I just can’t figure out how this keeps happening to me.
In just over a year, I have picked up “four” 2 to 3 inch nails in my motorcycle tires, (2 were made from aluminum) 2 in the front and two in the rear.
How is that possible?
I assume that the nails would be lying flat in the street when my tire passes over them.
Even with the unlikely scenario that the tip of the nail penetrates the rubber at the first point of contact, wouldn’t an object that long be knocked free after traveling around a wheel revolution as it strikes the ground horizontally to the pavement at the end of the cycle?
(plus my dirt guard has a low clearance of about an inch off the front tire.)
It seems to me that the entire length of the spike would have to penetrate in a single motion for it to be forced through the tough rubber to stay.
Wouldn’t the nail have to be lying vertical for it to be in position to fully penetrate?
How does a nail lie vertical?
Grass?
Dirt?
Sand?
That in it’s self seems more unlikely being that I never ride in grass or dirt and wouldn’t that medium force the nail to sink down into the ground?
Granted, motorcycle tires are a bit thinner, stickier and have a relatively high “42 PSI” requirement compared to that of car tires but, it still seems like a very unlikely event and of course this happens to car tires as well.
Can anyone explain the physics behind these very expensive mishaps I’m having ($180 a tire)?
I don’t drive in construction sites and sabotage is possible but extremely unlikely although I’m starting to lean in that direction for lack of other feasible causes.
Can someone (anyone) please explain this one to me?
You say that 2 were aluminum and that 2 were front and 2 were rear tire punctures. Aluminum nails of that length aren’t too common in this neck o’ the woods. I’d suspect sabotage on at least a couple of these. Usually a front wheel will pick up the nail, spin it a little and it will penetrate the back tire. Seems to me that if the nail is pointing in the direction of travel and is missed by the front (coasting tire) the rear tire while under hard acceleration (such as leaving work) may contact the head, pushing the point upward and driving it into the tire. I dunno how it happens with a front tire unless it’s protruding through a flimsy medium such as wet gypsum or rotten wood.
Perhaps with the front tire penetrations, the nail is parallel to direction of travel, pointing mostly toward approachiing tire. Tire passes over nail, tire levers up the head of the nail, point catches a tread and enters tire.
IIRC, most punctures in a car are passenger side rear. Rear for the reason MajorTom states, debris is flipped up by the front tire and is caught by the rear tire - and passenger side because such debris is more likely at the roadway’s edge than the middle.
Also look into the route you travel, do you cut through any alleys or construction sites, make any U-turns or cut over medians where usually cops do? I’ve heard of people getting pissed at a traffic ticket and dropping a load of nails in usuall speedtraps and other such spots.
If you drive in the shoulder you are much more likely to pick up a nail.
Also do you piss off people when you drive or at work, if so perhaps be a little nicer and you won’t get a flat as often?
Just some ideas on how it could be happening so much.