How many flat tires can you get? Or not.

[latexeses]

3Phase,

I think the realization has come to me that I am bound to have a flat tire on the cage about 15 miles from nowhere and it will be caused by a number 2 lead pencil!

It is the only explination.

Almost.

[trbig]

They're supposed to be better than the gummy strips and they don't use glue so there's nothing to keep 'fresh' in the kit. When you need to use the plug kit there won't be a dry, empty tube that used to contain glue.

It's obvious you don't have much affection for the plugs for some reason, though I doubt this is based on any actual proof or research. I have used the "Gummy Strips" for years and years on bikes, cars, and trucks and have only used glue when I happened to be in the shop.. and then only as a lube to help shove that plug in. Otherwise.. plain ol' spit. I have had many many more times luck using them than a patch and they are many times easier to use versus taking the tire off the rim. If you run over something large, then yes, you are cutting some chords and may have a problem with the tire, but this is where a plug is especially superior to the patches. The plug actually helps bind and hold any broken chords, where a patch lets them move around.

If it is something small that punctured your tire.. then shove a plug in and you'll have no problems with any lessened speed or load ratings, and you certainly don't need to buy a new tire. This is of course.. all meant for people with tubeless tires. If you personally, for some reason, think the tire isn't any good any more or you have the money to blow... by all means.. buy a new one.


Tod

[latexeses]

trbig,

After the drill bit episode I always carried one of those kits in the little pouch on the backrest. A bicycle pump always in the back pack.

I heard all the stories about why you shouldn't do it but I figured it was better than walking.

[3Phase]

It's obvious you don't have much affection for the plugs for some reason, though I doubt this is based on any actual proof or research.

In what way is it obvious? No, no research at all, just one time and that will never happen again if I can avoid it.

I put a plug in the rear tire of my KZ750 when I got a flat down in Clovis on the way back up the hill from the Kawasaki shop. I should have just turned around and gone back to the shop but I was 22 and a lot smarter than the people that made the tires for my bike so I just put in a plug because I had to be cleaned up and at work in an hour.

The plug leaked slowly over the fifty-some-odd miles back up the mountain and the tire went flat just before the 35 mph corner as I was coming down into Oakhurst. In my experience, plugs are only good enough to get to a shop and have the tire replaced.

Fast forward 30 years: the gummy plug kit I am currently carrying in my XS got hot out in Arizona and the glue tube popped and leaked in the fairing. Now I have an empty tube with no glue in it and a mess to clean out of the fairing. The gummy kit is being replaced by the glue-free kit I linked to above.


Regards,

Scott

[motoman]

+1 Scott, have it, used it and ran the tire (rear) till it wore out.

[DenyP]

Plug the hole with aone of those goooy gummy rubber fiber plugs that look like Oakum.

then just Pop a tube inside the tire.

Its a piece of cake doing a Bike Tire. You dont need to bring it to a Dealer t do something simple like that.

If your out on a Road trip in the Middle of Bumfluck, Egipt no oos is gonna come to your rescue. Learn how to fix a flat.

In your Bikes Original Tool kit is a tire Iron

(If you dont have the kit I have a complete Genuine Yamahammer XS1100SG tool kit that has never been used. The back end of the Axcel wrenches double as Tie Irons. Just $50! plus $5 shipping. Send a check to Newengland

P.O. Box 1585
Saco, Maine 04072
WickedGoodOutdoors@Maine.rr.com
WickedGoodOutdoors.com)

Capt Walt

I have changed the tires on my bikes 2 or 3 times. You must have an arm like a gorilla and a grip like a bull dog if you have done it with the tools in the bike kit. I change mine over a drum using two 18 inch spoons and a big a** screw driver. It usually takes two guys to boot.
Good luck with that!

Deny

[xs11jack]

Earlier, I believe luck was mentioned.

I used three lifetimes of luck in California. In 1978, I was riding a 74 Honda 750 south on the 405 in LA. looking for the Carson exit. I was in the middle lane following a large van delivery truck when from underneath the van dropped a four foot long chunk of angle iron. I couldn't avoid it and rode over it, ripping BOTH tires to shreds and badly damaging the front rim. I hung on and rode it to a standstill. Before it stopped, I made several trips from one side of the freeway to the other as the tires flopped from one side of the rims to the other. Sometimes the tires would be on the same side and the bike would attempt to go in a circle and sometimes the tires would be on the opposite sides and the bike wanted to go sideways. Part of the luck was me riding it and not falling, part of it was that it finally stopped as it crossed the ditch and headed for a 40 drop to the streets below. Another huge chunk of luck was that a State trooper was two cars behind me and immediately hit his lights and siren and started to weave across the lanes and slow traffic. When I stopped, he stopped behind me and came over and looked the bike over. I told him I was going to sit for a while because my legs wouldn't hold me up. He laughed and said that was the most impressive ride he had ever seen, he was sure he would have to pick me up with a stick and a spoon! After that much luck used up in one day, I don't buy lottery tickets or play in games of chance.
Ole "Lucky" Jack

[3Phase]

+1 Scott, have it, used it and ran the tire (rear) till it wore out.

Metzler explicitly allows the mushroom plugs but I have yet to try them. Other manufacturers don't allow any repairs or they outline the procedure and state the repair is the responsibility of the individual person making the repair.


Here's some tire repair information that was available from the manufacturers' web sites when I was shopping for a new front tire. It's not research, just webstuff and sales literature. The bold type emphasis in quotations is mine.

