What is your "essential" gear when going out for riding ?
A can of Plexus and microfiber towel for cleaning the face shield ? Cell phone ? GPS ? One of my friends always carries a 6-in-1 screw driver wherever he goes.
To me, this is one of " I wouldn't leave home without this" stuff.
Stop&Go pocket tire plugger
Getting flat tire is, ... something inevitable (to me, anyway). It happens every once in a while, regardless how well maintained the vehicle is. I used to carry the kit sold by Progressive suspension. It wasn't too bad. But this is a better product. It's easier to carry because of the pouch's shape, and this kit use mushroom type plug that plugs the hole from "inside" of the tire.
I wasn't going to demonstrate "how to" use this kit, but, I just found out that my car had flat tire ( this morning).
Its Sunday and I need this car Monday morning to go to work (40 miles drive). So, I decided to do this tutorial. If you are somewhat newbie, although I'm working on a car tire, the procedure is essentially the same. You'd probably be working with tire/wheel still on the bike, though. That's the only difference between this example and MC tire roadside repair.
All right. Sit back and relax, and enjoy the tutorial.
First, you will have to find where it got puncture, and have to remove the offending item. Sometimes it's nail, this time it was a piece of utility knife's blade. Take it off, and examine the injury. IF the damaged area seems bigger than 7-mm, then, stop. It's too big to plug. The only option is to buy a new tire.
Sometimes, it's not so obvious, so you'd have to use soapy water to find out where the air is leaking.
Stage 1 Ream the hole
This kit comes with very good instruction (and it's laminated ! So it will stay clean and readable, very nice.) So, follow the instruction.
Using the rasp tool, ream out the puncture.
Ream out good, the rasp tool goes all the way in ...
Stage 2 load the plug into plugger tool
The orientation is like this. The mushroom plug is stem side down, mushroom head up, using the nozzle, push the plug down into the plugger. Mushroom head is inverted, and just below the tip of the threaded part.
Stage 3 insert the nozzle into the tire
Screw the nozzle onto the probe tool.
Push this tool into punctured area all the way in.
Then, hold the nozzle (it stays on the tire) , unscrew the probe tool away.
Stage 4 Plugging the tire
Screw the plugger onto the nozzle. Use Allen wrench provided in the kit, turn it clockwise, drive the mushroom plug into the tire.
When you can no longer turn the Allen key, the plug is all the way in. Turn the Allen key counter clockwise, until inner rod of plugger is inline with the bottom of plugger (outer).
Pull the plugger and the nozzle away from the tire.
Stage 5 seating the mushroom head
Use pliers (NOT included in the kit) , grab the stem part of the plug firmly, and pull. The stem stretches about 2 inches, this will effectively seat the mushroom head into the inner side of the tire.
Stage 6 re-inflate the tire, and trim the stem
I used mini-compressor from the same Stop&Go. and Monster's extra battery I keep connected to battery tender.
It works, and is small enough to carry on a Monster. If you are going on multi-day trip with some other riders, this item is worth considering. Even if you fly solo, this may be better option than carrying 4-5 of CO2 tire inflator cartridge.
If maximum weight & space saving is your priority, I'd recommend this.
http://www.genuineinnovations.com/microflate-nano.htmlThis products let you to control letting air out, stop, air out again. And really small & light weight.
Trim the stem (straight razor included in the kit).
Well, that's it, folks. No rubber cement or lubricant is necessary. Clean & simple. And it won't take up that much space (leatherman wave for size comparison).
