Tire Puncture: Best Practices?

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Pastamassima
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Tire Puncture: Best Practices?

Post by Pastamassima »

Hi,

I'm terribly new here and I'm a bit reluctant to fix my Buddy 50 on my own. I hope you can give me some advice.

I found a nail in my rear tire, and thought I could plug it with a repair kit, like this:

https://www.jpcycles.com/product/2800000

Am I safe going ahead with this fix? Has anyone on the thread had experience? What would you suggest otherwise, if this is not the way to go?

Cheers, and thanks in advance for your help.
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giddyup98
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Post by giddyup98 »

That kit is good for a temporary fix, but it really needs to be patched from the inside of the tire. If the tire is pretty worn, I'd replace the tire with a new one.
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Clydeo
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Tire plug

Post by Clydeo »

That plug won’t work with a Buddy 50. I found out the hard way that they, unlike the other Buddys, have tubed, instead of tubeless tires. You need to remove the wheel, take the tire halfwy off, remove the tube, patch it or replace it, pump it up, and put it back on the bike. None of this is as hard as it sounds.
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DeeDee
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Post by DeeDee »

Standard plugs rarely work in a scooter tire. If they do, it should only be used to get you home. There simply isn't enough beef on the tire surface. I haven't worn out a rear tire in 3 years, because I keep picking up deck screws in them. I tried patching one (rear tire had 3,000 miles on it) from the inside with a bicycle patch. Left me stranded 15 miles from home after a 45 mile ride because the patch heated up and fell off. I bought these to plug from the inside: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Stop-Go-Intern ... 2749.l2649

I have one patched and ready to install. I do all my own tire mounts, so I don't mind the extra work to get 4,000 additional miles out of a tire. Buddy tires are real cheap, so I don't think it would be worth it if you have to pay to have the work done.
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MJR
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tubeless tire repair

Post by MJR »

Sorry this won't help the OP but so far so go for me with this Stop n Go kit. It's for tubeless tire repair only though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NfuBFNaA1U

I have 350 in town miles on it so far. The plugs are mushroom shaped. Traveling in town the speeds are low, and I'm never more than a mile from home.
ucandoit
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Post by ucandoit »

I used a similar tire plug kit, though much less expensive (around $5). You can get them in the auto dept. of most stores. It worked PERFECTLY and I rode the scooter for a couple of years with it. I checked the tire pressure often and it held nicely. The tire tread was still decent. It was my rear tire that had picked up a shard of metal. I would not hesitate to use the plug kit at all if it is only a nail hole. I have a Buddy 125 with TUBELESS tires. Make sure your tire is tubeless. That is my experience.
ucandoit
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Post by ucandoit »

This is what I used and it worked so well.
The Slime Tire Plug kit: For Tubeless tires.


.https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/slime- ... gLo-_D_BwE
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EricV
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Tire Repair

Post by EricV »

There is some mis-information in this thread. As a motorcycle & scooter rider that's fixed a lot of tubeless tires over hundreds of thousands of miles of riding, I would like to correct a few things posted.

In response to the OP, if the Buddy 50 has tubes, Clydeo is spot on. Patch or replacement of the tube is required and removal of any debris in the tire that caused the puncture before re-installing.

In response to tubeless tire repair;

DeeDee posted a great inside the tire type patch. :clap: Naughty on you for using a bicycle patch first DeeDee. That patch was for tubes, not tires. :fp:

Stop and Go mushroom plugs do not vulcanize to the tire! This is a temporary repair intended to get you home or to the nearest repair shop where a real repair or tire replacement can happen. It's just a rubber plug in the hole.

@MJR, get that repaired ASAP or you will likely regret it at the worst possible time. Nothing keeps that plug in place except the head of the rubber plug. Tire cords can cut that over time, in as little as a few miles depending on the puncture, though clearly you don't have a sharp tire wire in your hole or you'd already have had it fail. They usually fail with rapid pressure loss when the plug pops out.

