Should this tire be repaired?

Mailman

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Some of you may have noticed I blew my rear tire today when I ran over a drill bit. It is a pretty low mileage Dunlop. I know what any shop would say. “We only replace tires, never repair.“ I haven’t pulled it yet to be sure of it’s condition, it did get ridden flat for a ways to get pulled over, and again to get it up on the tow truck bed, and again to get it up my driveway and into my garage. I may have even spun the rim inside the tire a little. I’m sure I didn’t do it any favors. But, I am still wandering if it’s worth trying to patch the inside of the tire and just put a new tube in it? I’m still trying to decide. Opinions?
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Hey Bob, bummer about that flat today. This style internal plug patch is the only style I know of to consider
:shrug:
I cut corners and am seeing the hole right in the center tread groove. Very tempting to patch only because of the new ness of that tire but... since it is a motorcycle having only two tires, it might be mentally comforting to just go ahead and replace the tire.
I suppose a plug patch would only be considered to be a temporary solution? You could ride easy until the new tire made it to you ?
But again, you have two running bikes..
:bike:
 
Would have a good look at the inside of the tire. If it looks like nothing more than a puncture wound, it would be repaired in my orbit. Personal call. Have ridden many a mile on "maypop" tires. Not advocating for others to adopt the practice though. Seldom ride far.........or fast. Might be another story is a long trip was planned? Naw, would repair and ride anyway...............................
 
Is it a tubeless tire? If it is a tube type I`d patch it and get a new tube. What size drill bit is that? Maybe you should use it to drill more holes? I would.:laugh: Whatever the outcome it`s a great conversation piece.:thumbsup:
 
Ha! Great answers guys, yeah of course it’s a tube type. I was thinking of just patching the hole, kinda like what a Randy showed, it doesn’t need to hold air. Throw a new tube in there and call it good.

Couple of trivia items.

1. I have only ever been stranded on a motorcycle one other time, it was on a 1976 Yamaha XS650 , 44 years ago. It had a flat rear tire. o_O It’s dejavu all over again!

2. The weirdest thing that ever punctured a tire one one of my vehicles. A 9/16” Combination wrench! The open end went right through the center of a steel belted radial car tire I had. You could not pull it out by hand. The tire shop that replaced my tire put it on display in their lobby as an example of a road hazard! :laugh2:
 
Is it a tubeless tire? If it is a tube type I`d patch it and get a new tube. What size drill bit is that? Maybe you should use it to drill more holes? I would.:laugh: Whatever the outcome it`s a great conversation piece.:thumbsup:

This is a key point in my view: tube or tubeless tire? Tubeless tires aren’t designed to be plugged while tube-types are not.

Given that is nearly new, I’d plug it and give it a second chance.
 
Yes if it's a clean hole, I'd lightly sand or grind the interior of the tire and throw a tube patch on it before replacing or patching the tube. mebbie one of those umbrella type patches. but not a standard gooey stick tubeless patch. Kinda make sure both patches aren't in the same place. But I know YOU will be using a new tube.....:sneaky:
 
I would plug it and replace the inner tube. Now for my trivia: While on a weekend ride in about 1987 on my XS6501B I was traveling along a gravel road at about 20 mph. I heard a loud ping and saw a big stone go shooting off. The tire went flat straight away. So off came the rear wheel, tire and tube. There was no hole in the tire, just a shiny spot on the outside but the tube had a hole. Just how does that happen?? I patched the inner tube only for it to go flat about 80 miles later. Patched it again and made it home.
 
Mailman
At the least I would replace tube and patch tire.
It comes down to risk/reward.
What is the cost of a new tire/tube verses the cost of a tow and possible new underwear or worse if it went flat at a bad time?
New does not guaranty success but does increase odds. Yes it's possible to pickup another puncture.
I can attest new can go bad. I had new tires and tubes put on my X-75 last winter. Installed wheels then took bike off of lift and parked while working on engine. When I rolled it back on the lift to install the engine I noticed the rear tire looked low. After engine was back in it looked flat. Aired it up and it went flat in 1/2 hour. Checked valve stem core, no leak there. Removed wheel and took it back to where I bought the tire/tube. New tube was bad, a seam in the tube was leaking. Did I ever mention I think the bike hates me?
 
It would be Mailman gona steal my thunder! I was thinking just yesterday about carrying some "Fix-A-flat" or something for an emergency just like this. I put green slime in my mower and it's held for years, honey locus thorns! I don't see why a can of something like that wouldn't come in handy so you can limp home especially if you have a tail bag not doing anything? Experiences, Anybody?
For just around here like I ride. Pull it down, inside tire hot patch ( I have an ole time station with a tire pro. Hard to find anymore. ) and new tube. For a hundred miles out in the heat, that's a hard call. It looks like a lot of miles left in that tire yet.

P.S. ( If Mailman patches that tire, it'll knock me off my little webbed feet! )
 
:hijack: No, really, sho-nuff. What about the Fix-a-flat idea. Even if it's green slime, your going to chunk the tube anyway. A BIG can of that would be good insurance?
 
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