Flat...

 

Any of the jokes I tell.  Yeah, probably.

After taking in the eclipse this morning, I geared up to get in a ride.  Started up the CTX and...

 That is a screw imbedded in my rear tire.  Joan said, "Just take the other bike."  Good thought, but I'll still have to deal with the flat tire when I get home.  Instead, I pulled the screw out and pumped up the tire while I held a finger over the hole, just to listen for any other hissing holes.  Then, I got out a DynaPlug kit.

The screw is at least in a place that has potential for holding a plug.  Most shops don't want the liability of doing a plug.  This is the first time I've had to use the DynaPlug kit; seems easy enough: put the plug in the shaft of the tool, push it into the hole (that's the hard part), then pull it back out... and the plug is supposed to stay in the tire.

That is not how it happened when I pulled the tool out - the "gummy" part of the plug came out with the tool... yep, that hole is definitely not plugged.  I tried the second one, and the pointy end of the plug broke off before I could get it all the way in the home.  Same thing again with the 3rd plug.  The kit came with 4 plugs, so I was down to my last shot at it.

This one worked as it's supposed to.  I think.  This is the first hole I've plugged with this tool.  It took a while using my air pump that connects to the battery of the bike to fill the tire up.  I listened... no hiss.  I sprayed some soapy water on the plug... no bubbles.  The only thing left to do was take it for a short run.  Off to Mickey D's for a late lunch - this particular McDonald's is about 3 1/2 miles away.  I checked the air before I went in, and after I came out - the tire is holding air.

I don't trust it enough, yet, to get too far from home... and I still wanted to get in some riding today.  I swapped to the Burgman and went off to enjoy some twisties.  Back home and check the air pressure in that tire again: still holding.  I'll check it tomorrow, and if all is good, I'll try to find the time to run it up to highway speed.

In the meantime, the scooter riding was good.