Experts weigh in and/or dog pile....???

Only 500 motherlovin miles on this motherlovin tire that I had no choice but to get ass raped at an HD dealer for $320 installed.







So what does everyone think? Close enough to center to do a proper plug/patch from the inside?

I say just use one of the worm plugs and ride on. My buddy got a puncture like that in his tire and has put ~10k on since then on his gummy plug, no issues.

In my experience plug repairs are tougher than you think, I've had two like that and they lasted the rest of the life of the tyre with zero issues. One was right in the center too.

Depends a bit on what you're doing though: if you're going to be canyon carving at 100mph maybe not worth the risk? :eek1

I did the same thing. I rode another 3,000 miles on a plugged tire. No issues. Held air perfectly.

I typiucally put 15K on my rear tire.
During that time it will get 1-2 plugs in it.

Since it is not a sport bike the worm style plugs are the way to go and I slather the plug with the rubber cement before installation.

This does two things. Makes the install easier and helps to cement it all together. Over kill sure but I have NEVER had a worm plug I have installed like that fail and it has been both on the side like yours and in the center tread as well.

For the center tread I just wont wear the tire down as much as I would otherwise when it comes time to replace.

I would plug that one if it were mine.

Just my .02

Oh and don't use those mushroom style plugs, I have had those fail over time. They are a great temp fix to get home etc but I just cant trust them for the long haul.

I would plug it on a trip, or patch it if close to home.

My last PR2 had two plugs in it when I took it off. The first was at around 2000 miles on the tire. The other was at about 5000 miles on the tire. The tire lasted 9000 miles. Lots of people are scared to death of worm plugs. I've never had one so much as leak.

As for the location in the tire, not a problem at all. As long as you aren't in the sidewalls, you are doing just fine.

Keep riding it. Or put a new tire on it and send me that one.

Plug it.

I would have a patch put on inside the tire. If they would'nt do that then I would put a tire plug in it myself and keep riding.

Some people do both. The rationale is, the patch guarantees that it's airtight, and the string keeps foreign material from working down into the hole and causing delamination of the layers. I suppose you'd have to put the string in first, let it set up, then demount the tire and cut off the excess on the inside before applying the patch.

Rear? Patch and ride. Front? Patch and replace.

http://www.jimvonbaden.com/Tire_Plugging.html

My vote!

Jim

I plugged my PR2 with a staple in almost the exact same place - Slime kit and I had no prior plugging experience - it's held for a couple thousand miles with no problems. Just do it.

If a dealer does it they take the legal liability. Not worth the risk to them for the amount of money they will get.

If you want to save money then YOU have to do the assessment/repair.

I'd put a string repair in it myself. But then that is me for my riding.

Exactly. It's more of a fear of the liability issue than a technical one.

JvB's page shows a correct way to do it.

Go for it.

--Bill

I had one just like that at the Soo Locks Michigan , wormed it and rode home to Vancouver via LA, CA

Rode it another 3k when i got home.

the only acceptable repair is a one piece plug/patch. repaired from the inside with the tire off the rim. 999 times out of a 1000 a plug may be fine. when they do fail it's liable to be a catastrophic blowout. do it right. a plug is an ok repair to get you home ,then do it right.

What stu said, a plug patch. Especially since you asked in the first place.

I just use the red tire plugs with rubber cement for lube.

Plug it.

Ride it.

Have you ever looked at what a string plug looks like inside the tire after you remove it? If done well, with liberal amounts of cement, they bubble up and are the size of a strawberry or so inside the tire. No way that centrifugal force would ever sling one out.

Good ream job and lots of cement!

I've run several tens of thousands of miles on plugged tires and never had a problem, with one exception.

The only plug that ever failed for me, was a mushroom type plug, and it was installed by a guy that sells the kits.

Took it out after 500 miles and replaced it with a string type and then rode the tire until it was completely wasted.

I'd also like to add that I have more faith in these repairs ............. because I have tire pressure monitoring. I'm a big redneck and I've made fun of TPM for years, until it saved my bacon on several occasions. It let's you closely monitor tire pressures and gives you a " heads up" for anything other than a catastrophic tire failure.

Plug it.

Ride it.

Good Luck!

Plug it. I have been plugging tires since I was five or six.

My dad used have me rotate the wheels on his cars diagonally every 14 days and if I found a nail I was to pull and plug. Never had an issue.

On the one bike I have tubeless tires on I tend to use between 2 and 8 plugs over a rear tires life, no problems.

I would replace a front, however.