Leaking tire....

[eroellig]

Some time ago, I raised a stink about a slow leak I have on my front tire....

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...057#post175057

Today, in addition to replacing the front brake rotors with new ones from MikesXS, I dunked the tire in some water and found.... bubbles leaking out from under the rim.

I'm assuming that the dealer didn't clean the bead area good enough when he put my new tires on??? I'll further assume that the proper thing to do will be to take the tire off the rim, clean the bead, and remount?

Any tips? I think some of Prom's reference material (which I haven't had time to really read in detail yet) mentioned scotch brite for the rim and special lube juice to help the process of re-mounting. Sound about right?

I think my chances for a good ride this year are shot. Since March, I've only slept in my own bed at home about 41 nights and it isn't slowing down until mid December. I'm definitely feeling like an entry in the "Why haven't I ridden more than 100 miles this year" thread... Case in point, Monday morning I leave for another 2 weeks, home for a weekend then gone for another 2 weeks. At this point, I'm just hoping that I can get the last couple of things cleaned up so I can ride like H. E. double toothpicks next year.

Eric

[bikerphil]

cleaning bead surface

I always use a brass wire wheel on a drill to clean the bead area before mounting a tire. You could dismount the tire with large screwdrivers/tire iron, clean surfaces, then reinstall. Or take rim to a shop and have them do the dismount/mounting.

[firstxs1100]

tire suggestion

my suggestion would be to take the bike back to the place you had the work done and explain to them that the job they performed did not work as it should. assuming that this was not done a few months back they should be happy to fix it, and it should be free of charge, if they stand behind there work. if you touch the tire yourself then it is your responsibility and then you should have done it in the first place. meaning that you wasted all that money for nothing when you could have put it in the tank and rode all day..

[boyat68]

eroellig:

You could always seal the tire with Fix-A-Flat or the Aussie Green Slime, and ride away, but of course you could then fix the leak after December using the above info. Just think, most of us who do not mount our own tires are relying on the shop to do a reliable job but we ride on faith.

[eroellig]

my suggestion would be to take the bike back to the place you had the work done [...]

Already did. As soon as I mentioned "tire", they basically told me to pound sand.

Eric

[tarzan]

I know some shops wont mess with the fix a flat.It is a pain.I would only use it in an emergency.
You might be able to take a couple c-clamps and crimp the tire a section at a time so you can assess the problem and scrub it out with scotchbrite.There isnt much room to work that way but I installed my tires with spoons and that sucks. So if you can do it without removing from rim it would be easier.And you might just have a pebble or something in there.Obviously you want to mark the tire where its leaking then check that areas bead.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Eric,

The C-clamp technique works quite well for breaking the bead. You might want to put some chalk marks on the tire and rim at the valve to help remember it's positioning to try to save the balance. Once the bead is broken, you don't have to remove the tire, it will easily compress against the opposing rim wall to give you plenty of access to the rim bead for cleaning. Then take a band and put it around the circumference of the TIRE to squeeze the bead outward against the rim during reinflating to help the bead seal and then reseat.

Read the front tire removal pictorial tech tip for the other details of a properly seating bead and such.
T.C.

[trbig]

Just to add...

I don't care for the fix-a-flat option. One.. it is maybe a quick fix, but that stuff is EXTREMELY corrosive. The green slime stuff.. heard good and bad. BUT... both of these products will only work on leaks around your tread area where centrifigul force takes it. It won't work for leaks up on the rim/bead of the tire.

Tod

[Ivan]

If the bead area of the rim is pitted up from corrosion, pretty much any tire supply store or even a parts store should have some "bead sealant". It resembles rubber cement, but is black and very sticky and impossible to get out of your clothes, so don't wear your tux. Anyway, you slather this junk on the bead of the tire after you have cleaned off the tire soap from installing it on the rim and proceed with seating the bead. Once the tire is set, the stuff hardens up to about the same as the tire. It works really well, until you need to get the tire off, and it takes a jack hammer to break the bead loose.

[eroellig]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I'll give it a try when I get back home.