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Plugging a tire

MMcc

MMcc

New member
Finished a nice 300+ mile ride with some of the Minnesota spyders on Saturday. I had to head home so did not attend the dinner. Ran into some rough weather that last 40 miles. The spyder handled the wind and rain OK but something was just not right. This morning when I went out to clean up the RT I noticed the rear tire was flat. Pumped it up and checked for leaks. Found a small puncture in the tread but no nail or other object in the tire. 9000 miles with lots of tread left. Tire dealer here in town said that he could fix it with a mushroom head plug. He will not attempt to remove the tire from the rim. I have had these plugs used in car tires before but never in a motorcycle like the spyder. Hate to purchase a new tire but if I must I must. Has anyone had any experience with plugs on/in the spyder tire?
 
MMcc said:
Finished a nice 300+ mile ride with some of the Minnesota spyders on Saturday. I had to head home so did not attend the dinner. Ran into some rough weather that last 40 miles. The spyder handled the wind and rain OK but something was just not right. This morning when I went out to clean up the RT I noticed the rear tire was flat. Pumped it up and checked for leaks. Found a small puncture in the tread but no nail or other object in the tire. 9000 miles with lots of tread left. Tire dealer here in town said that he could fix it with a mushroom head plug. He will not attempt to remove the tire from the rim. I have had these plugs used in car tires before but never in a motorcycle like the spyder. Hate to purchase a new tire but if I must I must. Has anyone had any experience with plugs on/in the spyder tire?
Click to expand...

Never with a Spyder, But i did on the rear tire on my VTX 1800, It only had about 3 hundred miles on it when it picked up a nail, Rode it for about 6 thousand more miles with no problems. I did use a sealer in conjunction with the plug.
 
tire

i just went through the same thing, but i had only 600 miles on the rear tire so i ordered a new one, some of my friends think i was nuts not putting a plug in it and some thought i did the right thing and ordered a new one so i am guessing it's up to you to decide
 
Well..!!

I can only give you my opinion. Have plugged many a tire, mine and others, while working in shops. Never had a problem and the mushroom plugs are the best. Somewhere down the line repairing became a no-no and only replacing is done. If the puncture is on the sidewall or to large a whole I understand. The rear tire on these units is a car tire. Many replace them with car tires but the oem tire says for motorcycles. Still the choice is yours....:dontknow:
 
Chupaca said:
I can only give you my opinion. Have plugged many a tire, mine and others, while working in shops. Never had a problem and the mushroom plugs are the best. Somewhere down the line repairing became a no-no and only replacing is done. If the puncture is on the sidewall or to large a whole I understand. The rear tire on these units is a car tire. Many replace them with car tires but the oem tire says for motorcycles. Still the choice is yours....:dontknow:
Click to expand...
this brings up a ? I've had and no had the. Answer will ride on keep a plug from sticking right and working?
 
PLUGING A TIRE ????

This is my opinion only and probably not favored by most but, ......on our Spyders the tires are not CONVENTIONAL MTC. tires even though they are stamped and labeled as such. I would not PLUG a MTC tire except to maybe get out of the desert so I wouldn't DIE. But people plug CAR tires all the time and it works. That being said I would plug the rear tire on the Spyder......If it doesn't hold and it spits the plug out at some point you ARE NOT going suffer Catastrophic tire failure as in a BLOW OUT. It's going to go flat. Spyders have 3 wheels and stability control + ABS , I think you will be safe .......I had FLAT occur at 75 MPH on a loaded GOLD WING and It remained stable.......But tires are not expensive ( especially if you switch to a car tire ) so it's your call........Mike
 
Last edited:
r1100rider said:
this brings up a ? I've had and no had the. Answer will ride on keep a plug from sticking right and working?
Click to expand...

Yes, it can keep a mushroom type plug from sealing as well as it should. The plug will probably hold, though. If there is a leak that Rid-On does not seal, however, a plug may not seal it either. Holes outside the main tread area or at the tread edges will not be sealed by Ride-On and they should not be plugged, either. Those tires should be replaced.
 
Had a plug installed in the front tire of my work truck (E250) with a heavy load. Ran that tire for two years on all kinds of roads. I prefer patching from inside, but if the dealer won't do it, I would say it's a personal call.
 
Chupaca said:
. Somewhere down the line repairing became a no-no and only replacing is done.
Click to expand...

