Tyre puncture revisited

[John316]

Went to get the Wee from garage this morning for work.      Aargh!!!!   Rear tyre flat as a pancake so out of service for now.  
Came home from work this pm, on inspection found a screw in bedded.  Searched the site, lots of posts on tyre repair kit  but want to know definitively:-
1.  If Repair is only temp or can that stay on permanently without further attention?
2.  Where's best to purchase & what's best kit to get?  First time I've had this problem but aware it won't be the last!

Many thanks in advance    John3:16  

[dsb79]

Some will say its fine to ride on the tyre till its worn fully down, some will say it emergency only.
Me it depends we're the repair is, in the centre fix it and ride on it, on he edge fix and then asses if the tyre needed to be replaced.

[mjc506]

I got one of these:
http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/12099813 ... sbar&cbt=y

Mushroom type repair kits. Pretty simple to use - pull out 'thing', clean up the hole with the drill thingy, push a mushroom in (with the provided tool) pull it tight, cut of any excess, and inflate.

I guess in theory you should get the tyre replaced, but I tend to ride carefully until I forget about it I got a couple of punctures in a rear anakee @~500miles, the repair lasted the life of the tyre - within a few days the mushroom sort of 'welds' itself to the tyre.

[Fatbelly]

There is no definitive answer. A few months ago I had a tiny slow puncture - you could just see the hole if you looked really hard. When I took the tyre off and looked from the inside it was a long screw all twisted through the tyre sideways - I only took the tyre off because I was going to replace it soon anyway. Glad I did.

[jonvstrom]

I had a puncture on my tyre the other week. Slow puncture caused by long thin nail.  Tyre pressure was still good so rode the bike (slowly!) down to my local garage.  They removed the wheel, removed the nail, drilled out the hole with a special drill bit, then glued up and pulled a rubber bung through the hole. 5 minutes later once the glue had dried they reinflated and put the wheel back on the bike.  £24!!!! Beats £105 for a new tyre!! Mine had only done about 500 miles when I got the puncture.

Today (two weeks after the repair) tyre pressure is great and I can't even see where the bung is anymore.

[wilddog]

Hi All,

just sharing a little experience;
 
had my 1000DL for 2 months, just repaired a puncture by the road side using a 'Proline' puncture repair kit.
The type with the tools and glue and the plugs. Pulled out the screw and used the reemer (needle round file) untill smooth and can be pulled and slid gently, then push in the rubber plug with the plug tool. 1/4 turn and slowly pull out leaving the rubber plug behind...give 5 minutes for rubber plug to act with glue and reinflated with Co2 cannisters. still holding pressure 2 weeks on.....very good and my tyre repair centre can remove the existing plug for a iso9000 repair...so no muck from the weld tyre foam stuff....impressed  with kit

[Strommer]

Recently had a mushroom roadside repair upgraded to a shop repair.  The difference is chalk and cheese.  I was happy enough with the plug but it wasn't fully sealing.

- The roadside all rubber plug repair has a head of about 1.5cm across from the inside and when the tyre was off I noticed that the head was shearing.  

- The shop repair is a mushroom shaped patch of about 4 inches across with a steel core to resist crushing and a rubber sleeve.  It is also slavered in glue - in short it is massive and very impressive.

The roadside plugs are great and will survive maybe the length of the tyre, but compared to a shop repair there is no comparison.  Shop repairs are approved by manufacturers.

I'll post a pic later as the tyre is still off.

[Strommer]

As promised pics of a professional plug.  It looks like any old mushroom from the outside, but from the inside it's nearly two inches across and sealed with glue.

[Andy M]

Lucky you found somewhere to do this. All the places here bang on about the risks to mythical creatures (Elven Safety Mate) then demand £150 for a new tyre.

Andy

[Jacko]

Not with Michelin, they happily sanction 2 puncture repair plugs per tyre if the puncture is within the centre portion of the tyre.. Hit the Doomsayers with that, they know, they're just hoping you don't..

