This conversation brought back memories from the summer of 1966 when I worked at a Chevron Gas/Service Station in Juneau, Alaska. Back then these establishments did just about everything except major engine overhauls --- no Mini Marts. Anyway, I would often spend day after day doing nothing but putting tubes in tubeless tires on brand new cars from the local Ford dealership before they were put on the showroom floor. On customer, mostly tourist, tire repairs, it was illegal to use a plug to repair the tire. We could use a "boot patch" on the inside of the tire or a tube. Why, you might ask? Plug repairs simply could not survive long on the Alaska roads of the time. After patching countless tubes on bicycles, cars, and motorcycles, I have come to trust them as much as a new tube if done properly on an otherwise sound tube. Happy Travels.
After 36 years of riding I had a catastrophic tire blowout last July. Cruising at 70 mph the sudden blowout sent the bike sliding this way then that before pitching me to the ground. Due to an unfortunate impact of my chest on the handlebars I spent a long time recovering. I have always been fond of spoked wheels so I have been running tube type tires but after this unfortunate incident I am definitely considering going tubeless to reduce the chances of it happening again.
I ride a Harley Heritage with spoke wheels and tubes. The sidewalls are so stiff that even with a great set of spoons you would have great difficulty trying to change the tube on the roadside. Those are some interesting roads you were on there. They appear very narrow but look like a lot of fun to ride. I enjoy your commentary. -- From the USA
Sounds like you've been lucky with punctures. I've had 4 over the years, 2 on tubed, 2 on tubeless. The 1st tubed tyre puncture happened on the M25 in a roadworks, the delay (11hrs approx) caused me to miss my ferry, then they went on strike and my holiday was cancelled. The 2nd tubed puncture happened on the front wheel on holiday in Switzerland coming down the alps on a Sunday. Another 12hr+ delay. The 1st tubeless puncture happened without a repair kit and needed recovery, they strapped the bike down and blew a fork seal. The 2nd tubeless puncture happened on a rainy night coming home from work, I used my repair kit and within 15mins I was on my way. Next day the tyre was professionally patched. I could have carried tyre levers and 2 tubes and a pump for the tubed tyre repair, but that's a lot of bulky kit especially on bikes that can only fit a thin sandwich under the seat. So for me theory vs reality has always pushed me towards tubeless and always carry a repair kit but hope to never have to use it. Stay lucky.
Not according to sport bike magazine There are rules it’s not a free for all MOT testers have a lot of discretion when it comes to things like this, explained Bryn. However, if a plug meets British Standards, there shouldn’t be an issue.
I have had many punctures over the years, more often in the rear tyre and often when new. New tyres seem to flick items off the road to cause a puncture Many have been dealer repaired, some roadside repairs which i would use until worn out, never replaced a tyre just because of a repair.
Nice explanation on the 2 differences for tubed and tubeless Stu 👍🏼 These puncture repair kits, imo are just to simply get you out of the Sh!t , just makes it easier with tubeless tyres and can be done in minutes to get you back on the road to home or a local repair centre , I've done a tubeless conversion on my interceptor for this exact reason, didn't want to be faffing about at the side of the road taking wheels off etc 👍🏼 but each to their own that's what motorcycling is all about.
I have ridden for 50 years and had many punctures in tubed and tubeless tyres, but never had a puncture in a front tyre. I’ve heard that this is because sharp objects like nails and screws lay flat on the road and so they get thrown out and occasionally straight into the rear tyre, with the possibility of piercing it because they aren’t laying flat. Truth can be stranger than fiction 🤷🏼♂️
Well done for attempting to clarify this 'thorny topic' - 😊 - yes, it's nowhere near as simple as some would optimistically suggest! It has gained relevance in this era of 'adventure bikes', following the period where tubeless 'one-piece' wheels became the prevailing type, with so many ADV bikes fitted with spoked wheels to permit the slight flex these wheels allow in rougher terrain. The reality is that if a tubeless tyre has a hole larger than 6mm, or too far from the centre of the tyre, it is probably not repairable. If the tubeless tyre needs to be removed by the owner, it requires a bead breaker - not practical at the roadside. You might be able to do some acrobatics with the sidestand of another bike to separate the bead, but impossible if you're alone. You can't use your bike this way with one wheel removed. Tubeless tyre rims also are less safe to run with low pressures, such as might be lowered for certain off-road surfaces, as they can turn on the rim or break the bead on rocks etc. and let the air out. Many disadvantages to tubeless tyres not always mentioned. Mind you, if a tubed tyre turns on the rim it usually rips the valve off the tube... But yes - changing a tube at the roadside is bound to be a headache. The only benefit being that if you've fitted a new tube, the repair is permanent, unlike the roadside tubeless repair, as you stressed. I have had several 'flats' over my 61 years of riding, and like you - I have both tubeless and tubed types in my 'fleet'. I accept that the tyre type is fitted by the manufacturer for reasons not always obvious to those who wish to make this an overly simplistic topic. It isn't. The tubeless spoked wheel is a clever solution, but as mentioned below - they are an imperfect answer. They ARE more difficult to 'true', if needed, particularly in the case of the 21" size. This may be why the spoked wheel 1050 V-Strom now has tubeless rear and tubed front. I recall a tale on here of an Aprilia Tuareg which someone test rode, which had an out-of-true (tubeless/spoked) front wheel, which the shop had been unable to get repaired. They are a good idea when new, having been trued at the factory in a jig, but are problematic to repair at a local level when they are out of true. Good on you for daring to go into this tricky area, so riddled with misconceptions and fixed beliefs. As to spoked/tubed wheels being lighter? Not necessarily. 40 steel spokes do add quite a bit of weight to a wheel assembly, compared to a lightweight one piece rim, particularly for a wider rim. The stock wheels on my Ducati road bike are amazingly light.
