Why.....

[Rye]

can't you patch a motorcycle tire from inside? I have trashed brand new tires in the past because oif nails, but I still can't manufacture a reason why it can't be internally patched like say my truck tires. Has anyone done it yet and do they know anyone that can do it?

[Stoneman]

Randy?

[ducatiboy]

I believe michelin makes a patch with a plug attached, ie take tire off, pull push plug through hole, and patch seals to inside of tire. I have plugged tires and driven them a few thosand miles

[Rye]

I don't believe the tire would have a huge failure at speed. Maybe it would leak til flat..... but a blowout? Randy has done this?

[ducatiboy]

leak til flat I think, although if it was a race tire, i would get a new tire

[bemused]

I've wondered the same thing... got a rear w/ less than 1K miles in my basement, only prob is a screw hole in the tread. I'm tempted to patch 'er and throw 'er on, just to see if it holds...

[RandyO]

All I have ever used is external radial tire plugs, never had a problem, why waste time taking tire off to use internal patch?

[beet]

randy

[Kham]

i dont see why not either but im no tire expert.

i had a nail in my low profile tire side wall before. it's a 140+ Z rated whatever and every shop i went to they refused to fix it. i asked a guy from some shop to patch it up from the inside and he was nice enough to do it. i didnt have any problem until i sold a car a year later. cost me $15 instead of $200+ new tire.

[jsven007]

All I have ever used is external radial tire plugs, never had a problem, why waste time taking tire off to use internal patch?

I know a few riders that have used external plugs when they picked up a nail. Both of the riders had the tires lose air and go flat on them. Because of temperature changes and tire flex, an external plug is likely to lose air. Up in Nova Scotia the Hayabusa's rear tire with a plug had 9 PSI in it before we realized it was low. Very dangerous...

An good internal patch is the proper way to patch a tire. With an external plug, you are only asking for an accident as you blast that onramp or rail those twisties.

[ducatiboy]

I keep a kit with me on long rides, rubber plugs, rub cement, 2 plug tool. It always gets me home. I'm going to start carrying a couple braided plugs. I think they work much better. I plugged a rip in the sidewall of a jeep tire with 4 plugs once, leaked out every 2 days, but got me home

[Rye]

From what I've found out, sport tires should have the following characteristcs to be a patch candidate. External patches are out of the question for me. I am just not comfortable with the way they work.

1) The nail should be in the meat of the tire ie. not in the grooves as there is more "meat" to provide rigidity.

2) the nail should be close to perpendicular to the tread to minimize cutting and levering of the rubber when the nail enters the tire. This can supposedly cause issues with the cords within the rubber when the tire gets hot.

3) Tire should have at least 50% tread life left.

4)Tire should not have gone completely flat or ridden while flat.

5) No other attempts have been made to patch the hole. Tire slime, external patches/plugs.

6) tire is less than 3-4 years old

These are for plugging a tire and not patching, but I feel they are probably a good guide to follow to see if your tire can be done. Since mine fits all characteristics, I'm gonna give it a shot...wtf.

[beet]

ive used um. if the tire is shot . get a new tire.

[RandyO]

I had my dealer plug a tire for me, I ran over a drill bit on my way to drop it off for service, the tire was almost at wear bars, they did not want to plug it, so I told them I would pick it up with flat tire and plug it myself, I wanted to get 2 more weeks out of tires, even though I had brand new ones sitting here at my house.
They ended up plugging tire for me.

[beet]

till the cords walked home
high speed & all i told him he was nuts
he said he din't care used that shit till it just sprayed out the side