So last Saturday I get ready to go for a cruise and the rim is resting on the foor. I turn the wheel and find a nail in the top dead center of the rear tire.

I call the local dealer to get a patch price and they are telling me they do not patch tires for liability reasons.

He said the tire is no good and will burst over 70 MPH. Well this is a major bummer because I have like 1500 miles on the bike and now I gotta blow 300 bucks for a new tire and labor on an otherwise perfectly good Diablo.

Is this guy blowing smoke up my *** or can my hole seriously not be safely patched?

 

My recommendation is to replace the tire. It's far more expensive than patching, but is well worth the insurance that it won't blow. These aren't like car tires that are flat, and distribute the weight of the vehicle across 4 wheels. Also, if you blow a car tire you stand a likely chance of easily maintaining control. Not so on the bike.

I just went through a similar deal with my new F4i. Had to replace the tire at 1200 mi after I picked up a nail. I patched it just so I could ride it to the shop to have them replace the tire. I have a buddy that replaced his tire due to age/wear after about 6000 mi. He had ridden his new tire for about 200 mi when he picked up a nail. As much as it sucked, he bought another new tire.

It's the safest/smartest way to go.

 

The advice will always be replace the tyre from dealers or tyre manufacturers, that way they cannot be held responsible if anything happens, i`ve repaired punctures on 2 occasions one being on the latest and have had no problems, i`ve also been up to 175 on the repaired item and its still not killed me.
I`m not trying to convince ya just givin my side of it, you could look at it both ways expense versus if it blows your in trouble. I chose repair but i used to work with tyres so i made sure i went to somewhere i trusted, get a propper job done.

 

Just to add, you can`t fix a hole in the tyre wall thats extreamley dangerous.

 

I always have heard that it is better to get a new tire, than to patch. Well, I bought a new tire. In the meanwhile of having it put on, I patched my tire that had nails in 2 different spots (in the middle) on my back tire. I have been up to 130, done a few wheelies and even locked up the tire a couple of times. I ride in the DC area, where it is fashionable (apparently) to have potholes all over the freakin place. Then one day a box shows up at my door. I'm like "Oh snap!" I had forgotten that fast that I had bought the tire, but I did not have any mishaps. I still have the tire sitting in the garage. I'll have the new one put on during the down time. If it lasted this long, I may as well get my money's worth.

Another point, the tire was new, well 500 miles on it, and it is a Shinko, if that means anything. I bought a Dunlop, though.

 

Certain manufacturers have different words of wisdom on this michelin say you should never repair a tyre while bridgestone say sometimes its ok depeding on where and how bad the hole is. It can get confusing but if you use your common sense (ahem, from the man who sid the said repaired item did 175 with no probs) and go to a reputable tyre dealer then you should n`t have any problems.

I`ve done it a few times always to nearly new tyres [:@] what is it that makes that happen? you ride around for ages with a bald tyre with no problems then when you get a new set fitted you get a puncture. ? ? ?

 

I'm on my 4th tire in 5000 miles; each because of a nail. The last time it happened, I picked up a nail on the ride home from having the tire installed, so I elected to have it patched. I was told by the bike shop that they would not patch it, but they recommeded a tire dealership that does heat patches. Since then, the tire has been abused for 2000 miles with no problems. It's interesting to me that the guys who refuse to patch the tire are the same guys that sell new tires. The place that patched the tire said they have never heard of a problem resulting from a patch and no one I know has ever had a problem with a patched tire (and I've been riding for 20 years). If any of you know of any stories involving a patched tire failing, please tell all.

 

here's a thought, do any of you know if there exists an insurance policy that could be purchased by the manufacturer. i know going through insurance would be more hassle than its worth and might make a premium go up. ive done that with my car tires in the past. but most of the time, all they would have to do with a car tire is patch it, not replace it every time. i did get a brand new one once. they figured my price on how much wear there was left and i got a brand new one for a quarter. if not, i think we should approach someone with it and see if some company would experiment with the idea.

 

There are companies that insure auto tires for about $40.00 but I have never seen one that does motorcycles. There are some people that would never ride a patched tire, and then there are many that have with no problems.

For that matter there are riders that have brand new tires, or would never even ride, yet they have never changed their shock oil in three seasons because they don't think that is needed.

jg