Thanks Cormanus, you are a real Champ (and a mate).

[Pterodactyl_imp]

This is a long story told short. Undoubtedly in the fullness of time, all the facts will emerge. But for now lets make do with this.

The place, Capella, in the Central Highlands of Queensland, Australia.

My rear tyre, a Pirelli Angel GT, looking rather the worse for wear.




Capella is not overflowing with road bike tyres. Tractor tyres, no problem. ATV tyres, no problem. Truck tyres, no problem. 4x4 tyres, no problem. Farm bike tyres, not a big problem. But a road bike tyre, especially an 18 size? Just let me say that, in Capella, or its surrounds, there is a better chance of finding piles of rocking-horse pooh.

After some time on the blower it appeared that the nearest Pirelli, or Michelin, or anything, was in Townsville, a mere 560kms to the north, or Brisbane, a little further away at 928kms to the south. Estimated delivery time ranged from 5 days to well over a week. Fedex has never heard of Capella. Things were not looking good. That evening, around the fire, while consoling myself over a quiet beer it was suggested that there was a bike shop in Mackay, on the coast 331kms to the east, that might be worth try.



So next morning I called them. Jackpot! A Pirelli Angel GT, and a bargain at only AUD309. Delivery time, four days. Cormanus, without hesitation, said, “No worries, I will ride down to Mackay and get it.” That would have to be a two day ride as riding at night is just not on. Road Trains and big rigs can average up to fifty, yes I said fifty, kangaroo hits a night on roads in that part of the world. And that is disregarding the odd wombat, raptor feasting on road kill, emu or wild bull! Some of those roads are a true charnel house. Think, think and more phone calls. A courier company runs a service daily from Mackay to Moranbah, a mining town a paltry 158 kms to the north of Capella, departing Mackay mid-morning and arriving at Moranbah “about” 2:30 in the afternoon. Once again, “No worries, I will be at Moranbah at 2 and back in Capella by before 5.” Saying that, Cormanus rode with me to a rural tyre service where I left Last Blast, pillioned me back to our camp site, stripped the top box off his CB, gathered a handful of straps, cords and a water bottle and blasted off towards Moranbah.

So, how to fill in the rest of the day in Capella? It is well over 30deg C during the day in Capella at this time of the year, so I decided to ponder this question over a cold beer at the Hotel Capella. I pondered this question for a considerable period of time. After some time, almost sated with pondering and a meat pie for lunch, it occurred to me that neither heat nor flies, nor the beasts of the road, nor the loneliness of the Aussie bush, nor yet the big rigs that degrade the tarmac of our roads, would deter Cormanus from his appointed task. It should be apparent to you, dear reader, that I was truly pondered.

Cormanus arrived back in Capella, having ridden from Moranbah with an Angel GT strapped to the back of his CB, before five o’clock. With some above and beyond the call of duty from Anthony at Lacey’s Tyres, Rural & Industrial, Capella, Last Blast was re-shod and ready to go at 7:30 next morning.

I never did get a photo of Cormanus’ CB with that tyre strapped to it but I live in hope that one may, eventually, turn up.

Cheers, and thanks again mate.

 

[Lord Popgun]

WOW! Well done Cormanus. You da man!

 

[Rick Froscheiser_imp]

Now that getting the most out of your tire. That is a true friend to help out another rider like that. Hats off to Cormanus for helping out a fellow rider.

 

[emptysea]

Quite the adventure! Cormanus has always come across as a champ. He should fly in for the Rally so we can show our appreciation.

BTW...did you two meet through this forum?

 

[flynrider]

Way to go, Cormanus! You're the man!

Tire troubles on a road trip can be a nightmare. Especially if you need an oddball sized tire. Many years ago a ran into a similar problem on a road trip while in the wilds of Utah. I waste a full day looking for someone who had a tire that would fit and could install it the same day.

It always helps to have friends along. Here's what happened when my buddy discovered a flat tire on his plane at a back country airstrip (75 miles from the nearest airplane jack).

 

[the Ferret]

Good on ya Cormanus... A friend in need is ..well you know.

Now Ptero. You seem to take off on ill prepared tires or do something to wear them out at in opportune times. I remember one time...in North Carolina a big FJR with a similar tire issue... Lol

 

[redbirds_imp]

To you Cormanus, a good friend indeed.:beerchug:

 

[4 Paws_imp]

Did you save him any beer?

 

[curlyjoe]

You're a good man Cormanus!

