Info on tyre blowout please..

[hereiam]

I read on one our local motorbike sites about a man and his pillion involved in a bad accident. He was apparently going pretty fast around a corner (Hayabusa) when he had a blowout.. not good news. Are there any precautions to prevent this from happening? It is something that often plays on my mind and I am somewhat obsessive about having my tyre pressure checked. I have it checked every time I fill up with petrol, but other than that?

[jkv45]

Fresh tires with adequate tread depth at the proper pressure and you can check it off your list of things to worry about.

[Suki2003]

inspect parts and operation of bike and tires often... before every ride is preferred.
Check tyre pressure before riding. I do this to ensure i don't go out with a new slow leak.

up tire pressures when riding with 2 people. the extra weight really loads the rear of the bike.

[allanoue]

Green slim

[hereiam]

Thanks for the info - will check each time before a ride. Luckily there is a garage under a kilometer away from where I live. Not too sure what is Slim Green?

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by hereiam

Thanks for the info - will check each time before a ride. Luckily there is a garage under a kilometer away from where I live. Not too sure what is Slim Green?

Do you know what TCLOCKs are? If not, please look it up for things you should check before each ride. Once the habit is built, it only takes a minute and will save your life.

Green Slime is a brand. They make products for your tires, bikes and cars. Plugs, patches, sealants and such. You should do everything in your power to NOT need their products.

[hereiam]

Thanks so much Chris.. I have read about TCLOCS on this forum. Thanks for letting me know about Green Slime - not too sure it's even available here.

[SLOWn60]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Do you know what TCLOCKs are? If not, please look it up for things you should check before each ride. Once the habit is built, it only takes a minute and will save your life.

Green Slime is a brand. They make products for your tires, bikes and cars. Plugs, patches, sealants and such. You should do everything in your power to NOT need their products.

[choneofakind]

Check tires and tire pressures regularly before rides. This way, you can check for damage and spot any damage before riding on it.

Also important! Have tires installed by a reputable dealer, preferably one with a warranty for their work. I recently got new wheels on my car, only to find that when my friend and I installed a tire on my car, we unknowingly nicked the rubber on the inside of the bead. It gave me no trouble for the 5,000 miles I drove on it. I would have continued using it because the bead was fully in tact and the damage was only cosmetic, buuuuuut the tire place had different ideas. I ended up buying a new tire because they wouldn't let me leave on a "damaged" tire. Something about liability, despite asking explicitly about a liability release waiver. Long story short, the best way to make sure the install doesn't damage the tire is to have a reputable place do them for you. Seems kinda silly, but hey.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by hereiam

I read on one our local motorbike sites about a man and his pillion involved in a bad accident. He was apparently going pretty fast around a corner (Hayabusa) when he had a blowout.. not good news. Are there any precautions to prevent this from happening? It is something that often plays on my mind and I am somewhat obsessive about having my tyre pressure checked. I have it checked every time I fill up with petrol, but other than that?

That was an uncommon type of accident.
It takes a previously abused/damaged tire, insufficient air pressure for the carried weight and a numb rider.
You don't need to worry about it, in my opinion.

Tubeless tires are made of two parts with specific jobs:

1) A strong and flexible structure that keeps the internal pressure from expanding the tire like a balloon.
The wheel rim, two rings of braided steel cable and several layers of interlacing fibers (nylon, kevlar, steel) keep that pressurized donuts shape, which is rigid enough to support the weight and the forces of cornering, centrifugal effect, braking and accelerating.

2) The rubber that covers the above structure all around, in and out.
Its functions are four: to form a continuous membrane that resists air leaks, to create a pneumatic seal by pressing against the wheel, to reduce relative sliding movements (hence internal friction and heat) of the fibers and layers forming the structure, as well as forming a rolling belt that provides traction.
This cover of rubber has no tensile strength, compared to the plies or layers of fibers.

A blowout is a catastrophic failure of the flexible structure, followed by a burst of air and loss of the shape and rigidity of the tire.
Normally, the point of failure is where the interlacing fibers have been previously damaged and weakened by rolling fast over a hard body (stone, curb, etc.) or due to excessive flexing after prolonged rolling on low air pressure.

Rolling on insufficient air pressure for the carried weight (passenger in the case of the mentioned accident) increases internal friction, which becomes heat, which increases the actual air pressure up to excessive values.

Going pretty fast around a corner puts additional stresses (lateral and centrifugal) on those weakened and over-pressurized layers of cords that form the structure.

Because those layers are relatively non-extensible, a damage shows up as a bump on the tire.
Unless the damage happened on the sidewalls, the rider should be able to feel any slight change in the roundness and symmetry of the tire.
A rider should also be sensitive enough to notice the handling changes induced by an under-inflated tire.

For more info on tires, please see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire

[VaFish]

Unless you run over a box cutter blade.

[hereiam]

Thanks Motofool.. just seen this response now. I do feel a whole lot better having read what you posted - thanks

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by hereiam

Thanks Motofool.. just seen this response now. I do feel a whole lot better having read what you posted - thanks

You are welcome

I ride everyday and have been checking pressures with a gauge every weekend.
Following that method, I have had to add a little bit of air once a month, and longer some times.

There are always molecules of air that escape through the seals.
As the internal pressure gets lower, the flexing of the walls increases, the internal temperature starts getting higher and the rubber starts working out of its design parameters, reducing its grip and resilience.
Both, the weight load and the speed, exacerbate that process.

All that damages the tire, but it takes a lot of neglecting to allow the cold pressure to get so low as to cause a catastrophic failure on the middle of a ride.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by hereiam

Thanks for the info - will check each time before a ride. Luckily there is a garage under a kilometer away from where I live. Not too sure what is Slim Green?

If you have a garage, you might consider getting an electric tire pump. (something like this), but find one that is inexpensive and easily available in your geography. The ones that plug into household current like this one are much faster than the ones that plug into 12v cigarette lighters in vehicles. This way, every time you check your pressure at home, you can adjust it to the correct pressure in one step, using the gauge right on the inflator. All tires lose a small amount of pressure over time (1-2 psi monthly is not abnormal).

[hfd1 tuner]

Having a shop I can say if you put tire slime in your tire and I dismount it and that crud makes a mess I hand you a roll of towels and a can brake parts cleaner! Motorcycle tires are very tough blowouts rarely happen due to poor construction. Tire damage due to object being stabbed in it is a super rare blowout. I would bet and have seen my share of destroyed tires it is due to low tire psi or overloading of bike carrying to much stuff. Michelin does not make a Goldwing tire due to the fact they are mostly overloaded with stuff. Tire manufactures recommend to fill tire up to max psi at time of mounting unless you know customer ride habits. Michelin says at least you know it leaves ready to carry the max load at the correct psi. Tires loose air through the rim due to pores in the metal over time around the bead valve stem ect. It just happens I see most bikes come in low on psi. Severe low psi will cause the sidewall to flex to the point the rim edge will cut it and that leaves a very tell tail inside the tire. I have seen 2 this year both on cruisers. Point is check you psi...