Repeat Performance
Two weeks ago I had a flat on one of my trailers and didn't know it until I got home since it is a tandem axle trailer. I plugged the hole and it went flat again. In the end I discovered the nail had entered the tread and punctured the sidewall in two places. I fixed three holes.
It happened again today but I knew it before the tire was flat. Julie and I planned a motorcycle trip through Sedona to Jerome for lunch. We were about two miles from home when something didn't feel right. I was doing about 55. In about one second the not-quite-right feeling became a slight shimmy. The next two developments were totally unnecessary. The strange, undefined feeling got my attention and the shimmy locked it into my consciousness. The shimmy was followed by a wobbly which was followed by a pronounced fish tailing. All of this occurred in less than ten seconds.
Julie locked in the back of a deputy sheriff's vehicle. She seems happy!
I began slowing down, cautiously applied the brakes and checked my mirrors. There was a county deputy sheriff some distance behind me. As we stopped on the shoulder of the road the deputy stopped and offered us a ride home. Perfect timing! On the trip we talked motorcycles. As an eighteen year old he broadsided a vehicle, went over the handle bars, put a helmet sized dent in the side of the car and was knocked unconscious.
Julie and I took a trailer back and loaded the motorcycle. I found a nail had gone through the tread and put two obvious holes in the side wall.
In the end it was a short trip but all turned out well. We were close to home. I'm glad it didn't happen when we were 70 miles away.
It happened again today but I knew it before the tire was flat. Julie and I planned a motorcycle trip through Sedona to Jerome for lunch. We were about two miles from home when something didn't feel right. I was doing about 55. In about one second the not-quite-right feeling became a slight shimmy. The next two developments were totally unnecessary. The strange, undefined feeling got my attention and the shimmy locked it into my consciousness. The shimmy was followed by a wobbly which was followed by a pronounced fish tailing. All of this occurred in less than ten seconds.
I began slowing down, cautiously applied the brakes and checked my mirrors. There was a county deputy sheriff some distance behind me. As we stopped on the shoulder of the road the deputy stopped and offered us a ride home. Perfect timing! On the trip we talked motorcycles. As an eighteen year old he broadsided a vehicle, went over the handle bars, put a helmet sized dent in the side of the car and was knocked unconscious.
Julie and I took a trailer back and loaded the motorcycle. I found a nail had gone through the tread and put two obvious holes in the side wall.
In the end it was a short trip but all turned out well. We were close to home. I'm glad it didn't happen when we were 70 miles away.
posted by Paul at 7:33 PM
2 Comments:
And it's a good thing you were able to get it shut down.
Back in the '60s I put a tube of some sort of green leak sealer in my scooter tires. Pulled two nails out of my tire without losing more than a breath of air. Don't remember the name. Doubt they still make it.
Wow! Scary! I assume the policeman was really cute. Julie looks way TOO happy for that not to be true!
Post a Comment
<< Home