| Author | Message | ||
     Theshue |
well unfortunately i picked up a screw in my rear tire. upside of this is i'm going to replace stock tires with the metz m3's. anyway, i decided to give my dealership my service, cause i already had to take it in for some repairs, unfortunately their earliest appt is not for 2 weeks. is it ok to go with a plug just so i can ride, the wifes bike just is not cutting it. matt | ||
| Diablobrian |
Don't do it. I'd never run a plugged tire until I took a nail in my tire the day before I was to leave for homecoming. No one had a matching tire in stock so I plugged it with the knowledge I'd be able to replace the tire at the track, since I run Pirelli Diablo Corsas. I rode all day friday on it, and on the way back from Appleton back to Steve_Mackay's house at 12:30am or so I had it blow out on me on the highway, at speed in a group of 6 riders. My son was on the back of the bike at the time. It was a scary ride. I kept it up-right and a truck and trailer was called to pick us up. Without the relay team's (the Buellers that were with us) help to push my bike up to the rendevous point I would have been in sad shape. since i couldn't push the bike with the tire flat and the beads broken. I really owe those guys, and I intend to repay them somehow. Anyway, I had maybe 120 miles on that plug before it let go. (Message edited by diablobrian on July 13, 2006) | ||
| Perry |
Depends on the damage. I rode on a plug for two weeks, no prob on the stock tires. It was dead center. Take it easy on the speeds and acceleration since you don't want to stress the tire with a plug of course. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
My friend got a nail in his Duc's rear and he installed a tube in there. It worked ok. I don't think he pushed his traction very hard but he got a few thousand miles out of it. (It was like a week old when it was punctured) | ||
| Theshue |
i wasn't planning on going more then a week, i drop the bike off on the 22nd. i wasn't sure if it was a common practice or not, i've plugged car tires, but am still a newbie to motorcycles. unfortunately the bike doesn't even have 300 miles on it yet. | ||
| Sgthigg |
i had a blow out 2 weekends ago on my wifes bike..she was on the back and we were at speeds too. It went flat in about 7 seconds. I know how you felt. It sucks, you really really have to be careful when that happens..luckily we were with a couple friends who helped out big time. I could only imagine a blow outleaned over or on a day were your having a little extra fun . It isnt worth it unless its to get you home or an emergency. I would replace it asap. | ||
| Buellfirebolt31 |
i got a nail at 1k....thank goodness i got the tire protection plan.....i paid $8 for labor and the tire...sweet!!! | ||
| Diablobrian |
The tire I took a nail in was the rear, it had less than 300 miles on it. Motorcycle tires are a lot more critical to your safety than car tires are. | ||
| Pupu |
i have two plugs in my back tire, original tire on my 05 with about 7500 miles on them, the plugs have both been there for at least 5k of them. they bleed down now in a couple of days ( about 2-3 psi ), but i have to wait till i can buy new tires. | ||
| Beachbuell |
Not a good idea. I don't know how you ride, but I wouldn't trust a plugged tire at 90mph. Especially when the only thing holding you upright are the two little contact patches from your tires to the pavement. My ass is worth a new tire, trust me.... Wrecking at speed sucks. | ||
| Buellfighter |
Views on plugs are as varied as races and religions! I've used "umbrella plugs" (plug/patch combination installed from the inside) with great success! | ||
| Diablobrian |
risk vs. reward. Is it worth the risk to you? | ||
| Pupu |
i would not take the bike on the track and do any peg scraping, but i personally dont see any risk to using plugs. worse case, it would come out and leak air, but i cant see this causing a wreck any more than getting a hole in it to begin with. i ride my bike to work and back average 80 mph. i am not saying what is good and bad, but i dont see it as a risk. but that is just me. i have used plugs for years in cars and motorcyles, and i have never had any problem with one other than it will eventually leak again. like stated earlier, all personal prefernce. | ||
| Sgthigg |
If the plug comes out you have a hole. When you catch a nail it leaks out around the nail that provides some but nill amount of resistance..When mine went out 2 weekend ago it had a nail and was on the rim in about 8 seconds...I was going 60 ish... It is a big deal thank god we didnt crash...I would not even want to imagine how it would of been if it was a straight hole in it. It probaly would of went to the rim in about 3 secs. scrounge,scrape do what you can but get a new one asap. Not worth the risk in my opinion. | ||
| Nasty73z |
