Steve wrote: >.....<snip>.... cords were showing through - thus the need to be gentle on the rear >tire. OK, I decided to risk a trip >with the wear bars in view. Who hasn't?
Hehehe...I have. Oh, don't get me wrong, I was much younger and still 'immortal'. I didn't have a lot of money and felt that I needed to get every single mile possible out of that darn tire. After all, it's not like it was a 'safety' issue. ;^) And my definition of 'worn-out' was when I could see the air past the cords. ;^) With one exception, I didn't ever have a problem. However, that one...... Ok, here's the story, extremely short. 1978 Yamaha 750 Triple, 75-80 miles per hour, raci....uh, 'pacing' a Mustang on the freeway, that speed was actually the decelerating speed. I hear a small 'pop', and then a 'phewww....' sound. Back tire blown. Bike gets 'squirrely' but not out of hand. At around 30 mph, the real danger shows up. The tire collapses and starts to flop side to side, almost tossing me off bike. At 5 mph, it gets REALLY bad, talk about fear of a low-speed tip! I stop on the side of the freeway, hop off, kick down sidestand, kick down sidestand, kick down side....aaawwwww crap, kickstand won't go down because the bike is too low because the tire is flat, so...I try to get it on the centerstand, but because the tire is flat, the 'leverage' factor goes up to 'he-man' status. Damn near pulled a groin injury on that one. Anyway, usual wrap-up, call girlfriend, explain problem, listen to lecture, get ride, get tire, fix, listen to lecture, vow to never do again, do it again anyway.... Well, eventually, I found out I was mortal. And that WAS the last time for 'worn-out' tires. Well, really worn. :^) Brandon, the original 'Cheap-Meister'
