Plugging tires - opinion - Vstrom 650 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Plugging tires - opinion - Vstrom 650

MacDoc

MacDoc

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Have a near new set of Pilot Road 3.

Have a slow leak somewhere in the main tread ( finding it tomorrow )

Can a plugged tire be ridden normally for the remaining tread life

Is it any advantage to get it plugged by a shop? Will the shops do it?

Thanks.

I intend to switch to Heindenaus but enjoyed the Pilot for riding ...not so noisy and perhaps better in the rain.
 
I got a nail dead centre on my rear tire on my new GSA a month or so back, only 500kms on the tire. I plugged it and have been rising failing and watching my TPMS. It has not dropped or changed plug is holding at 2700 km.
 
Excellent - I'm just putting new batteries in my TPMS senders so will check it. What kind of plug?
 
Plug going from the inside and done professionally?

I just bought some Pilot 4's. Will try to get some wear out of them tomorrow.
I felt for the way I ride, and what I ride on, they were a good choice.
 
I would plug or patch or even plug/patch combo and think nothing of it. I use to work in a garage so think nothing of it. Will be hard to find someone in a shop to take on the liability risk of doing it for you tho. I have had a plug or two in and used until the tire hit the wear bars.
 
I plugged a tire myself and trimmed it nicely and had no problems,


"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"
 
Have had a "Stop & Go" mushroom type plug in my VStrom 650 stock rear tire for some time now. Have been monitoring with TPMS and no issues (onroad and offroad).
 
I patched my present tire, no plugs. Still running 5k kms later
 
What are you guys on Vstroms using for a TPMS -- as I am fairly certain this was not an OEM option.
 
I use this one

71C6EVN07yL._SX522_.jpg


http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Ti...2644077&sr=1-3&refinements=p_4:Tire-Safeguard
 
Best to have it plugged from the inside, that way the pressure is forcing the plug into the hole.

I believe that the standard is two plugs maximum, in the tread portion of the tire, not the sidewalls,
and they have to be a certain minimum distance apart.

Not 100% certain that I'd trust a plug, but I haven't had a situation yet. At $200+ per tire, it would be tempting.
 
Anything but a patch and a plug combo is not safe and not proper practice.

Tire needs to be taken off from the rim to inspect damage inside. A hole needs to be drilled to eliminate all the stress and ripped wire. A plug goes in from the inside, a patch on top (some plugs come with a patch attached). Area where the patch goes should be scuffed or gently sanded. Inner liner sealer should be used to cover up whatever sanded area is sticking out from around the patch.

This is the proper procedure accepted by the tire industry. Anything else is inadequate. It may or may not result in failure. I never take a chance. Have seen enough botched repair jobs and the end results.
 
Opinions vary - one rider races and uses plugs all the time.

I tried the Stop and Go which is a mushroom plug and while it would get a bike to a repair place there is still a slow leak - a bit less than what it was.... very slow but not trust worthy and there have been some negative reports on that style tho many ride it to the wear bars.

The string type seem a bit more reliable as ite self vulcanizes. This was a good exercise as know what to do on the road at least to get to a service area.
Think I will get a Safetyseal kit from surveying the reviews of riders who have used both

got this one
$_35.JPG


http://www.amazon.com/Safety-Seal-String-Tire-Repair/dp/B001DIECCK

http://www.safetyseal.com

Nother reason to have a water bottle along...find the leak. :D

I dont wrench and if I'm going to take it to the dealer I just put a new rear on.
The Strom will only be local riding for the rest of the year so will be a decent test for the SafetySeal product.

I think I might give the Stop and Go one more try to see if I can get it to work.
Seems when you stretch the plug back out to get the mushroom cap to be flat that's where it is hard to tell the correct amount of pull.

1000__14618.1381368154.1280.1280.jpg


http://www.stopngo.com/pocket-tire-plugger-for-all-tubeless-tires/

I'm not particularly worried on a slow leak failure - I'll keep the TPMS on all the time instead of just check.

This may be a good overview of both....might be the Stopngo method has made the string method impossible now but I'd rather have the string kit with me and I'll just use the Stopngo compressor.

Like what others have said, I have not had a string plug even leak on me for 1000's of miles.
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Hmmm this looks good too

http://www.dynaplug.com
 
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Not an opinion. Tire Industry Association standard. If you repaired someone's tire outside of recognized best business practice you would be liable in court if something were to happen.

It's just like running with scissors - yes you can. Is it smart though?

Those self-repair kits are temporary solutions only, not meant for long term. I would only use it if I was stuck somewhere, away from the city or to get to the repair shop.
 
There are hundreds of riders who disagree with you completely

I once patched a Goldwing rear tire with a "sticky string" type of plug and then ran that tire until its natural death 10K miles later. If you are genuinely concerned about a visit to the ER you should consider the statistics against you when you ride. You can bring your motorcycling risk all the way down to zero just by selling the bike.
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I have used fixed about 6 flats on my Stroms, one on a fellow rider's bigger sport touring bike, and had one fixed on my Porsche Boxster way back when. I carry an air compressor and repair kit under my seat. I always used the "String" type of plug and had great success. In a couple of cases the plugs were on pretty new tires and lasted the life of the tire (that was true on my Boxster as well.)
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OK you folks do as you choose. I will continue to ride on the string repairs THAT I REPAIR. I've been over the ton on plugged tires and have cruised over three states on the slab with plugged motorcycle tires. I have yet to see a post on any motorcycle forum where anyone has reported an accident caused from a plugged motorcycle tire. One London commuter that uses his scooter as his primary vehicle is running on repair number 8 on one rear tire. Can you imagine how expensive his ride would be if he replaced the tire every time or paid for a $40 internal patch? Slow leak on a plug...perhaps the plug wasn't done properly or the tire is just worn out, can happen. Slow leak can happen to the valve also. I've had more slow leaks due to tire valves than anything else and I've been riding on two wheels since 1968.
Ride safe folks...........Mike
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Twilight Error said: ↑
Last year, I rode from Western Nebraska to Ct on a plugged/patched tire - it held up just fine and was the least of my worries on that trip. The tire flatted about 10 miles outside Chadron, I was able to string plug it and head back to town where I found a shop (Western Auto, on the only road through town) willing to give repairing it a shot
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.
Tedder
I rode from north of the Arctic Circle in Canada to Cancun, Mexico on a plugged tire.

Can anyone beat that? :deal
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including several who actual work in the tire repair industry.
Thats fine - you do what you like.

Gonna snag one of these tomorrow,

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/v...ss-tire-repair-kit-0092134p.html#.Vf4BibyLhZ9
 
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Update...
the plug worked sort of - pressure dropped from 40 to 28 overnight but that's with no riding and no pressure on the back tire ( up on the spools ).
Useful for very temporary repair IMNSHO...not much else.

So will wait for the SafetySeal to come in tomorrow....if it doesn't will try the Canadian Tire one. Too nice a day to fiddle with a tire .

Murphy's law some 100,000 km without a flat ..figure I might have a couple more stored up.....
 
Right rear tire of my car has 3 external string type plugs in it that I installed myself with the auto-store kit. Doesn't leak. The last one was plugged last fall when I took the summer wheels off. The two before that are probably 2 years old. Actually, with the last one, I didn't even know about the screw in the tire until I took the wheel off the car and saw it ... it wasn't leaking!

None of these repair methods are going to work in 100% of all circumstances. If the hole is too big or is more of an elongated cut than a hole, it's going to be trouble. The external string type works when you get a nail or screw or staple through the tread.
 
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