Tire Repair

[Paddler]

Last year we had flats on the rear tires of both bikes, repaired on the roadside with the 4" tire plugs.  We rode back from northern California to Salt Lake City with no issues.  I have read that tires repaired in this way should be replaced.  But I've also read that the plugs vulcanize to the tire and so it's a reliable fix for the life of the tire.  A third option is to repair the puncture with the patch/plug mushroom shaped things that require taking the tire off the rim.  Scheduled for a road trip starting Sunday and want to be safe.  Insights? 

[Hosstage]

How many miles on the tire, estimated life left on them?

[Paddler]

Good question.  Tires are Z8s.  7900 miles on the 1250RS.  Not sure about the R1100R, but there's more tread than on the RS.  Looks like they both have a few thousand miles left in them.  I attached photos but they're not great.  The first is the RS, the other is the R1100R.

[Dave_in_TX]

7 hours ago, Paddler said:

Last year we had flats on the rear tires of both bikes, repaired on the roadside with the 4" tire plugs.  We rode back from northern California to Salt Lake City with no issues.  I have read that tires repaired in this way should be replaced.  But I've also read that the plugs vulcanize to the tire and so it's a reliable fix for the lie of the tire.  A third option is to repair the puncture with the patch/plug mushroom shaped things that require taking the tire off the rim.  Scheduled for a road trip starting Sunday and want to be safe.  Insights? 

Not sure what you specifically mean by '4" tire plugs'. If you are referring to the string plugs you find at an auto parts store, I have never seen any that did not say "for temporary use only" in the fine print (yes, I know some use them as a permanent patch). However the Nealey strings are considered a permanent patch and they will "vulcanize" to the tire in operation. The Safety Seal plugs are also considered permanent.

[Lowndes]

8 hours ago, Paddler said:

 

The tire itself is "temporary".  

[Ron-M]

I have plugged a rear tire, using the sticky rope plugs, and continued on for another 7,000 miles.  I know of others who have done the same, and some with more than one plug in a tire.  

[Hosstage]

The next question is, how many miles are you planning to put on during the trip?

Are the tires going to be used up by the time you're working your way home? If you hit rain on the last day, are you going to trust those tires to be in top shape to handle the adverse road conditions?

The tire in the top picture looks fine for maybe a couple thousand miles of day riding, if worn to replacement, you are not stuck out away from home, you have the choice to not ride. You don't have that choice on a trip.

Do you completely trust those tires on a trip, or would you be checking them every stop, or at least every day, wondering if...? If you are asking yourself if they might make it, you do not trust them.

On a trip, especially with my wife, the last thing I want is trouble with tires that I caused myself by saying they'll probably be fine.

Or, you could just plan on taking a day out while traveling and hang out at the shop while the tires get swapped out.

[dirtrider]

9 hours ago, Paddler said:

Last year we had flats on the rear tires of both bikes, repaired on the roadside with the 4" tire plugs.  We rode back from northern California to Salt Lake City with no issues.  I have read that tires repaired in this way should be replaced.  But I've also read that the plugs vulcanize to the tire and so it's a reliable fix for the life of the tire.  A third option is to repair the puncture with the patch/plug mushroom shaped things that require taking the tire off the rim.  Scheduled for a road trip starting Sunday and want to be safe.  Insights? 

Morning Paddler

 

I'm not sure what a  4" tire plug  is but if you are talking about a string or rope type plug then it is kind of a crap shoot. 

 

I have ridden lots of miles on string/rope type tire repairs & they didn't leak or cause any problems. 

 

I have also had issues with the string/rope type tire repairs as the tire gets near end-of-life & the tire tread gets worn thin so not much tread thickness to hold the  string/rope in place if a stone or (something) happens to push on that exact area therefore pushing the string/rope into the tire & unsealing the repair. 

 

The good news is, if that happens it is fairly easy to stuff in more strings or ropes, re-fill with air, then ride on. 

 

A proper (trustworthy)  repair would be patch/plug properly installed from the inside but with your tires being close to replacement that is a costly repair unless you have a way of removing/reinstalling the tires yourself.

 

Plus, unless you make the repair yourself,  in this legal-crazy world now it will be difficult to find a shop that will repair a motorcycle tire for you due to legal concerns.  

[Boxflyer]

The tire in the top pic has...maybe...another 500 miles left before you see the cords show.

The Z8 is a deceiving tire when it comes to seeing remaining life since it has NO tread wear indicators in the middle third of the tire.

I'm happy with the Nealy string plugs, and also happy they are continuing operation like before under new owners...good luck to them.  This is a good product and hope they stay in business.

 

Z8 tire that was on my bike when sold by dealer.              Top in this pic is a cross section of the Z8 in the left pic and the bottom is a cross section is of a T30.

 

[Hosstage]

Boxflyer, that is a great visual of cross section thickness.

[9Mary7]

I'd put freshies on for the trip and have no worries.......

[Paddler]

We're just going over to Colorado from SLC.  Maybe 1500 miles, most definitely under 2000 miles.  I found a local shop the will R&R the tire but not patch it for $25.  Maybe I'll do the plug/patch thing.  And I meant the 4" long string things.  That Nealey system looks interesting.  Seems to require drilling out the hole sometimes which may not be practical on the road.  Thanks for the input.

 

Update-  I called around, nobody has the RS rear tire in stock.  My dealer actually gives a discount on tires, mounts and balances for $20.  They were going to overnight it but that cost $200.  They tell me it will get here from Sparks, NV, Friday.  Hope so.

