tire blowout

Seun A

New member
This guy I ride with was telling me that his friend was riding about 80 on the highway when his rear tire blew. The bike flipped and he (the rider) is now in a coma. This now has me worried about a couple of things. First, how likely is it that a tire, assuming it's in good condition, will blow out at highway speed, and secondly, would a rear tire blowout mean a total loss of control?
 
Sorry for your friend- hope he recovers.

If the tire is in good shape, blow outs are very rare. More likely is a sudden tube failure, causing the tire to got flat in a second or so, but not as catastrophoc as a true blowout. I have had this happen to be twice, once on the rear because of an improperly assembled wheel on a brand new bike, and once on the front due to a manufacturing defect in the tire that rubbed a hole in the tube. I did not go down either time. I've also gotten a sudden flat due to hitting something in the road, and did not go down that time either. The trick it so not touch the brakes, and not to attempt to stear until you slack off almost all the speed.
 
I too, am sorry for your friend. I agree with Dr Bob, that if you have a blow out, you don't always have to go down.
What you need to do is: try to be very smooth and EEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEE!!!!!! off the power, (dont decellerate), DON'T FREAK OUT! Ease of the throttle to minimize the load on the tires, but don't decell, pull in the clutch, Do not lean unless ABSOLUTELY necessary and coast to a gentle stop. Of course, when your speed has dropped down to a slow, manageable pace, pull the bike from the roadway, but do try to MINIMIZE any lean angle.
I have had rapid/sudden loss of air a few times over my riding career, but never a TRUE blowout. Therefore I believe actual blowouts are rare.
If you loose air in either tire, what you can expect is if you loose pressure in the rear, the bike will feel very LOOSE (like fishtailing). If you loose pressure in the front it will feel VERY HEAVY. I hope this helps.
Ride Safe, Skip D
 
Another good rule of thumb is to lean slightly forward or backward, away from the blown tire to lessen the amount of weight it's carrying.

Never had a blowout, but DID have a chain snap and wrap around my rear axle putting me into a skid at 120 kph once.
Not a great experience!

Sorry for your friend and may you (or any of us) never experience that.
 
Hey Don, Great advice!
SSSoooo, with the chain break,,,,,,,,,,,,,,pucker factor...on a scale of 1 to 10,,,,,what was it?
Skip D
 
Naw, a rear tire lock up is only a 9. :madd:A front tire going out at 70 MPH is a 9.75. :shock:The only time I hit a 10 was when that 18 wheeler clipped me a couple years ago.:fight2:
 
Tire blow out on a good tire is usually from low air pressure. When you have low air pressure then you have the tire making more contact with the pavement causing friction. I constantly check my tires for pressure, wear, and objects stuck in the tire
 
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