got a screw in my rear tire,still riding on it............but i was thinking about a inside patch(still has alot of life in it) not to have to buy new.....any info????i know a few riders FIRST HAND that have had no problems but other say it will blow out....but any one with FIRST HAND BLOW OUT????
i know you just opened up a hornet's nest here....but i have ran an inside patch on my R1 for over 18 months of daily driving. i have had it up and over 150mph with the patch with no problems. even been to a dozen or so track days too.
now with that said, i have never ran one in a heavy a$$ cruiser. i don't know if the tire compound, speed rating, weight, and all the other differences between sport and cruisers would make a differnce.
i would concider all the feedback you recieve and make an educated discission. there are a lot of riders on here and i am sure they all have had different experiences.
You have to ask your self how safe you would feel patching the tire.
My true feeling on this is...For the price of a new tire is will worth the price not take a chance with your life. we only have two of them, tires that is.
Well, I always ask myself would I let my kid/wife (fill in the blank) in this case ride on a patched tire. If I answer yes then I think it's OK. If not, well I buy a new one. Just my 2
You have to ask your self how safe you would feel patching the tire.
My true feeling on this is...For the price of a new tire is will worth the price not take a chance with your life. we only have two of them, tires that is.
I just faced the same dilema with a tire with only 700 miles on it (new bike in May) and a nail that I am still not sure penetrated the tire. It may have only been deep into the tread and the tire did not leak. I decided to go ahead and replace mine. A friend pointed out that while the patch would likely be fine, I would be wondering about it every time I hit the freeway, and that would diminish my enjoyment of my ride. Of course, a blowout at 75 miles per hour would likely diminish it even more. Dunlop says you can patch the tire from the inside, but you should not exceed 75 MPH with a patched tire. Further, for the price of having the tire removed, patched, and remounted, you've probably spent over a third of what it would cost to purchase and mount a new tire. And, that is IF you can find someone to patch it.
Just replaced a tire on my Valk that was getting too worn. It had three plugs and a nail in it. NOthing wrong with plugs either....only had one go bad and it was a slow leak over a couple days. Plugged it again and it was good.
a very good friend of mine plugged a rear tire on his harley street glide. he has put several thousand miles on it, no problems. he has an air pump and plug kit with him all the time now. i would plug a new tire, but not an old one. jmho.
You know....when i read these posts i have to agree that replacing the tire is probably the safe thing to do.When i started riding in the mid 60's replacing a tire because of a flat was just not an option we patched those suckers and rode them until they were as slick as a babies butt and never had any trouble,but the times they are a changing.......excuse this old man's ramblings
Good Question, Mishka! Hmmm??? How much risk are you willing to take? How much damage and repairs would it require on your cycle if the patch blew out? Maybe the patch will last months before it blows. But the cost will probable be even more when it does. How hurt would you get if the patch blew? How much pain and recuperation could you stand? How expensive would it all be in pain, recuperation, repairs and costs if Murphy’s Law prevails? (If it can happen, it probably will.) Funerals are very expensive, by the way... and that really depresses your loved ones too! And do you worry about things after you left your house like did I leave the coffee pot on or did I lock the door? Hmmm… Good question. It's your choice.... But I REALLY like your avatar!!!
He asked if anyone ever had a blow-out first hand from a patched/plugged tire.
If you get a small screw with a slow leak in the tread of the back tire and they plug it with a mushroom style plug, how can you have anything more than another slow leak? What would cause a catastrophic blow-out, where the tire would suddenly come apart? :?:
He asked if anyone ever had a blow-out first hand from a patched/plugged tire. If you get a small screw with a slow leak in the tread of the back tire and they plug it with a mushroom style plug, how can you have anything more than another slow leak? What would cause a catastrophic blow-out, where the tire would suddenly come apart?
Ok…. So you get just a slow leak… and one day you head out for a long fun ride into the mountains… and because it’s been months since you had the patch put on with no problems you forget to check your tire pressure which is 15 lbs and leaking. Just because it may not blow doesn’t mean you’ll have a very safe and good day.
I'm 53 and have been riding motorcycles since I was 12 I have riden on plenty of patched and pluged tires and have never had any problems with them. What causes a blowout is a large peice of depris (like a chunk of metal) in the road or a pot hole. And they don't care (the pot holes or debris) if your tire is patched or pluged.
Just my .02
We went to the Honda Hoot this year. They had a seminar on tires, given by T.J. Tennent. He works for Bridgestone as engineering product manager for motorcycle tires. He said never to patch or plug a tire as a permanent repair. He had several tires that had been patched & plugged with large ply separations. He said the plug or patch acts as a wick letting moisture to get in between the ply causing separation. For first hand info on this E-mail the guy. He said he answers all E-mails and Voice mails. Voice mail 615 937-3591 E-mail tenntnorri@bfusa.com
We went to the Honda Hoot this year. They had a seminar on tires, given by T.J. Tennent. He works for Bridgestone as engineering product manager for motorcycle tires. He said never to patch or plug a tire as a permanent repair. He had several tires that had been patched & plugged with large ply separations. He said the plug or patch acts as a wick letting moisture to get in between the ply causing separation. For first hand info on this E-mail the guy. He said he answers all E-mails and Voice mails. Voice mail 615 937-3591 E-mail tenntnorri@bfusa.com
This is also a guy who works for a major tire manufacturer.....and they wanna sell tires.
