I'm out for a ride up to the top of Red Mountain, a little south of Patagonia, AZ. I'm half way up the mt and the bike starts to feel a little squirrelly. It's a good spot to take a couple of pictures and figure out what's going on.

The following are looking south into Mexico:





This is all nice and a great day for a ride with the temps in the 50's, but I've got a flat. The last m/c flat I had was in 1970 when my Trail 90 wrapped around some barbed wire while being used for deer hunting in Wyoming. Anyway, I go less than 100 yards back down the mountain and the seals come loose, but it's still under control at low speeds so I keep going about 3 miles until I come to the asphalt Harshaw Road where I take the speed up to 10 mph, and ride it about 7 miles back to Patagonia where I try to put air in it, but it comes out faster than what it goes in - here's why:



I get to put my less than $30 Harbor Freight lift to use:



Looks alright there, but didn't quite get the job done out of the box. The platform wasn't long enough from front to back and the m/c would tend to roll either forward or backward off of it. I added a piece of 1/2" plywood that in effect made the front to back 2" longer measuring from where the radius begins to edge of the plywood. Enough to keep the m/c stabilized.



For many years I carried a small air compressor in case such a situation came up - it never did, and the compressor finally went bust from other uses. Bought another one, but I've been stalling adding a connector to it so it will work with the other accessories on the m/c. Shame on me.

 

Same thing happened to me this summer, tore the valve stem out, road about 5 miles on dirt, on the flat... I changed the tube and put in a motion pro bead lock in, rim is precut for it.. Hasn't happened again..

 

You guys have been fortunate for sure. Happened once last year and twice again this year. Pinch flat first, leaked at the patch second time but was prepared with all the gear to change it on the trail, Third time ripped the valve out just like yours. Now has rim lock installed and I hope that's it for another 45 years! Won't go anywhere without all the gear to change it on the trail. I have an 18 on my fender bag and buddy has a 21, if I'm out with my wife she also ha a 21, all the bases covered. Not too much fun changing it out in the spring, bugs eat you alive so now added Bug repellent to the gear...Funny drove the livin crap out of my KDX for many many years and never got a flat, no rim locks either, go figure???

 

This was in June on a ride thru our favorite snowmobile trails (in winter) Didn't record the flat (should have time lapsed it) but these are our favorite trails.

 

Man this sounds so familiar.....I too had my 2009 KLX250 out exploring in the desert south of St George Utah.... alone....and was 27 miles from civilization when I got a flat. Not a soul around so I just milked it back to a main highway the 27 miles and rode it the 12 miles back to my house on the flat. I had no other options. A slow go for sure. Luckily it was not middle of summer and 115 degrees.

After a couple more flats, with new tubes, I realized the stock tires are junk. I put a set of Dunlop 606 tires on it and have never looked back. They are much more capable dirt tires and work great on the street. Much thicker ply and I have ridden some nasty nasty nasty, rock strewn terrain and never had another flat.

Glad you made it out as the terrain looks pretty inhospitable...

 

Tubliss.

 

Keep your rim locks tight, real tight, period. Worth getting Motion Pro LiteLocs. They are feather weight and cheap. They hold very well. Tight tight tight.

Make sure you get the correct size.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030E87T4..._3y1twbRSQZGFC

 

So far I've pulled three stems out of the tube. I have a rim lock, just haven't put it in yet. The front is flat right now, so maybe this weekend will be the weekend it gets fixed right!

 

Another step we've taken to eliminate tire spining on the rim, is to wipe out and dry the tire bead and inside bead area on the rim with a rag wet with rubbing alcohol. This will remove the soapy slime you used when mounting the tire onto the rim. Never use oil, grease, or spray lube like WD-40, silicone, etc. Always use a water based mix of (a few drops) dish soap and water, or Windex, etc. Once the tire is mounted, aired up and tire bead seated, tighten the rim lock or locks. On our race bikes, we used 2 rim locks on the rear and one up front for hard heavy braking. Also, never lock the outside nut down on the tube's valve stem to the rim, leave it very loose or better yet, off. This way, IF tire does spin a little, it will pull the stem into the rim instead of ripping the tube from the stem causing a flat. Some guys will ream the valve stem rim hole out a little bigger so the stem doesn't catch if pulled in. Little tricks I've learned at the track from 20 years of racing.

 

Or you could just run 20-25 lbs of pressure all the time like I do. Oh sure it makes for a bumpier ride and less traction in places, but better that than spining the tire. Just sayin.