Plugging a tire, yes or no

[Jord]

Just wanted you guys thoughts on plugging a tire. 
I put new pilot road 4’s on a couple of months back probably not even 500 miles on them and got a nail in the rear dead Center of tire, pulled the nail out now and inevitably air is slowly escaping. Gutted with it really, I can’t really afford another tire right now after being out of work for past 4 months with the whole covid debacle. 
is using a plug a safe thing to do to get me by for a month or 2?

[DewMan]

Plugs are a means to get you off the side of the road to get proper tire repair. Proper tire repair would be an internal patch, at minimum, or tire replacement. plugs are for temporary use IMO. You can get by with it on a car since the worse that can happen is a flat tire. On a bike you know a failed plug can have much more detrimental effect.

I'd at least get an internal patch done on the tire.

Other may have differing opinions.

[rjg]

I bought the Stop & Go 1000 Pocket Tire Plugger on Amazon - worked great for me.   When I was looking at it, I determined that this type of mushroom plug is better than a string plug.

 

 

[rfmueller]

I've had great success with using tire plugs long term in my autos.  A riding buddy of mine has also used nearly 2 dozen plugs, and some of them on his MC tires without any problems.  One failed on one of his 4 wheel vehicles once because the hole was a slice rather than puncture.  Makes sense. 

If it was my MC tire with a nail in the center like that, I would plug it and check it once in a while until the tire wore out.  But you do whatever makes you feel good. 

For corners of tires, it'd be replaced ASAP.

[Jord]

Thanks for replies, pretty mixed opinions on the subject which is the same as what I found when I googled the same question. 

[klx678]

I did a similar thing back when on my Nighthawk S.   Working at a dealership one of the mechanics stuck in one of those kind of soft thick rubber plugs in it.  Takes a special tool, stretches out the plug about 3x length, gooped up hole and all, stick in the plugh, trim it down close, and ride it.   No problems.   I'd be iffy for sure if it was front, but on the rear with a nail or screw hole the worst case is it comes out and you have a flat, with the tubeless you will feel it well before it is seriously dangerous.  For me, I'd do a good plug.

If it isn't a problem to have the tire removed and plugged from the inside that would be the best plug type to do.   

[Jord]

Thank you all for the advise, bit of an update, a buddy asked me to go ride today and I told him the situation and next thing he’s down my place with a stop and go kit with the rubber mushroom type plug, literally 2 mins later he is putting air back in tyre and it’s done. He said he’s used them for years and never had a problem with them an ide be crazy to pay for a new tyre. 
 

I haven’t rode it yet but I plan to just Use it, take it easy and get a tyre next month 

[peteinpa]

In my 250k+ miles on 2 wheels I've only had one nail in a front tire. Several in the rear.

I use the rope type, with added cement, let it set, then run the tire till bald. Never a problem.

 

[Marrity]

I plug MC tires with auto part store plug rope when I get holes.  One time I threw one in a dedicated street bike and lost the 100% confidence I used to have, but I still do it.  Ruins the peace of mind the first time you lose one.  Obviously depending on the scenario I might have been in an accident for it.

My thoughts are this.  Plug your tire, but keep spare plugs with you and take it easy the first 100 miles.  Slowly build up to the type of riding you're used to.  If it stays for 200+ miles, then you're probably good.

[cornerslider]

I can't keep quiet any longer..... Patching a motorcycle tire to get you to a shop is "minimally acceptable" in my eyes. Riding a motorcycle assumes a certain amount of risk, we accept that. Why anyone would even consider riding on a tire that is anything less than 100% seems very foreign to me? We have a "contact patch" with the road that's about the size of a quarter (front & rear) @ highway speeds. Is it worth  the risk of a crash to save a couple hundred bucks to replace a tire??? How many of us spend hundreds, if not thousands on upgrading our intake/exhaust/ECU's/tail-tidy, etc., yet some people look at what keeps us on the road and think "I can plug/patch that, and it'll be fine"...... That makes no sense to me? Replace a tire that is damaged! I can never imagine myself laying in a hospital bed (or a morgue), and thinking "I saved a couple hundred bucks" ... That makes no sense to me personally-

[shinyribs]

I've run plugged tires on 6200lb pickup truck pulling a 8000lb car trailer. More impressive than that ( to me) was running a plug in a drag slick on a 1000hp car. Those vehicles work tires harder than any bike, but never pushed a plug out. 

