► Tyre choices and emergency repairs

Cuprinol Man said:

How on earth do you find someone who can do this?
I live in Hull and its hard enough getting me head around the cost of a new innertube (£17) never mind the £14 to fit it to a wheel as well!!

Anyone know where I can get a new inertube at a more Yorkshire price?

Still want to know about the vulcanised patch thing too.

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I get my inners from here
http://www.tyresalesuk.co.uk/cgi-bin/engine.exe/sizeselect?Cat=7&Man=3

And carry one of these
http://www.adventure-spec.com/shop/trail-tools-and-essentials/basic-puncture-repair-kit/prod_97.html

along with tyre levers ( http://www.adventure-spec.com/shop/...tra-lightweight-combo-tyre-lever/prod_93.html ) , push bike pump, spanners etc

Just had my first overseas puncture in 25 years of touring (France this time). I have carried a can of tyre sealant for the last few years and a couple of gas cartridges. I tried the sealant first only to find all the gas had escaped (Worth getting a new one each trip I suppose) I next used a gas cartridge and this gave enough pressure to blow the tyre back onto the rim properly. I needed a bit more so I tried the second canister only to find no thread on the end ?
I had just enough air to ride 20 miles to a Supermarket, most medium size ones have a motoring section and for 5 Euros I bought another can of tyre weld. This inflated the inner tube enough to ride at 50 mph to the next large town 50 miles away. The tyre was still OK but for safety and peace of mind I had the tube swapped. The inner tube was scrapped and the rim tape also needed replacing due to the goo sticking it to the rim. It took the fitter 15 Min's or so to get rid of all the mess inside the tyre and on the rim. 43 Euros to a loose wheel.
I had a few good lessons on this trip,
1) Check all your tools and equipment before you go, just because they have been in the tool kit for years dose not mean they still work.
2) Tyre weld dose work, and in my opinion is a better option than fixing a puncture yourself.
3) It may have a centre stand but you also need a prop to hold the front wheel off the ground.

I have changed many tyres on motocross and enduro bikes, its always a pain and can easily damage the finish on the rim. Unless your in the middle of the desert or Asia get it to a tyre fitter.

Dave Ett said:

You're going to the south of France, not outer Mongolia! Get AA cover and forget taking anything at all. In the 40,000 miles I've done riding round Europe I've never once had a puncture.

If you really insist on taking tools and spares then practice before you leave, as otherwise it'll be quicker to call the AA anyway!

Have a great time.

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+1

I'm with Dave on this one. As Tim says, good tread on your tyres goes a loooong way to puncture prevention.

Carry a can of repair/re-inflate with you and ride to a motorcycle garage to have repaired properly. If this doesn't work it's back to Plan A, mobile phone and recovery to nearby garage.

Such a can of repair and re-inflate not only got me home from Ireland but saw the life of the tyre out too

Have a good trip you two

Whilst on the subject of tubes, can anybody enlighten me, why it is illegal to use an enduro/motorcross 4.5mm thick tube in a road bike. The extra thickness might just stop the puncture.

Didnt think it was illegal to run heavy duty tubes!?

HD tubes are used in MX enduro/off road as they are more resiliant to 'pinch' punctures, particularly when running low tire pressures in the slippy loose stuff for traction.

HD tubes are just as prone to 'nail' punctures as an ordinary tube! so on road theres not alot point going the extra expense and fuss of fitting HD tubes.

It's not illegal, but I have it on good authority (Pirelli tyre mfg tech) that an HD tube might be more prone to overheating damage than a thin standard one - if you think of it a thin tube will deform less and therefore generate less heat through flexing, and what heat it does generate is dissipated more quickly because it's thinner ...

Me recent experience in France was painful and fukkin embarassing. I swapped the Heidies for Anakees On Saturday- the day before leaving for Belgium. Both tubes had been slimed and the rear had one previous repair. The next morning all seemed ok, pressures up and the journey to Folkestone was fast and uneventful.
However I touched a peg down as I joined the motorway out of the Tunnel - I put this down to the Anakees having a lower profile than the Heidis so thought nothing more of it - 90km later as I was leaving the Motorway again the back end slewed out so much I was lucky to stay in the seat.

