| Author | Message | ||
     Wammy |
I have a nail in my back tire, was going toi change them soon, but not today. Can I have the tire plugged just to get around for a few weeks ? thanks | ||
| Reepicheep |
I went 50 miles or so with a plug to get home on my Cyclone, and the plug was holding fine. I was pretty tense though. It will more then likley hold fine, but if it doesn't, and you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, it could kill you. YMMV  I carry tire plugs, and ride with them in, but only as far as is necessary from where I found the leak to where I can take off the wheel. | ||
| Ara |
I had a new set of Metzlers on my S3 when I got a nail in the rear tire. I took it off the bike and carried it down to Western Auto where I worked part time, and we patched it from the inside. I rode it for nearly 5,000 miles, no problem. Wouldn't have done it with a front tire, though. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thats a good distinction. If there is no sign of structural damage, I won't hesitate to pull the tire and get an internal patch put in, then get it remounted. I then ride the tire like it was new. I had one patched twice even... no problems. The externally installed plugs are the ones I won't spend much time on, they give me the heebie jeebies. | ||
| Ara |
No argument, Reep. I've got a home grown plug kit that I carry with me, but thankfully I've never had to use it. | ||
| Oldog |
had a nail in the back tire, dropped off the bike wanted an inspection of the tires (was busy sunday) service dept calls AM what to do? they tell em that they donot patch tires I tell them please give me a quote on tire and mounting they change the tire 270$ what gives? | ||
| Ara |
Where did you take it, an Aprilia shop? Listen, if the nail made a clean, round hole the tire can be successfully patched. I did it myself back when I worked at Western Auto. I had a brand new Metzler on the back of my S3 with a nail in it, took the tire to the shop at work, and patched it on the inside just like I'd patched hundreds of automobile tires. I put it back on the bike and rode it for a little under 5,000 miles. No problems whatsoever. That's IF the nail made a clean, round hole. If it damaged the tire's carcass, that's something else again and the tire must be replaced. But $270 is far more than you should pay for a tire, mounting, and balancing in my humble opinion. | ||
| Blue02m2 |
The $270 includes an hour of labor ( $60-$80) to remove the wheel and mount/balance the tire and their price for a new tire which can be nearly $200 at their list prices. Sometimes my dealership runs sales where the labor is free or the tires are half price. Unfortunatly the sales rarely happen when I REALLY need a tire. I've taken to pulling my own wheels and carting them to a local cycle shop that mounts and balances for $15 a wheel. I shop for the best price on a tire which the same shop usually has. If I remember correctly I paid $150 for a P Scorp rear + 15 for mount an balance last time. | ||
| Gowindward |
I put 500 plus miles on a rear tire that I plug a nail hole in earlier this summer. The tire was getting pretty close to the wear bars, so I ordered a new tire online and changed it once the tire arrived. I used the plug kit from Walmart. The kind with the sticky black cords. Used the rubber cement and it took three cords to make a fit tight enough to seal. Kind of odd the awl in the plug kit makes way worse a hole then the finish nail that started the whole think. From a liability point of view everyone who could be sued has to say plugging is an emergency fix and the tire should be replaced ASAP. MHO | ||
| Djkaplan |
I've plugged two rear tires for a total of 10,000 miles of trouble free street riding. I wouldn't recommend it, but I did it. | ||
| Bigdaddy |
I've run those exact same black WalMart plugs for many, many, miles. I've never had a problem. It would be the rarest of circumstances that I do a replacement and the old tire doesn't have a plug in it. YMMV G2 | ||
| Ara |
I absolutely NEVER take my bike to the shop for a tire replacement. I only take the wheel. I get the best deal on tires from a semi-local Honda/Kaw/Suz shop and I have them mount them for me. (If they ruin the tire in mounting it, they replace the tire free.) But because of the combined width of the rear wheel and pulley, they can't balance it. So I have to take it to the H-D dealer for balancing. It's a pain in the butt, but the cost has never remotely approached $270. Geeze, my last rear tire replacement cost me nearly $100 less than that! | ||
| Mwbob |
Just a question here, but motorcycle tires are way stronger than car tires and carry a lot less load, right? So why would plugs, which have been used safely on about a zillion car tires be so dangerous on a bike? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Perhaps because a catastrophic failure of a car tire is more often then not really annoying, and a catastrophic failure of a motorcycle tire could easily become life threatening. That being said, I have run professionally installed plugs (from the inside) a couple of times with no issues (rears). Not sure if I would run a patched front, but the front never seems to pick up nails. | ||
| Ronbob43 |
Sunday night I plugged the rear tire on my new XB9SX. It seems fine with after two days and @100mi. I have plugged several rear tires over the years and put 8000 miles on one on my Hawk GT that was often into three numbers on the speedo. The only plug that has ever failed with me aboard was one someone else installed on my stepson's Dyna Sport Glide. I just thought that was the way they were supposed to handle. |
