Flat tire on Motorcycle

[i am bob]

19 hours ago, Gratefuled said:

I saw some at a hardware store in a Gaisano store, not the hardware section of the dept store.

Gaisano South?  The downtown mall that's hidden? I only knew it was a mall by walking by the door one day and seeing all the grocery checkouts...   Lol!  Yeah, I've seen it there too...

[Nephi]

4 minutes ago, i am bob said:

Gaisano South?  The downtown mall that's hidden? I only knew it was a mall by walking by the door one day and seeing all the grocery checkouts...   Lol!  Yeah, I've seen it there too...

You ol' boys must be livin' down there in the southern states - er ahh provinces! We have a Gaisanos at Marquee Mall outside of Angeles City. Problem with these places is they want 10 times what they should charge for every item.

[Gratefuled]

1 hour ago, i am bob said:

Gaisano South?  The downtown mall that's hidden? I only knew it was a mall by walking by the door one day and seeing all the grocery checkouts...   Lol!  Yeah, I've seen it there too...

No, it was the one in Toril but yes there are fix a flat cans available.

[compostela]

I've had so many flat tires over the years that I can only guess how many. At least 30. And in some out-of-the-way places, too. Just this past year, one flat on the Camotes and another one in Anda, Bohol. As well as others in more built-up places. I've had flats up the mountain and flats in the middle of cities, and never has it been a problem getting it repaired.

Wherever it is, in town or country, you are never far from a vulcanising shop to get it fixed. Wherever there is any people at all, there's always going to be a vulcanising shop nearby. When the flat happens, just ask the first passer-by where the nearest repair place is and they'll point you in the right direction. Of all the flats I've ever had, I've never had to move the bike more than about 2km to the nearest repair shop and more usually the distance involved is a lot less than that.

With pricing they are usually fair and almost never try and overcharge. It should normally cost around 40 pesos for a 'normal' flat tire repair these days. Sometimes, about 1 in 10 times, the repair is not quite as straightforward as at other times and you need to pay more. I had one in Ormoc city in January where they needed to get a special part and on that kind of occasion, it costs more - that time it was about 120.

Just two times, I think I have been subject to a 'skin tax', which is not a lot of times out of thirty-plus times. Both were in places where there are a lot of foreigners. Moalboal, where I was asked for 100, which I just flat-out refused to pay. I think I ended up giving them about 60. Another time in Bantayan, although this is a few years ago, it seemed that all the vulcanising shops in the Sta. Fe area had got together and formed a price-fixing 'mafia' involving flat tires and foreigners. Nobody would do it around there in Sta. Fe for less than 150 but I found out subsequently that in Madridejos, a municipality on the same island but where there are almost no foreigners in comparison, they charged the 'normal' price of 30 in those days.

Being overcharged as a foreigner is rare. The normal provincial vulcaniser who either has had very few, or no foreigner customers before at all, has never tried to overcharge me. As a foreigner I will usually tip them 20 pesos on top of the 40 they typically charge, but I wouldn't want to tip them too much.

[robert k]

Off topic, I know, but i don't get overcharged very often. I had one of those flat rate taxi drivers thought he was taking in the bumkin foreigner. At the end of the ride I told him great! It would have cost me twice that much in the US and his tip alone would have been been more than the flat rate had we been on the meter this trip, flat rate= no tip.

The car tire I had broke down and patched cost me about 150 php and included taking it off the jeep, a bargain in my opinion.

Are people riding on a flat tube tire? I thought that would shred a tube, rip the valve stem off or something when the tire spins on the rim?

Edited September 4, 2016 by robert k

[Dave Hounddriver]

10 minutes ago, robert k said:

Are people riding on a flat tube tire?

As I mentioned, the flats I get always seem to be caused by nails and when they go into the tire and stay there I find the nail will rip the tube within a few meters of riding.  My last flat I heard pop and felt the tire go wobbly and immediately slowed and stopped.  I walked the motorcycle about a half km to the vulcanizer and watched him take it apart to see an inch long rip in the tube and the nail still in it.  I can see that riding on it would ruin the tire but the tube is often already toast.  At least that is my experience and the reason I started the topic 

[robert k]

3 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

As I mentioned, the flats I get always seem to be caused by nails and when they go into the tire and stay there I find the nail will rip the tube within a few meters of riding.  My last flat I heard pop and felt the tire go wobbly and immediately slowed and stopped.  I walked the motorcycle about a half km to the vulcanizer and watched him take it apart to see an inch long rip in the tube and the nail still in it.  I can see that riding on it would ruin the tire but the tube is often already toast.  At least that is my experience and the reason I started the topic 

Maybe the small tires deflate so quickly you never have a chance. I would try tubeless and a plug kit. If you don't like it, you can still use tubes with a tubeless rim.

[Nephi]

1 hour ago, robert k said:

Are people riding on a flat tube tire? I thought that would shred a tube, rip the valve stem off or something when the tire spins on the rim?

On our motor, Yes, I do ride on the flat but only if within town (1k or less). I have breathing issues with COPD and so not possible to push the trike anywhere. Makes it a real pain at times. What I'm waiting for is whenever they start having and selling the new airless tires like the one pictured below. They are starting to be used elsewhere in the world and will be here eventually.

[robert k]

1 hour ago, Nephi said:

On our motor, Yes, I do ride on the flat but only if within town (1k or less). I have breathing issues with COPD and so not possible to push the trike anywhere. Makes it a real pain at times. What I'm waiting for is whenever they start having and selling the new airless tires like the one pictured below. They are starting to be used elsewhere in the world and will be here eventually.

Maybe they could use the foam that is used in man lift wheels, or as some call them scissor lifts? I have seen people using man lifts with a 50 cm slice in the tire through which I could see the foam. I wouldn't even attempt to count the nails in those tires. I think they mostly have a tire and valve stem so they have a way to pump in the foam because there isn't any air in them.