Tyres, Brakes and Suspension » Flat tyre again!

After all, statistics must be kept !!! So I got my 3 puncture today in 3 years. i.e. 1 puncture per year. This time around, it was a sharp flat stone (like a small shark tooth) that had cut into the tire, actually very far out in the side, so it must have happened during the laydown in turns.

Zitat von Bimbam im Beitrag #1

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After all, statistics must be kept !!! So I got my 3 puncture today in 3 years. i.e. 1 puncture per year. This time around, it was a sharp flat stone (like a small shark tooth) that had cut into the tire, actually very far out in the side, so it must have happened during the laydown in turns.

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It's amazing the things that can penetrate a tyre . I once had a flat caused by a 5/16 bolt which had a nut and 2 washers still attached to it . No idea where it came from or why it wasn't flung away by centrifugal force.

Strangest thing I've ever pulled from a tire - a 4mm L hex wrench. Complete. With the tip of the short section barely peeking through the tread

I used to be one of those people who could say I'd never had a flat tire on my bikes. Then I got my RS and I had to replace the back tire twice in less than six months for a screw one time and what appeared to be animal bone the second.

Bimbam, bad luck that and not repairable either.

My history of punctures is variable but one year, I had almost one a week for a couple of months. It was terrible and I considered giving up riding a bike as a result. They were nearly all screws and most were in the central portion of the tread. After some research, thought and discussion with a friend of mine who worked on m/c tyres in a tyre shop, I decided to repair them myself. I get my local tyre shop to remove the tyre for me (they don't do m/c tyres but are happy to help), I bring it home and repair carefully using 'mushrooms' and proper vulcanising adhesive. I have now repaired at least five tyres this way and have never had the slightest problem over tens of thousands of miles. Obviously, I only repair small holes, in the central portion of the tread, using good materials and check very carefully for any carcass damage. With a mushroom, the combination of the adhesive, the plug effect in the hole, the large surface area adhering to the tyre wall and the 'push' from the tyre pressure itself makes any failure extremely unlikely in my opinion. Personally, I would never use an external 'plug' of any sort as anything but a temporary, get -me -home repair but I know others do.

There are people who say that you never can tell if there is carcass damage but I think that a small hole in the centre portion is highly unlikely to have damaged the tyre's structure. If you have ridden much more than a very short distance with a deflated tyre, I think that repairing would be very unwise and I was once forced to ride very slowly for a half a mile or so. It was too dangerous to stop and I binned the tyre after the event although it looked fine. Superficially!

Of course, this decision is up to the individual rider and I make no recommendation to anyone! This is just what I do. However, it might be worth remembering that not too many years ago, tyres would be repaired by tyre shops, within certain criteria of course. The huge threat from litigation has made this impossible now and no shop that I know will contemplate repairs, always saying that you have to replace the tyre.

If you have a spate of punctures, the likely cause in my opinion, is builders who loose screws and nails all the time from their pick-ups. With the scale of building going on around where I live (paused for the moment because of the plague) this is an ever present problem right now. I have heard both car and m/c pilots complain of the number of punctures that they have been getting recently. The tyre shops locally say that business is very good!

Strange things puncture rear tyres because they are flicked up by the front and in the battle between the road surface and the tyre, the softer tyre loses. It's also why most car punctures are the near side rear, kerbside debris is flicked up by the front.

Some time ago it was mentioned by someone on a forum that placing a flap under the engine, in front of the rear wheel should prevent debris from being flung up by the front wheel and impacting the rear tire. It seems to make sense to me, although I never gave it a try and so far have always just depended upon not riding near a construction site or into a freeway breakdown lane.

OK, make it number three for me on the RS. What is it about this bike that seems to find every nail on the road? Enough venting. This one was a roofing or siding nail. It was nearly centered on the tire and went in about a perpendicular to the tire circumstances as you'd ever hope to see. I lost no air at all coming home but that sure changed when I pulled the nail out.

So here's the question. The tire probably has at least another 6000 miles left on it and the front is the same. The local dealer doesn't believe in patching tires. I have a patch on one of my truck tires that's at least 4 year old and still holding fine. What is your experience with patching tires? Is it safe to do so if it holds air? I'm incline to buy one of the patch, plugging kits and give it a try. I'd be interested in folks opinions and feedback.20240502_182748.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)20240502_182748.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Zitat von Davidnapo im Beitrag #10

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OK,make it number three for me on the RS. What is it about this bike that seems to find every nail on the road? Enough venting. This one was a roofing or siding nail. It was nearly centered on the tire and went in about a perpendicular to the tire circumstances as you'd ever hope to see. I lost no air at all coming home but that sure changed when I pulled the nail out.

So here's the question. The tire probably has at least another 6000 miles left on it and the front is the same. The local dealer doesn't believe in patching tires. I have a patch on one of my truck tires that's at least 4 year old and still holding fine. What is your experience with patching tires? Is it safe to do so if it holds air? I'm incline to buy one of the patch, plugging kits and give it a try. I'd be interested in folks opinions and feedback.

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A mushroom plug fitted from the inside properly and it's good as new.

Zitat von Davidnapo im Beitrag #10

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What is your experience with patching tires? Is it safe to do so if it holds air? I'm incline to buy one of the patch, plugging kits and give it a try. I'd be interested in folks opinions and feedback

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In terms of a tyre repair, inside or out, it couldn't be in a better position for a plug - amost in the centre of the tyre.