I pulled over and dug out the toolkit - had levers, repair kit and compressor... but I'd forgotten to pack the socket for the rear wheel.. fukkit!
Thankfully the tyre was stinking hot and slipped off the rim easily enough - the tube seemed intact which was a bonus but the tyre was full of the shitty slime. I pulled the tube out from the side, hooked it over the swingarm and found that it had a 20mm split in it... fukkit²
I had a repair patch that was big enough to cover the rip, but the slime was everywhere - every time I cleaned it up more squeezed out - it was a nightmare. Finally I managed to get it clean enough to stick and without any more oozing - re-inflated the tyre and thought all was well - until 20km further on the back end stepped out again ... Fukked³.

Same routine, tyre off the rim, cleaned out the shite, found a few more patches ... gave up and tried to call the RAC who weren't interested cos I didn't have European cover (no surprise really) but after 2 hours of very expensive mobile calls the best I could manage was a €300 recovery to the nearest town and 'You're on your own after that!' Bear in mind it was rural France on a Sunday afternoon - I was fukked⁴.

Thankfully a French guy called Ludo came by having passed me 3 hours before, he scooted off to a local Triumph dealer who was having an open day and came back with a new (€40.00 !) tube and an adjustable spanner. 10 minutes later I was done - unfukked and on my way....

The moral of the story - don't be complacent, disaster can strike - even if you're riding a BMW! Keep a spare tube and minimum toolkit with you - and make sure you know what's in it and also how to use it!

If I honest I think part of the first repair's failure was down to my sh!tty little Halfords repair kit - the stuff was old, probably 3 years or so and doubtless past its best. Since them I've spoken nicely to my local tyre repair shop and exchanged a couple of beers for a handful of BIG patches and some professional rubber cement ... Sorted!

G

Thanks. I probably should not have used the work illegal. I looked on the site mentioned earlier and it stated Enduro/MX tube....(not for highway use), so what I should have asked was, why are they not recommended. Now you have answered that I can see why. So I need to stock up with tube and levers just in case.

ContiEscape Anyone has/had them on 800GS?

Hello everyone,
there are lot of information in the massive Tyre selection thread. Everybody just loves TKCs 80.
I was hoping to go for something bit smoother and Conti Escape would be my choice. However I just learned that they dont do the size for 800GS.

Is there some similar tyre, maybe from other maker? More offroady than Bridgestone Battlewings and less offroady than TKC 80.

Rear tyre repair...

So, after spending an obsene amout on my 18k service i get home to find 2 bit's of metal in my rear tyre. Taking the first bit out resulted in the inevitable hissss....

So, is the repair as simple as patching or replacing the inner tube?

divelandy said:

So, after spending an obsene amout on my 18k service i get home to find 2 bit's of metal in my rear tyre. Taking the first bit out resulted in the inevitable hissss....

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There lies your first two errors: Going to BuMW for your services, I presume, and removing the offending item from your tyre although please see below.

divelandy said:

So, is the repair as simple as patching or replacing the inner tube?

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No, it's not. Since you removed the sharp from your tyre and it deflated I'm going to presume that your modern 800's are tubeless tyre fitments because I reckon you're lucky to get anywhere with that blade in there with a tubed arrangement.
Secondly, I can't see any roadside repair kit dealing with that gash unless you have the tyre revulcanized. I've had it done in the past on a tyre that was too new to throw away.

Check your handbook to find out whether you have inner tubes and let us know.

If you need a contact to revulcanize your tyre let me know and I'll reply here.

800GS in the avatar, so I assume you have an 800GS. They run tubes, the 650GS twin is tubeless.

DitchWater said:

No, it's not. Since you removed the sharp from your tyre and it deflated I'm going to presume that your modern 800's are tubeless tyre fitments because I reckon you're lucky to get anywhere with that blade in there with a tubed arrangement.

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As EmmettC spotted, your assumption is incorrect as my modern F800GS has tubed tyres. Thanks for the offer of contact's. I'm hoping that the tyre is ok to use after getting this kind of puncture (looks like the culprit were 2 ~1mm2 metal staples)

I'd rather know if the metal is just embedded in my tread or penetrated all the way through (as is the case) while at home, than 1/2 way to a repair shop/work/etc.

Looks like i'll be getting a new inner tube and practicing my tyre repair skills - about time i got my hands dirty, and the old tube will make a handy spare...

