And that is what the inside of a Metzeler Tourance looks like. For the second time in 31 years of motorcycling, I have had a tyre completely deflate while riding. I strongly suspect this tyre was old stock.

Four of these men are straining to lift a heavy motorbike onto a pickup.  The fifth man is pretending.

Later

Thinking about it, the tyre was not old stock at all; we ordered it in California.  The max load is 325kg; we must be close to this.  What has destroyed the tyre is the regular crashing through pot holes that has gone on since we left the USA.

Obviously, we slow down and avoid pot holes whenever possible but, sometimes, we see them too late and have no choice but to take them head-on. I stand on the pegs and shout yee haw.  Helen just has to sit there.

We’ve hit pot holes hard enough for me to worry about bending the bike and I’ve regularly been thankful for our steel frame welded to our steel subframe.  Also, we keep the tyres inflated hard because a shredded tyre is a breeze compared to a shattered wheel.

The last time we hit a pot hole really hard was the morning this happened.

Oh the indignity