How Dumb Would I be To Do This?

[az3200]

The starter on my car went the other day, it's currently in a parking lot 16 miles from my house. It's ok though, right? I have a ninja 250 to use. Well the battery was dead yesterday, so I went out and bought a new one.well walked to a few stores to find the right battery. That took me all day.

The part that i'm stressed about is that I have to work today, The registration on my bike is expired, and the back tire is completely bald...like to the point where the threads are showing in certain parts of the tire. Work is 16 miles each way. I keep telling myself, if i just ride slow, take it easy in the corners I'll be ok. Oh, there's also a 70% chance of thunderstorms today.

I would call off, but they're not very understanding. Like I'll probably get and earfull over the phone if I do. I've tried getting rides but I have not had any luck.

It's quite silly to entertain the idea of my riding to work, on my bike the way it is, right?

[csmith12]

It normally goes.... If you have to ask.

Bus?
Taxi?
Other public transit?
Call you boss, maybe he will give you a lift.

Can you ride on a bald tire, sure... not recommended but you could do it. People do what they gotta do I guess. What bothers me is the expired tags. You just might find yourself walking anyway if the po po impounds the bike. Then your problems are just compounded. And the rain doesn't help either.

Good luck

[alex.s]

i've had a tire go on the highway. its kinda scary

[lgk]

bald tire plus rain equal disaster

[fishdip]

If you lose your job you will never get a new tire.

[Bigballsofpaint]

Instead of buying a battery why didnt you put that money towards a new car starter? They arent that much more, and im sure you could have put it in by yourself.

[subxero]

on a scale of 1-10 I give you Eleventeen

[fry1024]

Sounds like setup for a real bad day. Call off and take the ear full. That would hurt a lot less then wrecking.

[CC Cowboy]

Stop spending your money on partying and straighten out your bike and car. Or, be a burnout on the bus.

[CZroe]

Instead of calling off, call and ask if they can help you arrange a ride. That expresses a willingness to come in and they will be much less likely to blame you if they can't work something out for you.

Originally Posted by fishdip

If you lose your job you will never get a new tire.

How does it feel being the only one encouraging him to ride like that?

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

Stop spending your money on partying and straighten out your bike and car. Or, be a burnout on the bus.

[Rogue]

Bald tires... expired tags... thunderstorms... pick any combination of two of those 3 things and it's enough reason to leave your bike parked. If you can't afford to renew the registration or replace the tires then you certainly can't afford the potential fines for riding without proper registration. If your tire goes out or you slide in the rain and crash then you probably can't afford the medical bills on you and repairs to the bike.

Either catch a ride, take the bus, or call in sick. At least you won't need to take several more days off to deal with the possible consequences.

[corksil]

I'm with CC... hit the bong and call in sick. These things can wait. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe you should consider taking the rest of the week off to sort this out. I think there is a jurrassic park marathon on TV starting today at noon...

(Am I the only one who thought this thread was going to be "My car broke, and it's 16 miles from home but it's okay because I have a ninja 250! What's the best place to attach the tow rope to the bike? Rear tire?)

[Aggrotech]

Originally Posted by corksil

Maybe you should consider taking the rest of the week off to sort this out.

I'm in the same boat as OP with a few extras that he hasnt mentioned haha. Job doesnt give a ****, ur there to do teh slave labor work and if ur not there theres a good chance of losing ur job. He gets an earfull for calling in 1 day, how bad do you think itd be if he said he was taking the whole week off O.O

[corksil]

That's why I literally structure my life around complete and absolute independence. I ain't got a single soul to answer to, because that's exactly where I decided I wanted to be, five years ago. Independence and self-employment, absolute gold. Unfortunately you can't just jump into it, but you can start moving your life in that direction.

I'm supposed to go dig out a tree and move it to a different location today, but honestly it's more enjoyable to post random idiosyncratic isht on the internet and look at pictures of cats than it is to move that tree, so guess what I'm doing?

/off-topic.

[az3200]

^I too am very independent. I have maybe one or two people that could help me.

I thought about it a while, and yes, the risk just wasn't worth the reward. I took off work, and I may not have a job much longer. But with the expired tags, thready tire, and the rain it's just a no go.

I haven't spent my money on partying, I don't party. I bought a battery because It's the same battery that was in the bike when I got it over a year ago and 20k+ miles. I have money for a starter, they're $60 on ebay, but like I said the car is 15 miles away from me.

