We got nailed!

Hole in our rubber


It's devastating news; Shadowfax is lamed out by a freaking miss-placed nail in his rear £140-Michelin Road-Pilot 2 tyre. I pumped up the tyres and noted (as I had on Tuesday, if I'm honest), that the pump's pressure gauge was a little erratic inflating the rear. On the road I was convinced by Thursday that the rear was low but I was locked out of the Lanny and couldn't access the pump. By home-time on Friday I was feeling cautious, but no more so than when we've chanced riding at 34psi, which is 8psi lower than the best-guess if the tyres are similar to the BT020s (42psi each); +/-6psi is the outer limit of being an idiot.

The £?? nail

Feeling Flat


Interesting - 15psi and the puncture stabilised and we rode in an acceptable attitude. Not bad in support of the tyre's safety and all-roundedness, but poor form when you account for the internal damage water can cause when injected through a puncture by riding in the wet - and it's been very wet.

Another White Stallion feeling flat today

Perhaps the wet helped our stability, too? I'd kept our speeds down mostly. But then, there were stretches I know we did high-speed motorway cruising just above average legal allotments. Maybe that's like reducing pressure to get better traction in snow as with Icelandic off-roading lore? Maybe not. Or, like on the Salt Lakes in USA (according to BBC TV Top Gear 2008) the lower pressure allows the tyre to shape out at high rpm through centrifugal force and I'm safer going everywhere ton-up? Again, maybe not.

Anyway, we need it fixing to get me up to Milton Keynes on Tuesday. Now to find a reputable tyre centre in Portsmouth with time to make a hasty but "from the inside-out" safe repair without telling me radials cannot be plugged, or that their speed rating can no longer be guaranteed so it'll require a replacement anyway! I'd be better placed trying to get a No.22 bus for Putney in Alexandria.

I may try the Motorcycle Mechanic in Fareham? It's less of a ride on a re-inflated flat than Portsmouth is and I'm eager to see what the bloke's like. Anyone who opens after 9.30am in the morning is on to a good start in my books; work / life balance: early mornings, what's that all about really?

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