Wilsons Sandbox

Hey all, Since there seems to be a fair bit of tire talk going on, I figure it's a good time to toss this out... I need to buy/build a tire/tube kit for my '08. It's been longer than I care to mention since I've had to deal with tubes, so I'm a clueless moron. What's a good list of "stuff" that I need to fix punctures, pinches, tears, etc on the road or trail? Anyone got any specific items they prefer over others? I'm looking for small, reliable, easy to use stuff. I don't mind paying a bit more for "good" tools instead of using (breaking) cheap ones. What exactly do I need to take care of pretty much all tire/tube issues on the road, other than my home-made quick-jack thing? TIA! --Jonathan "smthng" Kalmes Springfield, VA 2005 Yamaha FJR1300ABS - "Blue Bayou" 2006 Jeep Unlimited Rubicon - "Teflon" 2008 Kawasaki KLR 650 - It's here, but it hasn't earned a name yet. http://smthng.info "Look, the truth is, I've been trying to save the world, one person at a time, but, I'm meant for smthng bigger. Smthng important. I know it now."

At 11:34 AM -0400 6/2/08, smthng else wrote:

>I need to buy/build a tire/tube kit for my '08... >What's a good list of "stuff" that I need to fix punctures, pinches, >tears, etc on the road or trail? Anyone got any specific items they >prefer over others? I'm looking for small, reliable, easy to use >stuff. I don't mind paying a bit more for "good" tools instead of >using (breaking) cheap ones. What exactly do I need to take care of >pretty much all tire/tube issues on the road, other than my home-made >quick-jack thing?

Some guys carry two spare tubes. Some guys only carry a spare front and will run it in the rear in an emergency (long enough to get off the trail and to service) Some guys Slime it and forget it. I run Slimed Bridgestone UHD tubes (4mm thick natural rubber). I'm confident that I won't get a flat, so I just carry a patch assortment, including a few whopping 3" diameter Camal car tire patches, metal abrading tool and adhesive. This is much lighter and more compact than spare tubes. The giant patches are also good for repairing damage to the inside of the tire itself (large puncture, exposed cords, etc) REAL MEN only need two 7" Motion Pro tire irons. mark

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 12:03:58 -0400 Tengai Mark Van Horn writes:

> Some guys carry two spare tubes. > Some guys only carry a spare front and will run it in the rear in an > > emergency (long enough to get off the trail and to service) > Some guys Slime it and forget it. > I run Slimed Bridgestone UHD tubes (4mm thick natural rubber). I'm > > confident that I won't get a flat, so I just carry a patch > assortment, including a few whopping 3" diameter Camal car tire > patches, metal abrading tool and adhesive. This is much lighter and > > more compact than spare tubes. The giant patches are also good for > repairing damage to the inside of the tire itself (large puncture, > exposed cords, etc) > > REAL MEN only need two 7" Motion Pro tire irons. > > mark

<><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><> Mark, And what do REAL MEN use to inflate the tire after a repair? : ) Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT

But REAL men also need a way to air up the tire. 8~) I carry a mountain bike pump, the tool that keeps on giving. I've tried CO2 but it takes a lot of cartridges to fill a tire and if you pinched the tube and are out of gas, you are SOL and still have a flat tire. One caveat on pumps - on hot days with vigorous use they can overheat, another way to be SOL. My kit depends on how far I'm going. Usually a spare 21" tube, two tire irons, pump, and patch kit. If you have an '08 your tool kit has a wrench to fit the front axle, the rest of us have to carry something to get the nut off. On longer trips I throw in a rear tube. __Arden --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Tengai Mark Van Horn wrote:

> > At 11:34 AM -0400 6/2/08, smthng else wrote: > >I need to buy/build a tire/tube kit for my '08... > >What's a good list of "stuff" that I need to fix punctures,

pinches,

> >tears, etc on the road or trail? Anyone got any specific items

they

> >prefer over others? I'm looking for small, reliable, easy to use > >stuff. I don't mind paying a bit more for "good" tools instead of > >using (breaking) cheap ones. What exactly do I need to take care

of

> >pretty much all tire/tube issues on the road, other than my home-

made

> >quick-jack thing? > > Some guys carry two spare tubes. > Some guys only carry a spare front and will run it in the rear in

an

> emergency (long enough to get off the trail and to service) > Some guys Slime it and forget it. > I run Slimed Bridgestone UHD tubes (4mm thick natural rubber). I'm > confident that I won't get a flat, so I just carry a patch > assortment, including a few whopping 3" diameter Camal car tire > patches, metal abrading tool and adhesive. This is much lighter and > more compact than spare tubes. The giant patches are also good for > repairing damage to the inside of the tire itself (large puncture, > exposed cords, etc) > > REAL MEN only need two 7" Motion Pro tire irons. > > mark >