I also have a brand new sport demon sitting in my garage. I was going to take the wheel off and bring it in sometime, but the crap all hit the fan at once. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try and change out the tire myself. Never done it before.

[az3200]

Originally Posted by Aggrotech

I'm in the same boat as OP with a few extras that he hasnt mentioned haha. Job doesnt give a ****, ur there to do teh slave labor work and if ur not there theres a good chance of losing ur job. He gets an earfull for calling in 1 day, how bad do you think itd be if he said he was taking the whole week off O.O

Haha exactly. That's why I'm still home. I decided not to risk losing my life, getting hurt, or making my transportation issues even worse by having my bike impounded while my car is 15 miles away with a bad starter and nobody to get rides from. My job doesn't care about me or my issues, only that i'm there when they want me to be.

I was talking to a friend today telling them what happened. I got pulled over in the neighborhood a few months back when my registration had just expired. My friend told me that it's in the computer that I was pulled over, So if they see that and see that I still haven't gotten my registration renewed they probalby wouldn't let me go a second time.

I know I should have gotten my bike fixed up sooner, but I really didn't expect my car to just die on me.

Heres a pic. It's about 2 months old, so the tire is worse now. I put probably 50 miles on it in the past two months tooling around the neighborhood, riding it once week just to help keep everything moving. I'd take a picture of the strip of thread showing down the middle, but I slyly camouflaged it with black spray paint. the strip of threads showing is almost making a full circle around the tire now.

[GHill762]

your tire has the threads popping out so you spray painted them to hide them? not sure you belong on a motorcycle..

[az3200]

Originally Posted by GHill762

your tire has the threads popping out so you spray painted them to hide them? not sure you belong on a motorcycle..

think about it, With the layer of paint added to the threads on the tire, that should give them longer life.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by az3200

I'd take a picture of the strip of thread showing down the middle, but I slyly camouflaged it with black spray paint. the strip of threads showing is almost making a full circle around the tire now.

I have been waiting to give this achievement out for sooooooooooo long.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by az3200

think about it, With the layer of paint added to the threads on the tire, that should give them longer life.

Should've used spray-on PlastiDip to improve life AND traction.

[az3200]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Should've used spray-on PlastiDip to improve life AND traction.

That's a really good Idea, but at the moment I'm all out of PlastiDip. What I do have, is a roll of scotch tape. I know it won't be as grippy as the Plastidip, but I'm thinking if I wrap the whole roll around the tire, that should improve the life of the tire even more. Right?


To clear the air, I was outside taking a nice satisfying pull from my electric cig, contemplating my next move for the day when I saw the spray paint near the bike. I simply thought it would be funny to do. And for the whole mile or 2 it will last, It would be less embarrassing to me when others on the road see it.

I plan on riding my bike just a 3 mile round trip to the store to get some supplies to I can attempt to change the tire myself tomorrow.

[Hossua]

Just be careful not to screw up your wheels. Seems daunting, but it's really no big deal to diy and all you need are a few hand tools, a few chemicals and an air compressor.

[Hero Danny]

Just ask for some help, from friends family... not a ride, but a loan... get a starter for the car, install it.

Don't mess around with plasti dipping a tire, or god forbid tapping it... you are messing with honestly the BIGGEST safety equipment on a bike... more important than brakes in my opinion (you could always engine brake... but if a tire blows, well you're F****)

You can get a new tire for your bike mounted and balanced, etc. for about $75... yeah... next pay check, that's what you should do.

[Hero Danny]

Originally Posted by az3200

I plan on riding my bike just a 3 mile round trip to the store to get some supplies to I can attempt to change the tire myself tomorrow.

Just saw this, okay it looks like you have your priorities in the right place..

Be careful, don't want to see you in the "i just crashed" thread.

[az3200]

Originally Posted by Hossua

Just be careful not to screw up your wheels. Seems daunting, but it's really no big deal to diy and all you need are a few hand tools, a few chemicals and an air compressor.

what do you suggest? I have a little pry bar, but I don't have any tire irons. Does walmart sell them?

I was going to attempt the zip tie approach...

[corksil]

This guy.... he takes it to new extremes.

Let me be very clear here.... DO NOT RIDE YOUR MOTORCYCLE UNTIL YOU CHANGE YOUR REAR TIRE.

