How dangerous is it to ride with a plug in your tire???? I just bought my bike a week ago and noticed it had a plug in the rear tire....Should I get a new tire??? The current tire is in really good shape.

 

it depends on several things. if it is one of those mushroom type plugs that are installed from the inside, they hold pretty good. another factor is where the patch is; if it is near the center of the tire, should be a little safer. also, if the hole was straight in or at an angle, etc... but the main thing is how aggresive you ride. for normal in town commuting, shouldn't be much of a problem but if you really ride hard and fast with major lean angles, you should probably get a new tire. i rode about 1500 miles on a plugged tire in some mildly aggresive riding situations but the plugged tire was always in the back of my mind. i could not fully enjoy my ride and push as much as i wanted until i changed the tire.

gw

 

Happened to a buddy of mine and several mechanics all told him the same thing about not going over 80 mph on a plugged tire. Obviously, I think it's safe to say that we ALL do over that often! I say buy a new tire, it's not worth it.

 

I would agree with buying a new tire. Most shops won't even plug tires which tells me the guy you bought it from probably did it himself. One more reason not to F with it!

 

do you guys think that an inside patch would be the same? I am a beginner and will not be getting that aggressive. My thought was to ride a lot around town (Under 65mph) and when I felt comfortable with the bike and was going to get a little more aggressive, I would get the tire changed. What are the thoughts on this?

 

plugged tire is quite different on a car than a bike. One is that if u have a blowout on a car the end result would be much better than on a bike. Not worth it, but the tire so you can feel safe about riding it.

 

Ok guys, I think I will get me a new tire....better to be safe then sorry.

 

I have a plug in my rear tire and I have roughly 2500 miles on it. I ride everyday at 85+ mph hitting 100+ here and there and no problems. The plug is almost dead center so it doesn't affect leans too much. I will be replacing both tires soon since they are very worn.

 

I got a tiny nail in my rear just when the bike was new, like the first week. I never had it plugged because I told myself that was a bad idea. But the tire was new so I couldn't bring myself to replace it. So I just filled it with air every day a rode it. Probably not a good idea in hind sight, especially when going well in excess of 110 mph. But I lucked out. That tire was in the back of my head the entire time. I pictured it blowing out going 120 down I-94 and tried to imagine the damage caused to the bike and to my body. hmmm.... I have a new tire now, thank God! As for the one with the hole... Just burn that bastard off ain a wicked cloud of grey/black smoke and post a video of it on the net! I rode mine and burned it off all the time alittle here alittle there. But dumbass me rode 2 or 3 thousand miles on it.

 

yeah, tires to me aren't something to play with, even at 65 in town a rear blowout can turn into a MAJOR event, when my tires get down to 20-25% i replace them, like everyone said, i don't want a tire in the back of my mind going through the skyway in a pack of 20 bikes.