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[Midnight Rider]

I've been a sorry SOB for 15K and not had a tire repair kit on board the scooter...dumb as a rock, I know.  Got one now though!!  I got the Stop and Go Pocket Tire Plugger.  Here's their products  http://www.stopngo.com/../../../motorcycle.asp

One reason I've put this off is because I was figuring a way to use the compressor for the Legends in this equation, so I wouldn't have to have a chit load of the little CO2 cartridges...Stop and Go has a 6 or 10 foot hose with schraeder connections on both ends (actually made for Wings) that will allow me to hook up to the fender port where the old shocks were plumbed, as I piped everything up to that "just in case" the compressor for the Legends ever took a dump on me, or the switch went bad, wire came loose, etc...I could let air out or put some in manually. 

With this 6 foot hose, I'll be able to keep my tires properly inflated without driving to a gas station, and if I do ever have to plug a tire, I'll at least be able to get it back up to 50PSI (Metz rear pressure) prior to finding a permanent solution to the flat.

Has anyone ever used their stuff before?  I've read that the mushroom type plugs work very well.  Hope I never get to test this, but it's kinda dumb not to have something for emergency's.

[Twolanerider]

Terry, I've fixed tires on the road a few times over the years.  Used to be a too common occurrence many years ago.  And with tubes of course a much greater pain in the ass.  But just part of the equation if you spent much time out.

With more modern stuff, however, have done the plug and go thing three times over the years.  You spent enough time in a service station to have patched a few tires too.  So you realize that getting something in there is going to do a decent job for a bit.  And a bit is really all we care about.

FWIW I've never found the cartridges to be that much of a hassle.  The bigget thing to remember, should anyone ever be forced to do this, is that you're done before you think you are.  Don't pump the tire up with the cartridges to the point that it feels as hard as normal.  You want it noticably low.  Carbon Dioxide expands a lot more then air as it warms up.  So that tire will quickly come up to firm.

[Twolanerider]

Oh, and I have no idea what kit I've got.  I know there are four of the large cartridges.  Two should do it but I prefer redundancy.   Several plugs and two install tools and a reaming tool.  It's just standard tire stuff though.  Enough to jam it in and hopefully get on in.

[Midnight Rider]

Terry, I've fixed tires on the road a few times over the years.  Used to be a too common occurrence many years ago.  And with tubes of course a much greater pain in the ass.  But just part of the equation if you spent much time out.

With more modern stuff, however, have done the plug and go thing three times over the years.  You spent enough time in a service station to have patched a few tires too.  So you realize that getting something in there is going to do a decent job for a bit.  And a bit is really all we care about.

FWIW I've never found the cartridges to be that much of a hassle.  The bigget thing to remember, should anyone ever be forced to do this, is that you're done before you think you are.  Don't pump the tire up with the cartridges to the point that it feels as hard as normal.  You want it noticably low.  Carbon Dioxide expands a lot more then air as it warms up.  So that tire will quickly come up to firm.

My tire repair days were mostly taking the thing apart and patching tubes, and doing the vulcanizing thing on the inside of the tire, if memory serves me.  We had plugs, but they were the rubber strips that you doubled up and put through what looked like a large sewing needle with a handle...worked quite well though, if liberally doused with glue.  These mushroom plugs were not around then, but seem like a better mouse trap.

I've got the CO2's in my mountain bike repair kit, along with a new tube and a couple of levers.  They do work quite well.  Having the compressor on board the Ultra is just an extra that I couldn't help but find a way to use...

[bc]

Terry, I've fixed tires on the road a few times over the years.   ...  With more modern stuff, however, have done the plug and go thing three times over the years. 

Someone must be watching over me, then.  I've been riding nearly 40 years and have never had a flat.  The idea gives me the willies, honestly.  I'm not sure I'd trust a plug on a bike, since I've had them let go on cars.  Do you keep your plugged tires or replace them once you get back to the barn?  Ever had a blowout, or have they all been slow leaks?

bc

[Twolanerider]

My tire repair days were mostly taking the thing apart and patching tubes, and doing the vulcanizing thing on the inside of the tire, if memory serves me.  We had plugs, but they were the rubber strips that you doubled up and put through what looked like a large sewing needle with a handle...worked quite well though, if liberally doused with glue.  These mushroom plugs were not around then, but seem like a better mouse trap.

I've got the CO2's in my mountain bike repair kit, along with a new tube and a couple of levers.  They do work quite well.  Having the compressor on board the Ultra is just an extra that I couldn't help but find a way to use...