With all the pitfalls of using these kits, I'll stick to my tubed tyres. Anytime spent messing with my bike is a bonus even just repairing or replacing an inner tube.
As the video states both tubed and tubeless tyres have their pro's and cons, nine times out of ten an offending object in a tubeless tyre will only cause a slow puncture if the object is left in place unless the object makes a slit in the tyre, which in all cases is not repairable. One thing I would add.....when I was on the spanners in the bike trade if a new tubeless tyre was being fitted we would ALWAYS fit a new valve assembly. the metal type valves use rubber seals and the cone shaped all rubber ones self seal but both types will perish in the end just like an old tyre, in this case the metal type valves will deflate more slowly but the rubber cone type can deflate very quickly and replacements of both valve types have to be fitted from inside the wheel so it's worth checking your valves from time to time.
I had a serious accident 2 years a go, not my fault but my bike was still taken away and scrutinised. The report noted 1 repair to the rear tyre and also noted it was professionally fixed, still inflated to the correct pressure at the time of inspection and had no bearing on the accident. I had plugged it myself to get home but had it professionally repaired afterwards and I'm glad I did. There is no one in my area now that will repair a motorcycle tyre no matter where the hole is on the tyre.
As a former AA patrol I`ve seen my share of punctures over the years and used approved temp repair methods , with the correct caveats . It shocks me the ignorance shown when it comes to these roadside kits , I`ve even worked with a fella who was so arrogant in his belief that his silly string puncture repairs he did on customers vehicles were good for life of the tyre , I used to refuse to anything to do with that job. He even used it to do so called perm repairs on company vehicles , which I would then refuse to drive ! I don`t work there anymore oddly enough !!
Something I've never been bothered about is weather or not a bike has tubed or tubeless tyres on it, if I've liked the bike I bought it. A roadside repair is a ball ache, but I've only had a couple of punctures while out riding on the road in fifty odd years, the other handful were from screws , self tappers or rivets carelessly discarded on car parks or yards of Body repair shops I worked at over the years, and it would usually happen within a couple of hundred miles of fitting new tyres, sods law eh? It became a habit to scan the ground anytime I walked across the yards to bring a car into the workshop over the years ! 😂 Interesting video Stuart Cheers Mel 🍻
On a good rear tubeless Dunlop tire, one day, I picked up a nail in the road and the tubeless tire went flat. I was on secondary roads about 11 miles from home. I did not stop immediately as I was riding quite sedately and the bike still seemed to handle well. I turned onto another road and traveled a few miles to an intersection with stop sign. I got off the bike and immediately could see the tire was flat. It handled well enough so I simply got back on and rode the remaining distance to home. This would most likely ruin the tire if ridden far enough. However, it survived 11 miles just fine. There were no balls of rubber inside as can often be seen on a tire that has been run flat. I plugged the tire and have ridden it this way for several thousand miles. It is on the rear of my 1980 Honda CB750F. I was amazed at how sturdy the sidewall is on , I think, a Dunlop K591. Now, the tread is gone and the bike will soon get a new rear tire.
Is it true that tire punctures are more common in the rear tire? The theory is that the front tire kicks up the debris and sends it toward the rear tire. For cars and motorcycles. What does everyone think about this?
Ah, the ole tubeless/tube argument. I had bikes tubeless and now the two bikes I own are both tubed. The only issues I have with them is people looking over my bikes to find fault with them and the ole tube argument get inflate well above their recommended PSI 😀 Since I love (at times) to rough it a bit, I'm pretty well grateful for the ole spoke tire and never felt the need to install tubeless kits or any of that, simple because of the fact that my insurance comes included with road side assistance up to 5 times a year. Once, with one of my older bikes that was tubeless, I did get a flat and I did have a kit. Unfortunately the kit didn't come with an air compressor so I ended up calling the road side assistance anyway. I'm sure there is a use case for both, but as it currently stands, in my use case, I hardly see it mattering - when i have road side assistance and a punctured tire gets replaced anyway - I feel that special care should be given to that part that connects the bike to the road and does all the steering/braking/accelerating. 🙂
Fair points. To add, inner tubes are available with different wall thicknesses and the thicker ones are harder to 'blow off' but feel harsher on the road .. Some people prefer tubed for in the middle of nowhere adventure riding because is more repairable if needed. I've spend many years on mid size off-road adv bike and that wheels and tires are superb for my local bad roads on the other side of Europe.
I've never been lucky and had a repairable tyre, it seems whenever I get a flat the tyre is finished.. its cost a fortune!! I had a flat in France and was miles from anywhere, I ended up laying my bike on its side and filling the tyre tightly with dry grass just to get to a place with a tube. It was the late 80s and I was on a shovel head Harley. 3 hours in the boiling sun to get moving!! I've had some great experiences with friends and our varios road side bodges to get going again. WE NEVER LEFT A MAN BEHIND!!
