Should I or shouldn't I? Tire repair question.

[RandyShields]

Looking for the collective wisdom of the board on this one.  With data please if you have it.

 

I had a new rear mounted on my K1600 a few months ago when a tiny teeny little leak developed from a nail sliver the size of a pin directly in the middle of the tread.  The dealer would not repair it due to the expected liability, so I brought it home since it has another 4-5K miles of tread left.  It has been sitting in the garage staring at me every time I go in there.  So, do I repair it (from the inside, with a good plug and patch), or chalk up the lost $200 of tread life to better safety and discard it?  I understand the argument about why would you risk a blowout and accident to save $200, but I don't have any empirical data about the likelihood of a catastrophic failure, or even just a failed plug that might strand me.  My uninformed cost benefit analysis says to bite the bullet and let it go, but any data out there on repaired tires, or engineers with experience with this issue?

[dirtrider]

26 minutes ago, RandyShields said:

Looking for the collective wisdom of the board on this one.  With data please if you have it.

 

I had a new rear mounted on my K1600 a few months ago when a tiny teeny little leak developed from a nail sliver the size of a pin directly in the middle of the tread.  The dealer would not repair it due to the expected liability, so I brought it home since it has another 4-5K miles of tread left.  It has been sitting in the garage staring at me every time I go in there.  So, do I repair it (from the inside, with a good plug and patch), or chalk up the lost $200 of tread life to better safety and discard it?  I understand the argument about why would you risk a blowout and accident to save $200, but I don't have any empirical data about the likelihood of a catastrophic failure, or even just a failed plug that might strand me.  My uninformed cost benefit analysis says to bite the bullet and let it go, but any data out there on repaired tires, or engineers with experience with this issue?

 

Evening Randy

 

You will get a number of suggestions on this from it will be dangerous & can kill  you to just repair it & ride on. 

 

Very difficult to prove one way or the other without actually repairing  your tire then running it full remaining life.

 

My best suggestion is to call the technical help line of the tire manufacturer that you have & ask the actual tire manufacturer. 

 

They HAVE run testing on your very question & will probably give you an answer (probably conservative answer). 

 

Personally, if no ply damage & puncture in the center of the tread then I just repair it & ride with confidence. 

 

 

[Tpoppa]

A properly installed plug will last the life of the tire.  If it's installed properly there will not be any leak.  It should hold air as normal.

I've ridden 10s of thousands of miles on plugged tires without issue.

[realshelby]

I have repaired numerous motorcycle tires. Only two were repaired from the inside with the NAPA plugs that also have the rubber prong you push through the puncture toward the outside. Supposed to be the best way to repair. Both worked fine. But other than a large slice in a tire that TEWKS had on his GS, I have NEVER failed to permanently seal a puncture with a properly installed rope type seal. It is very important on tires to keep debris, water from going into the puncture, which is one reason I don't like to simply repair from the inside with a flat shaped patch that only seals the surface. 

 

Blowout? Not likely. Slow leak at worst. Blowouts are due to carcass failure. Very unlikely on a bike tire. 

[TEWKS]

The tire is off already so i'd take to a local tire repair shop and see it they'd put a heavy patch on it. (they may or may not do it )That's how they repair fire truck tires so I think (know) It'd be perfectly fine to run till worn. I'd wait till I was ready to remount the tire before patching it though.

[Pappy35]

If you're going to use an actual patch that completely covers the pinhole, I'd feel quite safe riding that tire as long as the tread lasts. The question then becomes do you have a shop in the area that would mount it. Liability being like it is in this litigious society, I wouldn't risk my business over it but that's me. Waste not want not. Properly repaired like you're suggesting would be fine safety-wise in my opinion.

[catskill]

Many years ago when I rode an airhead, I had a couple of years where I had a lot of flats. Mainly because they were putting in a huge condo development across the street from my house. That condo development lasted 2-3 years. And, it was before nail guns became popular, so there was no shortage of loose nails laying in the road. I would average about 1 flat a week. One week I had 5 flats. I would repair the inner tube on the road, and then order a new tube to replace it. Inner tubes are cheap. Even the higher quality ones.

 

After I moved away I replaced the airhead with a new bike with tubeless tires. Immediately I was concerned what I would do if I got a flat. Initially I did some research on tire plugs, and continued to be concerned if they would work for the life of the tire. Eventually, I did call the tire mfg I was using at the time for their prospective. They told me that rope plugs have a 99% success rate, where inner tire plugs had a 99.5% success rate. My concern with the inner tire plug is that if you are on the side of the road, it will very difficult to reseat the bead. So, I have used the rope plugs since that time.

