Greg Field
Cruisin' Guzzisti
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2008
- Messages
- 102
After trying everything from bicycle pumps to electric pumps to CO2, here's the tire kit I found to be the best and handiest for use on a Guzzi. It's got an engine pump, patches for tubes, plugs for tubeless tires, and the tools to insert the plugs. It all fits in a handy little bag that stows under the seat of my V11 or in the saddlebag of the Eldo. You could even shove it in a jacket pocket. It takes up 1/4 the room of the smallest electrical pump and weighs less than half. You can't ever run out of cartridges, though you can run out of plugs if you have a very bad day. Carry at least five.
The plugs it comes with are the sticky, rope-type plugs. These are far better than those mushroom plugs for use in any tire that has steel cords or belts. Why? Those cords will eventually cut right through the stem of the mushroom plugs, and the plugs'll get sucked into your tire, and the tire will go flat. This happened to me several times before I gave up on them. Best of all are the thicker, brown plugs made for car tires that you can get at any good auto-parts store. I buy these and throw them into the kit. The pic below shows one I installed when I got a flat 90 miles from home on the way back to the National.
Yes, I know the tire is worn out. The left side had been roasted 1500 miles ago, so I spent most of the way back hanging off the left side and leaning the bike right and riding any reverse road crown I could find to shift more of the wear to the right side of the tire in effort to nurse it home. Stupid? Probably. But it got me home, where I had a free cast-off plugged Pilot Road 2 waiting to be installed. I guess I'm cheap.
That metal end is the pump itself. Thread it into one spark plug hole. Once you start the bike, compression from the engine drives a piston in there to pump fresh air into the tire. Be sure to ground the unused plug and wire to the engine somewhere to prevent damage to your ignition.
The other end screws solidly onto the valve stem. After plugging your tire, start the bike, rev it a little, and the tire'll be up to pressure faster than you could ever believe. I think that little pump'd be able to seat a bead, if it had to.
These are available from any Parts Unlimited dealer. We have 'em at Moto Intl., if your local dealer does not stock them.
The plugs it comes with are the sticky, rope-type plugs. These are far better than those mushroom plugs for use in any tire that has steel cords or belts. Why? Those cords will eventually cut right through the stem of the mushroom plugs, and the plugs'll get sucked into your tire, and the tire will go flat. This happened to me several times before I gave up on them. Best of all are the thicker, brown plugs made for car tires that you can get at any good auto-parts store. I buy these and throw them into the kit. The pic below shows one I installed when I got a flat 90 miles from home on the way back to the National.
Yes, I know the tire is worn out. The left side had been roasted 1500 miles ago, so I spent most of the way back hanging off the left side and leaning the bike right and riding any reverse road crown I could find to shift more of the wear to the right side of the tire in effort to nurse it home. Stupid? Probably. But it got me home, where I had a free cast-off plugged Pilot Road 2 waiting to be installed. I guess I'm cheap.
That metal end is the pump itself. Thread it into one spark plug hole. Once you start the bike, compression from the engine drives a piston in there to pump fresh air into the tire. Be sure to ground the unused plug and wire to the engine somewhere to prevent damage to your ignition.
The other end screws solidly onto the valve stem. After plugging your tire, start the bike, rev it a little, and the tire'll be up to pressure faster than you could ever believe. I think that little pump'd be able to seat a bead, if it had to.
These are available from any Parts Unlimited dealer. We have 'em at Moto Intl., if your local dealer does not stock them.