I've repaired tyres at the roadside with plugs. They are a get you home option, nothing more. It saves hanging about for a rescue. Then it's a case of getting it professionally repaired or the tyre replaced. I'd rather have tubeless because I simply cannot get the tyre off on the roadside. I will live with the cost of getting a new tyre is that's the case, I just want to get home where I can deal with it at my leisure. So, yes, I'll take the risk of ruining the tyre if it gets me home and take the cost later. The DIY kits also have a speed limit - usually 50mph. I have one bike with tubes. I don't bother to carry spare tubes. I'll just wait it out for the RAC.
Let’s face it these are the two most important things on a motorcycle. Condition etc it’s a matter of conscience and what you are most comfortable with. It’s your life for a what is relatively not a huge expense.
My dual-sports (street-legal enduros, if you prefer!) all run tubes and I'm glad of it, since it allows the tire manufacturer to use a more flexible sidewall so the tire itself can conform to rocks and washouts and the like of backcountry dirt/gravel roads, trails, and fields. Now, whether or not I've been wise enough to carry a pair of spare tubes with me is another matter. Hah! Even still, some dual-purpose and off-road moto tires do have rather stiff sidewalls, but I believe those are more meant for smoother, higher-speed roads and trails. Side note: Uncle Stu you've nearly sold me on a Classic 350 but I need to set aside the money for the new Himalayan - it's a more realistic choice for the kind of riding I prefer to do. Those 350s are sweetheart bikes even still and if I lived in a place with more roads like the UK's I'd have added one to the stable already (with a pair of tubes, a set of spoons, and a small inflator in the bags, of course).
tube slime and CO2 catridges, just as quick a road side repair as a plug, put the slime in ahead of time and you might not even notice the nail in your tyre until you're already home!
You have been a very lucky chap to have had so few punctures in a long life of riding. I on the other hand seam to be very unlucky. Had two punctures in tubed tyres in 1967 and again in the early eighties. Since then on tubeless tyres I have had that many I can't say exactly how many. These were mainly on sports bikes from the mid eighties onwards and in the rear tyre every time. Appeared to be due to lightness and softer compounds giving less puncture resistance. Every time, plugged at the roadside for ease of repair and taken to the repair garage right away and yes it has been a new tyre sometimes. Don't mind that though because of not having to struggle at the roadside.
Years ago when I did thousands of miles of European touring on tubes tyres, I carried two spanners to fit the wheel nuts, three tyre levers, two spare tubes and a foot pump, which is a lot of space taken up and a lot of weight. My most recent trips have been on a modern bike with tubeless tyres, and all I carried was a plug kit and three compressed air canisters.
Hi Stuart, thanks for another thoughtful video. As a chemist, I think it is perfectly OK to refer to all of the metal wheels as"alloy" wheels because none of them are 100% pure whatever metal they were made of. 🙂
You're correct. I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard people use the word "alloy" when pointing at cast aluminum. They don't seem to realise that steel or copper alloys (for example) exist in their thousands!
@@Trev350 And if anyone wants to get into the weeds, Google and Wikipedia have heaps of stuff on alloys, amalgams, and polymer alloys. Then there is the debate about all the different rubber alloys used to make tires and tubes. 🙂
I took the tube out of my Tiger90 & put some air in it,l have never seen such a misshapen object in all my life,it looked like a piece of modern art that belongs in the tate gallery
Thanks Stuart for a thoughtful summary of the tubed/tubeless debate. I have the Int 650 and Cont. GT 650, both with tubed tires of course. Royal Enfield warranty includes roadside assistance, which includes towing in the event of a tire failure. And my insurance company here in the US offers roadside assistance as well. I would use the towing services provided (after all, I am paying for them) to get either to my home or to a repair shop. I always pray that a puncture doesn't happen though. So far so good.
I totally agree with your conclusions. Michelin recommended using talc when fitting inner tubes [to lower friction]. There is also a sealant that can be inserted into an inner tube. I am a bicycle rider and like both systems. Running tubeless usually allows you get home before carrying out permanent repairs, though some sealants are better than others.
Its MrT truly well spoken that been the case since tupless were Introduced to motorcycles s rew in or push in were just a temporary thing and a proper plug patch was inserted from inside of tyre and heat applied to cure cement glue
Very interesting video. I have one bike with tubed tyres, a Yamaha SCR950. Punctures worry me. I don't want to be stranded. No roadside assistance for bikes in Thailand. If I was in England, I would put Bike Seal in my tubes. It works and lasts the life of the tyre. Nick
Thanks for the info I did plug my wife’s motorcycle tyre one week prior to a touring holiday. Purchased the kit for my car as only has the tyre sealant and compressor in the boot. It was ok for a couple of ride outs but when on tour would lose 5-8 psi during the day so I do need to remove the wheel and get it repaired properly.
Do any Riders use a Product Called SLIME ? I Always Remember that Company Would Have a Trade Stand at Motorcycle Shows This Sealant was A Lime Green Colour and the Dye would show on the Surface of the Tyre to show if It Had been Punctured
The Harley-Davidson Heritage, for example, has laced/spoked wheels front & rear and uses ‘tubeless’ tyres (with an inner tube) on both. It’s something I’ve avoided on my new bike…which has ‘imitation’ spokes, but is a cast wheel 😌
On the button. My early touring days with my pal…he had spoked wheels and carried spare tubes, I had tubeless and carried a repair kit. Neither ever used. Getting you somewhere a repair kit is maybe a comfort, say out in the Pyrenees, but absolutely it’s simply a get you home. In the car I picked up an object on the M5 Avonmouth Bridge. Noticing the screw head and removing it was a ‘deflating’ experience as a 3 inch screw came out. The AA simply used a BMW Motorcycle Repair Kit and said go to the nearest tyre depot. Could my mate repair his inner tube at the roadside (?) I’ve only done bicycles although same principal and lower pressure.
