Plugged tyres....

austin

Well-Known Member
I had a slow puncture that was getting worse so plugged it the other day. The first plug failed on the way back from the pub on Saturday afternoon after taking a big hit on a pothole. The second plug is keeping the tyre up but what do you reckon on carrying on riding.? The tyre's got no more than 1000miles left on it so its no huge loss, but 1,000 miles is 1,000 miles. I might go to an ABR rally in Scotland over Easter and it just slightly nagging at me that the plug might not hold, and if it didn't as I have reamed the hole deflation would be PDQ. I would be taking my plugging kit anyway and a compressor so getting going again is not a worry.

I have ridden with plugged tyres before for most of a tyre's life but there is something about this one that is just nagging me.
 

Raymo

Active Member
if it doesn't feel right then it isn't :)

never rode on a plugged tyre so that's my best advice Austin :)
 
Last edited:

RickSkye

Active Member
Forum Supporter
I plugged the trans alp and did a few thousand miles on it without problem but that had an inner tube.
I think you answered the question, are you going to enjoy the ride with that "nagging" at you.
I have a couple of torque wrenches for the same reason and use them often. :)

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 

Zimtim

Member
If the tyre has only 1000 or miles left then just change it.
There was an issue similar raised on another forum. The tyre was practically brand new, the plug failed twice. The general advice give was to remove the tyre plug the the puncture, and then fit a large puncture repair patch to the inside of the tyre covering the repair.
Apparently a few of the contributors to thread had had great success with this method.
 

Philwhiskeydrinker

Well-Known Member
Decisions, decisions......
I too would be torn between chucking a nearly decent tyre or chancing it for the last 1k.
Realistically, is it worth chancing? It'll be forever playing on your mind and you'll end up paying (probably more) for a replacement mid trip if this plug fails.

At work, we have plugs with a patch attached that go in from the inside & work well but probably not worth paying to remove and refit a nearly worn out tyre.
 

Lord Vader

Well-Known Member
Well i know J rode with about 7 plugs in his tyre but that was a new one. Sort of. If its only got a 1000 miles left,change it Austin. I ridden thousands of miles with fixed tyres but if it doesnt feel right,change it.Otherwise it will play on your mind everytime you ride
 

austin

Well-Known Member
Thanks all. I decided not to go to Scotland for this and other reasons but have decided that as the plug is plum in the centre of the tyre (so the best place for a plug) and seems to be holding up I will ride around for a few weeks and take things easy until the tyre is worn out. If I can make it last 4-5 weeks I will be fitting new tyres just in time for a 6-8 week Euro trip - health of mother and mother -in-law permitting :)
 

Dee Dub

Active Member
Not wishing to put doubts in you mind... but... even if the plug is in the centre of the tyre, when you corner it will be at the edge of the contact patch and flexing. I confess I've ridden with a puncture plug for several hundred miles in the past, but that was on newish tyres.
 

DaveS

Administrator
Staff member
Forum Supporter
I had a plugged tyre... that I'd forgotten about, TKC80 .I rode up to Ullapool for the national, and for those that remember, it was causing me problems as it got warmer with more miles. I got there Friday night and went home on the Saturday morning. It caused me problems all the way back as well! Circa 1300 mile round trip.
had to stop every few hundred miles to top up with air.
So for local trips it was fine as the tyre didnt get that warm but not good for a longer trip.
 

Zimtim

Member
Just a thought but surely the effectiveness of a plug would be greatly influenced by the compound used to make the tyre.
 

austin

Well-Known Member
So the plug lasted about 500 fairly spirited miles and I forgot all about it until this morning at 6am as I set off to Mikeyboy's for him to refurb my Final Drive. The bike felt heavy as I pushed it out the garage (ok, its a a GSA, it felt heavier than normal) and within yards it was plain all was not good and a hundred yards later the low tyre pressure warning flashed up on the dash as I headed slowly towards the garage about 1 mile away. A quick spit on the plug and a few bubbles revealed a steady leak. After some judicious reaming and a couple of fails I took a closer look which showed that there was a broken steel belt in the way. Anyway more reaming and I got a plug to stick almost leak free and which kept the tyre up all the way to Melton Mowbray. Mikeyboy is either going to fit a proper plug or a used tyre from a big pile he has outside somewhere.

I got several nice big Pork Pies in Melton Mowbray. Useless for fixing tyres, but nice to eat.
 
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