Are Tire Repairs Recommended???

Yes... Tire repairs are recommended except in some countries were
government regulations specifically outlaw it...

Metzeler quote:
"According to the specific regulations of different country governments, a
general recommendation regarding tyre repair cannot be given. For your
country, please refer to your distributor. In case a repair is permitted,
METZELER is only recommending the repair of small punctures restricted to
the tread area using a mushroom head type plug. The repair of a punctured
tubeless tyre by means of fitting a tube is not permitted" .
www.metzelermoto.co.uk/product_info/safety.asp#11


Dunlop quote:
"Any puncture or injury to a tire's tread area obviously affects performance
and safety. Proper repair is critical. The puncture must be repaired on both
the inside and the outside of the tire. Because all parts of a tire are
engineered to function as a single unit, any repair must take that into
consideration. Only small, straight-through 3/16" diameter or less punctures
in the tread area may be repairable, if no secondary damage has occurred."

NOTE: A tire repair can be properly made only if the tire is removed from
the rim; a thorough internal inspection is carried out; and the repair is
made from the inside out. A repair must fill and seal the injury, i.e.
vulcanized plug and patch. Only specially trained Technicians are qualified
to repair a tire. Do not attempt to repair it yourself.

Dunlop Safety Advisory, Speed Rated Tires: Repaired tires must not be used
in excess of posted speed limits, in race or other competition. Speed
ratings are not valid for repaired, re-treaded, under-inflated or
overloaded, excessively worn, damaged or altered tires. "
www.dunloptire.com/care/tireRepair.html


Bridgestone quote:
Riding on an improperly repaired tire is dangerous. An improper repair can
cause further damage to the tire. It may suddenly fail, causing serious
personal injury or death. To be safe, go to your local dealer for proper
tire repairs.

Before having a tire repaired, tell your local dealer if you have used an
aerosol fixer to inflate/ seal the tire. Aerosol fixers could contain a
highly volatile gas. Always remove the valve core outdoors, away from
sources of excessive heat, flame, or sparks and completely deflate the tire
before removing it from the rim for repair.

* Never repair a tire with less than 1/32nd inch (0.8 millimeters) tread
remaining. At this tread depth, the tire is worn out and must be replaced.
* Never repair a tire with a puncture larger than 1/4 inch (6.4 millimeters)
in diameter. Such tires cannot be properly repaired and must be replaced.
* Repairs of all tires (radial and non-radial) must be of the plug and
inside patch type. Using plugs alone on any type of tire is not a safe
repair.
* Never repair a tire with a puncture or other damage outside the tread
area. Such tires cannot be properly repaired and must be replaced.
* Any tire repair done without removing the tire from the rim is improper.
* Tubes, like tires, should be repaired only by a qualified tire service
person.
* Never use a tube as a substitute for a proper repair.

A tire's speed rating is void if the tire is repaired, retreaded, damaged or
abused, or otherwise altered from its original condition. Thereafter, it
should be treated as a non-speed-rated tire.
www.motorcycle-karttires.com/


Michelin quote:
In case of a flat, take the tire to your Michelin® motorcycle tire dealer.
Only a professional tire technician has the expertise to properly inspect a
tire for damage and determine its repairability.
motous.webmichelin.com/home.htm

Although the manufactures may give the OK for repairs... I still agree with
the few who caution against tire repairs on grounds it erodes your
confidence... Belief in yourself is a fine thing... some are not easily
convinced...


Personally I beleive there is mounting evidence that plugged tires are
safe... Your looking at my plug that went 5,000 miles... not in moderation
either... it endured the rigors of a ThunderHill and Laguna Seca track day
plus one weekend racing in the H40 race reaching speeds of 148 mph... is
that good enough to pass mustard???
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/MeZ3TirePlug.JPG

Order your tire plugs here P/N 89-15290
www.flandersco.com/

Or order a whole inflation kit that employs the safety seal rope...
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/gb0404/

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

I would never trust my life with a tire that has already failed once.
Having experienced a high speed blow out on the freeway once, i have no
desire to repeat the experience.

 

Now that we have the facts, and thanks Larry, let me add that 3/16" to a
1/4" is approx. the size of a smaller screw or nail going straight in, and
that the other common tire-killer, shards of metal, are usually a bit
larger.

I think the interesting aspect of this post is something that crosses my
mind constantly while riding: Has the work done on my bike caused the
vehicle to become less safe? To keep myself free of this fear that detracts
from enjoying a ride, I do most of the work myself, double check whatever
the shop has done, and err on the side of safety. I'm talking endless
chains and torque wrenches. Now for my tire-plug story. On my way home
from KC Engineering, with a brand new tire on a nice Kat1100, I noticed the
handling was a bit strange. I pulled over and found a 3" deck screw in my
new tire whose life could be measured in yards. As I cursed my rotten luck
a crazy homeless person tried to remove my ignition key. With my knuckled
gloves I reminded him that bikers are not to be trifled with. I babied it
home at 5mph and got it plugged the next day. I rode it for weeks, but when
we decided to go blasting across NV, I knew there would be ridiculous speeds
involved, so I replaced the tire after the obligatory burn-out session. I
inspected the plug and it seemed quite solid. I paid for peace of mind
while doing 120mph, basically.

Also make note that some shops will not plug tires. Hmm. I have used the
BMW kit a couple of times with good results.

