Flat tire/ Tyre !! ><

Hey all

Whilst i was riding to uni this morning when i heard my rear tire make a funny sound, i just thought i went over some debris or something so i didn't pull over, 2hours later i rode back home still no problem...Then in the arvo around 6pm i went to ride back to uni and the rear was flat! How come it didn't get flat straight away? i think i need to get a new rear tire, i guess i deserve this for being stupid and experimenting with locking the rear Do you guys think i should repair the puncture and ride to a shop? any recommendations for tires/shops? i live around pennant hills.

Thanks!!

Last edited by kevindinho on Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hey Kevin!

Funny you should ask this, I took the pics of how to repair a flat on my mobile a couple of weeks ago but haven't made them into a walk-through yet.

You've probably ridden over a screw etc.

Slowly roll your bike like when you oil your chain and look at your tyre for an offending object.!

If you can find something obvious and small wedeged in your tyre then it's patch time.

Grab a tubeless tyre puncture repair kit and go to work on that baby.

Read the instructions off the net/off the packet first off to become familiar with what you'll have to do, basic steps are:

1. Locate and remove object.
2. Ream/clean out hole
3. Shove vulcanising glue-covered plug through hole
4.Cut off excess plug.
5. Use either compressed air bottles, bike pump or servo air pump to reinflate tyre.
6. DO NOT HOLD COMPRESSED AIR CANNISTERS if using them....... they'll stick to your hand
7. Ride and re-check pressure for first little while.

You can gimmie a call if you get stuck and need advice tomorrow.

I just had a flat on Sunday arvo.. not the sort of puncture that could be fixed too easy, but it was getting to new tyre time anyways.. huzzah for wrong price sticker being put on the tyre I was after.. got 16" 130/90 rear for the price of a 15"

Tim's steps are good for getting you to a shop to get the tyre properly plugged, but it shouldn't be ridden for extended periods or at high speeds using a plug from the outside. Get the wheel (or the bike) to a a bike shop and they'll plug it from the inside using a permanent plug.

Good luck with it!

Yep good advice

Especially in the front tyre.

Plugs are still not totally safe either so don't rely on them and have speed limitatons too (110-130 kmph depending on plys), just a stop gap (excuse the pun) until you can replace the damaged tyre asap. I treat the repair kit as my spare as you would in a cage and I would just replace it before doing anything other than for non commuting purposes until I could afford it.

Shit I just use a can of the shhhhhhhhh shit and ride it as fast as normal and until the tyre wears out.
Done about 3 or 4 times over the centuries and never had a problem

So what's the story Kevin?

Shit I just use a can of the shhhhhhhhh shit and ride it as fast as normal and until the tyre wears out.
Done about 3 or 4 times over the centuries and never had a problem

Give you a little tip mate - if your running a tube tyre in a chooky by all means go nuts with the Zshhhhht shit. If you have any regard at all for your bike / cage you WILL NOT use ANY puncture repair in a can on tubeless tyres ...

When you see the mess it leaves on the inside you will understand why - I charge by the 15minute block @ $40 per block to get this shit off the inside of rims!! Makes repairs / tyre replacements a CARNNNT of a job when some clown has used -tyre slime/Zshhht etc .....
Can't be good for balance when you see how the smeg deposits inside the rim (ain't exactly nice n even at all!!!)
Just tellin ya

So today i went to MAW and did what Tim advised to do. was fairly simple besides finding the hole (wasted one of my cans as it was already flat and i couldn't do the soap spray trick without some air coming out) it was a bitch shoving the glue stick thingo in the hole as it was very small so that took me ages to drill one that was big enough. Off to castle hill motorcycles 2moro for my set of Dunlops as MAW didn't have them in stock apparently my 140/80 18 are pretty rare.

Thanks for the help guys!

P.S Post your walk through Tim!! it'll help other noobs like me heaps!! let me know if u can't be bothered doing it, cause ill do it

Hey Kevin!
Funny you should ask this, I took the pics of how to repair a flat on my mobile a couple of weeks ago but haven't made them into a walk-through yet.
You've probably ridden over a screw etc.
Slowly roll your bike like when you oil your chain and look at your tyre for an offending object.!
If you can find something obvious and small wedeged in your tyre then it's patch time.
Grab a tubeless tyre puncture repair kit and go to work on that baby.
Read the instructions off the net/off the packet first off to become familiar with what you'll have to do, basic steps are:

1. Locate and remove object.
2. Ream/clean out hole
3. Shove vulcanising glue-covered plug through hole
4.Cut off excess plug.
5. Use either compressed air bottles, bike pump or servo air pump to reinflate tyre.
6. DO NOT HOLD COMPRESSED AIR CANNISTERS if using them....... they'll stick to your hand
7. Ride and re-check pressure for first little while.

Now I realise this topic has been covered a thousand times and there are many riders here who will attest to many a track day ridden on this style of puncture repair.
PLEASE remember the sticky rope seal kits are TEMPORARY ONLY . A permanent repair requires the use of a 'Minicombe' (mushroom) type internal patch which then becomes part of the tire as it wears.
EITHER style repair should be restricted to the centre section of the tread (at least 40mm from the edges)

Yeah I know (expecting tales of sucess) I'd just hate someone to have a tyre fail at speed due to a temporary repair thinking it's the be all and end all..... you don't generally fair that well as many of us know!?

(And yeah I'm in the game )

I had a 5mm hole on the centre of a near new rear tyre (yes tyre is spelt with a Y we live in Australia not USA rant over!) and the guy at the shop wouldn't plug it. He said new laws limit plugs to 3mm. I told him I would take the responsibility but he still said he wouldn't do it. So I had to replace a near new tyre with a new one

And He didn't do it to sell me a tyre cause he didn't have one in stock. He lent me his car to get a tyre from another shop.

hmmm thats sounds like a ploy just to get you to buy a new tyre.. 3mm is TINY.. get a 3mm drill bit and see how small it is.. when ya plug the hole you have to use the t piece drill tool thing to enlarge the hole to fit the plug anyways! if you have any old tyres sitting around might be a good idea to have a practise go so you're used to the whole procedure for next time

if you're like me and not much of an instruction reader/follower heres a YT vid of how its done.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYYS5gA0_Ns&feature=channel_page

Kevin

Don't think anyone covered it in this post but the reason a tubeless tyre doesn't go down straight away is that whatever caused the hole is usually still stuck in the hole and only allows the air to escape slowly. With a tube type tyre whatever caused the hole tears the tube and the air escapes around the valve stem because this is not an air tight seal as it has to let the air between the tube and the tyre out as the tyre inflates.

I too spent a few years in the tyre game (Goodyear) and having seen the results of dodgy tyres/repairs I would never trust a repaired or slightly damaged tyre.

IMO good tyres are cheap insurance. How many days off work do you need to pay for a new tyre/tyres let alone the ability to ride your pride and joy,.

its done and replaced people! Thanks for ya tips, i was only plugging it so i can ride it to the shop as i do not have a Ute

its done and replaced people a few weeks ago! Thanks for ya tips, i was only plugging it so i can ride it to the shop as i do not have a Ute