| Author | Message | ||
     Chromehead |
Long Story Short. 08 XT with 1,998 miles on bike and tire. Got a VERY small nail today in the rear tire. The nail was right in the center of one of the deep recessed treads. Clean straight on puncture. Removed nail and plugged tire with a "Stop & Go" mushroom type plug. Checked for leaks, no leaks. Rode for about 20 minutes and re-checked tire pressure and also re-checked for leaks, no problems found. So ..... Trust the "Stop and Go" plug and ride on till the tire lives out it's useful life ? or Replace the tire with a new one ? or Have tire removed and a patch plug put on from inside the tire? Pics here since I didnt have time to re-size: http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a73/Chromehead/Diablo%20Tire/ (Message edited by Chromehead on May 23, 2010) (Message edited by Chromehead on May 23, 2010) | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I would just keep an eye on it and keep riding. | ||
| Ourdee |
Ride it a lot. That is not enough miles on an 08. | ||
| Chromehead |
Mikef5000, At this point that was also my thought. I normally would change it out if I had any doubt. With that said, where the puncture was was in the groove of the tread pattern and it plugged really well, I am not sure it is worth the money to go new. I do have a trip planned in June, which will be about 1,500 miles. I plan to ride it often and check it after every ride prior to the trip to be sure. | ||
| Chromehead |
Ourdee, Couldn't agree more !!  That is the plan. | ||
| S_palmer |
I've had stop and go plugs fail, patch it on the inside, much better repair. | ||
| Bdrag |
Chromehead Used these many a time when I have had a punchure while in town. Firestone will give ya one if ya ask. Best of both worlds. Plugs the hole and patches it. As freakin thin as the Syncs were when I took them off. No way in hell I would ride far on one of those. They are a EMERGENCY FIX to get you home or to a fixit place. I would use the gummy bears before releying on those. Check these out. http://www.patchrubber.com/tire_repair/14040.html BDRAG | ||
| Chromehead |
S_palmer and Bdrag, That is what I was talking about with my 3rd option of a patch plug. The biggest problem I have had with those is finding someone willing to put one on. many people will refuse to do M/C tires in my experience. I am new to the buell and have never had to remove the tires on it yet. How difficult is removal ? | ||
| Bdrag |
Chromehead Since there is no center stand like on my Strom I just made a craddle that fits the muffler out of a 2X8. Flat bottom with the end saddled and place it on my ATV/ motorcycle jack. Strap it to the foot pegs and the lift. Yank front and back off at the same time. The rear removal is straight forward. Loosen the pinch bolts, remove the Caliper and then the axle. May have taken a belt cover off as well. I am gonna find out AGAIN this weekend. The local BMW shop fixes flats with those Plug patches. Some shops call them BOOT PLUGS. BDRAG | ||
| Ronmold |
I got a nail in the rear first few week I had mine. I put one of those black, gooy string plugs in and it seemed to hold. When I got home I ordered a new tire and watched the repair to see how long it would work. Well that was a year and 5000 mi ago & I just put the new tire on recently as the old Sync was worn out. It held & never lost any air. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
I put just over 9000 miles on my first Dunlop D616 after plugging it! I never had to add air once either. I picked up a small drywall screw just after my 1000 service, plugged it the night of a BRAG ride and didn't get a new tire until the 10,000 service check up. I wasn't so luck on my last D616, I ran over a nail at an angle and it cut a 5/8" slash in the tire. I couldn't get it plugged so I had to change it out with just over 8000 miles on it. It still had good tread but wouldn't hold air. FYI, don't try and use Slime in your tire to fix a leak. I tried it and it was a fricking mess! It blew all over everything! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Slime will hose off easy enough. I do try and warn whoever is working on the tire if I have it in there though. Though I do my own tires now, and I already know. Or don't care, because like I said, it'll hose off.  Buell tires are like other sportbike tires. Not actually that bad when you do it right, awful when you are doing it wrong. It's kind of an acquired art. Make sure the tire is really warm (winter mounting is a PITA), always keep the "other side" from where you are working clamped into the wheel groove, and don't be shy with the lube. The Buell pully can create problems, it makes the wheel a lot wider then other sportbikes. I trust patches from the inside when there is not a lot of physical damage. Or at least I did, until Alex and I pulled my worn out scorpion sync from my Uly. The thinness of that thing was fairly sobering. Next set of tires for the Uly will be the trails, though for the 9sx I would keep using syncs. Not sure I would run a patched one anymore though... especially not a worn patched one. | ||
