A tale of two flats (or Why we love the TPM system)
January is the best time to ride through Death Valley, and the Colorado Belle in Laughlin, Nevada, is the best place to stay, especially given the Pints Brewery being part of the attraction.
Wanda (my wife) and I have visited the Belle numerous times as part of SEAT’s annual ride, and early in 2024, we spent a night in Gila Bend at the Space Age Lodge—and enjoyed a wonderful Italian dinner across the street at the Little Italy Restaurant. We rode the Salome Highway to Laughlin, but have taken other routes in other years. We joined 30 other SEAT members at the Pints Brewery for our annual gathering, and planned to skip Death Valley in favor of visiting Wanda’s sister in Hemet, California.
Our journey from Laughlin to Hemet took us through Searchlight, Nevada, then Nipton, California, where we picked up the Morning Star Mine Road to Cima. Even though that particular California town looked run down and deserted, the route through the Mojave National Preserve was beautiful. We passed through Kelso and Amboy before stopping in Twentynine Palms for gas and food.
About seven miles out, right as we turned on to Highway 62 at the Twentynine Palms airport, the dash on our 2016 R 1200 RS went berserk with flashing red lights, blinking warning arrows and the tire pressure monitoring system showing the front tire down close to 10 PSI—a sure sign of a flat!
We pulled into the airport parking lot to assess what was going on. After some searching and a lot of prying, I pulled a small bolt out of the front tire along the center tread. I pulled out our Stop-N-Go tire patch kit and our Frankenstein 12-volt tire pump and went to work. The plug went in and held 32 pounds for about 10 minutes.
While I was doing the tire plugging, Wanda searched for motorcycle repair shops in Twentynine Palms. One showed up and after a quick conversation with JP we found a tire that would fit and was the right spec. By the time we reached JP at Desert Cycle Works, the tire was down to 27 PSI. While we were eating at the Mexican restaurant across the street, a new Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT went onto the front wheel. I got a chance to look at the Stop-N-Go plug inside the tire; it looked good, I was pleased with my work.
We gassed up with a new front tire and rode south through Joshua Tree National Park and took Box Canyon Road, a new road for us, into Mecca, California. From there it was through Palm Desert and Mountain Center into Hemet. Though we got in a couple of hours late, we had a good visit with Wanda’s sister and nephew. We were feeling pretty lucky when we hit the sack that night.
The next morning—Saturday—saw us ride through about 10 minutes of small hail, 15 minutes of snow flurries and about 30 minutes of rain. Thanks to our gear, we stayed warm and dry as we bypassed Brawley and got in Interstate 8, where we encountered road construction that altered our route a bit. We headed for Highway S24 to go around Imperial Dam, and when we reached Bard, the dashboard went berserk again! Rear tire at 12 PSI—another flat!
I set to work on the flat tire in the parking lot of the Bard Post Office, quickly discovering a large nail sticking out of the tire. The hole was smaller than the previous day’s front tire bolt, making the plug a little more difficult to insert. After I got the plug in and the tire pumped up to 42 PSI, we headed for Liberty Motorsports in Yuma, Arizona thanks to Wanda’s smartphone research skills. They were busy and it was just a few hours until closing time, but they had a Dunlop Sportmax Q3 to fit the RS. When we arrived, the rear tire still had 41 PSI in it.
Though they were really busy and working on closing for the weekend, they took the time to help us out. The new Dunlop went on and we were ready to get back on the road after about a two-hour layover. I did get a look at the Stop-N-Go plug in the rear tire. It wasn’t pulled in like the one on the front. Though I hope to never need the knowledge, I’ll remember that the next time.
Our ride around Imperial Dam would have to wait for another day. We hit I-8 East to Gila Bend and the Space Age Lodge for the night, getting in just a few minutes after the sun went down. Dinner at the lodge’s restaurant was right on time. We hit the sack pretty much pooped out. (I may have forgotten to mention the constant 30-40 MPH winds and dust storms while all of this was going on.)
We had an uneventful ride home Sunday morning thanks to Highway 85 through Why, Arizona, Highway 86 to Tucson, and some back roads the rest of the way to Sierra Vista. We left with brand new tires and got home with brand new tires, definitely a record on how fast we’ve ever worn out a set of tires and spent $480 in the process.
The TPM system did its job. We could have easily experienced some serious drama if either of the flats had gotten down to all the way flat before we’d known it. I believe the TPM system saved our bacon, which is why I like our TPM system!
I would like to give a shout out and thanks to JP at Desert Cycle Works in Twentynine Palms, California. He did good! Also, a shout out and thanks goes to Steve in the Service Department of Liberty Motorsports in Yuma, Arizona. We appreciated them getting the bike in before closing.