Here in California and the neighbor states of Nevada and Arizona many summer weeks are 100-110f or 38-43c and I’ve measured the pavement on those days above 150f or 65c. I haven’t had tire problems yet but I imagine this shortens tire life. I’ve been told that heavy duty tubes overheat more often than standard tubes.
I got a flat tire on my V-Star riding thru a desolate area of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona . At 105F and zero traffic with poor cell service , I was more than happy to plug it , pump it up and get out of there . I rode out of the situation with my rear end clamped shut , my jaws clamped shut and my hands clamped shut on the bars . Replaced the tire with a new Dunlop at the first available motorcycle shop .
I've had a few punctures over the years always in a tyre with less than 1000 miles on them. I commute all year round 70 miles a day. Used roadside repairs and they've always continued to hold pressure and never given me problems. The price of tyres these days replacing after less than a thousand miles is a no no for me.
I plugged a tyre and rode 400 miles in a day. It was fine for the ride but deflated overnight. I plugged it again and did 400 miles with no problem, it held pressure perfectly. Next day, I changed both tyres. That was my one and only motorcycle roadside puncture in 40 years. Pro’s of tubeless - 10 minute repair. Tubed - 1 hour minimum, but this is insignificant if it only happens once in a blue moon.
Once again, great content, well thought out points. Thanks very much for your time and effort. Helped me solidify my owns views; thought provoking. If I were traveling off the beaten path and needed a way to get by until near a shop or other assistance I think for sure a roadside patch kit and pump is fine but for sure you’ve got to then consider replacing the tire for all the reasons you mention, or you’re just hoping blindly that the patch will last and there’s no hidden damage. It’s all about risk mitigation. Personal choice, but why add risk where there’s not much reward and the consequences could be so high.
Great info about both types of tyres. I'd love to know more about the safety of tubeless tyres on tubed wheels. I have a set of tubeless to put on my Classic 350.
If either type of tyre goes flat on the road, it’s going to be a major headache. With a tubeless tyre there is a good chance the tyre will not be too flat to ride on when the puncture is noticed and that you can get home, maybe with some forecourt airline surfing. For road bikes at least, I think that’s a major consideration.
I experienced a pressure loss of around 1 psi per day with the usual inner tubes of Thai quality, sorry I just live there. Whenever I have somebody to visit me, I ask him to buy me some Heidenau inner tubes. There is no such experience with the tubeless tires of my other motorcycles. Still enjoying Stuarts Videos, and what a beautiful voice!
Good video and info I didn’t know the legalities of it all. In 30 years of motorcycling I’ve only had one puncture so it’s not worth worrying about. I met one rider at a cafe who was going to change the wheels on his new bike from tubed to tubeless (in case)he had a puncture out on the road. This was going to cost him in excess of £500 considering we’re rarely a few miles from a garage. All the best
Morning Stewart. Back in the early 1980s I took my bike for an MOT. While I was chatting with the guys a Pony Express rider came on his CX500 for an MOT and service. I never forgot he had several nails and screws in his back tyre and it showed no sign of going flat? He ended up having a new tyre fitted on the back wheel. So I can see why so many people say tubeless is best. But the points made in this vid also has it's merits too sir. As for me, I'm not fussed one way or the other because in the past I've had punchers in both tubeless and tubes tyres. Safe riding, till next time 👍.
The legality of tire plugs in the UK is interesting to hear. Thats similar to the US commercial truck laws. The US does not have this law for cars though. (some states may) Generally, regulations relating to how cars are operated an maintained is a 10th amendment issue. (state powers) Commercial falls under the Commerce section. (federal control) It gets rather complicated. But you can drive a car without a windshield or exhaust in a state like Alabama, but states like California have strict rules an inspection requirements. I was in the tire business early in my career. You take what you can get straight out of college. I worked for a big chain. Company policy was to not repair any damage in the outside section of tread or sidewall. Has to do with the way the tire flexes there. Thats a NTSB recommendations so doing otherwise could cause liability. Same with plug patches. Thats all they would use because the NTSB recommendations. But we did fix tires with old fashion plugs already in them. It was a large part of our business. There may be some self interest in why though. Not only did we sell those plugs, we sold tires covering punchers. So we would have had problems telling them that using a product we sold them means they have to buy a new tire. And in the case of tires we sold them, we were on the hook to give them the new tire if we decided it was not fixable. A company that didn't cover their tires for punchers would likely lean the other way to sell more tires. Not refixing a roadside repair is an RMA recommendation so that also has bias as they want to sell more tires. I sure would have loved to be in the room when the corporate lawyers an accounts debated that detail. But none of this was a direct legal issue. Years later, owning my own shop, I put a lot of cheap rope plugs in. I didn't do tires but someone was always pulling in with a flat. I would go out an plug it at no charge. But the "cover my butt" speech I gave them took about 4 times longer than the repair did. And I did it in front of my security camera. Never was an issue though. The danger is not that the repair will cause the tire to blow out, thats not what generally happens. Blowouts are heat failures. The RMA and the NTSB have said this. The problem with plugs is they sometimes leak. Because few people check their tire pressure, a leaking tire get ran low. A tire ran low of air builds up to much heat an the tire fails dramatically. All the recommendations an laws exist to fight this. Not a direct danger of the plug. Its likely also why they are not outright banned. "To get to the shop" use leaves little time to leak down. Once all cars have TPMS, this may become a problem of the past. I will run plugs for the life of my tires without worrying about it. But if my sister has a flat, I will take it over to my cousins tire shop an have him fix it on the inside. The different being that my big 33 inch truck tires are easy for me to notice they are low long before its an issue an her cars rubber band tires are not. An she rarely checks. This is all car stuff though. Motorcycle tires are a completely different animal. I dont know enough about them to say much on the subject. The reason we dont plug the sidewall or the outside section of tread would seem to me to apply to all of a motorcycle tire. I prefer tubeless tires for ease of roadside repair. Being disabled, pulling a tire to patch a tube on the roadside is problematic. But I dont think I want to ride any farther than I have to on a fixed tubeless tire no matter how its fixed. I would replace it. While I would like to say I would feel a low tire on my bike long before it became a heat failure issue, my last ride video proved otherwise.