 

[Ulvetanna_imp]

No details on why the tire failed? Any chance it turned out it was too large to fit in the space allotted and under full compression of the suspension, contacted the frame and was damaged? A real cliffhanger here, folks.

 

[the Ferret]

I have a feeling it was just plain wore out under a guy that really likes to ride.

 

[noroomtomove]

Look forward to the whole story.

 

[Rocky_imp]

Wow, that's so cool!
My helmet is off to Cormanus for his outstanding generosity

 

[Ulvetanna_imp]

I have a feeling it was just plain wore out under a guy that really likes to ride.

Pterodactyl is foolish enough to set out on a ride with a bald tire, and then lock up the rear for a few hundred feet to get the cords to show, and then put himself in a precarious position of having to call for help?

I think the Big Lizard Bird is a lot smarter than that.

It's plain it is road damage or some other unexpected event.

But we will have to stand by with bated breath, eagerly awaiting the next installment of Pterodactyl and Cormanus' Excellent Adventures!

 

[Cormanus]

Thank you for the kind words, everyone. There is a longer story which will be revealed when I have time to write it up. Meanwhile, suffice it to say I had an agreeable afternoon ride while Pterodactyl took care of Capella's beer supply. He did leave me enough to help me get to sleep.

EmptySea, we did meet via the forum—for the story search Seat Time for my report on the Wintersun Run in 2014.

 

[emptysea]

Another pretty cool thing about our little corner of the Internet.

 

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Tell you one thing, that is no ordinary wear mark.

Observations: Tire is covered with dust except in the area that is abnormally damaged; a few punctures around the area; the damage is not along the center of the tire but angles off to one side; damage is striated in an unusual way.

Looks like a sudden event, perhaps a piece of luggage came loose and got caught under the tire. Or debris from the road was flung into the fender well. Maybe the chain cam off and was caught in the tire.

Strikes me as odd that y'all are creating this big mystery. Someone get hurt and law enforcement is involved? I suspect yes. I surely hope the whole thing is minimal and nothing too bad resulted from the damage.

 

[Guth_imp]

Nicely done Cormanus! I'm glad that you were able to safely deliver the replacement tire free of any kangaroo or wombat incidents. As far Ptero is concerned — I'm just glad that you survived all of that pondering. Phew.

 

[Cormanus]

Another pretty cool thing about our little corner of the Internet.

Here and [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3324&highlight=wintersun]here, Sea. Sorry I wasn't near a computer this morning easily to unearth the links.

The still-told part of the story is that both of our wives asked us independently whether we were sure we weren't heading off to meet axe murderers. So far so good.

Tell you one thing, that is no ordinary wear mark.

Observations: Tire is covered with dust except in the area that is abnormally damaged; a few punctures around the area; the damage is not along the center of the tire but angles off to one side; damage is striated in an unusual way.

Looks like a sudden event, perhaps a piece of luggage came loose and got caught under the tire. Or debris from the road was flung into the fender well. Maybe the chain cam off and was caught in the tire.

Strikes me as odd that y'all are creating this big mystery. Someone get hurt and law enforcement is involved? I suspect yes. I surely hope the whole thing is minimal and nothing too bad resulted from the damage.

Ulvetanna, tempting though it is to drag out the suspense, there's no one incident I know of that caused the damage. There was no broken chain or off or curious road surface. I rode the same roads and my tyre is fine. When Pterodactyl first noticed the problem were were on a ride with others and, bar one, no others had tyre problems.

I say bar one because one of our number on a Goldwing had a rear tyre that split in one wall. He noticed it when we stopped for fuel. While we figuring out how to get him another tyre, Pterodactyl wandered off to look at his tyres and noticed the beginnings of the wear. It got worse during the course of that day and he (wisely) decided not to ride further on it.

Now, there was a period where he fell behind after stopping to take a photograph and was out of sight. Some curious thing may have happened then, but it didn't involve a chain; nor, I suspect, did it involve gentlefolk of the law as he quickly caught up with us.

Guth, one of Pterodactyl's many skills is pondering. He does a good deal of it in the evening after a day's ride, so I guess he's well practised.

 

[emptysea]

thanks for the memory refresher, Cormanus. My own wife exhibited similar concern prior to her and my meeting The Ferret. Come to think of it, though, she didn't seem at all concerned when I rode out solo on two other occasions to meet Chicago-area forum members. It now seems clear that she was interested only in her own safety. Hmmm...well that's something I can ponder tonight, perhaps.