Tire.. patch or plug
#1
10-05-2010, 12:17 AM
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Tire.. patch or plug
Okay lemme tell you my story about my rear tire
Getting off the highway one day heading to class I was in mid-turn and all of a sudden I felt a gradual roughness of the steering of the bike. As the curve ended and nearing the school, I swayed sideways a slight to check overall feel of where it is coming from. At first impression I thought it was the suspension then crossed that out. I looked at the rear and it seemed to look normal as I was riding. It was not until after class an hour later that I noticed that the rear tire had a flat.
I then took it to a local bike shop to see if its fixable. The guy just looks at it from a distance lookin at the small hole and says" You need a new tire" I mean this is from a stealership who said I needed new handgrips and charged me twice for an inspection sticker when i first got my license and bike.
I mean by lookin at the tire where the hole was located, it was very very small. The parts clerk showed me that he has a tire kit in which I was interested in. I was thinkin it was going to be a patch repair kit but instead I was shown the plug kit. I have to say after working for Honda for years I dislike using the plug type kit to fix a flat tire since the material can pop out of the hole anytime resulting a flat tire again.
Since the shop wanted to charge me $70 to plug a tire, I declined it and decided to do it on my own. I bought a tire bead breaker from harber freight and two tire irons to fix my flat rear. And so far it's been running well and it has saved me some $$$ If there are companies out there making patch kits for flat motorcycle tires then how come people are skeptic about patching a tire then?
Sorry for this story telling but this leads me to the question after reading many sites and opinions from both sides that if you members here have ever encountered this situation b4.. patch or plug or new tire?
Sam
Getting off the highway one day heading to class I was in mid-turn and all of a sudden I felt a gradual roughness of the steering of the bike. As the curve ended and nearing the school, I swayed sideways a slight to check overall feel of where it is coming from. At first impression I thought it was the suspension then crossed that out. I looked at the rear and it seemed to look normal as I was riding. It was not until after class an hour later that I noticed that the rear tire had a flat.
I then took it to a local bike shop to see if its fixable. The guy just looks at it from a distance lookin at the small hole and says" You need a new tire" I mean this is from a stealership who said I needed new handgrips and charged me twice for an inspection sticker when i first got my license and bike.
I mean by lookin at the tire where the hole was located, it was very very small. The parts clerk showed me that he has a tire kit in which I was interested in. I was thinkin it was going to be a patch repair kit but instead I was shown the plug kit. I have to say after working for Honda for years I dislike using the plug type kit to fix a flat tire since the material can pop out of the hole anytime resulting a flat tire again.
Since the shop wanted to charge me $70 to plug a tire, I declined it and decided to do it on my own. I bought a tire bead breaker from harber freight and two tire irons to fix my flat rear. And so far it's been running well and it has saved me some $$$ If there are companies out there making patch kits for flat motorcycle tires then how come people are skeptic about patching a tire then?
Sorry for this story telling but this leads me to the question after reading many sites and opinions from both sides that if you members here have ever encountered this situation b4.. patch or plug or new tire?
Sam
#3
10-05-2010, 02:00 AM
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#4
10-05-2010, 06:46 AM
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People are skeptical because they dont want to take the tire off the rem.
Do you know what made the hole and how big was the hole?
I would never use a Plug on My tire but I would patch a pin hole.
I do allot of riding with My tire only at 18-20 psi though.
If you go do hard riding like twisties I push it up to 40
Do you know what made the hole and how big was the hole?
I would never use a Plug on My tire but I would patch a pin hole.
I do allot of riding with My tire only at 18-20 psi though.
If you go do hard riding like twisties I push it up to 40
#5
10-05-2010, 08:19 AM
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#6
10-05-2010, 09:59 AM
Most panseys will tell you to get a new tire. if you got the coin, go for it.
I had not even gone through a full tank of gas on my new pilot powers and found a screw in the back. 2 weeks later found ANOTHER, give me a damn break.
2 plugs later, a trip to the 1/4 mile strip and a few top speed runs, and no leaks yet.
so PLUG IT (yourself) as long as the hole is in the center.
DO IT RIGHT, get the whole kit, file/smooth the hole, apply rubber cement, ram in the plug HALF WAY, trim plug excess, ride.
I always carry a plug kit with me and have used it alteast 5 times on buddys bikes during a ride, none have ever come back with a leak.
new mounted tire = $140
dealership plug = $70
your own plug = $5
Not telling anyone they're stupid for buying a new tire, thats obviously the best thing to do, but plugs work perfectly fine.
flame on......
