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Tire problems

4K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  YiannisK1200LT 
#1 ·
Hi everyone

My ass end has been soft recently but because of time constraints every time I wanted to check the tire pressures something came up (I know bad thing). Today I finally got a chance and found I had 10 lbs of pressure in my back tire. Now I know it wasn't that low last time I rode but it's sat a few days cause of rain. But it probably was extremely low when I did.

Low and behold, I had a nail in it. Now I know plugging is a bad thing, but it's a brand new tire with probably only two thousand or less miles on it. I tried that method but it's still a slow leak.

I know a new tire is the best thing, but just don't have that money right now.

Been reading up on many different alternatives (double plugging, fix a flat, slime, etc) and one came up that I'm not familiar with but seems to have a lot of good reviews - "Ride On - tire sealant".

Does anyone have any experience with this?

If not, any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Woody
 
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#2 ·
Hi Woody. Plugging if done properly should be fine as a medium term fix. It all depends where the nail went in. If it's in the sidewall you can't use plugging and a new tire is the only answer. If it's in a thick part of the tread and done correctly it can work well. My last set of tires got a puncture in the rear and I had one of the local bike mechanics plug it. Kept me going for a few months until I was ready for new ones. It would be more reliable than any leak fix in a can.
 
#5 ·
It looks like an antique hand made nail. Are you trying to plug it yourself?
I think to plug it correctly you need to make the hole round and then use a tapered round plug that you insert from inside the tire so it wedges in the hole in the right direction and then glue it in and trim the outside. If that was the nail it would have made a hole more like a slot. Hard to plug that.
 
#14 ·
WAZZA,

Just curious. You're comment says the Michelin Pilot road 4. When looking at my tire it says 160\60 ZR 17 M\C 169WI DOT HBUR 00EX 3920 ROAD 5 2CT+ ZRA 2QB. Is there a difference between the road 4 and the road 5? Now when I look at the weight rating\air pressure it says LR B Max Load 716 lbs. I know the bike is heavier than that. Is that weight per tire or whole bike? I don't see any "GT" or "79 REINF".
 
#7 ·
Actually a pneumatic "hardwood flooring nail" (just rusted). I pulled it, bored it with a tire rasp, and plugged it as always done in the past. Maybe having the nail sit in there at an angle instead of straight in made an elongated hole and that's my problem. I'll do more research tomorrow as work was a long night and going back in early today. Thanks

(Rear tire recommendation?)

Wood
 
#8 ·
Actually a pneumatic "hardwood flooring nail" (just rusted). I pulled it, bored it with a tire rasp, and plugged it as always done in the past. Maybe having the nail sit in there at an angle instead of straight in made an elongated hole and that's my problem. I'll do more research tomorrow as work was a long night and going back in early today. Thanks

(Rear tire recommendation?)

Wood
I have used Ride on for about 15 years and have never had a flat. I put it in when the tire is new and it keeps the tire balanced and no flats. Front tires get scalps when the tread starts to get wear and give you a strange ride that never happens with Ride On. The tires last longer when they stay balanced and ride better. Jim
 
#9 ·
Yes, when I bought the bike its front tire was worn and scalloped. So far in my very limited time home I've found that the plug is still leaking, I've taken the tire off, and preparing to bring it to a place tomorrow to get hopefully patched, and then afterward will hopefully install the Ride On before returning on the road.
 
#10 ·
Hi everyone

My ass end has been soft recently but because of time constraints every time I wanted to check the tire pressures something came up (I know bad thing). Today I finally got a chance and found I had 10 lbs of pressure in my back tire. Now I know it wasn't that low last time I rode but it's sat a few days cause of rain. But it probably was extremely low when I did.

Low and behold, I had a nail in it. Now I know plugging is a bad thing, but it's a brand new tire with probably only two thousand or less miles on it. I tried that method but it's still a slow leak.

I know a new tire is the best thing, but just don't have that money right now.

Been reading up on many different alternatives (double plugging, fix a flat, slime, etc) and one came up that I'm not familiar with but seems to have a lot of good reviews - "Ride On - tire sealant".

Does anyone have any experience with this?

If not, any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Woody
A properly installed plug will work on the tread of a tubeless tire. Another solution is to install a tube in the tire even if the puncture is in or near the sidewall. I have used tire sealants like Slime successfully on large riding mower tires, but after seeing the mess they make, I would not want to use the stuff on a motorcycle tire.
 