Lord I don't know how many tires I made fire inside of.  Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds for sure.  Always got a kick out of that part.  Never started using plugs until close to the time I stopped working that station.  So the mushroom style plugs were  a new thing to me a few years ago too.  Have only used them twice.  So far so good  .

[Twolanerider]

ooops, need to read it all....


On automotive tires I will run a plugged tire.  On the bike though it runs until I get a chance to get it replaced.  No further.  If a car tire goes suddenly flat for cutting or blowing out a plug that car will not fall down and break my various bones and other important bits.

[bc]

On automotive tires I will run a plugged tire.  On the bike though it runs until I get a chance to get it replaced.  No further.  If a car tire goes suddenly flat for cutting or blowing out a plug that car will not fall down and break my various bones and other important bits.

My thinking exactly!!

bc

[Midnight Rider]

There was a hot debate on another forum on this subject...running with a plugged tire or getting a new one.  I'd run the tire for as long as it took to get somewhere to have a new one mounted, and might consider going further than than if:  It was a fairly new tire; it was a nail or some other round object that penetrated the tire no larger than 1/8" in diameter, leaving a nice smooth hole when pulled out; if the puncture was in an area of the tread and nowhere near the side of the tire.  I would not run that tire at speeds over 70mph though.  And I'd still get it replaced when I got home.  The old style plugs in auto tires would sometimes fail.  These new types rarely do so...it's almost impossible for the thing to sling itself out.  Still not worth the risk on a bike though, at least not for very long at all.  


Don...yea, it used to be fun setting the inside of the tire on fire and watching that stuff work.  Damn thing would hold too.

Hell, back then you could actually use bumper lifts to get the entire end of the car off the ground...of course, some of the bumpers weighed as much as a Yugo....

[Rooster]

I purposely change tires early ever since a front tire blow out going down hill about 55 years ago. Very scary, got the recall notice 2 weeks later that might happen. And go lucky one year, stopped for gas in the middle of Montana on the way to Sturgis was riding 2-up and pulling a trailer. Always make a habbit of doing a quick walk around after gassing up saw about one inch rise bubble in the middle of front tire. Stopped for the night pulled the front wheel off had a friend put it in his trailer and run down the next morning and got it replaced.  Hate to think what would have happend if We would have went just a little farther. OUCH

[bc]

Hell, back then you could actually use bumper lifts to get the entire end of the car off the ground...of course, some of the bumpers weighed as much as a Yugo....

Boy, I remember those!  Basic theory behind those bumpers was to provide a straight-thru, full strength connection to the frame.  Gave you bounce instead of crush!  A lower-speed head-on would pop both cars' rear right up in the air!

bc

[Fired00d]

Is there anyone that has the MoCo Ext. Warranty w/Tire & Wheel coverage ever plugged there tire on the road then proceded to dealer to have it replaced? If so did the warranty still cover replacing the tire? TIA.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[Midnight Rider]

Is there anyone that has the MoCo Ext. Warranty w/Tire & Wheel coverage ever plugged there tire on the road then proceded to dealer to have it replaced? If so did the warranty still cover replacing the tire? TIA.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

Gary...I've got the wheel and tire coverage.  In MV last year, I awoke Friday AM to an all but flat tire.  Jock was kind enough to let me borrow his portable compressor and pump it up.  Counld not find the puncture, but Diva and I rode it down to Ghost Town HD.  They found the shard of metal (don't know what the hell it was).  They did not have a tire in stock, so called ahead to Asheville and set me up to get in immediately for a new tire, and the owner of Ghost Town plugged the tire, and told me if I had a problem to call him on his personal cell and he'd be there with a trailer as fast as he could get there.  Whole thing didn't cost me a dime.  If you had to plug on the road, I don't think any dealer would give you any grief about limping it in for a new tire.  That rear had almost 6K on it when it picked up the shard of metal.

[Fired00d]

Terry,
Thanks, that's what I was thinking. Even though the tire is holding air after being plugged the integrity of the tire is compromised and w/only having two wheels/tires on the road a plug in the tire is not something I want to be concerned about.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[jeffj]

Everyone has different fews and I say "To each his own"

But no plugs for this rider as I will call a roll back truck and get a new tire, what cell phones and road side assistance is for
In case of no new tire available I may elect to have an tire expert do a patch and plug combo until I could find a new tire (tires are cheap compared to lives) but I just don't think I could ride on just a plugged tire.
To me when you stick a plug in a tire for a repair you are messing with the integrity of the tire, kinda like putting a
bandaid on a wound that requires stitches, may work for a short period but not for a permanate fix

Again just my opinion,

jeffj