Some people raise punks

...And it's upon their heads we step to reach new heights.

Someone at work thought it would be a hillarious idea to let the air out of my front tire.

I don't blame him that he didn't know exactly how motorcycle tires work with zero air pressure, and how difficult it is to fill them back up, but I do blame him for not having enough hobbies to keep him interested in things other than being a toolbag.

Luckily, I work downtown, and there is ONE gas station with a pump, for a dollar a minute of air.
So I limp my bike the kilometer to get to the station, knowing full well I risk damage to the tire by doing this, but the choices I had were few. I soap up the inside of the bead, rotating the tire so I can get all around, and put my (canadian) loonie into the machine to get air.

Now, at the start of the season, my rear wheel had zero pressure and I had to go through this process to get the tire seated onto the rim so I could fill it up. It worked on the first try, the tire filled up fine. However, perhaps because of the different, narrower size of the front wheel, the bead is a lot more loose and folds a lot easier under the front rim, making it harder to get a seal all the way around.

So it didn't work on my first attempt, and I was running out of coins, so I decided to limp very slowly all the way home, which was a further 4 kilometers, but I risk it anyways, because I had my college convocation ceremony the next morning, and I needed sleep. So I cross the bridge to the mainland in the bike lane at 1 in the morning, proceeding not much faster than the bikes there, and hit the sack.

After I graduated, I wheel my bike over to the gas station and begin soaping. I'd gotten my father to bring some ratchet straps down to my place, as I didn't want to invest in them myself if I didn't have to. I still have to buy jets and such, so I need to save cash wherever. The reason I wanted the straps was so I could apply pressure evenly around the wheel and perhaps coax the bead out to the outside, pressurizing against the rim. I soap, and I ratchet, and nothing.
An hour and a few requests for jacks later, the gas station attendant comes by. "A bike!?" He exclaims. "You don't need a jack to lift a bike!" And without hesitating, he grabs the bottom of my fork legs, and without so much as a noticable grunt, lifts my front end enough to even out the tire's form so I can have a hope in getting a seat all the way around. Doesn't work.

So he digs out a dolly from behind the dumpster, and, levering the end of it under my crankcase, lifts the bike enough so we can try over and over. It wasn't working, I kept having to reapply the soap cause it was drying out. We hit the wheel about a few times, and all of a sudden; INFLATION!

Thank you, Paul.

 

Turn the incident in to your supervisor. Point out that flat tires on a motorcycle can kill a person. If work doesn't take it seriously, file a complaint with the authorities.
It's lucky that the tires were aired down far enough that you noticed before riding away. I have a friend who has no memory of an entire week because of a rear tire that failed at speed.

 

I have no memory of all of the 1980's...but probably for different reasons. Accidents suck, I don't think it is possible to be too anal about things like tires...

 

Doesn't matter. He messed with your stuff, and important stuff that can kill at that.

 

That's unacceptable. I'd be doing everything I could to see if someone saw him or her doing it. We'd have to chat.

 

Have any of you used either to seat the tire beads? I have on a few occasions but never on a motorcycle tire.

 

Btw, use either ONLY if you know what to expect , could be damgerous!
Alan

 

I used soap. Hand soap from the washrooms' dispenser. It dries quickly, though.

 

Not the greatest idea to use soap on aluminum rims, but fine in a pinch. You'll find some corrosion has formed when you put the next tire on unless you pop the bead and clean it out. Redo with a tire lube. It's cheaper than soap when you factor in how much it can be dilluted.