[Boxflyer]

It's just a short ride down to Payson, UT to the Rocky Mountain ATV distributor where I had 2 new tires installed while I waited....2019.

They cannot handle your bike, but allowed me to do the work myself and hand carry in the rims so they could mount and balance them.

 

Ahhhh, tails from the road...

 

 

[Dave_in_TX]

4 hours ago, Paddler said:

We're just going over to Colorado from SLC.  Maybe 1500 miles, most definitely under 2000 miles.  I found a local shop the will R&R the tire but not patch it for $25.  Maybe I'll do the plug/patch thing.  And I meant the 4" long string things.  That Nealey system looks interesting.  Seems to require drilling out the hole sometimes which may not be practical on the road.  Thanks for the input.

 

Update-  I called around, nobody has the RS rear tire in stock.  My dealer actually gives a discount on tires, mounts and balances for $20.  They were going to overnight it but that cost $200.  They tell me it will get here from Sparks, NV, Friday.  Hope so.

The Nealet system dies not require drilling out the hole. In fact. One advantage of Nealey is that you do not need to enlarge the hole.

[MikeB60]

I always liked Z8s but they go from looks ok to oh crap, the cords are showing very quickly. 

[Paddler]

I misread my odometer, it only has 7200 miles on it.  I've read that they usually go over 9000 miles, so I'll be leaving a couple thousand miles on the table.  But it's probably the safest approach.

[9Mary7]

11 hours ago, Paddler said:

only has 7200 miles on it

I'd love to get that out of a tire......6k rear/8-10k front is it for me. 

[Cap]

11 hours ago, Paddler said:

…it only has 7200 miles on it…

Out here in the mountain west, like you, if I get 7000 miles out of a rear tire, I feel like I got full value.  I usually get slightly better wear on my fronts, but I typically replace both tires at the same time.

 

Cap

[dirtrider]

53 minutes ago, 9Mary7 said:

I'd love to get that out of a tire......6k rear/8-10k front is it for me. 

Morning 9Mary7

 

I would love to get your 6k rear/8-10k front out of a Z-8 tire. I can sometimes come close to the 6k rear but front is close enough to worn out at 6k that it gets replaced with the rear. 

[Paddler]

I feel better now.

[9Mary7]

8 hours ago, dirtrider said:

I would love to get your 6k rear/8-10k front out of a Z-8 tire.

And I was being optimistic.

I try to use the twisty pavement as much as possible cause my tires last longer that way...... but the Z-8 rear is not know for its mileage

I have been using Z6 roadtec's for slab riding tours as they are longer wearing when the road is straight.

[Dan M]

The effectiveness of a rope plug is directly related to the size of the puncture. It you are plugging a hole from a screw or nail and the plug was very tight going in, you can consider it a reliable repair for the life of the tire. I owned an auto shop for 36 years and found the larger diameter brown rope plugs to be extremely reliable.  I've also plugged several motorcycle tires on my own as well as friends bikes with no issues whatsoever. 

[Rinkydink]

+1 on the “ Z8 looks good and then it’s uh oh I need a new tire” crowd. Replaced my Z8s at 4800 miles. They had some tread left but while riding in Wyoming the pickings were few and far between. Had to hit Sandy UT for some Pilot 6s. 

[Paddler]

On 6/25/2022 at 5:26 PM, Dan M said:

The effectiveness of a rope plug is directly related to the size of the puncture. It you are plugging a hole from a screw or nail and the plug was very tight going in, you can consider it a reliable repair for the life of the tire. I owned an auto shop for 36 years and found the larger diameter brown rope plugs to be extremely reliable.  I've also plugged several motorcycle tires on my own as well as friends bikes with no issues whatsoever. 

I had to ream out the hole with the tool in order to get the rope plug into the tire, so it's tight.  I had the new tire mounted.  I had the manager look at my old tire, he pointed out that the wear isn't down to the internal wear indicators.  After my trip I may remount the old tire for local riding.  Inspection of the rope plug from the inside shows that it doesn't look like it's going anywhere. 

[Paddler]

Got back from our 1650 mile trip to Colorado this afternoon.  The R1100R still had the rope plug, new tire on the R1250RS.  No issues whatsoever on either bike.  Seems to me that a rope plug repair of a puncture which is small enough to require reaming to get a plug into can be consider reliable for the life of the tire.  As Dan said above.

 

I saved the old rear tire off of the RS.  When I went down to the dealer and the manager inspected it, he pointed out that the wear indicators showed no wear.  Probably could have run it longer.  The rope plug was solid on the inside.

[Yuro]

On 6/21/2022 at 9:54 PM, Paddler said:

Last year we had flats on the rear tires of both bikes, repaired on the roadside with the 4" tire plugs.  We rode back from northern California to Salt Lake City with no issues.  I have read that tires repaired in this way should be replaced.  But I've also read that the plugs vulcanize to the tire and so it's a reliable fix for the life of the tire.  A third option is to repair the puncture with the patch/plug mushroom shaped things that require taking the tire off the rim.  Scheduled for a road trip starting Sunday and want to be safe.  Insights? 

 

If the repair is near the center of the tire and it holds, it's usually going to keep holding.    

 

If it's near the edge or really big, I'd get it patched from the inside.  

 

If on the 2nd half of its life, just buy a new tire.