Puncture preventatives / puncture repair kits
Discussion
I'm doing a flying visit to france pretty soon and although in the past I've relied on luck and the rac don't want to get stuck somewhere with a puncture so a 'couple' of questions (I've got a y2k blade with tubeless tyres, front is a 120 I think and rear is a 190 I think)...
Puncture preventatives: Are these safe or do you end up with a tyre ready to blowout at speed held together with goop when you have no idea you've had a bit of glass cut through the tyre? Do tyre fitters charge more for changing a tyre filled with goop? Do they give a visual indication they have done their stuff? If you get a visual indication should you ride more slowly? If you get a visual indication how far can you ride before getting the tyre replaced/fixed? Does the goop affect handling? Does the goop knacker the valve?
Puncture repair kits: Are any of these better than other? Can anyone recall which one won the ride best buy? Has anyone used one? Will the cannisters of co2 provide enough pressure to blow up my 190 rear tyre on the blade? What speed can I ride with a repair in place and how long can I ride for until getting it sorted?
Thanks,
Mark
Puncture preventatives: Are these safe or do you end up with a tyre ready to blowout at speed held together with goop when you have no idea you've had a bit of glass cut through the tyre? Do tyre fitters charge more for changing a tyre filled with goop? Do they give a visual indication they have done their stuff? If you get a visual indication should you ride more slowly? If you get a visual indication how far can you ride before getting the tyre replaced/fixed? Does the goop affect handling? Does the goop knacker the valve?
Puncture repair kits: Are any of these better than other? Can anyone recall which one won the ride best buy? Has anyone used one? Will the cannisters of co2 provide enough pressure to blow up my 190 rear tyre on the blade? What speed can I ride with a repair in place and how long can I ride for until getting it sorted?
Thanks,
Mark
Any puncture repair kit potentialy can cause problems, but sometimes it can be the difference between being stranded or getting home.
When I had my own Bike business, I either refused to remove any tyre fitted with the liquid type sealant or I charged double as do most dealers in my area. Apart from the fact that it doesn't work very well, additionaly it is corrosive and over time can eat through the carcass of the tyre. If the tyre is removed it takes forever to get it off the rime, and there is no way an internal plug will seal properly simply because it becomes embedded in the rubber and will not alow the mushroom to vulcanise.
With the external plug, what you have to be carefull of is that the manufacturers recommend that you travel no further than 200 miles at a maximum of about 30 MPH. That having been said, I did once come back from Amsterdam at 100+ without any problems, but a week or so later the blug let go big time and took about 4 square inches of front tyre with it........
The trouble with the external plug is that when you fit it, you are pushing in against the beading and this can cause seperation of the two carcasses of the tyre, so in real terms if it is then repaired internally, the chances are that it will not seal properly. It really is a get you home repair and then like with the gooey stuff you are looking at a change of tyre.
And before anyone says it, tyres can be repaired providing it is done with an internal mushroom and is vulcanised. It is not unlawful to repair even a Z rated tyre (I currently have 3 in the back of the Blackbird)it is simply that BSI recommend that you dont. However, providing it is a clean would and does not extend beyond 50% of the centre of the tyre and there is no damage to the sidewall, then fine but it must be done properly.
As a by the by, the chairman of the BSI committee who recommends that bike tyres are not repaired owns a firm that manufacturers internal mushroom repair kits for BIKE tyres!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope this helps
When I had my own Bike business, I either refused to remove any tyre fitted with the liquid type sealant or I charged double as do most dealers in my area. Apart from the fact that it doesn't work very well, additionaly it is corrosive and over time can eat through the carcass of the tyre. If the tyre is removed it takes forever to get it off the rime, and there is no way an internal plug will seal properly simply because it becomes embedded in the rubber and will not alow the mushroom to vulcanise.
With the external plug, what you have to be carefull of is that the manufacturers recommend that you travel no further than 200 miles at a maximum of about 30 MPH. That having been said, I did once come back from Amsterdam at 100+ without any problems, but a week or so later the blug let go big time and took about 4 square inches of front tyre with it........
The trouble with the external plug is that when you fit it, you are pushing in against the beading and this can cause seperation of the two carcasses of the tyre, so in real terms if it is then repaired internally, the chances are that it will not seal properly. It really is a get you home repair and then like with the gooey stuff you are looking at a change of tyre.
And before anyone says it, tyres can be repaired providing it is done with an internal mushroom and is vulcanised. It is not unlawful to repair even a Z rated tyre (I currently have 3 in the back of the Blackbird)it is simply that BSI recommend that you dont. However, providing it is a clean would and does not extend beyond 50% of the centre of the tyre and there is no damage to the sidewall, then fine but it must be done properly.
As a by the by, the chairman of the BSI committee who recommends that bike tyres are not repaired owns a firm that manufacturers internal mushroom repair kits for BIKE tyres!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope this helps
Thanks for all the information, I'll steer clear of the goo type preventative stuff. I hope you don't mind a couple more questions...
Thanks once again for all the useful info.