This approach has developed for a couple of reasons. First, conventional motorcycle tires have very thin tread, so will seldom hold a plug for long, if they hold one at all. Motorcycle riders with tubeless tires have become accustomed to replacing them out of necessity. Besides, as BlueKnight said, a failure of a plug on a motorcycle tire has more serious conequences...if the tire goes down the rider often does too. Another reason is the advent of radial tires...especially the steel belted ones. The stell belts, especially in a thin carcass, interfere with the plug's ability to seal well. Tire shops found they could not guarantee their repairs with these tires, and many stopped plugging them as a result. A plug has come to be understood as a temporary repair, accordingly.
 
tire plug update

Thanks to all who responded. I believe I will have the tire replaced. Here is an interesting question. Many spoke about Ride-on and some additional thoughts on Ride-on. If Ride-on would have sealed the puncture then I would not have been aware of the damage because the tire did not go flat. On various web sites some say it is only a temporary fix. If I did not know that there was a problem I would continue to use that tire. So my question is are tire sealants good or just masking a problem that could cause further problems down the road? (no pun intended) Since this puncture was about 2 inches in from the tire edge it is in a questionable area. Thus my decision to replace not repair.
 
tire

what ever happened to patching a tire from the inside, sure it cost more money but i fell it is a better way to take care of a flat other than a plug
 
I would never plug a tire on a 2 wheel motorcycle unless it's only to get me home. And even then I'd be super nervous.
I'd probably not depend on a plug in a Spyder tire long term simply because if it does go flat and your away your beat...not having a spare.
Currently, I have a plug on my daily driver jeep that has been there for a few years that was done from the inside. No issues, no worries.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
INSIDE PATCHES

cuznjohn said:
what ever happened to patching a tire from the inside, sure it cost more money but i fell it is a better way to take care of a flat other than a plug
Click to expand...

Yes I remember those also, I think it was called a VULCANIZED patch .....They did it with Heat and high pressure,,,,,Lasted forever.........Possibly you can't do it with Radials or Steel Belted tires ??????....Mike :thumbup:
 
BLUEKNIGHT911 said:
Yes I remember those also, I think it was called a VULCANIZED patch .....They did it with Heat and high pressure,,,,,Lasted forever.........Possibly you can't do it with Radials or Steel Belted tires ??????....Mike :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Its still done, But heat isn't used it's a chemical reaction/bond. And it will work on any tire.
My Son just used one in his Side-by tire, And the hole was the size of his thumb.
That said a hole that size i wouldn't even think about patching on a street machine..
 
boborgera said:
Its still done, But heat isn't used it's a chemical reaction/bond. And it will work on any tire.
My Son just used one in his Side-by tire, And the hole was the size of his thumb.
That said a hole that size i wouldn't even think about patching on a street machine..
Click to expand...

Bob, I'm sure I'm a bit older than you and the process I had done AND WITNESSED involved heat and a press.......Hence the term VULCANIZED ? ? ?......Mike ............Although my memeory isn't what it used to be :gaah: :agree: :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:
 
The old vulcanizing process has been improved. With new materials available, the bond is now mostly done chemically. Vulcanizing worked with natural rubber tires, but not so well with synthetics like nylon. The tire still has to be turned inside out or flattened on a machine, scarified, cleaned, and then the patch bonded. This type of patch used to be called a "boot", but I don't know if that is still a valid term. Potential problems with booting a tire include an inability to balance it adequately, rough riding due to different flexibility at the point of repair, and separation of the patch due to poor preparation, contaminants, or an old tire. I would expect the light, thi Spyder tire to have some difficulty with a boot...especially a Kenda, which may ride rough or be hard to balance in the first place.
 
BLUEKNIGHT911 said:
Bob, I'm sure I'm a bit older than you and the process I had done AND WITNESSED involved heat and a press.......Hence the term VULCANIZED ? ? ?......Mike ............Although my memeory isn't what it used to be :gaah: :agree: :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:
Click to expand...

Don't know how old you are, 85/90 maybe??;)
I'm 68, and in my youth growing up in Brooklyn i lived next door to a mechanics garage [Sinclair gas] And spent many a summers day hanging
around his shop, The vulcanizer look like a big ''C'' clamp, And it clamped both the inside and the tread [outside] And your right it was heated..
..
 
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