Slime- whats your experience?

To deal with the ongoing saga of running tubed tires in my F8GS I poured 16oz of slime in each tire. Thats what the bottle recommends. I have yet to have a flat with them so I can't speak to their effectiveness.

Has anyone else used Slime in their tires? How much? How effective?

I've also heard you don't need to balance a tire with the proper level of slime in it? Anyone know the truth to this urban legend?

Slime in a tube just makes a huge mess when you manage to get a flat. Plus, you can't patch the tube due to it being covered in goo.

I did it once, never again.

As for balancing a tire, it will run to the place that is the furthest out from the axis of rotation, not necessarily the light spot in the tire, which can make an out of balance condition worse. Just do it right the first time and use a few weights.

Slime won't work with a tube since it flows out the puncture into the tire and...makes a mess inside for when you have to install a patch..Would work better with tubeless..

My experience is old. It worked well, maybe too well.

I remember changing one rear and the tube turned out to be riddled with holes, and it'd glued itself to the carcase and couldn't be removed separately. Probably leaked a bit, but not to the point of being unridable.

So, yes, it works with tubes, that's where it's normally used in fact (bicycle tubes). If you want to give yourself a decent chance of not having to field change a tube, it's probably the only option that'll handle road speeds.

Pete

Dont do it. It just makes a huge mess.

Slime is an opposing force to my tire pressure sensors

I tried it once, it was fine going slow but when you got up to 45-50 mph it all went to one side of the tire and was way out of balence. Maybe i put to much in

+1 for messy. I bought a used XR650R and was unaware that the PO had Slimed the front tube. I am guessing it was an old tube, and the tire on the front was OE. One day when I was getting ready to ride, I topped up the front tire and noticed something green, much like antifreeze between the tread blocks on the front tire. It turned out to be Slime that had oozed out from around the metal valve stem, where it was bonded to the tube, and, in turn, oozed out through cracks in the old tire near the knobs.

I did not ride that day, given the obviously bad tube and tire combination. It made for a hell of a mess to get off the wheel when I replaced the tire and tube.

FWIW, there are two different grades of Slime, one for tubeless tires and one for tube-type.

-Joe

I didn't mind the green slime. But for a non-flammable substance, I was impressed that it peeled all the paint away. The paint flakes were fun to clean off my garage floor.

Had it in a front tube for a few weeks until I decided to change it. Worked fine but the again I never take my klr above 55 anyway. Had a very slow leak even with slime but only did that when sitting and it hooped to the bottom of the tire instead of staying near the hole

it works great in my bicycles but havent used in the motorcycles.

it wont fix tears put it will stop pin holes from thorns . im running it on my front 21 inch k60 . its enough to slow a good leak down and buy me time to get a fix .

It also saved my riding partner frome a tear down on the freeway in the middle of the freezing night . Just remember there is 2 types of slime for tubed and non tubed tires ...

But it aint a miracle worker .. if its torn ..tube has to be replaced ...

Thanks for the feedback. Seems like its about 50/50 on using it, understanding that its only for smaller punctures.

I'll update when I have a flat. Hopefully that will take a while.

Nope, the rear I changed had half inch slashes in the tube :eek1 - when I wrote 'riddled with holes' I meant it. Thing is, I was using it on a bike that had a top speed of 127kph, down hill , with a tail wind. I'm not sure I'd be so happy using it on anything faster.

Pete

Slime as an emergency on road repair has some merit as a prevent repair strategy not a great idea.

carry a bottle in my bags. used it once when i took a screw in the center of the rear tire and road the bike for 150 miles without incident. make sure you tell the guy fixin it you slimed it and you can not patch the tube, but who would want to. also, carry a spare tube just in case the slime fails.

and showkey, i used it on my 89 transalp what a great machine!!!

If by slime you really mean the product, Slime, as in the green stuff you pump in and leave, it's only mediocre in my experience. I've used it in wheelbarrows and lawn tractors and the like. It helped a bit on those that already had leaks. Generally though, after a trying Slime we'd replace the offending tire & tube. Never found it to work worth a darn on bead leaks or tubes. No experience with the pre-slimed or coated tubes.

If you mean generic fix-a-flat cans of goo, I've had them work ok on tubeless tires with a nail hole or such. Very messy, but reasonably effective. Will not work with a ruptured tube.

As for other Slime like prevatives, I've had some work quite well, but most did not.

I still have my tire plugs and tube patches, and they get used. Haven't been able to beat them with any cans of goo. I do tend to like the cans of goo in my lawnmower and wheelbarrow tires and such. Things that get ignored for months until they are flat. Seem to have less problems with them when gooed.

I've used slime in my atv tires since 2005 and have had great luck as in no flats. Have also used it in the lawn tractor tires and no flats. I've also used the grey stuff from the co-op they pump out of a drum and it has also worked. On one atv I did have to plug a big hole with three plugs that finally sealed up and its holding air 3 years later. All of my experience has been with tubeless tires.

Yes but several of those 50/50 are from Northern states where there are no prickly pear, ocotillo and mesquite thorns. All of us run it down in Southern NM or you would be changing tires constantly down here. Patches don't work on thorn penetration punctures.....5 miles later you just have a pinhole next to your patch! Who cares if it is messy? Change the tire and tube and toss it. If you don't like it there are several other brands to try. The last rear tube I changed had 5 thorn holes in it. Would you put on 5 patches? It will seal a hole as big as your valve stem (it tries to if you do not clear it with a QTip). If you don't use it in our desert bring tire spoons,a good pump, a gross of patches and patient riding buddies:eek1.