Very informative post, thank you. The point about rarely checking tyre pressure is something I warn my young adult daughters about often, and they never have done it recently. Sadly, their “modern new man” partners have no skill, experience or interest in even the simplest repairs to anything mechanical. They both regard me as an English eccentric because I have a workshop filled with the tools I’ve inherited or bought for any mechanical task I have ever done. Never throw anything away. I heard a great quote recently: “The difference between a hoarder and a collector is that the collector knows what he’s got”. I’m more a hoarder, but I’m patient and can usually find something to fix many things that can be repaired at home.
@@GT380man My cousin called me a hoarder the other day. I told her no, I am just poor. I need all these tools an parts to fix problems myself, that she would just throw money at.
All comes back to personal choice. Having spent part of my youth working in a garage getting cars and motorbikes crossply tyres off their rims, by hand, and then patching the tubes as well as vulcanising a patch inside the tyre I much prefer the repair kits we have now. 😀 Even if it means getting a new tyre. Just as an aside, how many new models of cars have a full size spare, an awful lot come with just a repair kit.
Had punctures in both tubed and tubeless and carried out roadside repairs, although only 3 in 40+ years of riding, although last puncture was on a brand new bike, picked up a screw on the ride home from the dealer... Thankfully was repairable and the repair lasted the life of the tyre. The fear of getting a puncture seems to be much greater than the actual risk :)
Two weeks ago, I had a tube fail (rear). Upon bringing the wheel to the dealership, (Florida, USA), I asked if they could simply replace the tube, but they said “for liability reasons” they can not remove and remount a used tire. I wound up buying a new tire, tube and rim band.
One commentor mentioned that today's tires are expensive and maybe plugging would be good enough. Considering the price of an amulance and hospital- the price of replacing the tire at earliest seems much better.!! 👍👍5🏍🙋♂️
Although I don't trust our governments to not spot a money making opportunity for themselves or their friends, I really don't think that this is just one of those opportunities. Even if it is possible to make a permanent repair, what is the range of reliability that can be expected from the general public? Some can't even wire a three pin plug in a safe manner. And, If you can't afford the tyres, can you afford the bike?
The cost of a new tire, with you and the bike safely at home, is nothing compared to being stranded out in the middle of nowhere. That's the main thing.
I've not had a bike with tubeless tyres so can't really offer an opinion on tubeless but I have nearly always carried spare tube(s) since the early days of my riding career. One thing I will not do any more except in an emergency is to use a patched tube. I learned my lesson on the Doncaster bypass back in 1976.
Adv, road or dirt.. So tubeless tires are quickly plugable but require a shop to inspect and repair them properly which could include, due to carcass damage, having to buy a new tire.. tube tires require immediate attention preferrably installing a new tube on location, whether or not it's convenient. it's a saw-off.. either choice is a pita.
Stuart, great and informative as always but when you recommended considering break down/ recovery, I was with a mate who got a puncture on a Sunday and because there wasn’t anywhere nearby open, they wanted a small fortune to take him and the bike to a repair shop…if they could find somewhere open. If you get a puncture abroad it also brings its own issues. Perhaps you could discuss breakdown cover in a video? Ride safe…
Only ever had rear tyre punctures ,usually a nail or screw but once a sharp piece of flint, It seams the front tyre flips it up and the rear catches it..!
Off road tyres are often run with lower pressure. Making a tubeless more likely to loose pressure. With tube the tyre can slip on the rim. Resulting in valve stem at an angle, Worst case ripping the valve from the tube. Solved with rim locks. Rim locks makes changing tyres cumbersome and more weights needed balancing.
Another interesting video Stuart👍 Of about 40 years of riding Scooters & still do (Vespa / Lambretta) I've only ever had two punctures which luckily can carry a spare on those as they are only 10 inch wheels so a quick roadside change is fairly easy. Saying that you can fit tubeless tyres/wheels to them these days but getting them removed & fitted can be a pain as well as expensive so I've always stuck to tubed. On my Triumph T100 if I ever get a puncture I'll just get recovery & let a professional tyre fitter sort it. Always look forward to your vids sir
I have had 2 front-wheel blowouts on tubeless tyres. One at low speed, two-up…interesting and a bit scary….and one at 3-figure speeds. Very scary! Ironically, I’d read, just the day before the 120mph front wheel blow-out, an article in ‘Bike’ magazine on how to survive a front-wheel blowout. That pretty much saved me and my motorcycle from a big crash. I’ve also had 2 x rear-wheel blowouts on tubeless tyres….barely noticed much of a problem! The holes were tiny and some tyre-snot fixed it at once.