Dissapointed with the Haynes book of lies section on tyre repairs: take your bike to a professional tyre fitter

Oi oi oi .. not all Haynes books are full of shite y'know well... there might be just a little bit

Of course you could use a tyre fitter but it'll cost you, and you know you really want to know how to do it yourself ... don't you?

The tip I'd offer - as in my recent posting - yet yourself down to your local tyre repair shop, take a couple of small beers with you and swap them for some 'proper' patches and a bit of their glue (take a small bottle too). IMHO the Halfrauds type of repair kits aren't worth the packaging they're sold in.

The tyre should be ok if it was a staple, you've just got two holes for the price of one! Seriously though, that's where the proper patches come in handy as you can cover both holes with one patch!

G

I see, tubed eh.

Well in that case, can I ask if it is necessary to have the tyre repaired as well as the tube to get you rolling again? I ask this because I'm not familiar with running tubed tyres; I went from solid rubber straight to tubeless (bicyles excluded of course).

Always fit a new tube if you have the chance , patches are a get you home solution only in my opinion.

Depending on the size of the hole left by the foreign body once removed, ie if it is more than 2-3mm across it would do no harm to put a proper tubeless (mushroom type) bung in the tyre as well so that no crap can get into through the hole.

Also when buying tubes go for decent heavy duty ones ie Continental / Michelin etc, they are no less prone to puncture but are less likely to tear and fail in a more catastrophic manner.

I've had the latter happen with a couple of cheap far eastern tubes in the past on off road bikes.

Greggers said:

Oi oi oi .. not all Haynes books are full of shite y'know

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I expected a comment from you

Greggers said:

Of course you could use a tyre fitter but it'll cost you, and you know you really want to know how to do it yourself ... don't you?

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Yes, i need to be less lazy and start doing this easy stuff. At last, I can get to christen the tyre leavers i got at Christmas

Greggers said:

The tip I'd offer - as in my recent posting - yet yourself down to your local tyre repair shop, take a couple of small beers with you and swap them for some 'proper' patches and a bit of their glue (take a small bottle too). IMHO the Halfrauds type of repair kits aren't worth the packaging they're sold in.

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Is this the kind of patch your referring to?

Q: if you could only carry one spare inner tube, which one would you take - a rear that would be squashed in the front, or a front, which would be over inflated in the rear?

Tyre choice

What's the current thinking on the best tyre choice for an f800GS?

I would say that 80% of my riding is on road with the remainder off road.

I am leaning towards knobblies but the speed rating concerns me a little.

I am not bothered which manufacturer i use i am just looking for a good all round (pardon the pun) set of tyres

Any good/bad experiences and/or recommendations out there?

Cheers

Rob J said:

What's the current thinking on the best tyre choice for an f800GS?

I would say that 80% of my riding is on road with the remainder off road.

I am leaning towards knobblies but the speed rating concerns me a little.

I am not bothered which manufacturer i use i am just looking for a good all round (pardon the pun) set of tyres

Any good/bad experiences and/or recommendations out there?

Cheers

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I've been on Conti TKC80's for nearly a month now. Scared me shitless when I left the shop where they were put on. VERY different. Took them straight off to do some green laning to scrub them a bit. They aer brilliant off-road. Took me a couple of weeks to gradually have some confidence in their handling on the road but that has come.

Not sure why you're worried about the speed rating. I've had them up to 90 no problem but how often do you think you'll be doing over a ton ?

I think durability versus how much off-roading I manage to find time to do will be the key to whether or not I buy them again after these ones wear out. Perhaps Tourances (?) next ?

They are a very grippy tyre.

Dave

TKC80s are grippy in wet and dry and long lasting for a knobbly - I recommend them for general use but swap mine for road tyres in the depths of winter. They feel strange at first but you soon learn to trust them. 90mph is about the limit but they are fine at all legal speeds. I have just today had mine put on my newish 800gs. They have done about 5500 miles so far - on my old 800gs - and are still good enough for on and off-road work.

Ross Dean said:

TKC80s are grippy in wet and dry and long lasting for a knobbly - I recommend them for general use but swap mine for road tyres in the depths of winter. They feel strange at first but you soon learn to trust them. 90mph is about the limit but they are fine at all legal speeds.

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Agreed

Hadn't thought about swapping mine for the winter though. The question then is for what as the Battlewings weren't the most confidence-insiring in the wet