| Author | Message | ||
     Thump4fun |
Checking my tire air pressure today out of habit, I found my rear tire to be a whopping 20 lbs. ummmm...that's just a bit low when I run it at 36 lbs. Took about 2 minutes carefully going over the tire to find the remains of a small nail or staple.  So I got to try out my roadside tire plugging skills...in the comfort of my own garage. :-) First, pulled out the dang offender and stuck in the cleaning tool to keep the air from all rushing out. Cleaned out the hole, which also made it about twice as big. Then put the rubber plug on the plug tool, gooped it up with rubber cement and shoved it in.  It said to put about 2/3 of the plug into the hole, but I think I was a little over aggresive and shoved about 3/4 of it in. Cut off the ends and took some sandpaper to the tire to clean up the residual cement that dripped onto the tire.  Finally, got some soapy water and checked for leakage while I let my little air pump fill it up to 36 lbs. No leaks detected!  I just put these tires on new in mid-June, and although I've already ridden them just over 2,500 miles I still expect another 4,000 miles out of them. Based on past experience with the same tires, I'm looking to get 6,500 miles out of them with riding 2-up over half the time. So now my question. Will I still be able to get my remaining 4,000 miles out of this tire with the plug in it? Do I need to do something different? What are other people's experience with this? | ||
| Brumbear |
probably I have run a plug for 2K miles but thats usually the life of my tires anyway | ||
| Andymnelson |
run it ans don't worry. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I plugged my last tire with less than 3k miles on it, and ran it to over 11k. You should be fine. | ||
| Thump4fun |
Sweet! Based on all those positive remarks, I'm riding and not worrying. Thanks! | ||
| Boltrider |
I plugged an almost-new tire and put on 7500 miles afterwards. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Keep an eye on it. I has perfect luck with plugging a tire and ran it for 2000 miles with no issues. Others have reported that sometimes if you're "lucky" the steel belts shear the plug after a short time. Also, DON'T trust this tire as you would have before the injury. It has now been weakened to an unknown extent. Just think how lovely it would be to have the bike cranked over in a sweet curve, having the tire flexing as much as it can to maintain the contact patch until the plug gets spat out. | ||
| Kdogshirow |
I have a front tire on my XB9 that has had a plug for quite some time now . I dont like it , but due to lack of funds , have not been able to change the tire . I have had it at over 100 mph , and , constantly check the plug and pressure . If you have the funds , change it , if not , ride it and keep your eye on it . Disclaimer: I am not a Tire Tech. Therefore my opinion is probably !@#$%! LOL | ||
| Drkside79 |
IMO Replace it as soon as possible. You never know how long it will last and your safety is the most important factor. That being said GL with your decision either way. | ||
| Blackdog |
I hit 136 MPH the other day. When I got home I remembered it was a plugged tire. | ||
| Etennuly |
I have run them right in the center of the tread for more than 8,000 miles. It actually wore out the plug and it started leaking very slowly. That said, if a plug came out at speed and you know how to ride, I believe you would be slowed down to under 50 mph, or feel some squirming in the corners before you noticed it was low. That air leaking back through the little hole the plug came out of would give you fair warning something was amiss. I can say this with a fair amount of confidence after experiencing a rear tire explosive blow out last year. I was doing about 55 to 60 through a nice corner on the Cherohala Skyway a few miles from Tellico Plains. A flat piece of shale rock kicked up on edge from the front tire mid corner. It exploded the tire to where the back of the bike jumped up and kicked out about a foot out into the corner. I was fairly hard in the corner, but not peg dragging, and the tire was completely flat as it landed. I had no loss of control, just that I felt the back end go up and out, then I simply slowed down. If I had been at full lean 20 mph faster I likely would have slid out to wreck. But this was instant air loss, not like air leaking out a plug hole. So I am more confident in plugs than I was prior to my tire exploding mid corner incident. I do not recommend you try this at home.   | ||
| Froggy |
You can use an onboard tire pressure monitoring system to warn you in the event of a loss of pressure. I recommend having one regardless of the plug. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Plugs can last 1 mile or thousands of miles. I've plugged a tire before with no issues, other have had issues. Your results may vary. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Etennuly, I think I found your problem. It looks like someone stuck a can opener from a swiss-army knife in your tire. But seriously, I can't believe that a ROCK did that! I'm glad you made it through. | ||
| Etennuly |
A flat round shaped sharp edged piece of shale. Would have made a good spear head. The front tire hit it first, must have kicked it up to where it hit the rear at a ninety degrees to the tire. All of the air pressure was gone when it came back down to the pavement in the corner. Actually I thought it hooked up pretty good considering. |
