tukar tiub tayar.

so last Friday, on the way to work, my bike actually hit/rode over a road light reflector as shown by the photo above. the bump was a little bit more 'felt' than usual bumps and humps on the road, probably due to the round nature of the thing, combined with the fact that i was going at quite a speed (around 70-80kmh).

but nothing wrong was felt for some period of time after the incident. until a few hundred meter away from my office, i felt some wobbles with the front tyre while negotiating a corner. by the time i reached the basement of my office building, i can feel the tyre valve, every time the tyre rotated. as i parked my bike, i can see the flatness of the punctured tyre.

dead end. but screw the flat tyre. i had work, and later in the day i had to go back early as i had to attend a cousin's nikah ceremony later at night, having to leave KL early considering the Friday evening traffic. so i just left the bike there, with the flat tyre, from morning of Friday, until 5pm today, Monday.

so, kisah pertama: ditegur mak guard.

so our basement has two side entrances, one is on the Tabung Haji side, while the other one is near the Esso/Caltex side. i was pushing my punctured bike from the TH side to the other side entrance, when, upon reaching the entrance/exit, i was stopped by a female guard, and she told me that bikes can't use that entrance/exit.

so i half-heartedly acknowledged, and told her that i didn't know about the rule. then i continued to push towards the exit, and have already gone out of the entrance/exit, albeit by a mere 70cm, when she stood in my direction, and insisted that i push back INTO the building, and made the longer journey using the normal entrance.

i tried to argue, i think i used 2 arguments, but to no avail. realizing that keep on arguing will not give the desired result, not to mention that i'm just too tired still holding the punctured bike, i said okay, and i turned back. inside, i was filled with mixed emotions, but most of them are negative ones. rage, anger, feel like cursing, feel like hitting her in the face, feel like rebelling i.e. to ignore her and continue pushing my bike out. all sorts. but i succumbed. surrendered.

kesimpulan, moral dari kisah pertama:

a coin has two sides. if she was a bit more rational and logical, and also compassionate, she should've let me pass. i'm new, so i don't know that there exists such rule, and i've let her know of the fact. and i was also in some sort of a difficulty. i was pushing my punctured bike, for basement's sake, not speeding my bike thru the forbidden entrance. what's worse that could happen?

however, she may have some valid points. firstly, rules are rules. and that should be enough. secondly, she's just doing her job. what if, in Akhirat, God asked her about her not being responsible by not doing what she's supposed to do? who's going to be held accountable for that? what if she would then find me to accuse me of making her do it?

i shall leave it at that. because that's only one part of the whole story.

kisah kedua: mat pit berubah.

so despite the major hiccup (so, more like, choking?), i still made it to the petrol station to pump some air into my flat tyre. got to the first air pump, and tried pumping in air. but nothing happened.

and while i was struggling with the pump, came one guy, dressed not so shabbily, but smelled a little bit unpleasantly. i could sense that he was up to some thing, but he just didn't seem to be able to say it. it went something like this:

"abang... saya rasa saya tak patut pun cakap dengan abang sekarang..."
"heh?"
"ok la, saya cakap terus je la..."
"ye saya"
"saya tak rasa yang saya layak pun cakap dengan abang..."
*wth...* "hmm...?"
"ok ok, saya terus cakap je la..."
"okay..."
"tayar takde angin ke bang?"
*wtfudge betul... you think???* "entah, tak keluar pulak angin pam ni"
"try yang sana (neighbouring pump station Esso) pulak la kot"
"hmm... tapi malas la pulak"
"a'ah ek, nak kena tolakkan la"
"hm, boleh cuba lagi kot"
"okay abang saya cakap je la terus ye"
"hmm..." *dude, please do*
"saya sebenarnya..."

and then he started telling about how he's hungry, and he's only starting to work tonight, and whatnot. and after i gave up with the pump machine, i told him about how i'm also in a dire financial plight, with my cash position yadayada. which is true, i think i have only RM100 left until the next pay. thank God that would be next week. and i still have this punctured tyre to think about. but anyway. so i had to tell him that i couldn't help him much. and he just left.

then i pushed the bike to the other petrol station, and found a perfectly working air pump. but i couldn't get it to work until after 3 or 4 times, then only i got to fill the tyre with some air. it was filled, but i could hear some air going out as well. meaning there's some hole somewhere on the tyre. but i thought maybe i could go far enough on the bike until it becomes flat again, at least until the next available petrol station.

i was about to seriously undertake that risk (because the tyre could very well flatten before i reach the next pump station, and a lot of dangerous things could happen if you ride a flat-tyred bike. but then suddenly, a guy on his bike stopped beside me, and then asked me if the tyre is punctured. then some conversation happened, i agreed to pay him RM15 to change the tube, and around 20 minutes later i'm on my way back home already.

i don't know if RM15 is a lot for tube-changing service, a mobile service that is. but what happened was, at the end when i wanted to pay him, i handed him RM20, and was willing to let him keep the change. he refused.

so he gave me back the RM5 balance, on top of other meaningful lessons that i got to take away from the chance to meet this tukar-tiub fella.

1. i now have a mobile motorcycle mechanic who covers almost the whole of KL (his record so far is as far as KLIA), in case of puncture, and maybe everything else also.

2. i found a living example of a guy who once living the dangerous life with drugs but was not at the level of chronic addiction, and managed to turn away completely from the hell. he's now living a simple life, earning honestly, working around the clock (got a day job... tukar tiub is part-time i.e. whenever called), despite the meagre return. he even has his own house actually.

3. learned that there's no shortcut to happiness. one needs to work hard to achieve what he/she wants to achieve.

4. realized that i can be sociable, when i put in the effort.

5. learn some new tips about (caring for the) tyre. a) do not buy the cheapest tyre. go for something that's at least RM60. better to go for known brands. best to buy michelin. b) pump in air once a week, or even twice a week. c) tukar tiub tayar is around RM15. d) for tubeless tyre, the air valve is much longer than the tubed tyre. around 1 inch longer. e) changing motorcycle tyre is not for commoners.

what an experience. i went back, feeling some weird sound and wobble with the bike. but i might just be paranoid.