Don't get deflated by punctures!

A 400 year old French barn doubling as an installation station

One thing that can stop an enjoyable motorcycle journey prematurely, whether it is a ride to a local cafe or an intercontinental adventure is getting a flat tyre. There are tons of useful kits, gadgets and tools to help solve the problem once you get that flat tyre. But surely preventing the puncture in the first place is a better solution? When preparing for a mammoth ride with my girlfriend from the UK to South Africa on our little Honda CG125 machines, I purchased tyre levers and spare tubes to solve the problem along the way but I also researched and found a company called Oko. You may not have heard of them, but Oko have been, by their own admission, quietly creating tyre sealants for nearly 5 decades & supplying over 100 countries Worldwide They started initially as a tyre sealant for farmers and their tractors which led to them producing products for almost every industry and application you can think of and have proudly continued their operations in the UK, where it was originally started. I was somewhat skeptical but my thoughts remained that even if this sealant solved one puncture, then the £20ish spend would probably be worth it. In a 400 year old barn in France, I judiciously followed the instructions and installed the sealant in the all four tubes between our two bikes ready to tackle Africa and whatever lay ahead. It would take over 9000 miles (14,400km) before experiencing the first puncture! Though this was due to me pinching the tube when changing my Honda wheel for a Yamaha one (it's a long story). This was in Ghana but then just days later Lauren picked up a small puncture in the front tyre that we managed to patch. We wouldn't get another puncture until Botswana! Another near on 8,000 miles later! At first thought this may not seem impressive, after all, it is supposed to prevent punctures and we had at least two (not owing to self inflicted wounds at least). In Morocco we rode over sharp rock and gravel as well as broken glass at the road sides. We hit multiple potholes far to fast and hard in many of the countries. We also rode over thorns, rickety bridges and other hidden disaters when bushwhacking trying to find a campsite at the end of a tiring day.

Exploring the wild of Morocco! Plenty of sharp rocks about

According to chat GPT (sorry but my maths isn't this good), conservative estimates say that getting to South Africa, each wheel will have rotated in excess of 17 million times!! 17 million chances that each tyre and tube has an opportunity to pick up a puncture.... So to only recieve two true punctures in that period is in my mind, a roaring success! Whilst readying for round two of exploring Africa, I contacted Oko to ask if they would consider sponsoring the next endeavour. I explained how impressed I was with their product initially and was delighted they decided to partner with us. Now, however, they have rebranded their range from Oko Dirt Bike to Magic Milk Motocross. It is in essence still the same great stuff, with a new name and brighter branding but the key facts remain the same. - It lasts the life of the tyre - It can seal up to 9mm pinch flats/slits or snake bites - You can lower your pressures in rough ground and there are no issues. It even comes ready to go with no need to buy additional tools to install it. I am confident it must have sealed punctures we didn't know we had! We'll be installing it as soon as we land in Africa, and doing a post-trip report to let you know how we got on second time around. Watch this space!

Magic Milk - ready to fix the problems you didn't know you had

You can follow the journey on: Facebook.com/ilikemotorbikes Instagram.com/@ilike_motorbikes Youtube.com/ilikemotorbikes To see Lauren's perspective: facebook.com/kiki.rides/ instagram.com/kikirides_/ To learn more about Oko/Magic Milk - https://oko.com/ https://magicmilk.bike/