On Board Tire Repair Kits

Anyone used these? Should I buy one?

http://www.bikebandit.com/stop-go-pocket-tire-plugger-with-co2?mg=5081&t=1

 

I picked up a water proof lighter outlet, made a bracket that
clamps to the frame with hose clamps and wired it in to the
battery. I use the pump occasionally to re-inflate tires after
dirt riding or to blow up an air mattress.

I also stripped the pump down as far as I could, removing
the plastic housing and grinding off the end of the shaft where
the fan sat. The pump now rides in a small plastic case between
the luggage rack and fender.

I usually figure the plug kit is just to get you home and over
to buy a new tire. (meaning maybe a couple hundred miles max).
I usually buy a new set of plugs and glue every year at Kragen.

 

Here we go again....

Yes, they work as advertised, yes, they are incredibly useful for
getting you out of a fix, yes, you can ride quite happily at silly
speeds on them, no, you don't have to junk the tyre once you get home,
yes, if properly installed they last the life of the tyre, yes, you can
have the plug replaced with a professional patch afterwards if it makes
you feel better.

BMW includes similar kits in its toolkits as OE.

 

There's no such thing as a run-flat motorcycle tyre (though KrustyUS
will tell you different), but the low and tough sidewalls and great
width of many modern radial bike tyres mean that they're very unlikely
to throw the tyre off the rim like old-style crossplies could.

You can certainly travel some distance, very slowly and carefully and
avoiding severe cornering antics on one that's gone flat, whether it be
recommended or not. But that's not the same thing as a tyre that's sold
as a run-flat tyre, as some car tyres are.

Not quite

 

Harley police tires are run flat

 

Yes, I stand corrected. Indeed they are - a friend bought an
ex-Providence, Rhode Island police Kawasaki Z1000[1] which arrived in
the Uk with those extraordinary tyres fitted. Sidewalls that extended
down the sides of the rims.

But these are almost bespoke tyres for one very specific application.
You can't buy run-flat tyres for your Gixxer.

[1] Complete with screen, two-tones, and everything bar the radio Huge
police corrected speedometer on it. A metal plate where the radio sat
instead of a pillion seat. He had a separate pillion seat made up for
it. One oddity of the bike was the gearing - it was geared incredibly
low and topped out at something like 105mph.

 

These kits are life savers.

I have two of them. One with a stripped down pump.
One with a compact pump like this:
<http://www.slime.com/product/69/Portable-12-Volt-Tire-Inflator-
%28COMP-04%29.html>
On my Pegaso I carry a bottle of Green Slime as it has tubed tires.
<http://www.slime.com/product/74/Tire-Sealant.html>

I have even taken my kit on off road surfing adventures in Baja.
Beats jacking up a 4 wheel drive pick up loaded with cooking and
camping gear to change
a wheel/tire when you can just stick a gummy worm in and pump it back
up!

And, yes, it is a good idea to put a fresh tube or can of glue in your
kit at the beginning of the riding season.

JohnA in LA, CA USA

 

<Pensive mode>

You know, I never thought of that, but of course if the kit hasn't been
used for maybe five years....

<Doffs Caberg>

Thank you, good sir. That is an excellent idea.

 

There are a number of brands of foam that are unlike Slime in that they
are meant to fill a tubeless tire after a flat/puncture. I don't see why
they wouldn't work for tubed tires, either. I forget the brand names at
the moment, automotive stores have ones that are the size of a Pledge
wax aerosol canister for as low as four bucks. I've used them twice,
both times to help other people. Some bike accessory mfr. makes a much
smaller one for bike tires which is easier to carry but costs more at
the m/c shops. They all have a little tube with shraeder
valveattachment. One guy I knew put nearly 4,000 kilometres on his
little scooter before he got around to replacing the tire. The puncture
was in the centre of the rear tire which is about the only place I'd put
a patch. He had already used the wrong kind, an automotive one, not a
mushroom either. By the time I gave him the foam, the hole was a good
3/8 inch wide. Ever since then, I carry a can of it, either in some
bike cavity or other or just taped on somewhere. After seeing how it
sealed that big hole, I imagine it might get one home from Baja, not
that I know the place, to where one has a full set of tools to do the
tire properly or replace it. Just my two cents, for the money and
convenience, it's cheap insurance, no need to even lift the bike up.

 

nor even carry a pump!