midnightrider1300 Posted August 6, 2014 #1 Posted August 6, 2014 Was leaving for work this morning , and saw I have a flat on the rear tire of my bike... plug it ? or get a new one... it's a new tire with over 80 % tread left....what are your thoughts?
CaptainJoe Posted August 6, 2014 #2 Posted August 6, 2014 If it was mine, I'd take it off and have it patched at a tire shop...IMHO
midnightrider1300 Posted August 6, 2014 Author #3 Posted August 6, 2014 If it was mine, I'd take it off and have it patched at a tire shop...IMHO my thing is if I have to take it off, might as well put a new one on , cause they are gonna charge me out the ying yang to take it off & fix it ( i don't have equipment to change it )
cowpuc Posted August 6, 2014 #4 Posted August 6, 2014 Dont assume you have a nail hole, put some air in it and check the valve stem, shrader valve and bead for leaks.. I have had my share of flats on loaded up touring bikes with a passenger on and I gotta say,, I dont much care for that sick feeling of having to tell the passenger to sit still cause we have a flat tire.. Plus the hassle of dealing with it out in the middle of nowhere.. I dont trust plugs or patches for just that reason.. I have plugged a LOT of car tires and had em last till the tires are bald BUT, bike tires are different, I plug em but only to ride em to get to my tools to swap it out.. I feel for ya bro,, I HATE when a perfectly good new tire picks up a nail!! FYI, if its a $ issue, I picked up a very cheap Full Bore tire off the internet while out in California this year.. Seems like it was $70 bucks shipped.. It did a GREAT job and more peace of mind than running around with a plugged tire,, IMHO of course.. THANKFULLY it went flat while sitting in the garage!! Puc
CaptainJoe Posted August 6, 2014 #5 Posted August 6, 2014 Some people here would disagree with me on this but I would not run on a plugged tire any distance... You don't have any members close to you with a jack? If you did I'd take the rim and tire to a car tire shop and they remove old and install new for $10. or patch old for $15. Motorcycle shops charge to much...
cowpuc Posted August 6, 2014 #6 Posted August 6, 2014 If you did I'd take the rim and tire to a car tire shop and they remove old and install new for $10. or patch old for $15. Motorcycle shops charge to much... Got the same thing going on around here Joe,, got a well known auto tire shop that will swap em out for 10 bucks.. $40 is the cheapest bike shop price in the area for same service.. I have swapped out a lot of tires out of town and have yet to find an auto shop willing to handle the swap, thought Muskegon Mi was rare for it.. Glad to hear that its not uncommon..
CaptainJoe Posted August 6, 2014 #7 Posted August 6, 2014 Got the same thing going on around here Joe,, got a well known auto tire shop that will swap em out for 10 bucks.. $40 is the cheapest bike shop price in the area for same service.. I have swapped out a lot of tires out of town and have yet to find an auto shop willing to handle the swap, thought Muskegon Mi was rare for it.. Glad to hear that its not uncommon.. I hear ya.. And a rear Dunlop E3 is a pain in the you know what to spoon off... LOL To be fair, motorcycle shop's won't patch a tire because of their liability... Way to many sue happy people out there. I bought a front and rear dunlop e3 last month for under $300 from Dennis Kirk.
midnightrider1300 Posted August 6, 2014 Author #8 Posted August 6, 2014 thing is i had just put on a NEW e3 on my old bike.....
ACE50 Posted August 6, 2014 #9 Posted August 6, 2014 I have a few thousand miles on a plugged E3. I also put in Ride-On as a back-up.
wizard Posted August 6, 2014 #10 Posted August 6, 2014 I've been plugging tires for years and never had one fail, both front and back.
Mike G in SC Posted August 6, 2014 #11 Posted August 6, 2014 It's always a new tire. If a simple nail hole, not a tear, not sidewall, I rope plug and follow with slime (because I can find slime,,, would prefer Ride On). And PS: Cycle Gear will remount a tire for $15 if it is off the bike. Did that for a cracked valve stem. Did not ask if they plug.
XV1100SE Posted August 6, 2014 #12 Posted August 6, 2014 As mentioned...depends on where the hole is. If you have a lift adapter and a good sized container for water (maybe kid's swimming pool?), lower the wheel into the water and turn the wheel until you see air bubbles. Or... fill with air and rotate until you hear air leaking out....
