ADVENTURE!

We decided not to post this particular ADVENTURE until we were safe, and in New York. We had it handled, and didn't want to worry anyone :)

My rear tire went flat on a highway entrance ramp on the way to the Cleveland area yesterday, Tuesday. Luckily I felt my tire go soft BEFORE I got on the highway. With the communicators, I was able to tell Liz what was happening (she was in front) and we pulled over immediately. We were very fortunate there was a very wide shoulder at a manageable angle as its hard to put the bike on the kickstand with a flat rear tire (my KLR weighs over 500 pounds with all its gear and after market parts!). We were also in the shade. It was 86* and very humid yesterday. FOUR different people stopped to offer help. Ohio is a good place. ❤

Adventure.

We could find no damage in the tire, but it was too hot to touch! and completely flat. My fairly new Shinko 705 was ruined. Right when we stopped, the center tread was surprisingly shiny and slick, with the tread gone. As it cooled it's look changed. Weirdest thing ever. We figured I rode over something or I had a slow leak and was riding on it as it slowly deflated. And basically melted off. The rubber was ruined. I couldn't just replace a tube (Liz carries one with all the tools to change it), I needed a new tire itself!
Liz knew how to prioritize. My first instinct was to call AAA. Her more experienced self knew we needed to find a tire FIRST. She called several local dealerships and no one had a fit. Then she called a BMW motorcycle dealership. She'd had luck in the past with their stores carrying a wider inventory.  The nearest one was 82 miles away. And they had a tire.

Adventure.

 I called and reserved a motel room near the dealership and called AAA. Waited two hours because AAA couldn't figure out our location, even though we had our exact location with the GPS on our smart phones and described exactly where we were!
AAA dispatch finally called the right local tow driver, Ethan. What a guy. He was there in 15 minutes. I rode the KLR up the lowered flat bed much to Liz and Nathan's surprise! Lol.

Adventure!

 Liz rode behind us on her bike in the growing dusk for 1.5 hours!
I talked Nathan's ear off about keto for 1.5 hours and ended up giving him my card, the KetoFest website address, and our blog. Lol.

.... I left my KLR at the maw of a BMW dealership....
SACRILEGE! D:

...This is akin to leaving a Viking on a Packers doorstep, their is a KLR/BMW rivalry that is very much alive in the dualsport world.

Adventure.....

First thing this morning I was waiting when they unlocked their door. I took an UBER for the first time.

Adventure!

We showed up before they opened to get first service.
Turns out the tire went flat because the tube was folded!!

It was folded by a mechanic when I bought new tires last year, at a Kawasaki service center!! They installed it wrong! A hole eventually wore through. My Kawi service department will be hearing about this!

By the way, we had just stopped to fill up with gas 34 miles before this happened and I had noticed no issues then.

$350 poorer with a Metzler, we got back on the road at noon today. We arrived in Rome, New York (Liz's home) at 7:30 pm. 400 + miles of travel. Well. That was just today. Lol

Adventure at its finest....

We leave for New London, Connecticut and www.KetoFest.com tomorrow.

Adventure 💚