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Motorcycle tire repair

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Got a nail in a new tire with 600 miles on it. The dealer wants to sell a new tire and says repair is impossible. The nail is in the tread portion and straight in. No sidewall damage, I saw the nail before it lost pressure. Is this a crock or are they correct? It's the rear tire and I dont see why it cant be patched from the inside using a fiberglass reinforced, thermally applied patch. I seen them use these patches on 80PSI load range E tires. Any comments appreciated.
 
You could probably patch it, but since you don't have much margin of error if the patch fails, I would probably just go ahead and replace. One new tire cost much less then the hospital bills if you lay it down if the patch fails.
 
There are internal patches available that you can use and some do. That being said I would never patch a motorcycle tire. I've had a few punctures over 18 years of riding and I've always replaced the tire. The shop probably doesn't want to do it because of liability concerns.
 
As long as the tire puncture went through the tread and not the sidewall, you can patch it with the same type of auto tire repair kit. Costs about 10 bucks for the reamer tool and the needle tool. Kit comes with about 6 tar-like impregnated rope pieces. I should add that you can do this without removing the tire.



Just clean the hole with the reamer and then push the rope into the hole with the needle. Works very well. I carry one on my bike all the time and have used it twice for nails. Once was a big framing nail. Never had a problem.
 
Go ahead and do it but remember, you're riding on two instead of four. Dealers won't repair them due to liability... And I carry a flat kit so I can get to the nearest dealer for a new tire.
 
As I see it, a plug should only be used as an emergency repair to get you off the road. The tire should then be removed, inspected and repaired with an inside patch if you continue using the tire. This is even recommend for cars and tire safety is even more critical for motorcycles.
 
Had the same thing happen on the Wing. The dealer couldn't do it, said it's illegal. So I had them take the tire off the rim, took it down the street to a tire shop, paid cash, did the plug & patch thing, ran it for years, no leak.
 
I would say it's all in what you feel comfortable with. Save $$ to run the tire out in hopes it does'nt fail. If it does hope it goes down slowly so you can feel the bike fish tailing & can get it stopped. Or spend a $100 bucks for a new tire.

I've been ridding for 35yrs & have had my share of flats, no blow outs. Most of the time you have time to react. As I got older probably a little wiser I have pluged a tire to get to where I can get a new one. Especally when your dresser weighs 1000lbs you have your bride of thirty years on the back & your pulling a cargo trailer across the desert in 120* heat. :--)



As ole Eastwood said " Do you feel lucky?" :-laf
 
Many years of motorcycle riding tells me there is no way I would ride a bike on the street with a plugged tire. To me my safety is worth the cost of a new tire.
 
If you do decide toplug the tire PLEASE do not use the type where you don't have to dismount the tire. I would only use a mushroom type plug that was inserted from the inside. One like this:



#ad




which you can get here - http://www.plews.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=1885&location_id=2638 - it's called a plug-n-patch.



That being said I would only consider it if it was a rear tire - NO WAY I'd ever patch a front. Personally I can't imagine an instance that I'd patch a rear either but people do.
 
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That is the patch I'm looking for, thanks. I've read each response carefully, thanks to all. I'm going to patch it with the plug n patch. It's just a tire, nothing special except it goes on the MC. No it's not the front nor would I ever patch a front tire and even run front to the wear bars, I replace the front before it gets near the wear bars. I patched rears before and ridden them till the wear out. I'll have to ream the hole to clean it up and will make a final decision then. Thanks
 
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