 

I wouldn't be afraid to plug a bike tire, but the choice is yours. The worst that will happen is the plug will fall out and it will leak again. The tire is not going to explode or fail in any sort of immediate fashion. 

If you plug it and it continues to leak, then I would pop the tire off and patch it from the inside. 

[sorkyah]

On 8/7/2020 at 11:37 PM, Jord said:

Thanks for replies, pretty mixed opinions on the subject which is the same as what I found when I googled the same question. 

a patch/plug that you mount internally to the tire will last a while. and will be safe-ish. depends on the damage to the plys of the tire
I have had one in my pilot road 4 as well as the pilot power 2ct im currently running. but personally i wouldnt plug a tire from the outside. 

[rjg]

good article here by Ari Henning

Is A Tire Plug An Acceptable Way To Fix A Flat?

---

How to repair punctures in tubeless motorcycle tires (and even if they should be repaired) is a tricky subject.

Supposedly plugs are unsafe due to  a potential catastrophic blowout on the highway.  But does that really happen?  I don't have an opinion either way but just curious if anyone actually knows of a case where that happened. 

[Jord]

Update:

I appreciate all the replies and opinions on the subject but now my mind is firmly made up on the whole thing.

Riding yesterday 30ish mph all of a sudden it felt like I was riding on jelly, it felt to me like the front had gone flat, I was trying to check as I was riding cause stopping wasn’t an option on the road I was on then my buddy Following behind starts beeping and flashing me and that’s when I realised the back was flat again!  I was on a 60mph road but luckily I was stuck behind a tractor waiting for an overtaking opportunity at the time. Had to keep riding (Slowly) Till I found a pull in spot because it was a fast twisty road with blind bends. 
 

the guy I was riding with was the same guy who plugged it so he whips his stop and go kit out and we plugged it again at the side of the road, he had those air cylinder things aswell which gave it just enough air for me to ride slowly to a filling station to put correct PSI in. 
 

don’t know if the plug was pulled into the tire or pushed out but there was no sign of it. I think I’m fortunate I was stuck behind a tractor because the road we were on is a fast one so things could of been worse. 
 

all in all it’s taught me a valuable lesson, I will never trust a plug again. I’m not saying they don’t work, maybe we installed it wrong or something I don’t know but I have no faith in them any longer. Bike won’t be used again till I have a new tire 

[peteinpa]

Well....Funny I just posted on this and my daughter sends me a pic of a nail in her car tire.

Bad part is it's right on the edge, right where the tread curves over to the sidewall.

I don't see a problem, pull the nail out and run a black rope plug in it.

It still leaks slowly. It's making popping noises like bubble gum, blowing bubbles through the rope goo. 

Now I've had these rope repairs a long time. Big box. I wonder if these things have a shelf life or what. It's that or the hole being where it is the tire is too thin.

So Chevy Spark has no spare, 4 tires on order,(we were going to replace them anyway before winter they sucked in snow) and she's driving one of our cars.

[rjg]

from what I understand, externally inserted plugs won't work except for the flat areas near the center of the tread.

[Evanlamarr88]

15 hours ago, Jord said:

Update:

I appreciate all the replies and opinions on the subject but now my mind is firmly made up on the whole thing.

Riding yesterday 30ish mph all of a sudden it felt like I was riding on jelly, it felt to me like the front had gone flat, I was trying to check as I was riding cause stopping wasn’t an option on the road I was on then my buddy Following behind starts beeping and flashing me and that’s when I realised the back was flat again!  I was on a 60mph road but luckily I was stuck behind a tractor waiting for an overtaking opportunity at the time. Had to keep riding (Slowly) Till I found a pull in spot because it was a fast twisty road with blind bends. 
 

the guy I was riding with was the same guy who plugged it so he whips his stop and go kit out and we plugged it again at the side of the road, he had those air cylinder things aswell which gave it just enough air for me to ride slowly to a filling station to put correct PSI in. 
 

don’t know if the plug was pulled into the tire or pushed out but there was no sign of it. I think I’m fortunate I was stuck behind a tractor because the road we were on is a fast one so things could of been worse. 
 

all in all it’s taught me a valuable lesson, I will never trust a plug again. I’m not saying they don’t work, maybe we installed it wrong or something I don’t know but I have no faith in them any longer. Bike won’t be used again till I have a new tire 

but why don't you get an internal patch? I've never done it on a motorcycle, but I've had internal patches on several car tires and they last the life of the tire. Usually costs $10 at a tire shop. Not so with motorcycle tires?

