My first motorcycle tyre puncture

K1200GT rear puncture, originally uploaded by indigoid.

Today I booked the K1200GT in for two new tyres at ProCycles in St. Peters. Michelin Pilot Road2 again. The current set have lasted about 26000 kilometres. I am pretty happy with them.

On the way home from work this evening I had to weave between a few bits of glass and other debris on the road, especially in the tunnel that goes under the runway at Sydney Airport. Clearly I didn't miss everything, as the GT's tyre pressure monitoring told me that I was slowly losing pressure in the rear tyre. I am very glad that the leak was slow enough for me to get home. Normally I run about 2.9 bar in the rear, but by the time I made home to Mortdale the display was reading 2.3 bar.

I cannot overstate just how useful the pressure monitoring is. Without it, despite best intentions, I probably wouldn't have noticed the puncture at all until tomorrow morning or until the bike really started handling badly. By that time there could have been damage to the wheel as well as the tyre, and repairs would be far more expensive. Instead, I was able to keep an eye on the pressure and feel confident that I could ride safely home. The system gives you far more than just relief from wielding a tyre pressure gauge. Highly recommended.