Additional information... if you have a puncture and it's repaired, according to most manufacturers, the speed rating for the tire is reduced to 85mph. So for instance, if you were going to have a track day or planning on a scoot on the autobahn, it would be advisable to have a puncture free tire.
Hello Stuart, carefully avoiding taking any position on this subject, all I would say is I waited from around 12.00hrs to 16.00hrs for the RAC to arrive and say they couldn't fix the puncture or transpost my Interceptor 650 home. The RAC then called to say I might have to wait untill 19.00hrs for a pick-up vehicle. It was getting dark, I was getting very cold and hungry and didn't have waterproofs so I called Motorcycle SOS which cost another £120.00 but got home around 20.00hrs. I'm not sure what's the point of my RAC membership??
Had punctures in both tubed & tubeless. With a tube puncture,can usually just change the tube (experience of tube repair aren’t t good). With a tubeless, the tyre has gone from the bike & into the bin, wouldn’t trust it. Once had slow deflation on a tubeless & couldn’t find the cause. It turned out to be corrosion on the inside of the alloy rim from tyre slime causing a very slight break in the tyre/rim seal. Interestingly most tyres these days during my search for new tyres seem to be tubeless, so because the tyre rim is stiffer on these, I would assume it’s a bit harder to remove these tyres from the rim by the roadside or at home by many , if the tube inside such a tyre gets punctured.
Police have the power to examine tyres of any motor vehicle to ascertain condition through routine stops. They also have the back up of VIB. MOT stations should also pick up on repairs that render the vehicles compliance.
@@stuartfillinghamAre manufacturing date codes a factor in MOTs (or roadworthiness) checks? For example, a tyre in apparently good condition & with lots of tread, but with a date code showing the tyre was ten plus years old. Is that considered unsafe & is there room for the testers opinion on roadworthiness? I change my vintage bike tyres at least every ten years if I’ve not worn them out. Though very recent tyres feel better and go off over time, I’ve never heard a thoughtful and experienced riders opine on limits of elderly rubber.
My tubes have green goop to slow the air escape. My tubeless I carry the ribbons and have mushrooms at home. All bikes have a USB port. I carry a small cordless inflator. Benefit of this is I blow my camping pillow up with it also.
Hi Stuart just to mention you get a free 12 months subscription for roadside assistance with a new triumph and the option to increase it for a second year also free .
I think the odds of a flat with a modern motorcycle are slim. Having said that I prefer cast wheels with tubeless tires simply because of the looks. I dig the design of the wheels on my RE Hunter 350.
I have ridden 200,000 kms (120,000 miles) on black top, pavement on bikes with tubeless tires and not 1 leak. Now I have an ADV bike with tubes. Has anyone upon getting a thorn, nail or screw into the tire and tube tried using one of those liquid sealers as a temporary repair? I am thinking instead of dismounting the tire to instead not dismount the tire and inject the liquid tire sealer into the tube. It would seal the hole in the tube where the nail or screw was. It should stop at the hole and not get all over the rim. Then I could put air into the tube and ride to a better location to remove the tire and repair or replace the tube, or ride to a bike shop.
Good morning Stu. I have no preference for either tubed or tubeless tyres. Over the years I’ve had both. In some ways, I prefer spoked wheels as I think they look better and not that bad to keep clean. I’ve only ever tried to repair one puncture on a tubed tyre and made such a pigs ear of it that I had to have new tube anyway. I have had four punctures in 50 years. Two on the aforementioned bike in the 70’s and two on tubeless wheels. One front, which got me home and a rear that had only done 20 miles. I’ve never used a tyre repair kit for the very reasons you mentioned.
When I found out my Intercepter came with tubelees rims with spokes, I used 3m sealant tape to seal the spokes, that was about 1000k ago, so far no problem, as the Sport Demons(fitted by previous owner) were an absolute bitch to remove I had no wish to repair a tube in the rain and dark, so plugs are it for me.
Well for me I had to call roadside assistance and get a rescue truck to take me to a dealer to get the inner tube replaced. What about using sealing foam in a tubeless tyre?
If I had a tubeless tyre repair aerosol, I’d give it a go by the roadside. I have a faint memory that this condemns the tyre, on which bike shops will then refuse to countenance a professional repair.
Brilliant video as always Stuart and a very interesting piece on tyres and wheels, something which hadn't entered my tiny brain before now, I also have only had 1 puncture and on a GS Adventure - it just happened to be in Mongolia 😌👍🏻
I had a puncture on a tubed tyre and it went down very fast, and that was with slime in the tube. Without the slime I think I may have come off the bike as once it was flat I could barely move the bike. Even after stopping almost straight away the tyre was badly damaged by the under inflation. Also it happened in the middle of nowhere and no local garage had a spare tube. A friend had to ride a 400 mile round trip to source one for the next day and I was taken away on a flatbed. Tubed, never again!