On my old SV650, I picked up a nail and put a plug in it. Put at least a 1000 miles on that tire, just calmed my riding down a bit until payday. I wouldn't try and scrap the pegs or do some stand-ups, but if you are just going to cruise around it will be fine. I had the bike pegged at 135 riding with some friends and nothing happened. Not smart though. I checked the pressure EVERYDAY and it never leaked a single pound out. | ||
| Curtyd |
Two in my rear right now and I run it across the state with them, i don't see any difference in flats caused by a plug failure and flats caused by any other reason. I'll ask you this, do you think ANY of these "around the world" adventure tourists are replacing their tires every time they pick up something on the road? I know they are plugging their tires and going on. I do the same. They don't even seem to leak. I buy my kits from some old farmer somewhere in Iowa or someplace @tirerepairkit.com. They used to send it to you and you'd send a check AFTER delivery, I use them in everything now, MINI, Passat, Buell and RD 400, when I get it back from the shop, soooon I hope. All these shops used to do it for you and put those nice patches on the inside or mushroom type plugs. Now they have decided it's a safety issue...it couldn't have anything to do with the 50% markup on a new tire and the hour shop labor they want to charge, now could it? | ||
| Mxer83 |
I caught a screw at homecoming in 05 in the back tire. The bike only had about 1,000 miles on it. I put about 500 miles on it with the plug, [I am not proud of that] but these were around town miles only.I wouldnt do it again. You never know when a plug will blow, like when your in a corner too hot! | ||
| Gowindward |
"Risk Management" I'll plug a tire and Manage that Risk by keeping an eye on the plug and tire pressures. I will also order another tire and change the plug tire the first chance I get once the new tire is delivered. A little common sense goes a long way. To me, riding conservatively on a plugged tire sure beats walking or driving the cage. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Took a nail n my rear tire when my XB was new and had 1000 miles on it. Plugged the tire, it held till I ran the tire out of tread. I'm riding on a plugged rear tire right now too. Worries me for a week or two, but it's easy to forget about when it's still holding up fine after 1500 miles of spirited mountain riding. YMMV of course.  | ||
| Bigdaddy |
I'm a plug advocate :-) I've never had one come out after I have installed/plugged it. Never one problem with a plug and that's a ton of miles, multiple motorcycles. You can never go wrong with purchasing new tires. G2 | ||
| Djkaplan |
I've run plugs in three rear tires on two different bikes (2 on an M2 and 1 on a Fatboy) and never had a problem. I use the T-handle kit with rasp and needle that uses the rubber covered string thingie. I also used this kit on my girfriend's tire on her car and never had a problem. I get these kits from Wal-Mart and was surprised to see they are Made In The USA, of all places. Buell tops speeds are low enough that I think it would be difficult to spit a properly installed plug off, but I wouldn't do a trackday with a plugged tire. I never ride 2-up by the way, so take that into consideration. | ||
| Theshue |
thanks for all the input guys. i think i'm going to plug it, just to get me through till my new tires come in. i don't do any real aggresive riding on the bike yet as it is, like i said i'm still a newbie, and after only 300 miles on the bike, i'm not yet comfortable with getting to crazy. matt | ||
| Rhun |
Gee I guess I'm lucky. I put a plug in my front tire at 1k just before a track day. It's still there at 7800 miles, no leaks or anything. AND I had never installed a tire plug before. Hope I didn't 'jinks' myself! | ||
| Diablobrian |
Rhun, you lucked out at tech inspection. They should have "bounced" you for that tire. FWIW the around the world bikers almost always do not use plugs. They use tubes, carry spares, and swap them if they get a flat (removing the nail, thorn, whatever) and then properly patch and vulcanize the damaged tube that night. the "umbrella" plugs are the best of the lot, and are even better if they are vulcanized from the inside of the tire. The real danger of plugs is the expansion, and pressure they put on the belts in the carcass of the tire. Pushing the belts apart from between, The tires are not designed for pressure in that direction, if the belts separate the tire will fail. Sometimes very dramatically. Even if they only have 300 miles on them Before the plug I put in for homecoming I'd never had/used a plugged motorcycle tire. My worst fears were confirmed for me. I'm sure many people have gone many miles on plugged tires. Many people have gotten away with other risky behaviors too. It doesn't make it a good idea, or any less risky. Look around for a racer that has some race take-offs you can get cheap. even if they're heat cycled and the edges are toasted they're better than a plugged tire. | ||
| Fullpower |
string and glue type repairs work well in the tread area. ran 5000 miles on a rear Metzeler Z6 with string type repair. no problems at all. | ||