I had not even gone through a full tank of gas on my new pilot powers and found a screw in the back. 2 weeks later found ANOTHER, give me a damn break.
2 plugs later, a trip to the 1/4 mile strip and a few top speed runs, and no leaks yet.
so PLUG IT (yourself) as long as the hole is in the center.
DO IT RIGHT, get the whole kit, file/smooth the hole, apply rubber cement, ram in the plug HALF WAY, trim plug excess, ride.
I always carry a plug kit with me and have used it alteast 5 times on buddys bikes during a ride, none have ever come back with a leak.
new mounted tire = $140
dealership plug = $70
your own plug = $5
Not telling anyone they're stupid for buying a new tire, thats obviously the best thing to do, but plugs work perfectly fine.
flame on......
Last edited by Sick97SS; 10-05-2010 at 10:07 AM.
#7
10-05-2010, 10:22 AM
#8
10-05-2010, 11:22 AM
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Posts: n/a
The cynic in me says its a scam. I also had a nail in the center of my half used rear tire and Honda determined I needed a new tire. I kept trying to qualify his judgment but finally went ahead with a very expensive new tire.
Later that day I called around to some local tire shops and all of them said that htey would likely be able to patch it but would need to look at it first.
I decided to take the tire in and have it looked at so I went back to the Honda shop and was told (just a few hours later) that my tire was gone. Needless to say I was getting really po'd and as I was speaking to the Mgr my used tire magically appeared with some bs story about it getting mixed up in the pile. I knew something was fishy at this point.
They did give me my old tire and I took it to a tire shop and they did a repair for $12.
I do realize the risk but I clearly stated to Honda that I would accept this risk to save $140. They refused then pulled this stunt.
Later that day I called around to some local tire shops and all of them said that htey would likely be able to patch it but would need to look at it first.
I decided to take the tire in and have it looked at so I went back to the Honda shop and was told (just a few hours later) that my tire was gone. Needless to say I was getting really po'd and as I was speaking to the Mgr my used tire magically appeared with some bs story about it getting mixed up in the pile. I knew something was fishy at this point.
They did give me my old tire and I took it to a tire shop and they did a repair for $12.
I do realize the risk but I clearly stated to Honda that I would accept this risk to save $140. They refused then pulled this stunt.
#9
10-05-2010, 12:22 PM
Join Date: Apr 2010
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People are skeptical because they dont want to take the tire off the rem.
Do you know what made the hole and how big was the hole?
I would never use a Plug on My tire but I would patch a pin hole.
I do allot of riding with My tire only at 18-20 psi though.
If you go do hard riding like twisties I push it up to 40
Do you know what made the hole and how big was the hole?
I would never use a Plug on My tire but I would patch a pin hole.
I do allot of riding with My tire only at 18-20 psi though.
If you go do hard riding like twisties I push it up to 40
I scraped the inside and use the adhesive to patch the tire up along w/ the 3 1/2 in rubber patch
#10
10-05-2010, 12:29 PM
Join Date: Apr 2010
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The cynic in me says its a scam. I also had a nail in the center of my half used rear tire and Honda determined I needed a new tire. I kept trying to qualify his judgment but finally went ahead with a very expensive new tire.
Later that day I called around to some local tire shops and all of them said that htey would likely be able to patch it but would need to look at it first.
I decided to take the tire in and have it looked at so I went back to the Honda shop and was told (just a few hours later) that my tire was gone. Needless to say I was getting really po'd and as I was speaking to the Mgr my used tire magically appeared with some bs story about it getting mixed up in the pile. I knew something was fishy at this point.
They did give me my old tire and I took it to a tire shop and they did a repair for $12.
I do realize the risk but I clearly stated to Honda that I would accept this risk to save $140. They refused then pulled this stunt.
Later that day I called around to some local tire shops and all of them said that htey would likely be able to patch it but would need to look at it first.
I decided to take the tire in and have it looked at so I went back to the Honda shop and was told (just a few hours later) that my tire was gone. Needless to say I was getting really po'd and as I was speaking to the Mgr my used tire magically appeared with some bs story about it getting mixed up in the pile. I knew something was fishy at this point.
They did give me my old tire and I took it to a tire shop and they did a repair for $12.
I do realize the risk but I clearly stated to Honda that I would accept this risk to save $140. They refused then pulled this stunt.
It's probably because they look at me as a new rider *april 2010* But I know my **** and have passed the mechanical exam from the military
back to topic, the small hole is in the middle of the tire and not anywhere near to the sidewall tread.
pics will be uploaded later
Last edited by AmazinAznF4I; 10-05-2010 at 12:33 PM.