This is not legal advice, some settling of contents may occur during shipping and handling, void where prohibited by law, not valid for employees and immediate family, you know the drill. (Sorry, Rodger )


Metzeler's tire repair position from their website:
(Note: I use Metzeler's Lasertec tires)

Mezeler Tire Repair

TIRE REPAIR (TUBELESS TIRES)
According to the specific regulations of different country governments, a general recommendation regarding tire repair cannot be given. For your country, please refer to your distributor. In case a repair is permitted, METZELER is only recommending the repair of small punctures restricted to the tread area using a mushroom head type plug. The repair of a punctured tubeless tire by means of fitting a tube is not permitted.

Dunlop's tire repair position from their web site:

Dunlop Tire Repair

Motorcycle Tubeless Tire Repair Information

Dunlop recommends only permanent repairs performed from the inside of the tire, using a combination patch/plug method. Never attempt a repair from the outside, or inject a sealant, or simply use an innertube, a patch or a plug as a substitute for a proper repair.

Only a qualified tire repair shop or motorcycle tire dealer should perform repairs. Inspection of the tire and adequacy of repair becomes the responsibility of the person actually performing the repair and Dunlop does not warrant the results of a repair in any way.

<snip long list of specifics>

NOTE:

A. There should be no more than one repair in any quarter of the tire and no more than two repairs per tire.

B. The wheel itself must be in good condition. Any cracked or bent wheel, however slightly, may allow the loss of air and cause subsequent deflation of the tire.

C. Following repair, the valve assembly should be replaced and the tire/wheel rebalanced.

D. Speed should not exceed 50 mph for the first 24 hours after tire repair and the repaired tire should never be used at speeds over 80 mph.

The repairer is solely responsible for instructing the motorcyclist as to the restrictions to be placed on tire use following repair.

In summary, NO form of temporary repair should be attempted. Motorcycle tire repairs leave no room for error and any doubt as to inspection or adequacy of repair should be resolved by discarding the tire.

Be sure to consult our Motorcycle Tire Limited Warranty, Care and Maintenance brochure for additional information regarding the use of Dunlop tires. Seek a qualified motorcycle tire repair center for more details. NEVER ATTEMPT TO REPAIR A DAMAGED TIRE WITHOUT THE AIDE OF AN EXPERIENCED TIRE MECHANIC.

Michelin's position on motorcycle tire repairs from a 2009 PDF on their website:

Michelin Tire Catalog PDF

Tire Care and Maintenance:

Repairs: Michelin does not condone or endorse the repair of any of its motorcycle tires that have suffered punctures or other damage. Michelin assumes no liability for injuries or consequential damages arising from Michelin motorcycle tires that have been patched, plugged, sealed or otherwise repaired by a dealer, distributor or consumer.

I hung on and rode it to a standstill.

[...]

After that much luck used up in one day, I don't buy lottery tickets or play in games of chance.

Ole "Lucky" Jack

Great googly moogly! Come on, Jack, we know it was luck but you're supposed to tell it like how it was your skills and phenomenal reflexes that saved the day! The CHP has saved my life more than a few times now on my motorcycles. They don't get enough credit for the good things, mostly abuse.


Regards,

Scott

[crazy steve]

All the BS about what is or is not 'recommended' is pretty much just an out from any legal liabilty. I've put tubes into tubeless tires (no 'tube' version available, spoked wheels), plugged, and patched. If it's done right and you're not trying to fix a gaping hole, you shouldn't have any problems unless you're planning a land speed record attempt.

The latest now is many of the tire manufacturers are putting 'expiration dates' on their tires. So once it reaches a certain age, it's immediately defined as 'bad'. A lot of them are saying only three years from date of manufacture, irregardless of wear... what a crock...

'78E original owner

[3Phase]

All the BS about what is or is not 'recommended' is pretty much just an out from any legal liabilty. I've put tubes into tubeless tires (no 'tube' version available, spoked wheels), plugged, and patched. If it's done right and you're not trying to fix a gaping hole, you shouldn't have any problems unless you're planning a land speed record attempt.

The latest now is many of the tire manufacturers are putting 'expiration dates' on their tires. So once it reaches a certain age, it's immediately defined as 'bad'. A lot of them are saying only three years from date of manufacture, irregardless of wear... what a crock...

'78E original owner

I've fixed too many car, truck and tractor tires. I've stuffed boards in the holes in tractor tires and worked them with the ballast water squirting out around the holes.

They're not motorcycles.

It's about motorcycles, not cars, trucks or tractors and if patching, plugging and tubing was safe and aging just a crock then tire manufacturers wouldn't have very expensive legal teams write specific exclusions. The helmet manufacturers are doing the same thing. Obviously, tubes, patches, plugs, aged tires and helmets have failed and caused something tragic, or at least very expensive, to happen that got the manufacturers sued by the survivors. Somewhere, sometime, somehow, juries decided against the manufacturers.

Me, I was a couple of inches away from taking out a little Honda Civic (back when they were actually small cars...) and a family of German tourists; two adults with a couple of small children in the back seat, on their way back from Yosemite. They were decent folks and they stopped when they saw me flash by them and go off the road.

If I had hit them all the sheriff and any of the survivors' lawyers would have seen were the marks from the failed tire and sued. They'd have had to sue because my insurance would only have begun to cover it. If the insurance company discovered I had done anything even remotely against the manufacturers' recommendations they'd have quite legitimately dropped me and the policy I rode in on faster than you can say, "Jack Robinson!"


Regards,

Scott