In the words of the late-great W.C. Fields, "I wouldn't touch that straight line with a 10 ft. pole." albatross finding a bit of humor in things today

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Saline wrote: > > > On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 12:03:58 -0400 Tengai Mark Van Horn > writes: > > Some guys carry two spare tubes. > > Some guys only carry a spare front and will run it in the rear in an > > > > emergency (long enough to get off the trail and to service) > > Some guys Slime it and forget it. > > I run Slimed Bridgestone UHD tubes (4mm thick natural rubber). I'm > > > > confident that I won't get a flat, so I just carry a patch > > assortment, including a few whopping 3" diameter Camal car tire > > patches, metal abrading tool and adhesive. This is much lighter and > > > > more compact than spare tubes. The giant patches are also good for > > repairing damage to the inside of the tire itself (large puncture, > > exposed cords, etc) > > > > REAL MEN only need two 7" Motion Pro tire irons. > > > > mark > <><><><><><><><><> > <><><><><><><><><> > > Mark, > > And what do REAL MEN use to inflate the tire after a repair? : ) > > Best, > > Jeff Saline > ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal > Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org > The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota > 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT >

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "smthng else" wrote:

> What's a good list of "stuff" that I need to fix punctures, pinches, > tears, etc on the road or trail?

Well, you have an '08, so you don't need one of the things that we pre-'08ers need -- an axle wrench for the front axle (for some inexplicable reason, the pre-'08 didn't come with one!). So here's the deal. What you need really depends on your tires. Here's the common stuff I use: Two 8-inch MotionPro tire irons 1 aluminum "Bead Buddy" (screws onto rim to keep tire from popping back up on the bead 1 21" inner tube. 1 mountain bike air pump 1 tire pressure gauge 1 combination valve cap/valve stem remover 1 small roll of duct tape (generally sold at camping goods stores, VERY small -- used for, amongst other things, for balancing the rear by moving the tire weights to where they're needed then duct-taping them into place... I've never needed to balance the front, the rear for some reason always needs balancing, but that's easy to do to "good enough" standards on the wheel's own bearings). You can't really fix punctures, pinches, tears, etc. without putting a new tube in, so the new tube is the important thing. The 21" will work in rear in a pinch, just don't leave it there for long. They make pouches that'll clamp to your front fender, but I don't know if that works on the '08 due to its redesigned fender. Now, the other issue is how to break the bead on the tire. That's never an issue with the front tire, kicking it with the heels of your boots will always break the bead there. With rear tires with a fairly soft sidewall like the stock tires or Kenda 270's, it's also pretty easy -- a bit of kicking it with the heels of your boots at the right places will do it. But on tires with short stiff sidewalls I have thus far not been able to break it loose using that method, and ended up putting a (large, heavy) C-clamp into my topbox to break the bead. The most important thing to do is *PRACTICE AT HOME BEFORE YOU NEED TO DO IT IN THE FIELD*. That's how I know what's needed to break the beads of my tires and extract the tubes and put new tubes in -- I've done it. I spoon all my own tires onto my rims because it's good practice for when you need to do these things in the field. -E

At 10:23 AM -0600 6/2/08, Jeff Saline wrote:

>And what do REAL MEN use to inflate the tire after a repair? : )

Well, of course we depress the valve with a tooth and blow into it! LOL I just assumed everyone carries at least a $7 air compressor. I have an Airman air compressor that I got from CalSportTouring for $16 a couple years ago. I carry a compact HP bicycle frame pump as a backup. Don't get sucked in to that $100 CyclePump racket! Mark

Mark - has the Slime ever plugged a hole for you, that you know of? Wondering how effective it is. What would you do to clean the tube if it holed and you had to patch it? thanks, Chris -----Original Message----- From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Tengai Mark Van Horn Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 12:04 PM To: you@... Cc: dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Tire change kit? At 11:34 AM -0400 6/2/08, smthng else wrote:

>I need to buy/build a tire/tube kit for my '08... >What's a good list of "stuff" that I need to fix punctures, pinches, >tears, etc on the road or trail? Anyone got any specific items they >prefer over others? I'm looking for small, reliable, easy to use >stuff. I don't mind paying a bit more for "good" tools instead of >using (breaking) cheap ones. What exactly do I need to take care of >pretty much all tire/tube issues on the road, other than my home-made >quick-jack thing?

Some guys carry two spare tubes. Some guys only carry a spare front and will run it in the rear in an emergency (long enough to get off the trail and to service) Some guys Slime it and forget it. I run Slimed Bridgestone UHD tubes (4mm thick natural rubber). I'm confident that I won't get a flat, so I just carry a patch assortment, including a few whopping 3" diameter Camal car tire patches, metal abrading tool and adhesive. This is much lighter and more compact than spare tubes. The giant patches are also good for repairing damage to the inside of the tire itself (large puncture, exposed cords, etc) REAL MEN only need two 7" Motion Pro tire irons. mark