April 13, 2010 I did a really silly thing yesterday….

Sometimes just sitting around begins to get to me so yesterday I decided to have a closer look at Red Dog’s busted tire & rim. Using my trusty Sears & Roebuck floor jack I lifted her up and removed the tire & rim. The damaged area just didn’t look all that bad so I tried pumping air into it but it kept leaking out about as fast as I could fill it. I admit to being easily entertained but after awhile the novelty began to wear off and I decided it might be time to try something different.

Right about then it occurred to me that tubeless tires need to be seated tightly against the rim before they can hold air so I held the wheel with my chest pressing down against the tire and the busted part on the lowest side next to the pavement. This seemed to help but try as I might I still couldn’t put enough pressure to seat the tire. Or so I thought… Anyway I figured it was time to pay a visit to my buddy Franklin’s automotive repair shop and try out his new tire changing gear.

Just as I was climbing into my truck I felt the first drops of rain begin to sprinkle so out came Red Dog’s new but as yet untried cover from Beverly Bay. The fit is excellent although they don’t rate the cover as being waterproof, rather it’s “water resistant”. That works for me as the waterproof rated covers tend to be really bulky; not exactly a good touring feature.
 
Besides, it was only going to be on there for a short time while we looked at the tire. Right? 
 
Arriving at Franklin’s shop I found him hard at it chasing down some mysterious problem in a Chevy. He broke away for a few minutes and after a lot of messing around trying to downsize his tire changer to fit Red Dog’s little 12” wheel we managed to get the tire off. It had a nasty 2” long split right where it seats against the rim which spelled the end for it so into the recycle bin it went. Bummer!

After visiting with Franklin I headed back home with the now tireless rim and it wasn’t until I got there it struck me that Red Dog was still sitting on the jack in the driveway and there she’d stay until the new tires arrived! If I’d been thinking I’d have put the flat tire back on so I could at least roll her back into the garage…duh.

Some days are like that, nothing to do but just sit around…