SuperHawkins

So I can over a huge nail....dead in the middle of the tread. I threw a plug in it and it's holding so far... I'm thinking about dismounting the tire and patching it myself, being as it's in the middle of the tread and Ive been patching tires at work for 3 1/2 years..

My question is, how safe do you think it is? It's a Michelin Pilot Road and has maybe 2000 miles on it, it's practically new and I just can't afford a new tire.

What do you guys think?

lazn

I would patch it from the inside and leave the plug in there (well cut off what is sticking "into" the tire) then balance the wheel and ride without being too squidly until you can replace it. A blowout on a motorcycle is terrifying. But a patch is fairly strong and should be fine if you aren't regularly going 100mph, for a while anyways.

Hawkrider

Story:

I once used a plug on my RC51 rear tire. This was one of the cheapo $5 kits that you get at Auto Zone.

A month or so later I forgot all about that plug and did a top speed run against the Superhawk (my wife being the rider). I hit about 165.

Only later did I realize I still had the tire with the plug. Inspection revealed no problems at all with the plug or tire.

Would I do it again? Probably not. Was I lucky? Probably. Would I plug a front tire? No way!

nuhawk

I agree, this is one of those things that you don't have to have binoculars to see clearly. Booted from the outside and patched from the inside with a new tire - I would run as a casual rider. Good street tire. More aggressive than that who knows. The adhesive is not going to let you know lap by lap how much the plug is leaking. You only get to figure that out once you're picking up the pieces.

superbling

Plugs work wonderfully if the hole is smaller than the rope plugs, i.e., you need to use the tool to actually make the hole larger to install the plug. If it's bigger, get a new tire IMO.

I currently have plugs in my car tires with over 30k miles and I've never had a m/c tire plug fail in over 25 years of using them.

Randman

I couldn't sleep at night with a plug in my M.C. tire...Just my Opin...Not worth it...But as stated above, if you are just putting around no high speeds etc...Then whatever...You have to decide this one on your own, you will only have yourself to blame if something happens...Good luck with that...

jbaxx

Imo, a plug is probably fine for street riding. However, I recently picked up a nail in my nearly-new rear tire, and I decided to patch it instead. It's working fine w/ no problems.

L8RGYZ

I've used rope plugs on a few rear tires over the years as a short term solution.

In my experience the plugs seem to dry out (the sticky stuff) after about a month of being in the tire & they start to leak down.

The patch/plug on the inside is the way to go, even running them pretty fast. Never had one fail so far. I wouldn't run a repaired tire @ a trackday though.

penst8grad

My last set of tires picked up a freakin' staple with less than 500 miles on the rear. I had the rear dismounted and a patch put into it. I put over 2500 miles on that tire before I replaced it.

I wouldn't do a plug, but a patch I'm comfortable with.

superhawk48

Well I Would Not Use A Plug. Reason Number One; The Plug Will Allow Moisture In The Tire And Corrode The Cords In Tire. If You Are Going The Patch A Motorcycle Tire The Only Approved Way Is With A Patch Plug. The Manufacture Of The Tire Will Agree With This Method. The Patch Has A Rubber Plug Coming Out Of The Middle Of It And You Pull This Plug Through The Tire From The Inside Out, You Then Trim This Off Flush With The Tire And Then You Knead The Patch On The Inside With The Proper Tool. The Plug Then Expands To Fill The Hole In The Outside And Seal It Against Moisture. Had To Do This On A New Dunlop With Less Than A 100 Miles After Running Over A Roofing Nail. (damn Roofing Guys) The Plug/patch Has Been In The Tire Over 3800 Miles Now. Just Made A 2000 Mile Trip On This Tire. No Leaks No Problems. You Can Purchase These Plugs From A Supplier. Check Tire Stores They Carry Them.

SuperLoud

Wow! Are You Really Taking The Time To Capitalize The First Letter Of Every Word You Type? If So Don't Bother - It's Really A Pain In The *** to read. If its something that your computer is doing - then turn it of please.

Good info on the tire plug vs patch. I just had to plug 2 tires on my truck after the third blew out on the highway - the fourth tire is nail free so far.
And yes my whole neigborhood just got new roofs because of a hail storm so
I can't pin it on any one roofing company - oh well looks like a new set of tires is in order once all the nails are picked up.

bkelsey

If the plug is not letting air out, I find it hard to believe that it will let moisture in. And I doubt if any moto tire manufacturer has an approved method of patching their tires, but I am often wrong.

I've string plugged almost new tires before (2 rears with less than 1K miles on them, nail in the tread), and they lasted the life of the tire. I agree that a plug installed from the inside is a better solution, if you care to spend the time or money to have it done.

Anybody ever have a blow out from a string plug, or a slow leak that happened a good time after it was installed?

Sgt Rock