp just jagged on both ends. A car tire weight one time. Those two were the odd ones.

And it's not always the rear. I picked up a screw in a front tire 75 miles from the house.

I always carry a 12v small pump and a t-handle gummy worm kit. It's gotten me home or to safe haven several times, even the bone puncture. It took three gummy worms for that one.

jdubick said:

In my pickup I ran over a bungee cord on my way to work one morning and the next thing I heard was that thing slapping around in the rear fender. When ever you see a bungee cord in the road be verrrrrrry careful!!!

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I always try to avoid truck tarp straps laying on the road.
It's common to see them in the Midwest.

2008 near Hunt Texas I found this in my wife's tire. Pulled it out and it didn't leak.


1979 near Little Rock Arkansas we pulled into a long gravel driveway for a house that was not quite done with construction when I heard a loud racket.
Found a spike sticking out of the corner of the tire and hitting the muffler.
Fulled it out and it didn't leak.

One year we were staying at Alpine Texas a few days and noticed Debbie's rear tire was loosing about 2 psi each day.
I couldn't find anything in the tire. We had tires waiting for us back at a motel near Hunt and when the shop mounted the tires they found a tiny 1/16" drill bit in Debbie's tire.

roostershooter said:

Picked up drill bit one time.

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Same here. Do you know how you got it in your tire? I believe mine was purposeful: overnight in a hotel parking lot in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I was touring with a buddy who was riding a big Harley. We parked side-by-side and both did walkarounds and checks of the bikes before going inside for the night. Next morning we headed out but my tire was immediately a tad low in air pressure. I stopped and checked with my manual gauge and then put a couple PSI in the rear tire. Throughout the remainder of the trip (3-4 days) the rear tire seeped air out 3-4 PSI per day. After I got home the first place I went was to my tire guy. He found a shiny new, small drillbit dead center of the rear tread. Easily patched and I rode several thousand more miles until the tire was worn out.

I believe someone (redneck?) saw a big Harley and a small BMW in the hotel in Fort Smith and decided to "have some fun with the sportbike foreigner" and drilled my tire. Turned out to be a non-issue for this "sportbike" rider.

I was leading a group from the ferry up the railed to my house for a rally when one of the lads picked up a railroad spike. Finding a wrench to get his back wheel off was funny, finally borrowed one from an RCMP officer going off duty.


I was riding through Labrador in '08 at about 90 kmh when after a little blip I was suddenly doing tank slappers as all of the air went out of my front tire almost immediately. I have no idea how I stand upright!


just a little nail


I only screwed up the fix twice when I realized the tube was pincushioned


Same trip my tire was starting to chunk a little


And I got another flat at Manic 5 but I think it was just a piece of metal that had worked its way through the tire


I had 2 front pinch flats in one day then I switched to buying good rubber

Lee said:

I always try to avoid truck tarp straps laying on the road.
It's common to see then in the Midwest.

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On the way to work, a (former) coworker picked-up a tarp strap in the tire of his Subaru. It's the S-hook that penetrates, but in his case the hook was in the sidewall.

Those are days when it's pretty pointless to buy lottery tickets.....

royce said:

Same here. Do you know how you got it in your tire? I believe mine was purposeful: overnight in a hotel parking lot in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I was touring with a buddy who was riding a big Harley. We parked side-by-side and both did walkarounds and checks of the bikes before going inside for the night. Next morning we headed out but my tire was immediately a tad low in air pressure. I stopped and checked with my manual gauge and then put a couple PSI in the rear tire. Throughout the remainder of the trip (3-4 days) the rear tire seeped air out 3-4 PSI per day. After I got home the first place I went was to my tire guy. He found a shiny new, small drillbit dead center of the rear tread. Easily patched and I rode several thousand more miles until the tire was worn out.

I believe someone (redneck?) saw a big Harley and a small BMW in the hotel in Fort Smith and decided to "have some fun with the sportbike foreigner" and drilled my tire. Turned out to be a non-issue for this "sportbike" rider.