| Biffdotorg |
This conversation comes up every summer and everyone has an opinion. The agreement seems to be, ride what you are comfortable with. If you don't trust it, change it as it will change the way you ride! General ground rules: 1. never patch or repair a front 2. never patch or repair a sidewall 3. check tire pressure often after a repair My Xt took a very large nail in the first 2000 miles. I patched it just to test the repair kit so I knew I could trust it. I put on a new tire after 200 miles as it made me nervous. After pulling the tire off, I tried to pull out the gummy string to find that the vulcanized rubber was as strong as the tire and sold the darn thing on Ebay as a repaired tire. Second nail I got on a fairly new rear and I repaired it with the same gummy string kit and have put on 4000 miles without any issue. Worst case this thing loses air, there is not way it will blow that string out after I saw the last one. I am never going to worry about patching a rear unless if it were near a sidewall and the chance of a blow out were there. Following the directions of the patch/plug kit are important. But it's not rocket science. After seeing how well the string plugs worked, I would almost consider getting rid of rule #1 about the front, but then again, loss of pressure on the front is a whole different animal than losing a rear. Good luck, | ||
| Mnrider |
 These canoe carrier pads work well. | ||
| Chromehead |
Appreciate all the input so far. At this point I am trying to see if I can find someone to do a boot patch from the inside. If not, I guess I might bite the bullet and go ahead and drop the dough for a new tire. While I think it would be fine, I hate to take a 1,500 mile trip and spend 1/2 the trip chasing down a new tire to put on should something go wrong. In the meantime I plan on making up an exhaust cradle for my bike lift and tracking down the service manual pages on the rear tire removal and installation. Anyone have a service manual and a scanner ?? LOL | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Fortunately the Uly uses universally available tire sizes. In a pinch, you might not be able to find the exact tire type that you want, but you'll be able to find the correct size, anywhere. Mark SE AZ | ||
| Union_man |
+1 to the plugs Bdrag posted!!! | ||
| Chromehead |
Mark, That is good to know. I know my BMW tire was very hard to find when I was out on the road with a flat a few years ago. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
*Disclaimer- Plug at your own risk. Plug tires can be dangerous and the plug may fail. That being said I have used the string plug on several occasions with no issues. Don't recall if I ever plugged a front though. I'd probably do it for "commuter" riding. For anything more, I'd just put a new front on. Guess I like to live dangerously... lol | ||
| Oldwesterncowboy |
IMHO I consider a plug temporary. Like a spare for your car. If I plug it, I replace the tire soon and dont ride it hard until its replaced. when you plug a tire, its integrity has been compromised. | ||
| S_palmer |
My service manual is at home and I'm not but I will see if I can't talk you though it. Raise the rear wheel off the ground. Remove the 2 bolts holding the brake caliper and pull it off the wheel. Remove the 2 bolts holding the bottom belt guard and remove it. Loosen the pinch bolt under the axle then remove the axle. When removing the axle be sure you are not pushing the left side swing arm out, you may need to tap on the out side with a rubber mallet. Slip the belt off and the wheel will come out the back. Just reverse for installation. Coat the axle with anti-seize,Torque the axle to 25 lbs, back off 2 turns then 50lbs. Caliper and pinch bolts 25lbs. | ||
| Chromehead |
S_palmer Cool, thanks for the instructions. I am still in the process of making the lift adapter, but when done at least that will give me an idea. One more quick question. Does the belt tighten itself to the correct tension via the tightening of the axle? I know on many chain driven bikes it has a tightening guage you can look at on the swingarm but I have never installed a belt before. |
