Screw in the tire: need advice

[diablo250]

I parked my bike as usual, looked at it while walking away,and noticed a glimmer from the rear tire-a drywall screw, or so it appears. Should I take it out or leave it in? The tire seems to be holding air relatively well, but I am leary about riding it to the shop which is 10 miles away on freeway. I am pissed because I don't really have the cash for a new tire, but I'm taking no chances with my safety and am replacing it. Anyone know of a shop other than Del Amo open on sundays with tires?

[diablo250]

Roughly 1" from the sidewall btw

[kkim]

how much tread left on the tire? if more that half worn, consider buying a new tire. If relatively new, have it patched from the inside from a reputable shop.

[diablo250]

I don't know exactly how much is left....I do know that the center is getting flat though. I'm definitely going to replace the tire, but should I ride it to teh shop with the screw left in or plug it first?

[addy126]

Was washing and waxing my bike yesterday afternoon. Low and behold a damn screw was lodged in the rear tire inside one of the grooves left of center. Pirelli Sp. Demons not but 2 months old! Of course I freeked cuz removing that screw was certainly going to flatten that tire. Took it right over to my dealer, he plugged the tire and it was good as gold in 45 minutes. Lighter in the wallet by 73.00 tho.... I hate screws/nails fallin out of trucks, etc. Service guy said that if it was outside the groove and not straight in forget it, new tire was the fix. However this was straight into and inside the groove so I lucked out.

[kkim]

good question... personally, I'd remove the wheel tire and take it to the shop for mounting and balancing if you are going to replace the tire.

if you don't have that option, I'd plug it first, but only if you are confident you can do a good job on plugging it.

[tlhamon]

When I bought my Buell, I got a nail in the rear tire on the ride home. Brand new tire! I plugged it and rode it for another 300 miles with no problems. I'll bet if you plug it, it will get you to the shop for the new tire or inside patch.

[JaeL]

*what you will need, a tire plug kit from any auto part store. I believe they have motorcycle specific repair kits but it exactly the same as the ones for car tires.




1. Never attempt to plug a sidewall! Your tire's sidewall is under different strains and pressures than the part that makes contact with the road. Plugging a sidewall can result in a blowout, so don't try it.

2. Spin the tire until you find the evil little metal bit that made a certain hour of your life really unpleasant.

3. In your tire plug kit, you'll see a tool that looks like a round file with a handle. This is used to clean out and rough up the hole in your tire prior to plugging. Go ahead and remove the nail or screw from the tire. You might have to grip the nail with pliers or Vise Grips if it proves hard to remove. If it's a screw, you can just unscrew it. Take this tool and ram it into the hole. Move it up and down a few times to roughen up the inside. You don't have to go nuts on it, a few solid pumps should do it. Once you think you've roughed it up enough leave it in the hole.



5. Now you finally get to play with those cute little tar-worms (the not so clean way to repair tires, but it works). Peel one of them off and thread it through the tool that has an eye on one end, like a giant needle. You'll have to pinch the end of the worm to get it in there, but it can be done. Pull it through until it is centered in the plugging tool.

6. With the worm threaded onto the plugging tool cover it with the rubber cement or whatever adhesive that is included in your kit.(you can be pretty liberal with the cement)

7. Remove the file and quickly stick the end of the needle tool into the hole in your tire. Once it's in just a little, start to really push on it so that the tool and the plug sink into the hole. It will be pretty hard to push in, but you're looking for a tight fit to hold in all that air. Push the plug in until only about 1/2 inch is sticking out. Now pull the plugging tool straight out, leaving the plug where it's supposed to be, in the hole.
If you have something to cut the ends of the plug off with, go ahead and trim it close to the tire. If nothing's handy, you can trim it later.



6. Now fill your tire with air to the proper tire pressure and you are 100 percent back in action. Well done, you can now repair tires!


This is a picture after riding a few hundred miles without incident.
Now let the argument begin on whether or not it is safe to ride a plugged tire for longer than it takes for you to get to safety.




DIY by Matt Wright from About.com and yours truly.

[capt_bugaloo]

I would definitely not ride it any distance at speed; that screw could slip out while under motion, and then you'll go from 30 PSI to zero in about 5 or 10 seconds. Not good when riding down the highway at 60 MPH.

The safest bet is to have a flatbed tow truck come and haul it to the nearest moto shop. Barring that, get an external patch kit as shown above and ride it at the lowest speed you can get away with to the shop.

I have had several internal mushroom plugs installed on low mileage tires with great success. I personally would not trust an external plug as shown above for more than the distance to the nearest shop.