[H2Omax1]

So, riding up to the ol' coin wash last night to hose off my bike, I pulled in and noticed a nail sticking out of my rear tire about a half inch.

So I finished wasking and carefully rode home (only a few blocks) with the nail still sticking out of the tire. It's up in the edge of the tread, not quite in the sidewall, but close.

So anyways, went over to my local "giant rip-you-off" motorcycle accessories store and bout some green SLIME to suposedly seal the tire.

So I'm wondering. . . how good is this stuff. . .can it be trusted? If the hole is up on the edge of the tread, will it still work? How will this affect the balance of the tire. . . . I hate those construction guys building condos accross the street from me!!

:upyours <---condo building guys

 

[Anti-Hero]

Slim is the second worst thing you can do to your tire. First is a do-it-yourself plug kit.

Let me tell you a little story here. Friend of my is riding up in the hills, gets a flat. Decides he's going to put slime in the tire. It works and he gets home. Actually it worked well, well enough he decided not to get the tire replaced. Couple weeks go by and he forgets all about it. A trusted friend comes over and askes to borrow the bike. Owner agrees, off trusted friend goes.

Couple hours later he's up in hills riding a spirited ride, enjoying a great day. He's apexing a nice sweeper and all the sudden the bars are at full lock. To make a short story long; he loses the backend in a lowside and ends up in a ditch with multiple cuts and contusions, but otherwise o.k.

When he picks the bike up he notices a funny green slimy coating all over the tire. The little hardened plug of slim popped out and the centrifigual force caused the remaining slime to oooze out of the hole.

True story.

 

[oober]

Best tire repair... hell, only tire repair... Buy a new tire. (Period)

 

[VanDaRo]

Get a new tire. It sucks, but you absolutely MUST do this.

 

[Ducboy]

My experience has been the following (assuming the hazard is in the tread and not on the sidewall):

Plugs jammed in from outside (as opposed to the mushroom style patch that requires dismounting of the tire and patching from inside) as you find at Kmart, etc, work for short periods and may work indefinitely. I have used them in 3 front tires for a few hundred miles until my replacement tire has arrived.

Psychologically I feel better with a patched (mushroom from inside) tire than with a plugged tire but have not had any issues using the either. Nor have my two buddies who've had at least three other plugged tires over the years. Take that as you will. Either way, you should replace the tire sooner rather than later.

 

[MT Wallet]

I hear you guys about replacing a nailed tire...but I got my rear plugged from the inside.

 

[H2Omax1]

So verdict is. . .tire slime is bad?

 

[21 natas]

I would stay away from the tire slime and replace the tire.

 

[frank5079]

This has always worked for me; I get a tube of Superglue(the gel type) insert the plastic extension through the hole and squeeze the entire contents while slowly pulling the extension out. Let the glue dry for about 30 minutes and then air up the tire. I even carry a tube of Superglue with me for just those same emergencies and I've never had a tire fail on me.

 

[H2Omax1]

This has always worked for me; I get a tube of Superglue(the gel type) insert the plastic extension through the hole and squeeze the entire contents while slowly pulling the extension out. Let the glue dry for about 30 minutes and then air up the tire. I even carry a tube of Superglue with me for just those same emergencies and I've never had a tire fail on me.

I dont know that I could get the tip through the hole. The hole is just really small

 

[ty454]

Just two days ago I was out in the mountains of western virginia on a week-long bike trip with my dad. Half-way through the trip I ended up with a 3" finishing nail through my new rear tire on the Busa with less than 1000 miles on it. Actually, the whole reason I had a new tire was because just 2 weeks ago I ran over a roofing nail and wanted the "peace of mind" of a new tire.

I had my plug-n-go motorcycle tire plug kit (mushroom style plug inserted into the tire via a probe) from Aerostitch and my dad had his portable compressor from Aerostitch. Neither of us had used the plug kit before and within 25 minutes I was back on the road. I rode about 800 miles on the plug through twisty mountain roads at quite high speeds and just rode back to S. MD this morning cruising anywhere between 85-100mph on the interstate. It hasn't leaked at all and obviously handles speed and aggressive riding just fine. It handles the spit check, water check and three-day PSI check just fine.

If it was an older tire I would replace it, but f-that I'm not spending another 200 bucks for a new tire when i just bought one 2 weeks ago. I'm taking it to get plugged. I'm also buying one of those tire pumps because it was a life saver out there in the boons. Between the plug kit and the air pump I'll be able to handle most all nail/bolt problems with ease.

In fact, because I don't have any long trips planned for the rest of the year I might just leave the plug in if any tire place gives me hassle about having it professionally plugged.

You won't see me putting any green slime stuff in my tires though.