#11 ·
My first KLT ('99) came w/ a tire plug kit. The BMW plugs were impossible to force through the tire, so I bought a kit w/ long, cone-shaped plugs. I had to enlarge the hole to get the plug through. Plug must project through tread into the inside of tire where it mushrooms out to keep it secure. After I ran the first one w/ no issues, my BMW mechanic got a tool like this Amazon.com: Stop & Go 1075 Standard Model Tire Plugger: Automotive and we've run many plugged tires w/ no issues. Always nail in the tread (not sidewall, no big tears). Running an inner tube is definitely a stop-gap measure to get you out of the wilderness. Don't run it that way for long.
-Dean
 
#12 ·
I agree with the comment to stay away from Slime. Years ago, I used it in my mountain bike tires so that if something happened on a woods trail, I didn't have to walk back. That seemed to work well. What didn't was the fact that the Slime collected and dried around the valve stems. If I needed to air up the tires, no air could get past the dried Slime. Pull the valve stems to clean the Slime off and it wouldn't come off. My solution was to replace the tubes. I could see this being an issue with tubeless tires as well.
 
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#13 · (Edited)
Some people will tell you that motorcycle tires are relatively cheap and safety is important, so just replace any punctured tires. And they’d be correct.

If I’m on the road, I’ll plug it with a sticky string kit to get me home.

If I’m home or near a big city, I’ll have a tire shop plug it from the inside with a proper t-plug. Then I’ll run the tire down to the wear bars without worry.

It’s your bike, your wallet, and your safety, so it’s your call.
 
#17 ·
As others have said, the safety assessment is yours alone to make. I personally have run thousands of miles on plugged tires - one an ST1300, another a KLR with a tubeless conversion. The KLR is really no biggy, it wasn’t a high performance machine and breakdowns were part of the experience anyway :) . The ST - always had a little niggle in the back of my mind. Both plugged with the string thing. I listened to a seminar about plug kits Once. if the bond is going to fail with the plug and the tire, it will happen very shortly after you plug it - as in right when you start - in most cases. If your plug and bonding agent are good, it creates a seamless bond with the tire almost immediately and the failures are a failure to bond, or a failure in application technique. After that, it is very unlikely the string type plug will fail. Mushroom plugs don’t perform as well and can fail much later, in part because of their shape - if they aren’t in right air pressure holds them in place and you don’t know about the problem until later.

Given all that, at this point in my riding if I’m on a high performance machine I’m with Meese’s theory. Plug it for a short term fix and don’t worry about it, then prioritize replacing it when convenient. Honestly though, your bigger concern should be tire rating if your tire isn’t actually rated for this bike. That’s a blow-out and loss of control waiting to happen.
 
#18 ·
Hi everyone

My ass end has been soft recently but because of time constraints every time I wanted to check the tire pressures something came up (I know bad thing). Today I finally got a chance and found I had 10 lbs of pressure in my back tire. Now I know it wasn't that low last time I rode but it's sat a few days cause of rain. But it probably was extremely low when I did.

Low and behold, I had a nail in it. Now I know plugging is a bad thing, but it's a brand new tire with probably only two thousand or less miles on it. I tried that method but it's still a slow leak.

I know a new tire is the best thing, but just don't have that money right now.

Been reading up on many different alternatives (double plugging, fix a flat, slime, etc) and one came up that I'm not familiar with but seems to have a lot of good reviews - "Ride On - tire sealant".

Does anyone have any experience with this?

If not, any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Woody
The tire sealants are the last thing I would use. The string style plugs are known to hold up pretty well, generally will finish wearing out the tire. Next up the food chain is a plug installed from the inside with a vulcanized mushroom head. These are basically a combination of an old style tire patch with a plug to fill the hole and keep dirt and water away from the patch itself. These are considered a “permanent” repair by most people. Best of all is a new tire obviously. Given that you tire is grossly underrated for the LT, I would toss this tire and get a properly rated (79V REINF) tire, of which I believe only three still exist (Metz 880/888, Bridgestone BT020 and the Shinko 777.
 
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#19 ·
No doubt the 79V reinforced rear is the way to go. A few years back, I was on a trip with another LT'er. We stopped somewhere along the way. He said something just didn't feel right about the way the bike was handling. He checked air pressures and there was none, zero, nada in the rear tire. Looking at the tire from behind him, I could not see any sidewall bulging, nothing to indicate that the tire contained no air. Knowing this other LT'er as I do and how he is about his equipment and maintenance, he didn't just let the air trickle out without checking it. I don't recall if the tire was leaking or how the air came to be out of it. We found an air pump and continued on our way without further incident.
 
#22 ·
Thanks. I think I will. I only seem to get 6000 miles or so on a set of tires. It is a pain (and expensive) to keep replacing them. The RideOn bills itself like a cost-effective way to get more miles per set.
This is the plug that I needed to use on a recent ride to get home. I would not mind a tire being "self-sealing" to boot.


Wheel Tire Automotive tire Tread Synthetic rubber
 
#23 ·
Thanks. I think I will. I only seem to get 6000 miles or so on a set of tires. It is a pain (and expensive) to keep replacing them. The RideOn bills itself like a cost-effective way to get more miles per set.
This is the plug that I needed to use on a recent ride to get home. I would not mind a tire being "self-sealing" to boot.


View attachment 174300
I love the quote at the bottom of your posts. I feel that way when I ride. You can only be in the moment and it removes your worries for the day if only for a while.
 
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