And how many did they test and how many were real world type punctures?
A simple nail puncture isnt usually gonna be enought to hurt a belt, etc.....and a patch from the inside wont either....now a PLUG might if it is done incorrectly....
I dunno. There is the scientific reasoning and then there is the real world results......
I have never read first hand experiences about ply seperation or blowout related to plugs or patches.
I run a shop and also sell tires. I have been to these seminars also and if you repair a tire correctly and know what to look for before patching a tire, it is perfectly okay and safe. I would never simply patch one. I would use a combo patch called a plug patch. It fills the hole, eliminating moisture entry and provides a good patch to the area surrounding the puncture.
My father owned a service station for over 30 years and I personally fixed thousands of flats. We fixed them on everything from wheelbarrows to big farm tractors. I have put boots in tires with cuts in them that were 8inches long and they ran until the tires wore out this was on tractor rear tires they werent high speed but they pulled heavy loads all the time and were used under super high stress conditions. I have changed tires that were plugged and ran for the life of the tire and never leaked or gave any problems. personally I had rather have my tires plugged rather than patched. If the hole is too big to plug the tire needs to be replaced but a plug installed correctly is as good of a repair as I've ever seen the hole is filled from outside to inside and the coating on the plug bonds to the tire all the way. I f you patch the hole you have a open hole through the tire where dirt and water can enter the tire and work like sandpaper every time the tire flexes. The patch only covers the inside of the hole. Most flats are caused by a very small hole in the tire and air seaps out through a small hole most of the time the nail is in the hole and the leak is slow. A plug is bigger than most nails and is doubled when installed. I trust plugs and have more experience than most with them. If I had a flat on the bike I wouldnt hesitate to plug the tire and never worry about it. I love tubeless tires its the reason I didn't buy a s so I would be able to plug a tire on the road if the need arises and not be stranded.
On my way to Bike Week in Daytona this year I had a flat. I was only about 30 miles into the trip (1500 miles total). I plugged it on the spot and checked it 25 and about 50 miles later and it was fine. So I made the trip and replaced it once I got home from the trip. The main reason I replaced it was because of the amount of thread wear, not because of the plug.
Personally, I'ld plug a tire and run it as long as I felt comfortable riding it. After the first couple hundred miles you don't even think about the plug. I've been plugging tires for over 30 years (my first job was at a service station working the tire machine,etc). And to be honest, even though those were car tires I can count the number of actual plugs coming out that I have seen or know someone who has had it happen on 1 hand.
Can a plug come out, yep. But I've heard about more accidents happening because of speed, drugs, deer, cagers, etc than I've heard about someone going down on a plugged tire. Someone will be quick to say that thats because most people don't plug MC tires, maybe but I'ld like to see that data that says its LESS safe than plugging a car tire, if its in the threaad. Sidewalls-yep thats an automatic replacement, threads -not necessarily.
lots of good info here......and thanks to all.
i know this is a hot topic sometimes.....but i wanted to info my self, and once agian the broard came thur for me.
I plugged the back tire on my 85 shadow and I haven't had a problem yet and that has been since back in March. Granted it dosen't get ridden as much as the X but it get an ass on the seat from time to time.
lots of good info here......and thanks to all.
i know this is a hot topic sometimes.....but i wanted to info my self, and once agian the broard came thur for me.
I THINK it would take me all of 2 seconds to make that decision. Let's enter in to the world of the sureal. Say on the one hand it costs you $100 to patch the tire and be on your way, on the other hand you could junk the bike entirely and buy a brand new bike with options for 10k out the door. $100 vs 10k. Seems like an easy choice, I would rather be out $100 than 10k. Now, fast forward 6 months, you are driving down the road 75mph on a lovely day when all of a sudden you feel a slight shutter and you know something is amiss and before you fully realize the true problem you are catapulted 300 feet into the air as the tire explodes. Now back to the price dilima, $100 vs 10k.
I run a roofing biz. Which means for 15 years(or more) I've been pulling trailers full of asphalt into the landfill. If I replaced every tire that got a nail on that truck or trailer I would have spent the cost of a new VTX. I put up to 3,700lbs on plugged tires all the time and have never had a problem. In fact I once drove over a year on two tires with plugs(not even patches) in the sidewalls on the drivers side. I really just wanted to see how long it lasted. One lasted over a year and the other tire I wore out.
Not saying "just plug it" but saying...I just don't feel the hazard. In fact considering the volume of residential and commercial property i have under warranty of rubber glued together, I have a great deal of respect for rubber glued together.
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