Radial tire plug
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,721
Likes: 103
From: St. Louis, MO
My biker buddy put this in perspective when I asked him this question. His response was:
"I like to drink a few beers and ride fast on my Harley. I will ride a plugged tire to the tire store, but no further. You do what you like."
I got a flat in a nearly new tire, plugged it to get home and it held for the week until I could get to the shop to replace it.
I also plugged my car tire last week....the car tire was a BEAR to push through the steel belts, etc. The bike tire was like butter...it was so much thinner.
I have driven on plugged car tires for years with no problems but car tires are a lot thicker with more meat for the plug to grab onto. Not much meat in a bike tire.
Based on my buddy's advice and what I noticed when I plugged a bike tire, I won't ride on one except to get it replaced. As you can see, lots of opinions on this issue.
"I like to drink a few beers and ride fast on my Harley. I will ride a plugged tire to the tire store, but no further. You do what you like."
I got a flat in a nearly new tire, plugged it to get home and it held for the week until I could get to the shop to replace it.
I also plugged my car tire last week....the car tire was a BEAR to push through the steel belts, etc. The bike tire was like butter...it was so much thinner.
I have driven on plugged car tires for years with no problems but car tires are a lot thicker with more meat for the plug to grab onto. Not much meat in a bike tire.
Based on my buddy's advice and what I noticed when I plugged a bike tire, I won't ride on one except to get it replaced. As you can see, lots of opinions on this issue.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 27,096
Likes: 4,673
From: Frozelandia, Minnysota
Sure agree with that. and you do have a point about seating the bead; if it comes off, not going back on with one of those little battery powered pumps. Only blowout I've had on a bike was a metric with centerstand, easy to pull the back wheel, close enough to call wife, had new tire put on at nearby dealer. I'm not going to try and change a Harley wheel on the road; might have when younger, not now. Some place like the middle of Montana, I'd just get a ride somehow to nearest town with U-Hauls or some kind of one way truck rental. Depending what kind of insurance you have in the states and where you are, might be covered having it brought to a dealer (but not for the tire, of course). Just a risk of riding; blow an engine or transmission, even have a starter fail, you're stranded. Good thing about tubeless, usually leak slow and get wobbly, all I've ever had with them, never a blowout, tire off the rim. By the way, tire off the rim, if it crosses the wheel sideways, not only makes that wheel hop up in the air every revolution, but throws it sideways, too. Butt puckering on a rear, probably face smashing on a front. Only had it happen on a rear - tube blew, but the gash in the sidewall would have taken out a tubeless also, to be honest about it (piece of rebar).
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