With way less than legal tread on my rear tire, I
knew its days were numbered. When it
developed a goose egg sized bubble on the sidewall after a 15 mile stretch of 80 mph 'plus' on the freeway coming home from a run to Vancouver, I knew it was time. A friend had brought over and given me a
nearly new 16 inch Bridgestone rear tire, and the stage was set.
I just couldn’t see simply swapping out the
tires. What fun would that have
been? So I decided to burn off the last
of the tread on the tire. If the bubble
popped, all the better. Either way, this
Dunlop Wide White Wall was going up in smoke.
After putting out the word about what I was going to
do, a couple of friends dropped by to enjoy the fun. The first attempt was pitiful. The only place I had available to do this was
in my semi-enclosed carport “garage”.
The concrete slab was so smooth that when I locked up the front brake
and let out the clutch, the bike just slid right across the floor. Can’t smoke a tire that way. So we stacked a couple bags of concrete
against the front wheel. I locked up the
front brake, let out the clutch…and Gypsy just pushed the concrete across the
floor like it was nothing.
We were just getting too much traction. So I poured some rubbing alcohol on the
tire. Chris poured some more on the slab
around the tire. Then both T and Chris
braced themselves between the concrete bags and a work bench. The third time was the charm. I was just too focused on making sure the
bike didn’t roll forward that it was about 10 or 15 seconds before I looked
down. All I saw was a few wisps of
bluish smoke. I looked up at T and Chris
disappointedly. Only to see them both
looking behind me and grinning. I turned
my head to look back behind me and saw a thick white wall of smoke boiling out
into the alley and building up into the air.
Now we were cooking!! I kept on the throttle, turning now and again
to look back at the growing smoke cloud behind me. I so wanted to pop that tire. But, after about 40 seconds had gone by, the
heat from the exhaust was beginning to get a bit uncomfortable. I wanted to pop the tire, but not at the cost
of thrashing Gypsy’s motor. I just
couldn’t afford any major problems with her just now. So I eased off the throttle and pulled in the
clutch. After a couple seconds of smooth
idling I shut down the bike, and walked around to check everything out.
The tread was gone, and the rubber was still
bubbling where the tread had been.
Chunks of it were missing, and I knew it wouldn’t have been too much
longer. But it wasn’t worth the risk to
me. So I will just have to kill the next
tire when it’s time comes. By then,
Gypsy will be about ready for a complete overhaul anyway. Until then, I’ll just get her ready to ride
to Chicago and back next summer.
Although, I am still not sure if I’ll replace the shocks or not. Or if I’ll just strut her instead and find a
cheap sprung solo seat. I’ll figure
something out by then, either way it'll be good.
Catch ya on the road sometime…
