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Tyre repairs.
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Someone's just told me it's dangerous to repair bike tyres and that
tyre dealers won't do it anymore.
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I bet that "someone" has a link to a tyre emporium.
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Not true, AFAIAA, although it could be true of *some* tyre dealers.
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Is there any evidence at all that bike tyres can't be repaired safely?
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Not as far as I know. I've had two punctures (both within 500 miles of
fitting the tyres) which I plugged myself and then rode on for the life of
the tyre.
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I can provide evidence that a well constructed repair[1] in the centre of a
rear Michelin Pilot Sport on a GSXR750Y can withstand repeated use at speeds
in excess of an indicated 160mph.... :)
But my understanding is that there is some sort of advice out there
somewhere to do with repairs to Z rated tyres. Can't remember if its a
British Standard or just a manufacturer's recommendation but it's something
along the lines of "It's OK if it's in the centre of the tread and not over
'x'mm wide and if it's not within another 'x'mm of another repair. If it's
within 'x'mm of the edge of the tyre, too big or the new hole is by an old
repair it shouldn't be done"
As for other rated tyres, I assume it's OK to repair as much as you want.
Dave
[1] Tyre off, glass removed from tyre, hole bored out slightly and a rubber
covered metal plug with a massive flat 'head' (like a 5cm wide round bit of
thin rubber that the plug itsself was part of - if that could get through
the hole in the tyre, it'd have to be cut in half) pushed through from the
inside after liberal application of some sort of glue/vulcanising solution
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I've had bike tyres repaired in the past [1] so my gut feeling is this
is just an urban myth put about by tyre firms who want to sell tyres
rather than working hard at putting a patch on for a tenner.
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I had a rear tyre plugged a few months back after I found a nail in it.
The bike passed it's MOT a few days later.
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Anyone point me towards definitive answer?
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Superglue - you know it makes sense.
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And if they don't like it, they can always go and buy a Nissan Micra.
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You may joke, but that's exactly what I did to a nail stuck deeply into
in my tyre so that I could get to the IOM ferry a couple of years back.
In hindsight, hitting 100+ on the M6 might not have been the wisest of
safety precautions, but it seemed to work ok.
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Well, if an MOT tester will pass it, I guess it's OK.
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[1] Only on rears but that's my superstition, not based on any fact
based logic.
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Tyre supplier/fitters cannot get insurance to cover their potential
liabilities after repairing tyres, there are lots n lots of tyre people
out there prepared to repair your tyre but their liability insurance
does not cover the consequences of YOUR tyre blow out.
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Why do you expect liability insurance?
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There is NO definitive answer (1) whether it is "safe" to repair your
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Then there would seem to be no point in me reading your response then!
Other that to laugh at your attempt to consturct a case without
actually knowing any facts....
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tyre simply because there are people out there who will gladly repair
your tyre for a £fee substantially less than the price of a new tyre, if
you take them up on their offer, get it in writing that the repair is
gauranteed for the life of the tyre and then make sure that gaurantee is
firmly backed by an insurance policy that specifically covers that tyre
repairer for their liabilty to you in the event of your tyre blow out.
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"get it in writing"? What a load of tosh.
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Then, when you've survived your tyre blow out, you could walk, limp,
wheel what remains of your body back to that tyre repairer to claim off
their insurance . . . which might be contractually limited in liability
to the £cost of the actual repair !
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If had several "tyre blow outs" - it's really not a problem, you know.
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(1) If my tame Barrister is to be believed then there hasn't yet been a
test case thru the courts centering on tyre repairs. He is a rider of
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Probably because there's never been a case of a repaired tyre "blowing
out". One of the major points of tubeless tyres is that they don't
"blow out" - even if they suffer a rapid loss of pressure, they keep
their profile, and don't come off the rim. As I know, when my tyre
valve came loose just before I tipped into the esses at Mallory - no
drama at all apart from a mild slide.
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Heh.
But yes, blowouts, if they ever really happened, are firmly a thing of
the past, with modern steel-belted tyre constructions. Even at pretty
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The exception being tubed tyres.
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See that word 'modern' up there^? The one would seem to preclude the
other.
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Err - big trailies with spoked wheels & supermotos, not to mention
trail/enduro bikes.
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Yes, I know they still use old-fashioned tubed tyres, but that makes
them not modern, see?
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I should've said 'tyres with tubes', rather than 'tubed tyres'. Big
trailies & no doubt some supermotos use tubeless tyres on tubeless
rims, but tubeless rims with spoke holes, hence have a tube. They tend
to deflate far more rapidly than the same tyre without a tube on a
'sealed' rim.
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My very limited experience is that it's not really that bad. Modern tyres
have nice, stiff walls. Maybe not as uneventful as a puncture in a
"proper" tubeless tyres but really not that big a problem.
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Anyhoo, Champ's post already specified he was only talking about
tubeless ones.
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I was too, I just didn't phrase it very well.
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Even ancient designs like the R-GS have tubeless spoked wheels: the spokes
are housed outside the bead on the rim.
So, any big trailie that needs a tube in its spoked wheel is of an even
more ancient design...
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high speeds, a flat tyre doesn't need to cause any great drama. I got
a puncture (probably at a petrol station) some years back on the way
back from viewing the total eclipse, and didn't really notice it until
I got to about 120mph, at which point the bike felt a bit funny. I
didn't immediately realise what it was, so slowed down and accelerated
a couple more times before pulling over and discovering a completely
flat rear.
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much experience who is hard to keep up with & charges as much as £2.5k
per hour.
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The question is, do you want to die?
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