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A puncture on a motorcycle is at best disabling at worst a serious accident waiting to happen. Went out for a spin today on the 1200GS - usual pre-flight checks passed muster and out I ventured into near perfect riding conditions. It started to go wrong around thirty miles into my trip - a rapidly flashing red-light on the dash, the computer's display switched from showing the time to a read out from the tyre pressure monitoring system, rear tyre had lost 0.5 bar from when I set off.....I slowed right down, and it was consistently losing 0.1 bar every few miles....I rolled into Betws Y Coed and parked it up in a car park by a cafe. A call to my Bank's recovery service brought an AA patrolman within less than thirty minutes - he managed to fish out a sliver of steel from a cut in the tyre and then inserted a plug into the tyre carcass..He then advised me to ride home at no more than 60mph - he followed me through the Ogwen valley's no signal zone and we parted company on the A5/A55 interchange - the rear tyre pumped to 2.8 bar (.5 more than standard running trim) and stayed steadfastly on that. Bikes garaged now, I'll need to order a new tyre and ride to a nearby bike shop to get it fixed. Guess I was lucky. Huge change from the old days where the first indication of a problem would have been a massive wallowing from the back end and a wheel off or recovery to fix the problem. Great service from bike and AA.
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Don't talk to me about tyres, 530€ worth in September.
340€ for new front and rear on the bike then a puncture last week in my car.Two nails in a tyre. OK Mr. Tyreman how much to patch? Can't, the tyre already had two patches in it.
4mm tread left, this is why some people go to Motorpoint because a 5 billion point approved check is no guarantee that the tyres aren't full of patches eh! VolvoSelekt?
Last edited by: gmac on Sat 4 Oct 14 at 23:02
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My rear one is 7k old and good for another 7 at least...well it was...won't ride on a patched tyre...
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As long as a bike tyre is repaired properly I don't see a problem in using them. I've been to the Nurburgring 3 times with my bike, definitely at least once with a repaired rear Z rated tyre, if not more than once. Very rarely do I wear a rear tyre out without getting a puncture/repair in it. Oh and I'm lucky to see 3500-4000 miles out of a rear. I've never had a repair fail yet and I give my tyres some stick.
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>>As long as a bike tyre is repaired properly I don't see a problem in using them.
If you can afford it, why risk it? It's different on a car.
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I wouldn't be happy with a plugged tyre on my bike.
Bike tyres are like car tyres for wear depending on what rubber you go for.
I got 9000 miles out of a Metzeler Roadtec Z6 on a CBR600 and only 3200 out of a Bridgestone BT16 on a GSXR 750 which included 1000 miles running in.
Switched to Michelin Pilot Power3 really feel the difference, it'll be interesting to see how long they last on the Suzuki.
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These self repair kits you get with BMWs come with instructions on UK bikes that they are only a temporary get you home measure, but I believe elsewhere in the world they are fix and forget.
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I'll cough to carrying an aerosol of tyre goo on the vintage car. But it's not got a spare as front and back wheels are different and I'm not up to a tube swap by the side of the road.
I view the goo as a get to place of safety measure, which is not always as far as home. I'd chance it with a front tyre perhaps, but never a rear.
But, as I'm always using tubes, junking one of those is cheaper than a tyre.
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I still think that you are all being a bit too cautious. Its not about how much a replacement tyre costs, its about rational and sensible thought for me.
Over the years I have had punctures and blowouts on motorcycles, cars, vans and trucks. The most memorable two being a front tyre delaminating on a truck on the M5, now that was an experience. I have had a tyre go flat very rapidly on a new Aprilia motorcycle and got the rear end wobbly feeling round the bends. My point being that out of all of the flat tyres I have experienced I have never had a repair fail, it has always been an object in the road that has been picked up apart from the delamination incident.
A proper vulcanised mushroom plug repair is 100% fine in my book, where as these bungs that you fit without removing the tyre are only a temporary measure.
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>> A proper vulcanised mushroom plug repair is 100% fine in my book, where as these
>> bungs that you fit without removing the tyre are only a temporary measure.
I'm ignorant of motorcycles but not the slightest reservation about the 2 mushroom plugs in O/S rear tyre of the newer 'lingo.
Should I be worried?
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Having had a sudden rear tyre deflation on a motorcycle, I can fully appreciate RP's caution.
I recall choosing between aiming for the central reservation or the nearside lamp-posts and trees, whilst trying to regain control of the 'bike. Fortunately, I didn't have to make the decision, as the following vehicles gave me space whilst I crabbed all over the dual carriageway.
There's no comparison to a car tyre puncture!
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That's what I'm saying, you can get a sudden puncture at any point. The chance of it being a previous repair that has failed I would think is very much less likely than running over something lying on the road surface.
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>>I'm ignorant of motorcycles but not the slightest reservation about the 2 mushroom plugs in
>>O/S rear tyre of the newer 'lingo.
The very unlikely expectation of a blowout on a motorcar that would be of no real significance anyway = "not the slightest reservation".
A blowout on a motorbike is just a bit too scary (I'd imagine; I've never been on one and have no desire ever to. Which perhaps indicates my attitude to risk.)
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Puncture 21st Century style. - ....
