Screw in my tire

[ryansears]

Was gonna get on the bike today for a nice trip outside of the city, and noticed i have a screw in my rear tire. Its in there pretty good and no air seems to be leaking. the bike and tires are brand new. i just got the thing two weeks ago and there is only 150 miles on it. The service shop in manhattan is closed today and tomorrow. Do i go somewhere to just it get it plugged or do you guys think i need a new tire?

[hankth]

Sorry man, new tire time. Plugs are really only to get you where you are going to get a new tire, on a bike, that is.
Ride safe, Hank

[Cosmic-Rider]

It must be the season. I got home from work this past Wednesday with low air pressure and a screw in my rear tire. Since it got me home, I didn't need a plug. Luckily, I had a set sitting in my garage, so I just swapped it out for a new Michelin Pilot Road. Now, fluid changes and I'm ready for Tennessee.
I have to agree with Hank. As painful as it might be. Your're going to have spend for a new tire. A tubeless tire with a plug really is a temporary fix.

[xprof]

Yep, me too last month. I left the screw in, aired up the tire, and drove straight to the dealer for a brand-new Michelin. Screwed!

[websterize]

150 miles is a bummer. I had my rear tire replaced last week after finding a nail. (Who knew a bicycle pump works on a motorcycle!) I'm at about 1,500 miles. The bill was $271. Thankfully, the Zurich tire warranty covered everything, and I paid nothing. John, the service adviser, said Zurich was great to work with from the dealer's end.

Bob's BMW had cold soda, wi-fi and a comfortable couch — and a visiting S1000RR in the showroom. See the pics . . . here.

[deilenberger]

Actually - I know this will sound like heresy.. but a patch/plug is fine for use in a radial MC tire if the hole is near the center of the tread, and the correct patch/plug is used and installed by someone who knows what they're doing.

A patch plug looks like an internal tire patch on the inside, with a tapered rubber shaft coming out of the inside surface - that's the plug. The plug is pulled through the hole, with patch adhesive, and the patch part is glued to the inside (vulcanized) of the tire. This works fine if the hole isn't near the sidewalls of the tire, and if the hole isn't so big as to damage the cords/belts. I've ran tires fixed like this for almost the full tire life (had the hole the first week I had the new tire) - and when I replaced the tire, I tried to remove the patch plug. I could NOT remove it. No way, no how - it was solidly part of the tire.

YMMV - and I'm not telling you to do this - just telling you what I've done..

[WILDPIG]

ACTUALLY-- REPLACE THE TIRE. PERIOD END O STORY. I BASE THAT ON 45 YRS O RIDING AN DEALIN WITH PLUGS.

[crazyhorse]

i have ridden with plugs in rear tires on previous bikes (sportbikes) with no problem. like don says, center of tire should be okay. surely it takes the tire down from a Z rating but i doubt you are doing 150mph+ anyway.

the safest thing to do is get a new tire. but honestly i feel safe enough to ride on a plugged tire.

wes

[qfman]

I have had a plug in just about every rear tyre I've had over the last 10 years. Mushroom style plugs inserted from inside the tyre will last the life of the tyre with no issues. Some riding buddies plugged a rear with some of that bootlace/beef jerky looking stuff once and it lasted for 7000km without losing any air. Photos on my amateurish website somewhere.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~lonergans/

If I was rich enough to throw away a tyre every 1000kms I wouldn't be riding a motorcycle to work every day.........

Tom

[ryansears]

Thanks for the advice everybody. I havent decided what to do you yet, and because the service department is closed on sunday and monday (wish i had that job) i wont fiind out until tuesday (hopefully, acutally supposed to go to the yankee game on tuesday so it might not be until wednesday). the screw is right in the center of the tire. I like Websterize's story, hopefully some sort of warranty covers this. the whole 150 miles thing is killing me. Im probably gonna replace the tire either way, i dont feel completely safe knowing that my tire is "fixed"

anyway, ill see what they say and how much this will cost me.

[outnabout]

Note to self...don't ride on a tire with 3 plugs in it for between 5-8K miles it could be hazardous to your health as plugs are temporary. Now I know why my wife looked disappointed every time I showed up at home.

[websterize]

Thanks for the advice everybody. I havent decided what to do you yet, and because the service department is closed on sunday and monday (wish i had that job) i wont fiind out until tuesday (hopefully, acutally supposed to go to the yankee game on tuesday so it might not be until wednesday). the screw is right in the center of the tire. I like Websterize's story, hopefully some sort of warranty covers this. the whole 150 miles thing is killing me. Im probably gonna replace the tire either way, i dont feel completely safe knowing that my tire is "fixed"

anyway, ill see what they say and how much this will cost me.

