This tire has seen better days
I'm lucky there isn't more damage. You can see the rubber streaks all over the paint.
The bulb and socket that used to be connected to this wire are nowhere to be seen
Don't even need to remove the wheel!
What is it they say about the best laid plans? The trouble began when I stopped at lunchtime to eat more leftovers, and started making calls for Daytona campgrounds. Now, each campground's entry in the guides has special statements about race week and bike week, but I was pretty sure that bike week (when the AMA guys race here) was in March. And I know that the Nascar boys are up in Rockingham, NC this weekend. (How do I know that? I just drove through Nascar country!)
None of the campgrounds anywhere near Daytona had any space for me. The fifth (and last one) that I called did suggest another campground that I didn't have a listing for, called Racetrack RV, and gave me the number. Sure, they're not full, plenty of space. No need for a reservation! Huh, how weird that the others are all totally booked, but this one has enough space that I don't even need a reservation? Well, whatever, I said I'd stop by. It looked like I'd be there at about 3pm.
Okay, so it's 3:30, and I'm behind schedule, but I'm only maybe 10 miles north of the exit when I started to hear all sorts of rattles in the motorhome. Now, occasionally something gets into a frequency where things start rattling, but this was a lot more than normal. But the road didn't look so hot. But it's not getting any better, and it's occasionally a lot worse. Then, all of a sudden, it's really loud. Okay, pull over. Sure enough, the right rear outer tire is totally history. Shredded. At least that's the worst of the 6, the one with the visible flat spot.
The shoulder on I-95 here is really narrow though. I've got the right-side trailer tires in the very soft-looking muddy grass, and the right-side motorhome tires are just on the hairy edge of the pavement. Actually, the dead one is hanging over the grass, and the other two are on the hairy edge, which appears to be buckling under the weight. In addition, there is a lot of traffic and so the trucks on the road can't move over, so they are passing by very close, causing the motorhome to rock a tremendous amount in the wind, causing the pavement to buckle further ... let's just say that it wasn't a comfortable situation. I got back in and moved forward enough to get the right-side tires on more stable pavement, and I put down the levelling jacks to try to maintain some stability.
Okay, I'm still really, really close to the passing trucks, but I no longer fear the motorhome tipping over in the wind they create. Now ... what do I do? Well, the next exit (the first Daytona exit) was right in front of me. I checked the software I've got, and this exit has everything, including service stations. So, I decide to crawl up there. After all, I've still got another right rear tire, and while it's seriously overloaded with weight, it's at least keeping the dead tire's rim off the ground.
So, I crawled along on the narrow shoulder (with the trailer tires literally on the yellow line marking the travel lane) at 5mph and got to the exit, and pulled into a service station. I'm now very much wishing that I'd gotten one of those motorhome emergency repair deals like AAA has for cars (I'm a AAA member, but they don't do motorhomes).
I walked up and talked to the mechanic on duty. Naturally, since I didn't have a spare, he couldn't help me. But the man inside did have a card for someone to call, so I did. They promised to send someone in 30-45 minutes, with a used tire for me. I figured used would be good. The other 5 are used anyway, and this way, I could get home to CA and then replace all 6.
40 minutes later, he calls me back. Not only can't they find a used one in my size, but they don't believe the size is right. I verify. It's right, 235/80R22.5. Okay, he'll check himself, then look for a new one. He calls me back 5 minutes later (it's now 4:45) to tell me that he'd found one tire shop who has a new one in stock, it's $330. The ones I have are discontinued, this is the new replacement for it.
What's a guy to do? I told him to bring it. He said his man was on his way to pick up the tire and then come over. Meanwhile, I waste some time talking to the mechanic, as he washes his motorcycle. He asks if I'm in town for Bike Week. Bike Week is now? Well, no, that's in March. Now it's "Biketoberfest", which is just like Bike Week but without the racing. Ahh, that explains all of the bikes out there on the road and on trailers ... and that also explains why I couldn't find a campground.
The tire guy showed up at 5:30. The levelling jacks don't get the rear wheels totally off the ground, so he got out his air jack and jacked up the axle. Then he popped off the cool stainless steel wheel covers to expose the incredibly ugly big gray wheels. But then instead of pulling the lug nuts like I expected him to do, he got out two big tire irons and muscled the old tire off the rim, with the rim still on the motorhome. And, it was easy!
Then he got the new tire out of his truck, rolled it up to the now bare outer wheel, and with a few swift kicks, got the inner bead onto the wheel. The outer bead took a bit more effort, using the tire irons, but it went right on. Pumped up the tire, lowered it all down, and we were done. $40 for the road service, $22 for the mount, $7.50 for disposing of the old tire, and $334 for the new tire, and off I went. It was only a 2-and-a-half hour ordeal. Yes, I finally took pictures of one of my "situations" ... too bad you all can't see them yet!
"Off I went" is a little simplistic. The motorhome wouldn't start. Fortunately, the main battery cable on the starter wasn't totally tight, and that fixed it right up.
Okay, off to find this mysterious campground. It's actually nestled in a very quiet part of town, right between the race track and the airport :-) With Biketoberfest going on, it's really quiet and peaceful around here :-) Anyway, this campground is only open during the big Daytona events. They charge basically double what normal campgrounds charge, but beggars can't be choosers. At least they gave me two sites (so I could pull thru) for the price of one. They aren't full, after all.
Then I went to go check out the beach. It was dark by this point. And it wasn't until then that I really understood the scope of Biketoberfest. Wow. I felt seriosuly out of place driving a car. What nerve did I have! It really is a Harley get-together, but you'd be welcome with a sportbike or Goldwing, or a Shadow or something. But in a car, I felt like I was an outsider. On Main St. there must be 10,000 motorcycles, and that's just on Main St. If I can figure out a way to park a car anywhere near there, I'll get some pictures tomorrow. It's going to take that to explain this spectacle.
So tomorrow I need to see this huge hoo-hah around here in the daytime, and I'm going to go check out the Kennedy Space Center. Hopefully I can get myself on the road at a reasonable time on Sunday. Next stop: Texas.