 

You also important to rough up the nail hole with tire tool provided with some tire plug kits. If the hole is not roughed up, it can cause the plug to slide out. This is the primary reason tire plugs fail.

 

Many tire mfg now have notices on their web sites that you should replace the tire if you have a puncture. Most are afraid of liability. You might want to call some of the tire plug mfg and ask for their prospective and recommendations.

 

When I have used a tire plug, I generally replace the tire slightly early. Bigger the hole, the sooner I might replace it. Also, some of the newer coated nails stick very well to the tire. The coating is a type of glue. I find those nails very difficult to pull out. Bolts make me uncomfortable. Especially if they punch out the rubber of the tire. Those holes may not be worth fixing.

 

From your description, I personally would plug the tire and use it. Just my opinion and my prospective on flats.

[RandyShields]

Great feedback guys!  Thank you all.

 

Randy

[Chris K]

Randy, just put a Nealey Tire Plug in the tire and ride!

[Lowndes]

Hey Randy!!

 

When I bought my K1200RS it had a Bridgestone BattleAx rear tire that I could NOT wear out.  Gassing up for a ride one morning I noticed the rear seemed a little low, checked it, found it was very low and started looking for the leak.  Found it in an old "string" plug ,re-plugged it and rode.  After several months of trying to wear out that Bridgestone I gave up and pulled it off.  I found SEVEN old "string" plugs in that tire, all different, including mine and the one I had pushed in to plug the leak.  

 

Two things I learned: 1) the old BattleAx tire is very hard to wear out, and 2) cheapo string plugs can leak just like a cigarette filter if the "rubber goo" they use to impregnate the fibers doesn't fully go all the way thru the plug.  It's easy to tell; cut one of the plugs in half and look at the cut end.  If you see anything white or see any loose fibers, throw that batch away and get a different brand of plug.

 

I've plugged many, many tires, motorcycle, truck and car tires and never had an issue of any kind, except for the above.  Nails, screws, odd scraps of steel, even glass punctures, if the cut isn't more than maybe 1/4" can be successfully plugged.  I've put patches (or "boots") on the inside of tires but that is MUCH more work and very hard to prep the inside surface to get a good bond with the patch.  Easy to damage the cord reinforcement layers too with the prep because they are so close to the inside surface.

 

I bought the Nealey kit that Chris K recommends above but have not had the opportunity to try it.  Nealey says "no glue or cement", but the glue definitely acts as a lubricant when inserting the plug/patch making it go much easier.  Once the tubes are opened they do not last very long and I carry several extra small tubes.

 

Tire shops don't make any money plugging tires, plus there is the liability, real or imagined, so they like to sell you a new $200 tire AND charge you to replace and ballance it, too.

 

If you replace that tire, save it for me!!  I'll ride it!!

 

Safe travels.

[RTinNC]

Lots of varying opinions.  If me ...I'd use my handy dandy Nealy tire plug kit and plug it.  It sounds like you nail / puncture it the textbook case for plugging.  Small and in the center of the tread.  

 

When i was selling my '02 R1150GS I had just installed new tires with about 100 miles on them.   The day I was going to deliver it to the riding buddy who was buying it I noticed a small nail in the rear tire.   I told the buyer (Jim) that the tire was not and it was his call as what to do.  Neither of us had plugged a tire before but I did have the handy dandy Nealy Tire Repair kit.  So the day delivered it to Huntersville we worked together and plugged it.   He got over 8000 happy miles out of it and never an issue.  As always YMMV. 

 

NOTE:  if the tire in question was say more than 50% used up then I would just replace it no question.  But sounds like you are dealing with a very NEW tire. 

[RandyShields]

Thanks for the additional info and thoughts!

[6speedTi]

I purchased this kit. It works really good. Better than the threaded plugs. A patch is always best but sometimes you can't pull the wheel off the bike or the tire off the rim.

 

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/xtra-seal-mushroom-plug-kit-12-210/28200173-P

[RTinNC]

This is what I use.  I learned about Nealy kits from THIS site.  I have used it a couple of time and works like a champ. 

 

The company makes ONE thing ... tire repair kits. 

 

https://www.nealeytirerepairkit.com

[realshelby]

I have the Nealy tire repair kits in every vehicle. The BIG deal with them is that they do NOT require the rubber cement to use them! I have needed a tire plug...and found the rubber cement completely dried up in an unopened tube before. No worries about that with Nealy. That, in itself, makes them the only choice for me. 

[TEWKS]

I bought a Nealy kit and worked flawlessly on regular punctures. Now, what I really liked about them, I called to order and I believe the owner said just mail me a check when you receive the kit. That’s trust right there!