[jimbo8098]

No one up here does tyre repairs either , I wouldn't trust a repaired tyre anyway.

[Jacko]

Send all your punctured PR3s/Anakees to me, I'll cover your postage..

[Abercol]

Had tyres repaired by the fitters in the past, most recently on the R1100RT (twice in 2 weeks - grrr) and the wife's 600 Bandit (the week it went up for sale - it was sulking). Not an issue and I didn't worry about it as it was a professional repair.

Touch wood - haven't had an issue with the Vee.

Never had any joy with roadside repairs, but that was before I got my Stop 'n Go and the Gryp snap off things (carry both...I'm making up for being thrown out of the Cubs!)

[Jacko]

Thrown out of the Cubs eh? What a Badass!

[john williams]

The advantage with michelin tyres and why they sanction up to two repairs is that they do not have steel wire belting like a lot of tyres and therfore when you ream the tyre to insert tyre plug you are not cutting through steel belt weakening the fabric of the tyre. I got this information direct from a michelin rep very recently.

[hookie]

The advantage with michelin tyres and why they sanction up to two repairs is that they do not have steel wire belting like a lot of tyres and therfore when you ream the tyre to insert tyre plug you are not cutting through steel belt weakening the fabric of the tyre

Does this mean that when you ream a michelin and cut the belting material made from whatever (nylon, kevlar, toffee etc), that this is somehow OK and less serious than cutting the steel belting in "lesser" tyres. This all sounds like someone's made this up, trying to make us think they know what they're talking about.

[Jacko]

It's not made up. Most modern radial motorcycle tyres use one continuous steel band, it starts on one side of the tyre and is wound through the tyres profile until it ends on the other side.. When you ream the puncture site you cut this band, therefore it no longer has that continuous single band and the tyres integrity is compromised..

Michelins are not made in this way, therefore tyre integrity remains when a 6mm hole is reamed..

I've done a trackday on a repaired tyre, and toured Scotland, twice, in winter on a repaired puncture, not a Michelin either..

Does anyone actually know anyone whos tyre has ripped apart under them and launched them into tree because of a puncture repair? Who benefits from all the scaremongering? The very folk who are telling you that you sleep with the devil if you roll on a repaired tyre, the tyre manufacturers.

[hookie]

The whole subject of to repair or not is largely governed by arse covering by manufacturers and repairers in relation to possible post repair tyre failure (as has been already pointed out, who's ever heard of this happening?), standards and legislation on what is and what is not allowed and the competence, or otherwise and common sense of tyre repairers. There's a huge difference between plugging a half inch hole on your Hayabusa front tyre just before you plan to see if it'll crack 200mph and a small hole of your Vstrom if you never exceed 80. Common sense has as usual been left way behind and the opportunity to scare someone into buying a new tyre seems to be the norm.

[Buggrit]

For the future, have you thought of using 'Puncturesafe' (used to be called 'Ultraseal')?  A bottle cost me £20 from the web and there's enough to do both wheels with some left over. The claims look good & it spreads itself over the inside of the tyre, self-sealing any new punctures - they advertise that the Post Office fleet use the product.  :flags-wavegreatbritain:
Worth a try as I know that sinking feeling when you come to go home from work & discover the flat bit on the bottom courtesy of the screw from the builders skip....I can say it was easy to put in & gives me some re-assurance, plus it was cheaper than a new tyre - funnily enough I've never had a puncture that was repairable..."Oh, that's had it mate, it'll be a new tyre...."  

[Strommer]

I have used that successfully in all my tyres - it even held up this puncture (just... and that was with a mushroom as well).  So yes, it's good stuff.  I'm putting some Ride-On in my current tyres, which is a rebranded Puncturesafe for septics.  It's not 100% though and I'm so impressed  by the Pro repair that in future I'll get most repaired whatever goo gets me home.