My assumption is modern tyres are a little more puncture resistant but that might just be personal experience . I've had 3 punctures in the last 20 years 2 tubeless, 1 tubed. I was only able to repair one of them roadside but replaced both tubeless tyres with new as I didnt "trust" the repair long term. When buying a new bike I always note which system the bike has but it doesn't really influence my choice
Also, if you put a new tube in a tubed tyre, remember to patch the hole inside the tyre! Otherwise the hole can flex under load and cause another hole in the new tube.
I will miss your response from now on. It's sad if it's because of trolls or argumentative people. I always bring you up as a channel that is close to his fans as he still responds even with high sub count. I could see it would be crazy with 2000 responses to every video. I will continue to make comments as I will try to keep them to the point! Thank you for making entertainment that educates. Well done sir. I found I have surpassed you with subs, as I still need to find out how to get that "k" after my number! 😂
I bought my bike because I liked the color and the alloy wheels. I did get a plug kit for my adventure's JIK I get stuck in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately it didn't happen. Possibly because I put brand new tires on before I left. Punctures in car tires are statistically most likely near the end of a tires life. No idea for bikes. So I accept if I get a puncture. It will cost me a new tire. My priority is about my safety. Rather than regulation. All plug kits I've seen recommend temporary use only due to compromised safety of the tire.
I have lost count as to the amount of nails and screws I have had in my tyres. I have not had a problem in getting my tyres repaired. I would never consider buying a motorcycle that has tubed tyres. My current V Strom has spoked wheels with tubeless tyres, the best of both worlds
Interesting. Do you know how the spoke holes in the rim are sealed against air leaks under pressure? My remaining two bikes are both 1977 and carry OEM chromed, steel, spoked rims. They’re not brilliantly round or free of rim distortion, even new. They’re pretty but on the last restoration, in which I replaced everything except the hubs, I found that the built up rim was imperfect due to ground down, welded seams. Side to side movement when spun on a spare axle clamped in a Workman (TM) was under 1mm and up and down (“bunny hop”) type movement close to zero, after patient tweaking with spoke spanner. The side to side runout was far too small to trouble myself with, in that once fresh rubber was installed by the nearest bike shop, the machine ran perfectly smoothly. I ground down the threaded spoke ends which projected above the inner faces of the spoke nipples and the bike shop installed a rubber rim tape before fitting new tubes & tyres (+ balancing them, too).
Thanks for your reply. There is somewhat of a misunderstanding, I'm talking about spokes being fitted by the manufacturer to the outer rim, therefore does not interfere with the sealing of the tubeless tyre. Example: Suzuki V Strom 650XT, Moto Guzzi V85. I admire the amount of work you have have carried out on spoked wheels on your motorcycles.
This conversation brought back memories from the summer of 1966 when I worked at a Chevron Gas/Service Station in Juneau, Alaska. Back then these establishments did just about everything except major engine overhauls --- no Mini Marts.
Anyway, I would often spend day after day doing nothing but putting tubes in tubeless tires on brand new cars from the local Ford dealership before they were put on the showroom floor. On customer, mostly tourist, tire repairs, it was illegal to use a plug to repair the tire. We could use a "boot patch" on the inside of the tire or a tube. Why, you might ask? Plug repairs simply could not survive long on the Alaska roads of the time. After patching countless tubes on bicycles, cars, and motorcycles, I have come to trust them as much as a new tube if done properly on an otherwise sound tube. Happy Travels.
After 36 years of riding I had a catastrophic tire blowout last July. Cruising at 70 mph the sudden blowout sent the bike sliding this way then that before pitching me to the ground. Due to an unfortunate impact of my chest on the handlebars I spent a long time recovering.
I have always been fond of spoked wheels so I have been running tube type tires but after this unfortunate incident I am definitely considering going tubeless to reduce the chances of it happening again.
Nasty, glad it wasn’t much worse!
@@GT380man alot of safety gear. If it wasn't for hitting my chest I would have walked away. Just bad luck.
Question for you can you put tubeless tires on a spoked rim? I have a Suzuki Boulevard c50, can I replace the tires with tubes with tubeless tires?
I ride a Harley Heritage with spoke wheels and tubes. The sidewalls are so stiff that even with a great set of spoons you would have great difficulty trying to change the tube on the roadside. Those are some interesting roads you were on there. They appear very narrow but look like a lot of fun to ride. I enjoy your commentary. -- From the USA
Sounds like you've been lucky with punctures. I've had 4 over the years, 2 on tubed, 2 on tubeless. The 1st tubed tyre puncture happened on the M25 in a roadworks, the delay (11hrs approx) caused me to miss my ferry, then they went on strike and my holiday was cancelled. The 2nd tubed puncture happened on the front wheel on holiday in Switzerland coming down the alps on a Sunday. Another 12hr+ delay. The 1st tubeless puncture happened without a repair kit and needed recovery, they strapped the bike down and blew a fork seal. The 2nd tubeless puncture happened on a rainy night coming home from work, I used my repair kit and within 15mins I was on my way. Next day the tyre was professionally patched.
I could have carried tyre levers and 2 tubes and a pump for the tubed tyre repair, but that's a lot of bulky kit especially on bikes that can only fit a thin sandwich under the seat. So for me theory vs reality has always pushed me towards tubeless and always carry a repair kit but hope to never have to use it. Stay lucky.
Excellent video its amazing how many people dont realize the problem with DIY kits until the repair gets spotted at the MOT and the bike fails!