No one taught me how to change a tire. No one showed me a video. No one told me how to break a bead. I used a screw driver and lots of hopes and dreams. I damaged the tire, and had to go through the whole deal again.. Let me try and be clear here... study the procedure and change your rear tire. It's not rocket surgery..

Don't spraypaint your isht or try to put some kind of plasti-as$ crap on it... there is no way to 'extend tire life' at this point. You need a new tire, and you have one... figure out how to put it on the bike before you ride another inch.

If your employer doesn't understand that it's a very real liability that you will have your tire explode and quite possibly kill you in the process, and that's the reason you can't make it to work on a friday, quit the job. (Bonus points if you hitch a ride with another employee and put a bunch of razor blade cuts in the fabric of your uniform so when they say "You're fired" you can literally grab the collar of your uniform and rip it off your body and leave it on their desk and tell them you can't be fired because you quit..)

This guy... he's like "I don't party" but meanwhile he's out on his porch hitting his e-cigarette like a red-headed-step-child-who-brought-home-anything-less-than-straight-A-grades...

I don't even...

[Hossua]

Large screwdrivers will work but, if you can get a spoon it would be better. Think I used silicon lube to help get the tire on and off the rim. Just take your time, you'll get it. I used a rope to seal the bead on my tire job, but I suspect a good ratchet strap would make things even easier.

[CZroe]

Just to be clear: no one was seriously advocating Plastidip to extend the life of the tire. He indicates that even his original spray painting was done tongue-in-cheek.

[flitecontrol]

You can use old leather gloves to protect the rims from the screwdrivers or tire irons. And WD-40 or dish soap cut with a little water are suitable lubricants to help the tire slide over the rim.

[az3200]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Just to be clear: no one was seriously advocating Plastidip to extend the life of the tire. He indicates that even his original spray painting was done tongue-in-cheek.

Thanks, I figured when I said that people would realize how idiotic that sounds and realize that I was joking. Nope, everyone just thinks I'm idiotic, though I did clear that up a few posts above this.

Why do people keep bringing up partying? What does that have to do with anything? I'm not broke, and I already have a new tire. If you consider me smoking my ecig in the driveway early afternoon partying then by all means join me, It will be one hell of a party.... Thanks for the advice though, I'll be sure to cause a scene at my job and ruin the uniform I'm supposed be getting money back for, Yet im the broke down party animal stoner. You don't even what, corksil?

Not going to attempt the tire change yet. It's a raining cats and dogs. I was considering just walking to the store instead of riding, but I'm not doing either in this rain.
Thanks for the tips everyone,

[Bigballsofpaint]

See if a friend or family member have AAA and would be willing to have your car towed back home so you can put the starter or. Or if you insurance that includes XX towing miles.

[Ninjinsky]

Well the tire didn't get like that without you riding it that way. So how come it's suddenly scary today?

"but I slyly camouflaged it with black spray paint. the strip of threads showing is almost making a full circle around the tire now. "
Thank god there is a real biker left among all the law abiding metropolitan pantywaist wimps on here

[Mountain Dew]

Why are people who own vehicles so opposed to taking the fkin bus?

[corksil]

I don't think the bus in the contiguous is anywhere near as effective as the bus on the islands. Oahu buses are a thing of beauty. Even the C bus at 4am, if you can overlook the tweakers.

[Ninjinsky]

Originally Posted by Mountain Dew

Why are people who own vehicles so opposed to taking the fkin bus?

Because nothing says 'loser' like peering out of a bus window, especially the short bus, but all buses to some extent.

[CZroe]

You can live in metro areas and not have bus service.

[Hossua]

Originally Posted by CZroe

You can live in metro areas and not have bus service.

This^^
WHAT BUS!

[Hossua]

Originally Posted by Ninjinsky

Because nothing says 'loser' like peering out of a bus window, especially the short bus, but all buses to some extent.

Licking the windows seems to help.

[az3200]

I got the new tire put on!! It wasn't as difficult as I thought, Just took a lot of muscling, and a few curse words.

I have a little problem now. I can't remember where these bearings go! I've taken my rear wheel off many times but don't ever remember having this problem. I remember there being two bearings for either side, and they only fit in one spot.

Another bearing must have fallen from somewhere and I cant find where it fits anywhere. Here's a pic. One bearing is already in the wheel and the other two are on the tire.