can I do this and would it be safe?

[Semper Fi]

I some how got a nail in my rear tire. It is not a new tire but, it has many miles left on it. I have been told to not plug the tire but, can I place a tube in the tire to get the remaining miles out of it? If I can, would the tire be safe for the wife and I to ride on?

 

[GalaxyBlue]

Remove the tire and patch it correctly from the inside. Problem solved. Tubes? No friggin way!

 

[Semper Fi]

thanks! I might give that a try.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Where exactly in the tire is the hole? If it is not too close to the edge you might get away with a plug. I agree that a patch is best but in a bind you do what works.

I picked up a nail on a trip with 1100 miles on my PR3s and did not want to delay the ride or cost myself a bunch of money so I plugged it. 7300 miles later that PR3 is doing just fine.

 

[Semper Fi]

that is almost the same spot mine is! A friend tells me not to patch it either. I am not sure what to do. He says just buy a new one, because you are only on 2 tires!

would it be safe to patch?

 

[jmgrif]

You will be hard pressed to get anyone to "Guarantee" your safety on a repaired motorcycle tire! But as others have said and I have done, a string plug has worked for me on both my m/c and small truck? Your life, your call.

 

[xcsp]

Here's my opinion, if you feel comfortable with a repaired rear tire, repair it with a plug.

I plugged a rear tire after a couple attempts to patch it from the inside, for some reason it didn't work? Got 9k miles out of the tire after the plug repair.

Now if I rode the bike 2-up, I would have just replaced the tire.

 

[FJRay]

Never put a tube in a radial tire unless it says for sure it's for radial tires. Radial tires flex a lot more than bias ply and with a standard tube the heat build up it to much.

Plug or patch and ride it out.

 

[redtail]

Never wanted to run on a plugged tire, but... I picked up a nail with less than 1000 miles on a new 023GT rear tire!

Since I didn't have any big rides pending I plugged it with a sticky string and lots of the glue. I did some short runs and errands and kept a close eye on the air pressure. It's held up perfectly and I'm now nearing the wear bars!

I have been very aware of the plugged tire when I ride though which isn't as much fun. So I fancied up a tire changer and got a couple tools and now I can benefit from the on-line/sale for tires.

 

[Semper Fi]

I will be riding this to work everyday I can. The wife will want to go on some rides with me, some could be longer rides. I guess it is up to me to patch or plug this tire. Thanks for the help. I think I will go with the patch first and if it doesn't work I will just replace the tire.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

that is almost the same spot mine is! A friend tells me not to patch it either. I am not sure what to do. He says just buy a new one, because you are only on 2 tires!would it be safe to patch?

Every situation is different. When I picked up that nail I was in Cortez CO in the middle of the biggest most epic motorcycle trip of my life. Unlike the FJR, my ST1300 uses oddball tire sizes and my chances of finding a suitable rear tire were very slim. I was quite nervous at first but figured if I could at least finish the trip it would be worth it to try. I was certain I would have to add air at least once a day.

Now that I have ridden another 7300 miles on it and have stressed it with as much cornering force as myself and the bike are capable of, I have no worries. I have not seen any appreciable loss of air and I check regularly.

I used to believe that it was "wrong" to repair a motorcycle tire. I also used to believe there was no way a car tire would work on a motorcycle. The real world results tell me that these armchair experts are not as smart as they think they are.

 

[Old Guy]

Where exactly in the tire is the hole? If it is not too close to the edge you might get away with a plug. I agree that a patch is best but in a bind you do what works.
I picked up a nail on a trip with 1100 miles on my PR3s and did not want to delay the ride or cost myself a bunch of money so I plugged it. 7300 miles later that PR3 is doing just fine.

I've been plugging tires since motorcycles went tubeless. And I've had friends who ran plugged tires as long. No problems. I actually don't know how many I've run.

How about these? Anyone used one? Recommend? Not recommend?

 

[majicmaker]

I have that, Old Guy. Except I went with the gun. They work great. Never on my bike (knock on wood) but, on many friends bikes and on my SUV. Every one of them kept riding until they got to the air. Those plugs are amazing.

 

[Semper Fi]

I thank you guys for the help! I talked to a mechanic yesterday. He said he had done one of his tires because of the same reason. His tire had a couple of hundred miles on it, he plugged it, and rode with it until he had about 1000 miles on the tire. He told me he will do mine if I want or, I can have the tire that he plugged. His tire was a Pirelli of some kind and he would give me that one for free. I was thinking that I should at least take his tire. Mine is a Battlax with a couple of thousand miles on it.

 

[Old Guy]

I have that, Old Guy. Except I went with the gun. They work great. Never on my bike (knock on wood) but, on many friends bikes and on my SUV. Every one of them kept riding until they got to the air. Those plugs are amazing.

I've got arthritis so bad in my right hand now I can barely push the plug through a motorcycle tire and cannot plug a car tire. This looks like it wouldn't be as difficult. Thanks for the info.

 

[RaYzerman19]

It's up to you how you repair it, however, why not take it down to your local tire shop and have them put a patch plug from the inside and vulcanize it. To me that is the ultimate. I have done a plain patch on the inside and that works too. Sticky strings probably the next best....... likely all will take you to the wear bars.....

 

[Semper Fi]

It's up to you how you repair it, however, why not take it down to your local tire shop and have them put a patch plug from the inside and vulcanize it. To me that is the ultimate. I have done a plain patch on the inside and that works too. Sticky strings probably the next best....... likely all will take you to the wear bars.....

Sounds good. The local motorcycle dealer will not do it because of the liability.

 

[gixxerjasen]

I had three tires in a row that I picked up a nail in the first 1000 miles. One of those was picked up in my brand new tire on my brand new bike before I could even get the temp tag off of it. I cannot afford to replace tires that often. I have plugged tires and kept on riding and gotten the full life out of the tire.

As always, your results may vary.

 

[Semper Fi]

The mechanic fixed me up yesterday with his tire. I wanna tell you, you would not even know it wasn't a new tire! It was a Pirelli Angel GT, and I already had a Pirelli Angel on the front. I took it for a short ride of about 40 miles. It rode and handled just fine. The only problem he had with the tire was, a staple had gotten into the tire right after he first bought it. He told me he thought the tire was fine and had it up to 130 mph. I had it to 100 and not a complaint from me.