Tire repair or replace

[Lawnerd]

Had a puncture near the middle of the rear tire on my Panigale.

Tire only has a couple hundred miles on it.

Patched it with one of those sticky rope patches that came with my multistrada.

Drove it for awhile when someone told me the rope patch is temp fix and that I need new tire.

Is that true?

I also found some patches at local auto supply store that look like a mushroom and patch from the inside of tire. Anyone use these? Are they permenant fix that can be trusted?

 

[dravnx]

You're going to get opinions on both sides of the question. Try doing a search. This has been discussed ad nauseam.

 

[Aware]

I've had a number of tires patched professionally. When it's simply a nail in the middle of the tread, it's usually safe to patch. They've never let me down. I have no opinion on your patch.

 

[Erbuck]

As others have said, search is your friend for many discussions on this topic.

Most commercial motorcycle repair places will not want to patch your tire due to liability issues. So you are limited to motoguild or shopping around & word of mouth.

If you are planning on towing your Panagale somewhere to have a mechanic remove the wheel, just buy the new tire.

 

[Aware]

Most commercial motorcycle repair places will not want to patch your tire due to liability issues.

Perhaps that is true, but it is not what I have experienced. But they are very clear on what is safe to patch and what is not.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Drove it for awhile when someone told me the rope patch is temp fix and that I need new tire. Is that true?

Not true... my experiences show rope are a final fix because staying stuck and holding air is all you can ask for in a plug
installed by an owner...

My screwed Rennsport... boo hoo...

My plugged Rennsport that covered 2K miles and not in moderation
either... it's seen over a 140 more than once...

Inside the Rennsport for proof that the rope type plugs stay intact
whereas my mushroom type plug started to come unstuck

You can see by the diagram that Safety Seal plugs that are installed
properly establish an mushroom shape inside the carcass that holds
fast under pressure... you'd have more luck pushing the plug inside
carcass than you'll ever have it pop out under pressure...

I also found some patches at local auto supply store that look like a mushroom and patch from the inside of tire. Anyone use these? Are they permenant fix that can be trusted?

I've used them but I don't recommend the inside mushroom type plugs...

Technically speaking the inside patch is solely dependent on a bond
between a plug company's material and the tire manufacture's rubber
compound... thats a crap shoot the two chemical compounds are
compatible enough to hold a bond when the rubber is stationary and at
room temperature... but tires are elastic bodies that flex from
completely round to completely flat at every rotation... every
rotation builds heat that works against that bond... every rotation
flexes that mushroom patch from round to flat that works against that
bond.... so we have heat coupled with flex working against the two
competing chemical bonds from being as consistence as a self
vulcanizing rope plug installed from the outside...

 

[mototireguy]

Tire patch/plug repairs are always worth at least a try.

Some punctures create a nice round and straight thru hole thick part of the tread. These puncture types give plugs a improved chance of maintaining a stable seal.

Some punctures go thru crooked or thru tread groove or create an oval/gash rather than nice round hole. These types of punctures are more problematic for stable seal.

Puncture repairs can succeed but they are not fire and forget sleep easy at night. You gotta keep an eye on them and check tire pressures more frequently for any signs of trouble.

 

[ST Guy]

Regardless of anecdotal experience with rope or sticky worm plugs (and I'm a big fan of Safety Seal), the best and safest repair is done from the inside with plug/patch that is applied to the inside of the tire. Do NOT let the tire tech get aggressive with roughening the inside of the tire for a good bond. It doesn't take much grinding (usually they use a grinding wheel) to go through the top layer of rubber and start grinding away tire structure.

One of the problems, as Robbie has mentioned is that not all punctures are created equal.

In general, consider ANY repair done from the outside of the tire to be temporary. Period. How much is your life worth compared to the cost of removing a wheel, removing the tire, and patching from the inside.

Or replacing the tire.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Do NOT let the tire tech get aggressive with roughening the inside of the tire for a good bond. It doesn't take much grinding (usually they use a grinding wheel) to go through the top layer of rubber and start grinding away tire structure.

True it doesn't take much grinding before disaster so I hope the OP
can find a tire tech in the business today with the required skill
level to accomplish the 8 critical steps to completing an inside
mushroom plug because we see fewer credible shops today that are
willing to accept the liability...

8 Critical steps to installing an inside plug with no guarantees it will stay stuck...

 

[sjuels]

So, in best BARF fashion everyone is focused on the tire, whereas the real solution is dictated by the bike; A Panigale!

Since you'll have to take your bike to the stealership to reset your oil-change-light anyway, and since the only appropriate tires for your full blooded beast are super sticky race tires, the only appropriate action is to get new super corsas on it.

Now, had it been an old-man-beemer you could have ridden the snake plug until the metal started showing in the the tire.




/Soren

 

[Busy Little Shop]

So, in best BARF fashion everyone is focused on the tire, whereas the real solution is dictated by the bike; A Panigale!

My focus is on a rider's life... not what they ride...

 

[Entropy]

Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish, just replace it. A take off, imho, is better than a plug. You can get a good take of for $50, I’ve got two sitting around right now even came off a Panigale. Otherwise I’d just replace it.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish, just replace it. A take off, imho, is better than a plug. You can get a good take of for $50, I’ve got two sitting around right now even came off a Panigale. Otherwise I’d just replace it.

"Penny wise and pound foolish" is good advice but Race Take Offs are the
definition of "penny wise but pound foolish" because someone has already
consumed the best part of the life of the carcass and compound not to mention
the unknowns in heat cycles... always go for a new tire and enjoy 100% of a
tires life while riding your prize...

 

[Blankpage]

Expensive bikes require expensive tires and are expensive to maintain.
I'd probably take a chance on the plug and replace the tire earlier than I normally would. Thats if I wasn't doing track days.
However I don't have a blackbelt in tire knowledge so just saying what I'd do.

 

[HadesOmega]

My Empulse got a puncture after it's maiden ride. Found it flat the next day and plugged it. 3K+ mile later also 1 track day and it's still holding air fine. But yeah if you can use on of those patches with the wire sticking out that's the way to go.

I never understood why they say when you get a puncture and repair it, it lowers the speed rating of the tire down, until when I went to the Norcal Cycles dyno day and they said they had a plug come off of the tire on the dyno. Pretty scarey, the superbikes have so much power it's pulling plugs out!

 

[bmwbob51]

Best tire repair by far (tried them all) Neely!