I always carry spare 18″ and 21″ tubes along with the tools needed to swap them out on the trail. Thankfully, I’ve never needed a third tube to get myself or a fellow rider out of a trail situation. When I started riding Ultimate motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 project bike, I found myself deeper into the woods and with more than one or two other riders. The chances of several flats have increased significantly.
Stop & Go International has been producing high quality tire repair kits for over 40 years. Stop & Go has kits for tubeless and tubeless tires. I settled on the Deluxe Tube-Type Motorcycle Tire Repair Kit, the company’s top offering.
The Stop & Go Deluxe Tube Repair Kit includes three 9.5″ steel tire levers, eight patches, a thumb bumper, a tube of glue, four 16 gram threaded-end CO2 cartridges and a cartridge outlet adapter, as well as a plastic valve cap with core remover and laminated instructions . It all fits into a durable zippered vinyl case that weighs 2.5 pounds and measures 9.5 x 4 x 1.5 inches. Nothing can fix the puncture caused by a ripped out valve stem, so rim locks are needed to keep your tire from spinning when the tube goes flat.
When I rode Ultimate motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike home, I rummaged through my storage boxes aptly labeled “old stuff” and found my last set of replacement tubes. They had been in that box for eight years, so the stems showed rust. They became my test tubes for trying a handy repair in the comfort of my garage. I inflated the 21 inch tube with a hand pump and then punctured it with the tip of my pocket knife. I made sure to make the hole 1/8-in, just like the hole I saw in my tube from a buried nail in a Mojave ghost town.
Following the instructions, I deflated the hose, roughened up the patch area, cleaned the area, applied the glue, allowed it to become tacky, and applied the patch. I rubbed the patch flat to make sure no air bubbles were out. I waited 10 minutes for the patch to fully apply and then got the CO2 cartridge ready.
The instructions warn that when the cartridge is empty, you should not hold anything with your bare hands, as it will drop to minus 65 degrees and your skin will freeze. To prevent this the kit provides a hand wrap for the cartridge and I used a channel lock to hold the end of the adapter tube. This was my first experience with CO2 cartridges – believe me, everything freezes. Even if you have to take off your shirt and a sock to hold the cartridge and adapter, do it! The tube filled. However, I couldn’t check the pressure accurately because it wasn’t in a tire. Stop & Go claims each cartridge is good for about nine psi, depending on the size of the tube.
Of course, a non-emergency workshop repair is easy to carry out. I haven’t tested the tire levers, although they are a tried and tested basic design – check them out Motion Pro Offers if you want to upgrade. However, this tube repair kit has everything needed to patch a tube wherever it happens. Conditions are rarely ideal when we have a mechanical problem, so I always strive to have the right tools for trail repairs.
At $40, the kit pays for itself with a one-time use, even if it’s a product you hope you never use. The Stop & Go Deluxe Inner Tube Repair Kit is now a staple in panniers from Ultimate motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 project bike.
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