1 Wonky Wheel feeling, Dunlop 404 Sat Sep 03, 2022 11:01 pm
jjefferies
Life time member
At loose ends, my buddies are all up on the Range of Light Gypsy Tour and wanting to get out of the house I made up the need to go check out the new facility for my old fencing club down on Blossom Hill Rd in San Jose, 51 miles. No problem running down. Didn't get the gossip I wanted to know about, as they had all been told to keep their mouths shut. Did he or didn't he and that sort of thing. But so hot. the ride down was comfortable enough in the 70's F. Hit the northern border of San Jose and the temps rose between 10 and 15 degrees. Leaving the club and climbing back on the bike the bike felt sort of "wonky"/unstable as I started off. Seemed like there was a problem with the rear wheel. I stopped and took a look but the wheels looked fine. Here's the real stupid part. My knees are suffering from osteoarthritis and it's right painful to 1.) get down on my knees or 2.) pop the bike up on the center stand. So I looked, but didn't take out the pressure gauge and check. I figured that the wonky feeling was just me. Got back on the freeway but was taking it easy. That is didn't exceed the speed limit very often.No problem on the freeway. Made it back through the tube/tunnel onto the island and stopped at In-Out Burger for lunch. Leaving In-Out tires felt wonky again but it's only 2 miles home. So I got home, gave the bike and the tires a chance to cool off. Went to measure the tire pressures. Front was fine, 33 lbs. The rear wouldn't register on the tire gauge. Got out another 3 gauges and the same thing. Gauges won't register anything lower than 10 lbs of pressure. So it appears I rode 51 miles on a tire with 10 lbs or less air pressure in it. Think I'll go to church tomorrow. Anyway with the bike up on the center stand I filled the tire and started looking. Found a clean hole no more than 1/4 inch (1cm) off the the tire center line. Probed it and it's a clean, straight through hole. If you're going to have a puncture I guess this is as good as it gets. Looked at my tire patch kits and went off to the local auto store in search of the mushroom sort of tire patch as opposed to the string/rubber thingie you push through. I can dismount a tire in a pinch. But they inform me they don't carry such as that's a specialty item only obtainable from tire stores and the like. So I suspect it will be Tuesday before I can get it patched in a manner I want.
Lesson learned: If it feels wonky, don't just look, measure. Still I'm impressed the Dunlop 404 rear tire seems to have performed amazingly and I got home safely no thanks to my own stupidity.
Addendum: I meant to add, has anyone else had a similar experience and what are the chances that the tire was damaged? I've not taken the tire down/off the wheel. Won't until after the US holiday when I can borrow an electric tire mounting tool. I could do it by hand but why get in a hurry and I want to get the more desirable patch. The tire looks fine from the outside but I'm wondering what to look for on the inside.
Lesson learned: If it feels wonky, don't just look, measure. Still I'm impressed the Dunlop 404 rear tire seems to have performed amazingly and I got home safely no thanks to my own stupidity.
Addendum: I meant to add, has anyone else had a similar experience and what are the chances that the tire was damaged? I've not taken the tire down/off the wheel. Won't until after the US holiday when I can borrow an electric tire mounting tool. I could do it by hand but why get in a hurry and I want to get the more desirable patch. The tire looks fine from the outside but I'm wondering what to look for on the inside.