[Jord]

20 hours ago, Evanlamarr88 said:

but why don't you get an internal patch? I've never done it on a motorcycle, but I've had internal patches on several car tires and they last the life of the tire. Usually costs $10 at a tire shop. Not so with motorcycle tires?

I have heard of vulcanised internal patch but after the nightmare I had with the plug I’m just at the point I don’t want to constantly be worried about a tyre failing and limiting how I ride or where I ride so I’m going with a new one. 

[Evanlamarr88]

34 minutes ago, Jord said:

I have heard of vulcanised internal patch but after the nightmare I had with the plug I’m just at the point I don’t want to constantly be worried about a tyre failing and limiting how I ride or where I ride so I’m going with a new one. 

I get it. Sometimes peace of mind is more important than money spent.

[shinyribs]

On 8/13/2020 at 1:17 AM, Jord said:

Update:

I appreciate all the replies and opinions on the subject but now my mind is firmly made up on the whole thing.

Riding yesterday 30ish mph all of a sudden it felt like I was riding on jelly, it felt to me like the front had gone flat, I was trying to check as I was riding cause stopping wasn’t an option on the road I was on then my buddy Following behind starts beeping and flashing me and that’s when I realised the back was flat again!  I was on a 60mph road but luckily I was stuck behind a tractor waiting for an overtaking opportunity at the time. Had to keep riding (Slowly) Till I found a pull in spot because it was a fast twisty road with blind bends. 
 

the guy I was riding with was the same guy who plugged it so he whips his stop and go kit out and we plugged it again at the side of the road, he had those air cylinder things aswell which gave it just enough air for me to ride slowly to a filling station to put correct PSI in. 
 

don’t know if the plug was pulled into the tire or pushed out but there was no sign of it. I think I’m fortunate I was stuck behind a tractor because the road we were on is a fast one so things could of been worse. 
 

all in all it’s taught me a valuable lesson, I will never trust a plug again. I’m not saying they don’t work, maybe we installed it wrong or something I don’t know but I have no faith in them any longer. Bike won’t be used again till I have a new tire 

I looked at those StopnGo plug kits. They're a horrible design and I wouldn't dare use one. I'll use a rope plug in a heartbeat without a second thought, though. 

 

Like all things, not all products are created equal. Sometimes... most times...the old school techniques are better. 

 

Not here to change anyone's mind. Just my $0.02 from a lifetime of plugging tires and patching tubes with (so far!) zero failures. 

I had this truck once that had like 5 rope plugs hanging out of one tire. It was hilarious. I'm glad I didn't have to buy a replacement for that tire over and over 5 times! 

[1down5up]

On 8/9/2020 at 6:10 PM, cornerslider said:

I can't keep quiet any longer..... Patching a motorcycle tire to get you to a shop is "minimally acceptable" in my eyes. Riding a motorcycle assumes a certain amount of risk, we accept that. Why anyone would even consider riding on a tire that is anything less than 100% seems very foreign to me? We have a "contact patch" with the road that's about the size of a quarter (front & rear) @ highway speeds. Is it worth  the risk of a crash to save a couple hundred bucks to replace a tire??? How many of us spend hundreds, if not thousands on upgrading our intake/exhaust/ECU's/tail-tidy, etc., yet some people look at what keeps us on the road and think "I can plug/patch that, and it'll be fine"...... That makes no sense to me? Replace a tire that is damaged! I can never imagine myself laying in a hospital bed (or a morgue), and thinking "I saved a couple hundred bucks" ">... That makes no sense to me personally-

X2

[Pursuvant]

No one mentioned that you can feel a tire plug if it's rear, center of tread. I was reminded recently of that, after picked up a sheet metal screw. Rope plugs are great, one week every 5 years of my life until new rubber shows up.

Like using that $38 half helmet you bumped into in the closet, where a lot of other $5 head ideas are kept

 

 

[longrider1951]

I work in a shop and the only time we will plug a tire is if the hole is near the center of the tread and the tire is less than 60% worn. The ONLY way we will plug it is with an internal vulcanized plug. The liability is just too much to put an unsafe plug in a tire. BTW the labor cost is the same as mounting a new tire plus $10 for the plug patch.