What happens when you have flat FRONT tire going 75mph??

[HagermanSpyder]

What I've read is that the Spyder will still track straight ahead with one front flat tire. I'm interested in interstate/freeway speed. I would like to hear from someone this has happened to, and get their view of such a situation. I drive a 2016 Spyder RT-S SE6. Just want to know what to expect if a front tire starts to go flat on me while going 75mph.

[EdMat]

If you can keep panic from setting in on a front blowout, with front steering, just steer it "safely" to the side of the road on any vehicle with 2 steering tires. Does not matter if its a reverse trike, car, pickup, 18 wheeler etc. Rear blowouts are where the fun begins.

[Bfromla]

BLOWOUT Hard to do but - STAY CALM ease off the throttle & get somewhere safe out of way; (Unclench/clean your drawers) assess your situation-location. From there, IF you have a tire plug/compressor, can get mobile again However; if slow leak (didn’t follow safety card & address before riding ) will usually feel significant pulling to one side well before reaching interstate speeds, so hopefully you will add some air, or avoid the interstate & get your tire fixed.

[Peter Aawen]

Pretty much with that lot, altho IF your tire does blow out or goes flat at speed and you do manage to keep off the brake pedal, ease off the throttle, then safely & gently steer your Spyder off to a safe-ish place on the side of the road, because of the time all that takes, slowing from that sorta speed, etc... your tire is most likely destroyed on the insiide & you will most likely need to get it replaced; or at the very least, have it removed from the rim, inspected internally, and assessed before any further use!! And that means getting a flat bed/tray-top to take you somewhere to get it replaced!

It's Soo much easier to check your tire pressures & at least eyeball their condition before leaving, so that you know your tires at least start out somewhere near the right pressure & in reasonable nick! . Besides, these days most modern, good quality radial tires (that are run at an appropriate pressure for the load they are carrying ) actually very rarely 'blow-out' as such, unless they are over-inflated! . Instead, they are made to and will generally deflate gradually & fairly slowly, so most riders will have plenty of time to notice the change in handling as one tire slowly starts deflating & getting really spongy, especially if you're riding on a relatively straight interstate/freeway at speed.... Maybe not so much if you're doing that sorta high speed on a rougher, more twisty, secondary road, but I'd like to hope that if you're going to be travelling at that sorta speed on those sorta roads you'd be more likely to be quickly aware of those handling changes than someone not so skilled or experienced as a rider! . You really don't want to be riding any faster than your Guardian Angel under ANY conditions!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

IMHO only a ... " TUBE " tire is going to experience this .... Modern Radial tires ie. " tubeless " tires won't ..... Large truck tires can / will, but they usually have much higher PSI's ..... Mike

[EdMat]

IMHO only a ... " TUBE " tire is going to experience this .... Modern Radial tires ie. " tubeless " tires won't ..... Large truck tires can / will, but they usually have much higher PSI's ..... Mike

Unless you run over something that puts a nice sized cut or hole in it.

[wolfeman]

Thankfully my Guardian Angel is used to haulin' ass.

[Peter Aawen]

Unless you run over something that puts a nice sized cut or hole in it.

That can be true, but if you're running your tires at or near the right pressure for the load on your Spyder, a good quality modern radial auto tire (or a true motorcycle tire for that matter ) is more likely to absorb the strike, conforming & molding over the obstacle instead of letting it cut or punch a hole in it, now rather than ever before.... and even if it does end up being catastrophically damaged, part of the construction design & strength of the modern radial tires sidewall means that they shoudn't just disintegrate completely, instead maintaining some integrity and keeping the contact patch tread under the load & still on the road, allowing the calm & not suddenly over-reactive operator to safely guide the vehicle off to one side the road without excessive difficulty! .

Of course, all that ^^ only really applies if it's NOT a lightly constructed tire with paper thin sidewalls that're already close to their load limit & so the tire is running a fairly high pressure for its construction, as well as them being made by a company that has a somewhat unreliable track record & reputation re quality control!

[2dogs]

I think a "blowout" is a mischaracterization. I, fortunately, have had only two flats occure on 2 wheelers. They came on very slowly and gave plenty of warning giving a squishy spongy feeling and a slow loss of control. And yes, it's the rear wheel flat that is the most exciting. All of the above is excellent advice. I run FOBO's for that very reason.

[hypurone]

What I've read is that the Spyder will still track straight ahead with one front flat tire. I'm interested in interstate/freeway speed. I would like to hear from someone this has happened to, and get their view of such a situation. I drive a 2016 Spyder RT-S SE6. Just want to know what to expect if a front tire starts to go flat on me while going 75mph.

You are going to have "drag" to the side with the flat. There is no avoiding this as it just won't roll with the same ease as the inflated side... I had this on my quad going 62 (yes, it really went that fast! Kawi KFX700 V-Force) and it pulled badly to the deflated side! As stated, you have to remain calm and work the bars to keep it straight til you can get it stopped!

[Steve W.]

Thankfully my Guardian Angel is used to haulin' ass.

Just because he/she might be used to it does not necessarily mean that he/she enjoys it.

.

[Little Blue]

...I was going to say 'Houston, I think there's a problem going on here'.

I have not had any problems with the tires (flat/going down) on my Spyder. That being said I have been in a 'pickle' on two wheels several times.

The Rear Tire is a bit crazy for a flat, so be careful.
The Front tires are a little less crazy with a flat.
Don't get me wrong, all flats are a real nightmare.
Unfortunately there is no real training for a flat tire.

Just slow down very carefully and pull off the road when you are able. I usually get the speed down to about 25 -30 mph and then check out the edge of the road. Usually a lot of debris is on the side of the road. So be very careful about what you do and always error on Safety.

Stay Healthy. ....

[AeroPilot]

FrontTireSidewall.jpg I hit a large angular rock that washed onto the road 30 mi west of Show Low AZ and blew the sidewall on the right front tire (Kumho Solus). I was probably only going 30-45 due to the rainstorm and road conditions, but was able to slow to a stop and then ease down the shoulder to a safe place to get off the road. As shown on the muddy sidewall, the tire structure and light weight of the Spyder still supported me to get off the road safely.

A three hour wait for the flat bed tow out of Mammoth AZ to get back to Show Low and Discount Tires for some Nanking replacements...