I took the bike out on Thursday and found that I had a flat on my front tire. I couldn't find a puncture, so I took it to my local shop who determined that the leaks were coming from the wheel / rim being dinged up.
I haven't hit anything (that I know of), so my guess is from having the bike sit for too long, and with the weather changes (yeah, I'm grasping a little), if my pressure went down some, it would expose any imperfect areas where the tire meets the rim. That make sense?
Regardless, it's filled back to 32 now and is holding air just fine, but I want to get a new wheel so I don't have this problem again.
Looking at this one on eBay, one picture points to what I think is soldered on weights for balancing. Can someone verify for me, please?
http://bit.ly/9e5RaE
And of course, if anyone has experience with this type of issue, I'm all ears.
[image: View Post]eadc, on 14 November 2010 - 04:12 PM, said:
I took the bike out on Thursday and found that I had a flat on my front tire. I couldn't find a puncture, so I took it to my local shop who determined that the leaks were coming from the wheel / rim being dinged up.
I haven't hit anything (that I know of), so my guess is from having the bike sit for too long, and with the weather changes (yeah, I'm grasping a little), if my pressure went down some, it would expose any imperfect areas where the tire meets the rim. That make sense?
Regardless, it's filled back to 32 now and is holding air just fine, but I want to get a new wheel so I don't have this problem again.
Looking at this one on eBay, one picture points to what I think is soldered on weights for balancing. Can someone verify for me, please?
http://bit.ly/9e5RaE
And of course, if anyone has experience with this type of issue, I'm all ears.
I highly doubt it's from the bike sitting or the change in temp. If your wheel is truly bent, you probably hit something and didn't notice. I'm sure it's happened before. I'd test out with another tire before swapping the wheel, unless you're sure the wheel's bent. If the new tire goes flat too, then you can replace the wheel and you'll have a new tire to use later.
I don't know how long you went between a pressure check..... My average is about a pound +/- a week.... I'd invest in a bicycle floor hand pump .... I top mine off every other day or so...........
I keep my front at 36, rear at 42 anyway.
Larry
VFRrider
I've heard of air leaking as a result of a bent rim. If your rim is bent, you must have hit something pretty hard (and if that happened, you'd surely remember.)
The manufacture of motorcycle wheels has been so precise for so long, things like cracks in wheels are almost non-exsistant and dings would have to be significant to leak air. most likely is a loose valve core or a hard old valve stem not replaced with the new tire (whenever that was). i would check the valve core and if not loose i would unscrew it a few turns and then retighten, fill and test the next day or spray soapy water around the stem and on the valve core. i would also take the wheel to get it straightend and or checked before replacing. most wheel straightening shops say a wheel runs truer after straightening than it did new from the factory. as a side note i also believe that most sport riders check the air front and rear before every ride. i know i always did. i can't speak for the tourer riders. you might also consider riding with the factory recommended pressures 36-42 during the cooler months unless doing track days or something out of normal riding.......................best!