Puncture repairs - be careful

I had a rear puncture repaired on a nearly new tyre last year.

I was keeping an eye on the repair, because it always seemed to be lower than the surface of the existing tyre.

TBF, the tread is getting well down by now & I was making sure it was scrubbed off before I go to Assen, in June.

But today, on the way home from work, on the fast lane of the dual carriage way, the feckin plug decided it was time to let go & my back tyre went flat very sharpish like.

It went from rideable to unrideable in a very short distance, I dread to think what might have happened if I had been on a decent stretch of road & was going for it. These modern tyres are not much stiffer than a push bike tyre when flat.

Moral of this is - dont trust repairs - at the least, you may get away with a wait by the side of the road, waiting for assistance. Luckily I am in the AA & I was only 5 minutes from home.

The hole where nthe plug came out was probably too big to try one of those emergency kits (if I had one)

glad your still here to tell the story :thumbup

Once upon a time a puncture repair was to get you home and then you could replace the innertube. (olden days)

It seems we cannot trust the modern repair ?

Mind they have plugged lorry tyres (not front) and they`ve been OK

I reckon it`s up to the individual to decide,

mmmmmmmmmmmm ?

After thinking about it :-
1. It may have been ok on a new tyre when it was nice & rigid, but on a well worn tyre, they are very soft & pliable (floppy even) & I suppose it was just a matter of time.

2. The original puncture was a small panel pin (approx 1mm diameter), but during the repair they make the hole bigger to allow the plug to be inserted. During a failure, you are left with a big hole (approx 3mm), that lets all the air out quickly.

3. An inner-tube has got to be safer than a repair, has anyone gone down that route (no pun intended).

4. When you get a puncture on a nearly new tyre, its heartbreaking to chuck it in the bin.

5, Why have they not invented run-flats for bikes.

6. Being on the side of a dual carriage way with next to no hard shoulder during rush hour, on a bike that wont stand up on its side stand is not a safe place to be. It was too un-stable to ride to a safe place with wagons brushing past & was a feckin nightmare to get it stood up on decent ground. Every wagon & bus that went past made it rock & I had visions of it falling over under the next one. I honestly thought about laying it over on the grass at one point.

7. God bless the AA, turned up in 30 minutes, loaded me up & was home with minimum of fuss.

8. If I was a cat, I must be working though my lives by now. After 50 years of exploits, I wonder how many I have left.

9. As Hector says, its up to the individual to decide, being a tight wad, I would probably do it all again.

I put one of those temporary roadside plugs into a fairly big hole (about a 4-5mm gash) Was going to get it swapped out, but thought feck it.....I put 85psi+ in the ******* when I got home, and left it for over week....no probs...so re adjusted pressure, and just played on...

Inner tubes..NoOoOoOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! I had a rear inner tube deflate (like in a nannosecond) ...scary **** I kid you not....and I recon I'm lucky to be here and tell the tale..:lol: ..seriously...inner tubes...NO ta.

Whimps... My compact tractor tyre has been flat for weeks and I ride it every nite, flat out most of the time and it has no brakes. fD

had slow punture on mine 560 mls, i just changed it , its yer life yer chancing with !!!!!!! Use repair to get home only at reduced speed.

Had a couple of punctures over the years, 2 on a 636. First was plugged and lasted the rest of the tyre, second I used that stuff you spray inside, again it lasted till I p/x'd the bike for the T. Yep I took a chance on the second punture, but the tyre was quite new, and at over £100 quid, thought buga it, see how it goes, never went down, so kept on using it.

cheers Olaf i am now totally paranoid as i have a plug in mine, pleased it all worked out okay mate :thumbup
not really paranoid mate and just back from a run over the dales to Wolsingham and to be honest was pushing on a bit, see you in the morning mate.
as far as taking risks we all do it every time we head out for ride

The price of tiers thease days is silly but hasent changed for years its owere wages that have gone down in my case eny way.
Ive never had a problem with fixed punkters
one thing you said was the plug was bilow the tier all the time

every time ive had a puncter repaire the nobely thing stikes out about 2 or 3 mill and you have to run it in..
i think you have had a bad fix mate a proper repaire is rated depending on what you got

The price of tiers thease days is silly but hasent changed for years

i think you,ll find it has gone up conciderably in the past few years, £100 for a decent rear is now £150. but like you say, i,ve not a problem with a properly repaired tyre.

ive never had a 180 or a 190 for that mater rear tyer for £100 unlles its been repared
and ive been riding sports bikes for 13 or so years

jasper said:

ive never had a 180 or a 190 for that mater rear tyer for £100 unlles its been repared
and ive been riding sports bikes for 13 or so years

Click to expand...

i put a dunlop qualifier on for just under £100 about six weeks ago 180x55 don't have to pay silly money for latest rubber