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Too many flat tires...problem?

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gatorgal

New Member
My husband and I have a 2010 Heritage about nine months old now and we have had two flat tires in the rear. It seems a little suspect to me. Kev is a safe driver and we never had problems with tires on our Sporty. The bike was in the shop about two weeks ago for grease gobs coming out of the fork and the mechanic noticed that the spokes in the rear were lose so he fixed that. Yesterday we had a flat and it was real pain as we were out in the middle of nowhere. Thanks to our HOG buddies for taking such good care of us and getting us home. Anybody have any thoughts on what the problem might be or is it just bad luck and we keep running over (EDIT) in the road? It's turning into an expensive problem :newsmile093: Thanks


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gatorgal said:
My husband and I have a 2010 Heritage about nine months old now and we have had two flat tires in the rear. It seems a little suspect to me. Kev is a safe driver and we never had problems with tires on our Sporty. The bike was in the shop about two weeks ago for grease gobs coming out of the fork and the mechanic noticed that the spokes in the rear were lose so he fixed that. Yesterday we had a flat and it was real pain as we were out in the middle of nowhere. Thanks to our HOG buddies for taking such good care of us and getting us home. Anybody have any thoughts on what the problem might be or is it just bad luck and we keep running over (EDIT) in the road? It's turning into an expensive problem :newsmile093: Thanks
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There is a lot of trash on the roads here in Florida, more than I remember seeing in Minnesota, this is one state I have not had a flat in YET
 
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You didn't say the cause of the flats. Did you pick up a nail or other object which went thru the tire and tube or did you have a hole in the tube only? If it was just the tube you may have a rough spot on the inner rim or even a chrome spike on the inner rim which is puncturing the tube. Did the mechinic check all the spokes to make sure that you don't have one that is protruding far enough to go thru the rim strip and puncturing the tube. If you are picking up nails or other forign objects it could be that you are riding on the inside of the lane where all the junk ends up. Or like Jack said you might just be having some bad luck.
 
HDDon has you on the right track...likely when the mechanic noticed the loose spoke, he just "cranked it" snug...could very well be slightly out of alignment so that the loose spoke cinched up extended beyond the rim strip and punctured the inner tube. What is strange is that the H-D mechanic did not find this out "--the first time, (when they found the punctured inner tube failure), they should have suspected this and inspected the rim/alignment along with the spoke tension at that time. Two flats later is a bit "over the top"...and should be covered under warranty as the third time is "--the charm.":(
 
The cause of the flats needs to be found. If there is not an obvious foreign object in the tire, a concencious (sp) mechanic will inflate the tube and find the leak. Like Don mentioned, there are many possible sharp points on the spokes. Even a small burr will wear a hole in the tube quickly.
 
To alleviate frustration, average out all the years riding and divide by number of flats. You will probably find this to be a coincidental occurrence. I know, it happened to me twice in a month on one of my bikes also. Over 20 years riding.
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This is the stuff that drives me crazy! let's see. Brand new bike (basically); get flat; dealer fixes (I'm assuming with NEW TIRE); second flat (assuming NOT another new tire); dealer finds pre-existing problem... did they miss it the first time? Did it come loose between the two flats? What else did they miss? OMG is the bike going to fly apart??? I wish they would do what they are paid to do, tell us a little more, and treat the bike like it's their own! Not just pump out the service orders and go to lunch! Hence - This site! I do as much myself as I can! And when I rarely do take something to the dealer, I know what I'm talking about and ask a ton of questions!
 
Let me just start by saying I hate spoke rims. They look great but to many problems. Loose spokes wheel out of alinghment and mechanics who do not know enough about spoke rims to fix them correctly. My Road king had spokes and after three (3) flats do to the spokes I replaced them with some custom rims and never looked back.
Odds are the mech just cranked down on the spoke and now it keeps poking the the tube causing your flats. Swap the rims and save yourself future bad days.
 
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