BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

I was discussing tires and mileage with a ZZR 1200 guy at work when Ilooked down and saw the nail in my pristine (a mere 15,00 freeway miles) Pirelli Diablo Strada rear tire.



It's about an inch from the edge of the tread, in the block, not the groove.



What do you think, should I try to plug the hole ?

I wouldn't.

1500 miles, I would plug it from the inside.

Oh... never mind.

I would patch it from the inside. Plug it until then.

I'd plug it.

BTW, your ZZR1200 buddy... is he a member of ZZRbikes.com? I might know him from there.

reidmct wrote:I'd plug it.

BTW, your ZZR1200 buddy... is he a member of ZZRbikes.com? I might know him from there.

I'll find out if he frequents the site. Nice bike the ZZR, if it had a shaft drive it could be a real temptation.

Ves wrote:Oh... never mind.

I would patch it from the inside. Plug it until then.

Are you talking about one of those plugs with the vulcanizing base on it ?

If you have gotten 15,000 miles from a rear tire, any rear tire, it is time to retire it.

Besides any comments I could make at getting 15,000 miles out of a tire (over twice my mileage on the same tire!), I would say at 15K it owes you nothing. Time for a new one!

I think he wrote 1500 miles, not 15000, and just put the comma in the wrong place. No way that tire has 15K miles on it.

Patching from the inside could be better than plugging, but on many tires it takes a LOT of work to prepare the inside surface, because some of the manufacturers mold a pebble-grain finish on the inside that has to be ground down if a patch is to hold air. BTDT.

Airman wrote:Nice bike the ZZR, if it had a shaft drive it could be a real temptation.

Heck the ZZR chain is no biggie. I spray some DuPont dry teflon lube on it every 300 miles or so, and that's it. I've had to adjsut it only once in 12K miles.

ZZR power is unrelenting and intoxicating. It is not a wheelie-prone bike -- it just get up and goes. I prefer the Rockster for twisties because it handles quicker and is lighter, but for any straight or sweeper, the mighty Zed rules. It's also roomier for two-up riding, and I appreciate the wind protection and narrower bars on longer rides. One advantage it has on twisty roads is that the powerband is so wide that I seldom have to shift gears; depending on the tightness of the section, I can leave it in second or third and surf the revs between 2500 and about 10500.

For the roads I ride (the fabulous Texas Hill Country) if I had to choose between the two, I'd pick the Rockster by a slight margin. But I am concerned about its reliability (clutch splines), whereas the ZZR has no achilles heel. If I had to take a 5,000-mile trip, it would be the ZZR, no question.

I have plugged two rears and one front tire in the past 28k miles with no ill effects. But I live in a large city and only 8 miles from the office. If the plug fails, I am a cab ride from home.

If you can mount your own, it is probably worth the $140.00 or so to replace the tire. It really is up to you.

I think the worst that can happen is being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a leaky plug. You cannot plug it again to get to the next rest stop or garage!

Bill

baltm604 wrote:I have plugged two rears and one front tire in the past 28k miles with no ill effects. But I live in a large city and only 8 miles from the office. If the plug fails, I am a cab ride from home.

If you can mount your own, it is probably worth the $140.00 or so to replace the tire. It really is up to you.

I think the worst that can happen is being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a leaky plug. You cannot plug it again to get to the next rest stop or garage!

Bill

Yeah, I went ahead and ordered from Motorcycle Superstore. Cost me $130 total for the rear, which is not too bad. I might plug that tire for practice once it's off. For the curious amongst you, I have some thoughts about why I get high mielage out of my tires. I have long suspected the low wear rates were connected to heat. Long rides, corner strafing, and high ambient temperatures contribute to tire heat, and I don't use my bike that way. My use of the RR has involved a lot of commuting, short runs less then 30 miles each away. In the Northwest we are far more likely to face cold rain than burning sunshine. Otherwise it's unexplainable. The Strada's dual compound helps I think. The Metzler Z4 certainly became less user friendly as the center of the tire flattened from the freeway riding. I'm trying to break out of the commuter only use, but life and school and work has conspired against me. I try to make up for it sometimes by riding really fast and crazily though traffic, but it's just not the same as a day ride in the mountains. =)

So you really did mean 15,000 (fifteen thousand) miles? Heck yeah I'd replace it, especially since the nail appears to have gone into the edge of the tread (near the corner of the tire) where a plug would not be very reliable.

But man, that tire sure looks good for that kind of mileage! I only got 7k out of my rear Diablo Strada before retiring it because it scalloped on the outsides even though I ran it at 40psi on an unloaded bike most of the time. You're probably right about heat eating them up...

I have used plugs for twenty years when needed and never had any adverse affects both Trucks and cars. I would not use on on the sidewall though.