hi famous touring Ted ,thanks a lot for your usefully information ,
well i had 34 puncture in my trip from Cape town to Cairo
used Slime , heavy duty inners ,and i hit a rock damaged totally my front tire ,
thought in the past 2 years something new came to the market
i do have a cycle pump too the one you used with hand and it works well
i do have acenter stand ,i didn't have one in my last trip cross Africa and it was so hard to find the right rock to put it under all by my self in middle of no where most of the time
but thats how i learn
thanks again Ted
cheers and greetings from Egypt

Omar - 32 punctures - fantastic!

Stories of hardship and coming through is part of making this pass time of ours so exiting - knowing that things can go seriously pear shaped and that perseverance will not only get you through, but help make the adventure...

I bet this was one of the more memorable parts of your trip, for good and for bad. While you hope for better luck next time, it was part of making the adventure and sense of acheivement so great, I am sure.

I bet you are a devil at changing tires now. What's your best time? I mean, with changes this frequent, you could potentially have been able to shave off a a minute or two every time. With tire changes this fast, burning rubber gets a whole new meaning - swish, swoosh, done!

And, now you will probably invest in the best repair kit on earth, center stand, etc... and probably never have a flat again.

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Hey buddy... It was no offence to you. I hadn't even seen your post let alone your comment about the tubes heating up.. Saawwwy

Levers are a very personal thing. I probably own every type imaginable. I've used them all A LOT. Spoons are no gimmick. They've been around from the beginning. I find them lovely to put the tyre back on. I actually use a combination of one smaller motion-pro lever to get them off too. Having a lever with good grippy handle helps a lot too. Especially if it's cold and your hands are sweaty or it's raining. Frozen *heat transfer* fingers and skinned knuckles anyone ??

As for tyre damage. I believe they cause less. The smooth 'spoon' rolls the bead nicely over the top and spreads the load. In my experience, it's the smaller 'pointy' levers that tear rubber off the bead.

But hey.. Horses for courses.

15 punctures a day in Tanzania. They weren't mine. They were my riding buddies that I fixed for him. Along with countless others. Standard BMW tubes on his F650gs. I only got one flat that day on my HD's. We were riding thorn bush hedged roads. It's almost impossible not to get a flat on them.

I think I fixed near to 100 punctures on mine and mostly other peoples bike while in Africa. The tubes and patches are always cheap crap from Asia. They puncture like water balloons and the patches and glue are also bicycle stuff. They're not heavy duty enough.

Quality counts...

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.