Today I went on for a ride around the city. When I was heading back towards my home, the rear tire gave out unexpectedly. It started wobbling, so I stopped and it was a literal flat, no pop, nothing.
Fortunately, there was this roadside puncture repair guy who stacked bricks under the frame and lifted the bike up onto the side stand just enough to remove the rear wheel.
On extraction of the tube, we came across a rather peculiar sight. The point through which you fill the air, that brass or metal thingy, Idk what it is called, was half ripped off from the tube itself, leading to all the air escaping out.
I had the bike serviced, lubed and cleaned just this Saturday, so there isnt a chance of me running flat before the incident.
I rode about 50 Km before the incident and had about 20 km more to get home. It was a literal expressway throughout, not some backroads.
The puncture repair guy was trying to sell me a 100/90 R19 tube, which I was skeptical about as neither the section nor the diameter was matching. The Bear runs 140/80 R17. I was in the middle of the city with numerous RE service centers in the vicinity, so I just dialed RSA and they booked me a pickup to the nearest service center, which was about 19 km away. It was all covered under insurance, so I didnt pay a dime.
This is the situation we are working on. Now comes the shocker.
Upon reaching RE, they were literally blank on what to do. I said to either outsource the tube for me or install theirs if they have it in stock. They went on to check the inventory and said RE will only sell us the whole shebang.
The Front + Rear tires with tubes. At 5k odometer reading, who in their right mind would throw away their tires that have more than half their life left on them?
I countered them by saying, first of all, I am not pushing for a manufacturing defect. I am simply asking for the spare and will pay whatever it costs and be on my way. And if I do go ahead and get the whole thing changed, front, rear, everything, then does that come with some magic that will safeguard it from anything, puncture or anything else, the very moment I ride it on the road? Will I have to get the whole thing changed every 100 km?
They started doing their "staff meeting", puzzled about what to do. Meanwhile, I went on to MRFs official website and surprisingly, this specific tube size with MRF printed on it isnt even listed under tubes on their website. I inquired at all the shops in my area and nearby, across the NCR. Meanwhile, the dealership tried around Delhi to outsource it, but no one had it, neither will they order anything like this.
In the end, I had them register it as present at their service center by having them open a job card and forced them to mail RE for resolving this dilemma. REs own parts portal for dealers doesnt list tubes or tires anywhere.
I didnt know bikes with tube tires have to get the whole set changed every time anything pokes into any one of them.
Let me conclude the situation- This is the very next day.
After a ton of calls, and I mean like 50+ different people throughout the whole MRF chain of command in North India, I finally got my hands on two tubes, same size, 140/80 R17, no alternatives or workarounds, just the OEM MRF tubes.
Whereas RE is still wondering what to do.
If anyone in future come across my post and want the same tubes than they could simply ask me about the person in my dm's.