Paid $500 for a 5-year/unlimited miles wheel-and-tire hazard warranty when I bought the bike in March. This was above the standard 3-year/36k factory warranty, which excludes nails in tires.

I've commuted to downtown D.C. for about 15 years, and the roads can be hell on wheels and tires. I negotiate tire/wheel coverage into the sale.

The staff at Bob's in Jessup, Md., like Zurich of Shawnee Mission, Kan. I have Zurich's Road Hazard Tire & Wheel protection. It's transferrable, refundable, comprehensive and a no brainer for where I live.

[ShinySideUp]

+1 on Don's experience with the proper plug professionally installed. Many shops won't touch plugs, however, because of the legal exposure, and many of those will simply tell you they are dangerous.

I picked up a screw in a rear tire on a Honda ST1100 after riding 200 miles on the new tire. So I know the feeling!

Local Honda shop put in the same plug that the CA Highway Patrol uses on their bikes. No problem for life of tire. Their policy is that they will not put in two plugs within the same quadrant of a tire and no more than two total in a tire.

I know this because another tire got a screw and a nail within 3 months of each other. Had to get a new one.

I think there must be contractor's pickup trucks in SF that have special screw and nail dispensers on the back!

[ka5ysy]

I recently got screwed too.


Several months ago I found this site and purchased the pocket kit:

http://www.stopngo.com/motorcycle.asp

Happily, I was not on the road when I discovered the screw in a new rear Pilot Road 2 tire (<100 miles !). It was a sheetrock screw that got into one of the sipes just off center of the tire. Since I was in the process of going to the BMW shop and had to fix the thing to move, I pulled the kit out and read the instructions for the plug tool, and after about 10 minutes of playing with it, figured out how it worked and placed the rubber mushroom plug and re-inflated the tire and went on my way. I have been monitoring the pressure daily to see how the plug is working, and it has sealed nicely. This is a really nice kit with first-rate tools to set the plug. Highly recommended over the old-style string noodle things.

Here is a video of how the system works. The pocket kit uses a different tool that you work with an allen wrench (provided) instead of the gun tool. Inserting the plug into the tool and placing it works the same on the pocket kit.

http://nomartirechanger.net/video/show/36

This is a good product !

It is a really good idea to read and understand the system, as it is not obvious, and the instructions are best read in the comfort of your home and not on the side of the road with traffic blasting by.

[deilenberger]

Just wanted to post a link to the type of patch/plug I'm talking about:

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/N ... t+%2f+Plug

Note that the tire MUST be removed from the rim to use this - and it requires the use of vulcanizing adhesive. Once done - the tire should be treated as one speed range down from it's original speed rating - but properly applied this patch is not going to leak, and does effectively seal the hole in the tire from outside crap getting into the belts and causing further damage. It comes in 3 different sizes for holes from pinhole-1/8", small nail-3/8" and one I wouldn't use - larger nail to 1/2" hole. If you have a 1/2" hole - get a new tire.. Not cheap - they're about $3.50 each (sold in lots of 15..)

The steel spike is pushed through the hole from the inside (after putting some adhesive on it), and the patch on the bottom of the spike is vulcanized to the inner tire lining. The steel spike pulls off the rubber plug inside it - leaving the plug firmly gripped by the body of the tire and glued in place.

[red baron]

I did get a tire fixed as described by you and drove the tire for another 4,000 miles without any problems and absolutely no leak. In my opinion if the screw/nail is toward the center of the tire it can be fixed without any problem. Obviously if the tire is towards the end of its usefullness a new tire is the way to go.
My 2 cents worth
Peter

[daveyator]

Just to make some "cringe" I picked up a large nail in the sidewall of my CX500 long ago. Being a broke and dumb kid in the middle of Utah I had it plugged and rode that tire for over 6000 more miles (really!).

[websterize]

Picked up a nail in my rear tire on a day-long ride yesterday — with less than 300 miles on the tread. That tire replaced the factory rear that had a nail after about 1,300 miles. I'm visiting the dealer tomorrow for the third tire since taking delivery three months ago. (The dealer doesn't repair tires.)

Wheel/tire insurance has been worth it.

[Dan-A]

Not wanting to tempt the fates....

[Dauntless]

Picked up a nail in my rear tire on a day-long ride yesterday — with less than 300 miles on the tread. That tire replaced the factory rear that had a nail after about 1,300 miles. I'm visiting the dealer tomorrow for the third tire since taking delivery three months ago. (The dealer doesn't repair tires.)

Wheel/tire insurance has been worth it.

Did you buy your bike at Bob's BMW?