Sticky string kits like both ucandoit and Pastamassima posted will work just fine for quality tubeless scooter tires. They vulcanize to the tire becoming a permanent part of the tire and will last the life of the tire if done correctly. The CO2 cartridges might even fill the scooter tire, depending on size. I never rely on those for motorcycle tires as they lack the volume to do the job correctly. I carry a compressor for the motorcycles. If I did trips on the scooter, it would have one too. Small ones are cheap and can easily be made smaller by taking them out of the plastic case they come in.

There is a sticky string kit with thinner strings called Dynaplug. Stay away from these. They are marketed as a easy and compact kit, but the strings have a brass tip for easier insertion and they can't be twisted like the standard types because it's just one thickness of string, not two as the traditional strings are when inserted. I tried them several times and always had to re-do the repair with a traditional sticky string within a very short time at highway speeds. I have been told they work for very small hole repairs like a staple, rather than a nail or decking screw type puncture.

Cheap scooter tires are thinner than quality ones. The Avon Viper Stryke tires I currently have on my Buddy 150 are every bit as thick as a motorcycle tire. And the way the sticky strings work is by inserting the folded string, twisting and pulling the insertion tool back out. This leaves a 'knot' of the self vulcanizing string in the inside of the tire to help avoid it coming out, as well as the string in the hole permanently bonds to the hole.

If the hole is truly large, I will use an inside patch with the tail as DeeDee linked to. But for simple holes, the sticky string works well.

Note that you should always ream the hole prior to inserting the sticky string. This is required to clean the hole so the string can bond to the tire. Some kits do not come with a reamer, only an insertion tool. You can buy reamers separately too. Most auto parts stores carry these.

Proper reaming/cleaning of the hole and good technique in installing the sticky string is what makes for a successful repair.

Sorry for the long post. Just want people to be successful in tire repair and not feel like they have to toss an otherwise good tire.
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k1dude
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Post by k1dude »

I know from mountain bike tire repairs that sticky string is only a temporary fix. VERY TEMPORARY. Just barely enough to get you home - if even that

There's no way I'd trust it for a scooter tire repair other than an emergency fix to get you home.
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EricV
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Post by EricV »

k1dude wrote:I know from mountain bike tire repairs that sticky string is only a temporary fix. VERY TEMPORARY. Just barely enough to get you home - if even that

There's no way I'd trust it for a scooter tire repair other than an emergency fix to get you home.
Err, Mt Bike repairs? A tubeless Mt Bike tire is pretty thin. I don't think it's even possible to correctly do a sticky string repair on a Mt Bike tire with conventional sticky string kits like we would use for scooter tires.

Look up Vulcanizing. When you understand how to use the kit correctly and what it's really doing, your confidence in tubeless scooter tire repair will increase.

It's a huge waste of money to toss tires because of a puncture. I won't argue with the benefits of an inside repair, but I've ridden tires well over 10k miles after a sticky string repair and examined the repair after pulling the tire and it was fully bonded to the tire still.
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k1dude
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Post by k1dude »

EricV wrote:
k1dude wrote:I know from mountain bike tire repairs that sticky string is only a temporary fix. VERY TEMPORARY. Just barely enough to get you home - if even that

There's no way I'd trust it for a scooter tire repair other than an emergency fix to get you home.
Err, Mt Bike repairs? A tubeless Mt Bike tire is pretty thin. I don't think it's even possible to correctly do a sticky string repair on a Mt Bike tire with conventional sticky string kits like we would use for scooter tires.

Look up Vulcanizing. When you understand how to use the kit correctly and what it's really doing, your confidence in tubeless scooter tire repair will increase.

It's a huge waste of money to toss tires because of a puncture. I won't argue with the benefits of an inside repair, but I've ridden tires well over 10k miles after a sticky string repair and examined the repair after pulling the tire and it was fully bonded to the tire still.
They make mountain bike specific kits that cost a pretty penny. I know from personal experience they suck.
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EricV
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Post by EricV »

k1dude wrote: They make mountain bike specific kits that cost a pretty penny. I know from personal experience they suck.
Got it. I can imagine why. Another discussion for another forum.
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w6euh
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Re: Tire Repair

Post by w6euh »

New to the forum, just wanted to say thank you to those who posted these interesting replies and especially to EricV.
I've learned quite a few things today.

Peace and ride safe!
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