Friday the wife and I were riding on the 2011 Road King Classic headed out for our 21st anniversary get away. We were on a 4 lane highway riding 60-70mph for about an hour since the last stop. We got into a town and decided to stop at Walmart. When we got back on the bike to leave I realized the rear tire was flat. Fast forward 3 hours that consisted of being stranded with incompetent road side assistance operators and being rescued by the HD Dealer in the next town over...

I snapped these pics of the hole in my tire. They asked me if I ran over anything that would cut the tire like that. The only thing of note I hit was a big bump in a bad stretch of road about 20 minutes before Walmart. Once they removed the tire they found a nail inside it.

Ok the questions... the assistant service manager said that if I didn't have a tube in the tire it would have been a catastrophic failure when the hole occurred. From reading other posts it seems that the opinion is a tube would normally deflate faster. I'm guessing that it all depends on the type of damage? Also does that look like any damage a nail would do or is there something else going on? I got a nail in the same tire riding with the wife again 4 months ago (also noticed after pulling into a store) and the tube was replaced.

Anyway, we finally got on the road again and went on with our trip.

Thanks
Jimmy

 

That's nasty. I dunno, seems like something you'd instantly notice if it happened while you were riding. It looks to me like something with a rotary motion has made contact with a stationary tyre, like someone attacked it with a holesaw or something. Would something hot cause that damage? Was the nail embedded in the tyre or they found it loose inside the tyre after removal? What kind of nail? A railroad spike?

 

...go buy a lottery ticket!

 

Why?

I think he used up all his luck!

 

From what I understood the nail was loose inside. It looked the same to me like something had spun and carved it out. Not sure what to think about it.

 

Am I missing something here??? How would a nail going through a tire cause that kind of wear damage???

 

Yeah, I have no idea. That's why I had to ask. It seems too strange to me and I didn't notice a thing until I stopped and it was flat when I came out of the store. I got a nail in the tire a couple of months ago and the tube was replaced. Not sure if it is related.

 

A fair sized something with an edge on it cut the cord partway through, the tire did a bubble there from the reduced cord strength and the road wore down the bubble.

 

The nail could have embedded itself in the tire, and you not notice it for a while. In the meantime, while you are riding on it it may have spun itself around repeatedly causing the circular abrasion. That, or sabotage are the only things I could come up with.

Just as I am posting OlAndrew came up with a more plausible cause.

 

Looks like a thin spot around the cut. Did you have a skidding stop recently? It is hard to tell by the pic, but the tire looks pretty worn in the center section. Also, sometimes a pothole impact will cause the tire to split like that. Seen it happen on car tires. At least you got to stop safely. Aside from the inconvenience and expense, all seems well. Good luck.