Road Tripping: The Dreaded Sting of Flatness

It was just about dinner time and we’d been out riding all day. Kenny and I were just finishing up our last pitstop, taking a picture of a Mail Pouch barn at the edge of the town of Romney, West Virginia. As I pulled out onto the roadway after Kenny I noticed his rear tire looked soft. I buzzed in on the Sena and said the dreaded words – ‘looks like you’re going flat.’

mail pouch barn route 50 near romney west virginia

We pulled over on the side of the road near the mouth of someone’s driveway. Kenny put his Tiger up on the center stand and spun the rear wheel ’round. A nail. Damn.

Out came the Tire Plugger and the Slime compressor. Those 2 items are worth their weight in gold. They’re quick and easy and can get you back on your way in 10 minutes. When I think about all of the years I rode around without them, I realize just how lucky I was to not have needed them. Really lucky.

kenny finishes plugging his tire

I’m not shilling for anyone, just passing along what we keep on hand in our sidebags. They’ve served us well:

As an aside – if there is someone obviously doing repairs on the side of the road and there is no oncoming traffic, it’s okay to give them a little space and move your car towards the center line. :-p

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

You may also like...

7 Responses

  1. Shybiker says:

    Good advice. This is one of the most common problems we have on the road.

  2. I carry the same two tire repair items, and other than practicing a couple of times on old tires, I’ve never needed to use them. For me, just having them wards off evil, which is why I always carry a first aid kit as well.

  3. novos says:

    I bought a Stop & Go based off your recommendation, had to use it on my truck tire – that plug is still holding almost a year later 😀

  4. Wayne Busch says:

    Have you tried the Michelin Pilot Road 3 tires on the Tigers? They have been excellent for me. I’ll be trying the new Road 4’s soon.

    • Fuzzygalore says:

      I have 2s on my Tiger – which i still love. The fact that I don’t ever *think* about my tires makes them good for me.

      Kenny just put a set of 4s on his Tiger while we were in WV. He hasn’t weighed in on them yet.

  5. jon says:

    The plugger saved my butt once. Oh wait butt and plug, yeah. I rode about seven hundred miles on a plug coming back from deals gap one year. riding the KLR with tubes has always left me with the dilemma of packing the tubes, tools and inflator or taking the gamble and leaving it home..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.