| Aldaytona |
If you plug a motorcycle tire (and a major tire manufacturer says it's OK) use plugs with the mushroom heads that go on the inside. The string ones pull out, the mushroom head ones can't. Guys who posted they used string car plugs have just been extremely lucky, don't ask me how I know..............................  | ||
| Crusty |
Twice, I've been with someone who had to plug a tire on a trip. Both times, the riders put thousands of miles on the plugged tires with no air leakage, or any other problem. Both were the uncured rubber "string" plugs. The first tire was still on the bike when it was totalled by an inattentive car driver. The second had nearly 7,000 miles on it, when the tire was replaced. Draw your own conclusions. | ||
| Curtyd |
"Look around for a racer that has some race take-offs you can get cheap. even if they're heat cycled and the edges are toasted they're better than a plugged tire." NO THANKS, I'll stick with plugs before I put someone else's "cooked" tire on a bike, maybe it's just me, but I see what these guys do to their bikes, I don't want to mount any of their throwaways. Running tubes in tubeless tires? I never heard that was a very good idea. I guess I am just a lucky one, lucky for about 20 years or so running patched and plugged tires. If you are running hard enough on the street to separate the cords, you are running/racing your bike in the wrong venue. Buy a tire and a tire mount every time I pick up a nail? My 'beef' in the tire plug debate is simply that 20 years ago you could pay a shop 25 or even 50 bucks and they'd pull it, put a nice plug or patch the inside of the tire for you. A good semi-permanent fix that is better than the 'string' plugs for not a whole lot of $$, now they want $250 or so to put you on your way with a new tire. Meanwhile the mechanic patches the tire anyhow and puts it on his bike or his friends bike. (Message edited by CURTYD on July 15, 2006) | ||
| Slaughter |
I just put in a mushroom-headed plug last night... we'll see how it goes. D208 Dunlop rear tire on my S3 streetbike - BUT I don't intend on pushing the tire really hard either. Riding up to Laguna Seca next weekend. The mushroom-head type plugs take more tools to install. | ||
| Diablobrian |
Curtyd, the race take offs are usually worn out at the extreme edges, with the center section, what you use on the street, is hardly touched. My point with the belt separation is that it is not always caused by hard riding. That's exactly what happened to mine and I was not riding hard at all. We were riding in groups, below the speed limit, on surface streets and superslab for the 1 day it was in. I was in NO WAY pushing the limits of the tire or the bike. If you know me, or of me, you know I can't even move my butt off of the seat to push my bike that hard, and I'm always pushing for rider safety. Even garnering the title of "Gear Pusher" here on badweb. I know people do ride on plugs. I just want people to know that there is risk involved. It is Not just as good as having a new tire mounted. The cost of a tire will seem pretty small if you end up in a wreck because of a tire failure, just like the cost of a helmet, jacket, etc... compared to the medical, and repair bills that follow. In an emergency, to get you to a place where you can get a tire a plug is a good thing, just like your street car's "doughnut". It'll get you down the road for a little while, but you don't look at it as a permanent fix. Car tires and motorcycle tires have very different construction, and as the push for less unsprung mass in the tire gets larger and our tires get lighter, stickier, and more responsive plugs get to be a less viable solution. On the old biased ply tires on my old KZ I would have had far less trouble with the idea of plugging the tire. Not any more. If you must plug a tire, the umbrella plugs are the best of the bunch, but please use caution, and replace the tire as soon as you can. Tires are far more critical on a bike than on any 4 or more wheeled vehicle. Oh yeah, most round the world riders do not use tubes on tubeless tires, they run spoked wheels with tubes because of the ease of field repair of both the rim, it can be trued if you hit a rock etc. and the tube is also easily serviced. Plus the repair kit has very little bulk compared to what it would take for other types of rims. The solution is dictated by the logistics. | ||
| Curtyd |
"round the world riders...run spoked wheel with tubes" You haven't met this guy then, he was at the Yamaha tent at Daytona this year, while crossing N. America. Wild... http://www.sjaaklucassen.nl/ | ||
| Diablobrian |
nice edit. the quote was "most round the world riders" There are ALWAYS exceptions. You're right of course, I missed him and Daytona in favor of being part of the racing at Daytona this year. I was part of a race team for the ASRA races the weekend before, hard to catch the sights from the paddock. I did get to meet back up with some great guys there though. (Message edited by diablobrian on July 16, 2006) |