YamahaLarry Posted August 6, 2014 #13 Posted August 6, 2014 Have plugged both front and back motorcycle tires over the years (with the treads) and have never had a problem. It's not like the tire is going to fly apart because it has a piece of rubber in a hole, or even that it has a hole in it. If it is a sidewall hole, different story.
greg_in_london Posted August 6, 2014 #14 Posted August 6, 2014 Agree - a hole in the tread area will get a plug and I wouldn't take it off the rim to do it. If the nail/screw was still in I'd probably just leave it if the tyre wasn't going down. In the Uk you're allowed a cut that's up to 10% of the width of the tread (maximum 25mm, a whole blooming inch), so you can have a lot of damage without worrying about tyre integrity being too compromised. You might go for an inner tube rather than a simple plug (or one of those harvey Tech mushrooms etc), but if it holds air then a blow out is not likely at all.
CaptainJoe Posted August 6, 2014 #15 Posted August 6, 2014 I hope you guys are ATGAT. The problem isn't that the tire is gonna fly apart. The problem is, if it goes flat in a turn.... When you experience that first hand, you'll change your mind.... and yes my back tire went flat in a sharp turn back in 1980 on a RD 400 Yamaha... Trust me, "You will go down. " As far as rope type plug failure rates, I've had many fail over the years, on a vaiety of machines. I have never had a vulcanized patch fail. The other thing that comes into play is your gonna be real popular when you take it in for a tire change and someone has to clean that stuff up in your rim... I bought a quick kut and PO had done this to one of the skid steer tires.... it cost me more for the cleanup... Bottom line, Do what you want... just go into it with open eyes.
midnightrider1300 Posted August 7, 2014 Author #16 Posted August 7, 2014 aired the tire up, used soapy water sprayed the tire all the way around no BUBBLES, sprayed the valve stem no bubbles... time will tell......
Kirby Posted August 7, 2014 #17 Posted August 7, 2014 If the hole is in the tread just plug it. If that doesn't work have it patched from the inside. Or just buy a bottle of RideOn and put it in and ride.
dacheedah Posted August 7, 2014 #18 Posted August 7, 2014 Patched on the inside is permanent, i carry plugs till i can peel it off
naturbar Posted August 7, 2014 #19 Posted August 7, 2014 A plug patch is the only one I trust....you get best of both...a plug and a patch, placed inside of tire.
ACE50 Posted August 7, 2014 #20 Posted August 7, 2014 The problem is, if it goes flat in a turn.... As far as rope type plug failure rates, I've had many fail over the years, on a vaiety of machines. I have never had a vulcanized patch fail. The other thing that comes into play is your gonna be real popular when you take it in for a tire change and someone has to clean that stuff up in your rim... I have had a plug pop out on me at 70 mph. It was my first plug on a bike and was prob my fault. It does make a difference on how you put it in. Cleaning Ride-on out is no problem as it mostly stays in the tire. Slime is a different matter and you shouldn't use it on a bike anyway.
stardbog Posted August 7, 2014 #21 Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) Oh Man you did open can of worms here. I did plug 3 tires in the past, and all 3 times hold until natural lifetime of tire. As others said make sure is in center part of tire. I did top of with ride on tire sealant and works http://www.stopngo.com well. My opinion .... Plug 'em in babe. I use mushroom type ones Ride On tire sealant: http://www.ride-on.com/motorcycle-formula-mot.html stop&go http://www.stopngo.com Edited August 7, 2014 by stardbog
dacheedah Posted August 7, 2014 #22 Posted August 7, 2014 i keep one of these in my saddle bag [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qKOlZPuvvs]BIKEMASTER Tire Repair Kit - YouTube[/ame]
tomephil Posted August 8, 2014 #23 Posted August 8, 2014 I needed a new rear tire in Vancouver about 6 weeks ago. The E3 was cupped very badly creating a bad shimmy on low speed turns. The dealer sold me on Ride on with weights. Just came back from the IR so I have approximately 7 to 8 thousand miles on it. So far so good... I put a E2 on the front just before the IR and had dyna beads installed in it. About 4500 miles on it and so far so good also. I think I will now try to hunt down some ride on to put in my trailer tires. That mushroom tire plug kit looks great also. I have used regular plugs in the past and had no problems but a plug blowing out at high speed on a corner would be a nightmare.
Venturous Posted August 8, 2014 #24 Posted August 8, 2014 I have mushroom plugged nail holes in the tread of several bike tires and ran them until they were worn out. And I would not hesitate to do so again. I see no way for a mushroom plug to 'pop' out. I use a kit similar to the bike master kit in the video above. But I would not do that on a sidewall puncture.
djh3 Posted August 8, 2014 #25 Posted August 8, 2014 My problem with the ride on is I like the balance beads. I would think when you put the goop in the beads would make one big ball of yuck.
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