Regards,
Mark
Do they recommend the 30mph limit because of the lowered pressure in the tyre after using the co2 cannisters? Presumably you did 100+ after reinflating it to the recommended level did you? Under what circumstances did the front tyre let go in the end? Do you think the repair would have got to further if you had treated the tyre differently?
With the external plug, what you have to be carefull of is that the manufacturers recommend that you travel no further than 200 miles at a maximum of about 30 MPH. That having been said, I did once come back from Amsterdam at 100+ without any problems, but a week or so later the blug let go big time and took about 4 square inches of front tyre with it........
Thanks once again for all the useful info.
Regards,
Mark
nooooooooo. Tyre sealants are great ! try looking on the web for "ultraseal". It doesn't attack alloy wheels, and doesn't stop a proper vulcanised repair being done.
I have "slime" in the tube of the rear tyre as it's cheaper than Unltraseal, but wouldn't use it in alloy wheels.
Tyre sealants work, and work very well. Balance is not an issue if you go easy on how much you install.
The plug type kits are IMHO dangerous, and I wouldn't go near one. Just imagine if the plug came out? atleast the sealant is constantly refreshing itself, hence a gradual deflation at worst, or permanant repair at best.
There - a totally opposed view.
C
I have "slime" in the tube of the rear tyre as it's cheaper than Unltraseal, but wouldn't use it in alloy wheels.
Tyre sealants work, and work very well. Balance is not an issue if you go easy on how much you install.
The plug type kits are IMHO dangerous, and I wouldn't go near one. Just imagine if the plug came out? atleast the sealant is constantly refreshing itself, hence a gradual deflation at worst, or permanant repair at best.
There - a totally opposed view.
C
There - a totally opposed view.
Don't you just love the internet? Thanks for your opinion though. Are there any studies of how well these things work on line?
Regards,
Mark
Edited to add: I phoned my local tyre place and they said they don't charge any more for changing a tyre full of slime. They did they they wouldn't personally use slime as it tends to lump up in one place in the wheel much above 35mph throwing the wheel out of balance and they would recommend a tubeless puncture repair kit. They said the kits were good for 70mph and they also said the kit wouldn't generally effect the repairability of the tyre at a dealer.
>> Edited by dern on Tuesday 13th May 13:23
I was worried about the "lumping" theory, but with no balance problems experienced so far, I can only deduce that it is not a problem?
errrr, www.ultraseal.com is a good place to start! they rate themselves highly(!) allegedly the military & polic use the stuff.
The stuff I use costs £8. A puncture repair is atleast £25 assuming you don't damage the tyre when stopping, and can get to the repair place without riding. And they aren't closed, or too busy. Or French.
A sudden blow out could kill, so yeah I like the security.
Top tip though, if you carry a selection of VERY course pitch wood screws & some super glue... you can remove a lump of glass/nail, and wind in a screw + glue it. This has not been known to fail, but is probably illegal! I've done this trick in order to ride to a repair shop at low speed. They told me it would *never* come out by itself because it was rotated into the rubber.
Other thing - rear tyres seem to go about 5 times more often than front tyres, so consider just using the sealant in the back.
C
errrr, www.ultraseal.com is a good place to start! they rate themselves highly(!) allegedly the military & polic use the stuff.
The stuff I use costs £8. A puncture repair is atleast £25 assuming you don't damage the tyre when stopping, and can get to the repair place without riding. And they aren't closed, or too busy. Or French.
A sudden blow out could kill, so yeah I like the security.
Top tip though, if you carry a selection of VERY course pitch wood screws & some super glue... you can remove a lump of glass/nail, and wind in a screw + glue it. This has not been known to fail, but is probably illegal! I've done this trick in order to ride to a repair shop at low speed. They told me it would *never* come out by itself because it was rotated into the rubber.
Other thing - rear tyres seem to go about 5 times more often than front tyres, so consider just using the sealant in the back.
C
I ran slime in many of my bikes (though not at the moment on my KTM - keep meaning to fix that). Started in 1978 with a GT750 (2-stroker). Never noticed any lumping problems at speeds up to 125 (i.e. flat out). So I just added it to every bike from then on. Then (1978), elastic frame and no brakes to speak of so I suppose at 125 I had other things on my mind.
Big problems if you over-fill - lumpiness.
I did take one tyre of a Kawasaki to find thirteen punctures that I did not know of. Made me think about the excessive speeds of the past few weeks, and convinced me again that the stuff works.
Once had a hole caused by an M10 bolt through the front tyre. Handling went to pot so made me stop. Slime leaking past the bolt and not sealing. When I took out the bolt the hole was too much for the slime and I had to call RAC for a lift home. Without the slime I suspect that a crash would have followed the blow-out.
There - I am a fan!
Big problems if you over-fill - lumpiness.
I did take one tyre of a Kawasaki to find thirteen punctures that I did not know of. Made me think about the excessive speeds of the past few weeks, and convinced me again that the stuff works.
Once had a hole caused by an M10 bolt through the front tyre. Handling went to pot so made me stop. Slime leaking past the bolt and not sealing. When I took out the bolt the hole was too much for the slime and I had to call RAC for a lift home. Without the slime I suspect that a crash would have followed the blow-out.
There - I am a fan!
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