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Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 7:41 am
by MThomas
A friends husband bought a bike to ride on the express lanes to work (like me) but said he blew a tire.
I guess he didn't buy the farm otherwise that would've been mentioned but nevertheless sounds scary.
Has this happened to anyone and are there any warning signs and what's the likely outcome?

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 12:51 pm
by gregor
My experience of tubed tyre punctures over the last 45 years has always been the same. :roll:
You only notice them when you have slowed down and try to change direction. I guess when you are cruising in a straight line the centripetal forces keep the tyre more or less in line.
I always managed to bring the bike to a halt in light or no traffic.
I've never had a puncture with tubeless tyres. Yet. Fingers crossed.

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 12:52 pm
by AZBMWRIDER
The outcome of this, is usually not good, especially in heavy traffic .

I inspect the tires and check tire pressures at least once a week .

I think I've been very lucky, I've had two tire punctures in 38 years of riding both punctures were on rear tires that were down to the wear bars and didn't find this until the next day .

Tires live a hard life here in Phoenix, road surface temps are usually in the 190 F range in our normal of 105 F temp, and can exceed 200 F with temps of 110 F or higher .

It's ' alligator ' season ' in the low deserts of the southwest US .

Thrown tire caps from trucks, litter the roadway this time of year .

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 10:05 pm
by sweatmark
"Tire blowout" - important to be specific here, because there's a big difference between puncture, slow leak, rapid tire deflation, and blowout.
Most of us have ridden with a tire puncture and slow leak leading to under inflation. Seems to happen to rear tire 95% of the time, at least in my experience. Not a big deal, bike handles sluggishly, not dangerous. Tire pressure check should be part of pre-ride routine, and low pressure condition caught and remedied before any serious ride.

I experienced rapid deflation of rear tire, losing all air pressure within a mile. Tire (180/55-17) was completly flat, and I coasted to shoulder of road without incident. Big sharp piece of sheet steel stuck through center of tread. There's no way I could have executed a turn at speed. But I was only a mile from home and rode 10MPH with the bike fishtailing back & forth, rim mercifully kept from grounding by the flat carcass of a tire.

I don't know of a good tire blowout story, but would expect that rear blowout (due to severe shrapnel puncture) would behave much like my rapid deflation experience. With careful (mostly) straightline coasting to stop, I don't think a crash is inevitable.

A front tire blowout - perhaps due to killer pothole - would likely be accompanied by wheel damage and crash. I've had one front tire puncture and slow leak in 30+ years riding, and low pressure front is crap for bike handling and readily apparent. A "no pressure" front tire would be a problem.

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 10:57 am
by peels
i caught myself worrying about this, when 10hrs from home, sitting at a mcdonalds.... my valve stem, just started pissing out air. it was the damndest thing....

consider myself lucky..... beacuse it was the front. traffic was fast and heavy.... i dont think it would have been a great experience....

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 11:02 am
by MThomas
sweatmark wrote:"Tire blowout" - important to be specific here, because there's a big difference between puncture, slow leak, rapid tire deflation, and blowout.
I guess I mean blowout as in it flies off the wheel like you see on the tires on the 18-wheelers.

The other scenarios I'm not as concerned about since I'd have a few seconds to get off the road

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 12:19 pm
by gregor
Trucks lose their tyre tread in my experience of motorways/freeways. It's not a blow out -as in the tyre carcasse rupturing -but the remoulded tread peeling off . Bike and car tyres don't lose their tread imho.

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 10:26 pm
by Sunbeemer
I made a 2.5 hour run at faster than interstate speeds on a mostly deflated rear tire and did not even notice it until I slowed down for the off-ramp, whereupon the rear end felt like I was riding on jello -> very squirrely. When I got home a mile later there was only 13 psi in the tire. Centripetal force maintained the shape of the tire at higher speeds so I never noticed it was low until I slowed down... BTW, this was caused by a failed plug I'd installed a few weeks earlier...now I know better. While not a blowout, the tire went soft during that 2.5 hour ride since I'd checked it prior to starting out.
I've never heard of a modern motorcycle tire blowing out, and suspect that it is exceedingly rare due to modern tire construction techniques. If the tire's bead breaks from the rim, anything could happen with similar results to a broken chain, including locking the wheel and sudden loss of control...You could drive yourself nuts worrying about stuff like this, or just wear All The Gear All The Time!

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:33 am
by R4R&R
I've never had a "blowout" but did manage to run over a large screw on the express lanes and ended with a flat rear tire. I noticed it around the Pentagon where 395 has a couple of mild turns; I went around the first one and thought "somethings not right but maybe I'm not awake yet". Then the second turn and I knew there was a tire problem. I pulled over, plugged it and went on my way, a little late to work.

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:53 am
by MThomas
R4R&R wrote:I pulled over, plugged it and went on my way, a little late to work.
How did you plug it? If there's a kit that'll fit in that space under the passenger's seat I need to get one.

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 12:45 pm
by peels
I keep a kit that has a regular set of twist plugs in mine, on long trips, takes up little space. even has a co2 cartridge filler.

its a holdover from my atv days.

much like this.

https://www.amazon.com/MadDog-GearATV-T ... B006JMKGW0

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 10:12 am
by Doug
I had a nail in my rear - didnt know it, parked it in the garage, fell over onto my car's fender and light causing $2K in damage. :) It happened sometime during the night - came out to find my bike missing! When I looked around the corner of my car I realized it was on its side, perched on my car. That sucked! But, the bike was totally undamaged besides the tire. :) I patched it with a kit and went to the dealer to get it replaced.

I guess the rear is usually the one to get a flat - the front tires kicks whatever it is up and the rear soaks it up.

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 3:52 pm
by lcarlson
While tubeless tires generally do not "blow out", an age-hardened rubber tire stem can. I had this happen once, fortunately while I was standing still at a red light. Pronounced pop and instantaneous deflation. For that reason I order new tire stems with every tire change.

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 4:13 pm
by peels
lcarlson wrote:While tubeless tires generally do not "blow out", an age-hardened rubber tire stem can. I had this happen once, fortunately while I was standing still at a red light. Pronounced pop and instantaneous deflation. For that reason I order new tire stems with every tire change.
same here! id NEVER heard of that happening. id been riding for almost 1000 miles and FAST. 10hrs from home...pulled over for a cheeseburger. pssshshhshshshshshhs

freaked me out! reminds me, i forgot to do the rear I just changed!

:shock:

Re: Tire blowout while riding at high speed, what's the likely outcome?

Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:16 am
by MThomas
sounds like the answer then is:
a) go tubeless
b) change the tire stem with each tire change

to minimize the risk