Punctures

[axabmw]

Since owning the R1150RT, I have had more accidental (ie not delibrate acts of a third party) punctures than at any time in my 27 year, 650,000 mile riding career.

All of them have occurred on Michelin Pilot Roads. All of them rear wheel.

I have had about five punctures in 43,000 miles/two years.

I have also tried Bridgestone, Metzeler and Continental tyres. It's now getting boring and expensive.

Has anyone else had an inordinate amount of punctures on these bikes and/or tyres?

I remember a Moto Guzzi I owned had a home-made extra mudflap in front of the rear wheel, I wondered if something like this might help?

[Boffin]

I know what you mean Mark, it took me four tyres before I knew what kind of mileage I could expect from a rear. I suspose the distance between front and rear tyre could be optimal for flicking nails upright

 

Seriously, I considered where I was likely to be picking the screws up, and realised I was riding past a salvage yard on the way to work, so I changed my route. Since then (touch wood) I have avoided punctures.

 

Andy

[axabmw]

I changed my place of work recently and use two or three different routes and still they keep coming.

By the way how did your tech-daze go?

What tyres are you getting your punctures in?

[Boffin]

I changed my place of work recently and use two or three different routes and still they keep coming.

By the way how did your tech-daze go?

What tyres are you getting your punctures in?

 

Most of the punctures were in BT020's, I tried a set of Azaros because Avon give a free replacement if you get a puncture in the first mm of tread wear - so of course got no punctures in them. The wear was good, but they were very noisy.

I am now trying Conti Road Attacks, which are cheap at 60 quid front, 90 rear, feel good and seem to wear well without sacrificing grip.

 

the tech-daze was great - report here - and the bike is running great now, ready for my end-2-end in a week's time.

 

Andy

[George]

Hi Mark, nice to hear from you, downer on the punctures though, we had one in Scotland last year, managed to plug it, good job, it only had 400 Smiles on it

 

A common pick up for punctures is filtering through the traffic, either side of the cagers. That is where all the road debris gets swept too, so be aware. That is why you see a few caravans with flats, as they wobble down the roads.

 

Have you tried any puncture sealant, Ultraseal,Dr Sludge, etc??

I know there are two schools of thought on this, but it is out there....

[Mark P]

I've not had a great record with punctures either - also in two cases Ultraseal has not prevented the tyre from deflating, so I haven't used in my new Bridgestone 020s.

 

Incidentally on 2 Metzeler MEZ4s on the rear, I have found they have squared off very quickly has anyone else had this experience? I'm hoping the 020s will do better - they've only done about 400 miles so far, so it's too soon to say.

[USAF1]

I consider it BAD karma by talking about this in public....

 

Pat

[Boffin]

I've not had a great record with punctures either - also in two cases Ultraseal has not prevented the tyre from deflating, so I haven't used in my new Bridgestone 020s.

 

Incidentally on 2 Metzeler MEZ4s on the rear, I have found they have squared off very quickly has anyone else had this experience? I'm hoping the 020s will do better - they've only done about 400 miles so far, so it's too soon to say.

 

I too have had Ultrseal fail twice. In both cases though, the damage had been done by screws and so the thread just kept opening the seal up again. I have given up on Ultraseal and just carry plugs now.

 

I find tyres square off less if you run them at the tyre manufacturers specified pressure rather than BMWs. Usually this equates to the two-up loaded pressure. For both BT020 and Conti Road Attack, the tyre makers reccomend 42 rear, 36 front.

 

Andy

[RFW]

I have had several punctures, but I just repair the tire.

 

I take it off the rim, and with a dremel hand grinder I grind the area inside nice and smooth (tires like M880s have a number of internal ribs that need to be ground smooth). Then I apply a standard self-vulcanizing patch to the inside and hammer it into intimate contact with the tire.