Later!
Alex
'97 YZF1000/V+H/K+N/ETC
hoping to score a 01-03 Superhawk for my city beater in a coupla' months

ps, anybody ordered or using the thunderbird e-mail client yet? I hope my
cd comes soon, since earthlink went 128-bit on their e-mail, I have not been
able to use my version of Outlook Express completely, and have had no
success downloading a newer version of OE from MS. Web-based e-mail sucks!

pps, recently got injured quite badly on the job. When I came to and my
mind came into focus, I realized I was pretty messed up. The first thought
that crossed my mind as I writhed and moaned in pain was not whether I would
be able to continue to bang my beautiful wife, or whether I would be able to
run with my best friend my dog, or even whether I would be able to work
again soon. I was worried that my leg might not bend enough at the knee to
be able to ride a sportbike, dooming me to a lifetime of boring
sit-up-and-beg riding. Crazy!

 

Why? I didn't think much of it when I had a FRONT tire blow
out the side wall at 70mph in heavy I-5 traffic(rush hour,
tacoma) a bit of hop and bounce...didn't faze me in the
least bit.

--

Nefarious Necroloigist 42nd Degree
Some people ride, some just like to show off their butt
jewelry once in a while.
Dum vivimus, vivamus
<3 )3~~ <3 )3~~

 

Everybody seems to be paranoid of the plug itself failing.
Personally I've never heard of a properly installed patch/plug combo
failing in a car or motorcycle tire. They simply don't come out.

What bugs me is the possibility of cord damage caused by the nail or
screw. Run the tire up to 150 mph and if there's a weak spot that
lets go you're dead. Then there's the J-spec tires like those used on
my Busa which supposedly have an extra webbing to hold them together.
If that webbing is breached can the tire still hold together at 190
mph?

Yes, I would trust a plugged tire at normal legal speeds and even an
emergency plug kit to get me home at low speeds. Running triple digit
speeds, HELL NO!

As far as ONE guy having success with a plugged tire used under severe
conditions, therefore plugged tires must be safe....I know of someone
who smoked cigarettes for 70 years and didn't die of lung cancer,
therefore smoking cigarettes is perfectly safe and does not cause
cancer.

George
CX500 TURBO
CX650 TURBO
'04 Hayabusa

 

Well maybe your made ou of concrete or something, it fazed me, doing
about 85, rear wheel, nail right through it. Any traffic coming behind
me could have wiped me out. The last thing i was thinking was, how can i
repair my rear tire. In fact i didnt even consider it.

 

Having your tire repaired beats riding on it with the damage intact!

Al Moore
DoD 734

 

David... What caused your blow out???

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

Somehow a six inch carpenter's nail went straight through it.
Probably atached to a piece of wood I rode over, but I didn't feel it.
I sure felt it when I hit the pavement though.

I had a GF on the pillion, felt the bike start to swing out wide, tried
to correct it, and realised there had been a blow out, then it was all i
could do to keep the bike upright for maybe 5-10 seconds as the rear
swung left then right, as i tried to hold it upright with the
handlebars, then finally the inevitable happened, and we bounced down
the road some distance, luckily into the shoulder, and not into oncoming
traffic. Only minor bruising, pretty scary though. This was a long time ago.

 

Repaired tire or no, that's bad luck. The relevent question here is will
plugs fail catastophically, and I don't believe that is the case.

 

Maybe that's true, but for the sake of the cost of a new tire, why risk
your life over it?

 

You know, a rhetorical question like that can be extended pretty far, starting
with why be on a bike at all. Away from the safety side, people used to (still?)
buy spectro gold for $6/liter "just to be sure."

I didn't have 200 miles on my 1150R when the rear got a flat. On a tire that
apparently is either discontinued or hard to find. So replacing it meant then
trying to get a reasonable match to the front. Plugging seemed a lot easier.

 

A complete non sequitur. You might as well say why bother to use tires
at all. Why not just ride around on your rims. Tires are all that's
keeping you on the road, they are the most critical component on your bike.

Great. But it's not something I'd do, at high speed over long distances
is where I'd be most concerned. I wonder if they repair tires in the
MotoGP or world superbikes? Actually, I'm pretty sure they don't.

 

Dave who lost their life over a tire plug failure??? anyone???

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

I don't know, is that sort of information available on line somewhere?

 

European autobahn. I've taken passengers at 130 mph before, not in the
US, I hasten to add.

 

Can you prove someone has not? Better yet can you name someone who
has died on a street bike due to any form of mechanical failure?

Do you think there's a full investigation everytime a motorcycle
accident occures?

I'd be willing to bet there's been plenty of lost lives over blown
tires, seized bearings, busted chains, broken welds, busted motor
mounts, failed brakes ect. and not a second thought is ever given to
what happened. Bikes shredded in a million pieces, rider is
dead..."eh let's write it up as rider error".

I think the main reason we see safety recalls are due to the people
who actually lived to tell what happened.

George
CX500 TURBO
CX650 TURBO
'04 Hayabusa

 

The search turns up a lot of cautions to worry over but no actual cases of
failure...


Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

Yes...

Better yet can you name someone who

No...
One of my duties while in the USAF was to investigate accidents... all were
rider errors none proved to be mechanical failures...

No... except where a death was involved...

You're willing to bet but are you will to dig up some evidence to support
your claim???

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

I think you are right.