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Picked it up just riding down the road. It was in the right side of the rear tire. I went thru a right hand turn and heard whoop, whoop, whoop. I left it in for the 40 or so mile ride home.

I think it's the tire companies spreading this stuff on the roads to generate more business...

You know those metal chair glides that hammer in? Head about 1" diameter, shank about the same length. I found one in my car tire, the only clue was the tick-tick-tick as it rotated, no pull from a soft tire because it sealed the hole. Picked it up in the parking lot of a drive-in movie - tells you how long ago it's been since I had a puncture. Now that I said something I'll run over a nail within a block of leaving my driveway.

1 inch long flange bolt. Picked up on my commute last year, and let me know the rear tyre pressure monitor on my ‘16 RT was functioning as it should. It went in with a loud bang, and the bike skipped a bit. Only doing about 30mph. The pressure monitor held steady at 42psi for the rest of my commute, so I thought all was good. But eight hours later, on the way home, the readout started to look like a timebomb scene in a bad movie. I got home at 23psi (from 40).

My New RT Tire Story

My tire experience...Feb 2018


Wife and I up early, drove 2 hours east to Memphis BMW dealer to pick up our new ‘17 RT. Salesman gets bike serviced and is showing me all the features etc. Goes to start bike and it struggles to start. He informs me they had a bad batch of Exide batteries and puts a new one in. He fires her up shows me all the bells and whistles and we finish the deal and I'm on my way. Fifteen miles out I get a yellow warning light which turns to red so I pull over at a Shell station and kill the motor to look at manual. Try to start it and it's a no go. I call dealer and he sends tech with another battery and trailer. Third battery installed and she fires right up and idles for 5-7 minutes and everything looks good. I embark again homeward bound, 3 miles later the yellow warning light comes back on and I pull over again and call dealer.
Meanwhile bike starts fine so I toggle through menu and battery voltage display shows 11.5 volts. When I rev the motor the volts don't increase. Ok, we have a no charge problem. Tech arrives and we trailer back to dealer. Wife regretfully agrees to go ahead and drive home. It ends up being a factory defective voltage regulator. Dealer absconds one from a new GS and fixes my problem. Ok, so far so good. It's now 4:00 pm and I have a 150 mile jaunt to get home. Rain is looming, HEAVY rain is looming. I head out on I-40 west, rain arrives after 30 miles but I am well dressed and all is well. Or so I think

Yellow warning light comes on again. I’ve somewhat learned the RT menu by now and toggle it and it shows 14.2 volts. WTF? Then, my low tire display comes on. Yellow warning becomes red. I toggle menu and the rear tire shows 24psi with no town in sight. I ride 7 miles to next exit and pull up to your basic pay to pump air compressor. It requires credit card only. I swipe Visa and lo and behold it works. 48 psi and I'm off again. I learn later it cost $5. (Price wasn’t marked on compressor) Monitoring display and tire is slowly but definitely losing air. I am calculating miles to next big town in my head. I take next big town exit and air up again. It's now dark and rain is pouring down. I don't know how many of you have traveled I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis but the semis are thick and heavy and they block both lanes drag racing each other at 65mph. Normally not a serious problem but I am watching my tire steadily deflate and need to make some time. I will say the truckers were very helpful and took pity on me and let me change lanes at will due to the heavy rain not aware my rear tire was going flat. I end up stopping 5 times for air and luckily every pay to pump compressor (only air available) actually worked and I made it home by 7:45 with 22 psi in my tire. Good times.



I am worn out but thanks to my Darian jacket I am high and dry. I didn't look to see if I picked up a nail as I am back at work tomorrow. 175 miles on bike and my Metzeler Z8 may be toast. Oh well, I prefer Pilot Road 4s anyway. My wife was very happy to see me safe and sound.

Huge nail dead center of the Z8 tire. Replaced with a PR4 GT. I figure most of the bad Juju in my bike has been released. Time will tell.