 

This is a perminent fix. Thousands of KM later, when the tire is finally worn out, I examine the patch, and in all cases, it was on there like the day I installed it. Impossible to peel off.

 

Tires are too expensive to throw away, when a couple of hours of work (or less) will fix the leak perminently.

 

Bob.

[Boffin]

I have had several punctures, but I just repair the tire.

 

I take it off the rim, and with a dremel hand grinder I grind the area inside nice and smooth (tires like M880s have a number of internal ribs that need to be ground smooth). Then I apply a standard self-vulcanizing patch to the inside and hammer it into intimate contact with the tire.

 

This is a perminent fix. Thousands of KM later, when the tire is finally worn out, I examine the patch, and in all cases, it was on there like the day I installed it. Impossible to peel off.

 

Tires are too expensive to throw away, when a couple of hours of work (or less) will fix the leak perminently.

 

Bob.

 

This is fine if you have the kit to do the job. If not however, in the UK you cannot get a Z-Rated tyre repaired because the British Standards Institute will not approve a repair method for them. This means that dealers will not touch a repair to a Z-rated tyre for reasons of 'Liability'.

 

It also makes me wonder why the BSI will not approve repairs for these tyres - they do other ratings.

 

Andy

[Whip]

The only time I had trouble with punctures was when I moved into a new home and all the other homes around me were still under construction.....I think I got "nailed" three times in one month....I fixed the problem...I moved to an old nieghborhood where nothing happens...

 

Whip

[RFW]

This is fine if you have the kit to do the job. If not however, in the UK you cannot get a Z-Rated tyre repaired because the British Standards Institute will not approve a repair method for them. This means that dealers will not touch a repair to a Z-rated tyre for reasons of 'Liability'.

 

It also makes me wonder why the BSI will not approve repairs for these tyres - they do other ratings.

Strange indeed! My "kit" consists of a couple of wooden 2x4s. One is bevelled to a dull point, which goes against the tire, right next to the rim, and a second that acts like a lever against the basement ceiling. This breaks the bead, and tire irons do the rest.

 

Bob.

[velomoto]

This is fine if you have the kit to do the job. If not however, in the UK you cannot get a Z-Rated tyre repaired because the British Standards Institute will not approve a repair method for them. This means that dealers will not touch a repair to a Z-rated tyre for reasons of 'Liability'.

 

It also makes me wonder why the BSI will not approve repairs for these tyres - they do other ratings.

 

Andy

 

Andy, this is pure speculation on my side, but two possibilities which come to mind:

1. Heat - high performance means higher temperatures in the tire casing which may cause repairs to fail?

 

2. Materials/construction - Perhaps there is too much flexing or the materials in the Z tires may make proper repairs very difficult? My experience with "normal" tires is that sidewall repairs are impossible (will always fail) due to sidewall flex.

 

Then again it could all just be related to that "L" word you mentioned.

 

Greg

[Mark P]

I've not had a great record with punctures either - also in two cases Ultraseal has not prevented the tyre from deflating, so I haven't used in my new Bridgestone 020s.

 

My record just got worse - in an amazingly weird coincidental way!

 

I've just spent a weekend in Northern France, doing an almost identical trip to one I did just over a year ago, staying at the Ibis Hotel in St Omer. Last year I made a trip from there to a place near Arras on the Saturday getting back after dark. On the Sunday morning I went to the bike and found a nail staring at me from the rear tyre - that was my first experience of Ultraseal not working.

 

This last weekend, I stayed in the same Hotel and made a virtually identical trip on Saturday (I intend posting a Ride Tale when I get the time), and again got back to the hotel after dark.

 

On the Sunday morning I came out and on checking the tyres - yes you've guessed it - I found a nail in the rear tyre!!! The bike was standing about 40ft from the spot it had been in last year!

 

The nails didn't come from the Hotel parking, as they had both had their heads worn off, so had been there for a while before I found them. Needless to say I was speechless (well apart from the obvious exclamations!).