Not according to sport bike magazine
There are rules it’s not a free for all
MOT testers have a lot of discretion when it comes to things like this, explained Bryn. However, if a plug meets British Standards, there shouldn’t be an issue.
No MOT in the U.S.
the last puncture i had was a 9" length of welding rod in a tubed back. New tube fitted at the side of the road just outside Matlock
I have had many punctures over the years, more often in the rear tyre and often when new. New tyres seem to flick items off the road to cause a puncture
Many have been dealer repaired, some roadside repairs which i would use until worn out, never replaced a tyre just because of a repair.
Nice explanation on the 2 differences for tubed and tubeless Stu 👍🏼 These puncture repair kits, imo are just to simply get you out of the
Sh!t , just makes it easier with tubeless tyres and can be done in minutes to get you back on the road to home or a local repair centre , I've done a tubeless conversion on my interceptor for this exact reason, didn't want to be faffing about at the side of the road taking wheels off etc 👍🏼 but each to their own that's what motorcycling is all about.
Exactly. Getting yourself and the bike home is 99% of the deal. Then you can deal with the tire at your leisure.
I have ridden for 50 years and had many punctures in tubed and tubeless tyres, but never had a puncture in a front tyre. I’ve heard that this is because sharp objects like nails and screws lay flat on the road and so they get thrown out and occasionally straight into the rear tyre, with the possibility of piercing it because they aren’t laying flat. Truth can be stranger than fiction 🤷🏼♂️
Well done for attempting to clarify this 'thorny topic' - 😊 - yes, it's nowhere near as simple as some would optimistically suggest! It has gained relevance in this era of 'adventure bikes', following the period where tubeless 'one-piece' wheels became the prevailing type, with so many ADV bikes fitted with spoked wheels to permit the slight flex these wheels allow in rougher terrain. The reality is that if a tubeless tyre has a hole larger than 6mm, or too far from the centre of the tyre, it is probably not repairable. If the tubeless tyre needs to be removed by the owner, it requires a bead breaker - not practical at the roadside. You might be able to do some acrobatics with the sidestand of another bike to separate the bead, but impossible if you're alone. You can't use your bike this way with one wheel removed.
Tubeless tyre rims also are less safe to run with low pressures, such as might be lowered for certain off-road surfaces, as they can turn on the rim or break the bead on rocks etc. and let the air out. Many disadvantages to tubeless tyres not always mentioned. Mind you, if a tubed tyre turns on the rim it usually rips the valve off the tube... But yes - changing a tube at the roadside is bound to be a headache. The only benefit being that if you've fitted a new tube, the repair is permanent, unlike the roadside tubeless repair, as you stressed.
I have had several 'flats' over my 61 years of riding, and like you - I have both tubeless and tubed types in my 'fleet'. I accept that the tyre type is fitted by the manufacturer for reasons not always obvious to those who wish to make this an overly simplistic topic. It isn't.
The tubeless spoked wheel is a clever solution, but as mentioned below - they are an imperfect answer. They ARE more difficult to 'true', if needed, particularly in the case of the 21" size. This may be why the spoked wheel 1050 V-Strom now has tubeless rear and tubed front. I recall a tale on here of an Aprilia Tuareg which someone test rode, which had an out-of-true (tubeless/spoked) front wheel, which the shop had been unable to get repaired. They are a good idea when new, having been trued at the factory in a jig, but are problematic to repair at a local level when they are out of true. Good on you for daring to go into this tricky area, so riddled with misconceptions and fixed beliefs. As to spoked/tubed wheels being lighter? Not necessarily. 40 steel spokes do add quite a bit of weight to a wheel assembly, compared to a lightweight one piece rim, particularly for a wider rim. The stock wheels on my Ducati road bike are amazingly light.
With all the pitfalls of using these kits, I'll stick to my tubed tyres. Anytime spent messing with my bike is a bonus even just repairing or replacing an inner tube.
As the video states both tubed and tubeless tyres have their pro's and cons, nine times out of ten an offending object in a tubeless tyre will only cause a slow puncture if the object is left in place unless the object makes a slit in the tyre, which in all cases is not repairable. One thing I would add.....when I was on the spanners in the bike trade if a new tubeless tyre was being fitted we would ALWAYS fit a new valve assembly. the metal type valves use rubber seals and the cone shaped all rubber ones self seal but both types will perish in the end just like an old tyre, in this case the metal type valves will deflate more slowly but the rubber cone type can deflate very quickly and replacements of both valve types have to be fitted from inside the wheel so it's worth checking your valves from time to time.
I had a serious accident 2 years a go, not my fault but my bike was still taken away and scrutinised. The report noted 1 repair to the rear tyre and also noted it was professionally fixed, still inflated to the correct pressure at the time of inspection and had no bearing on the accident. I had plugged it myself to get home but had it professionally repaired afterwards and I'm glad I did.
There is no one in my area now that will repair a motorcycle tyre no matter where the hole is on the tyre.
As a former AA patrol I`ve seen my share of punctures over the years and used approved temp repair methods , with the correct caveats . It shocks me the ignorance shown when it comes to these roadside kits , I`ve even worked with a fella who was so arrogant in his belief that his silly string puncture repairs he did on customers vehicles were good for life of the tyre , I used to refuse to anything to do with that job. He even used it to do so called perm repairs on company vehicles , which I would then refuse to drive ! I don`t work there anymore oddly enough !!
Something I've never been bothered about is weather or not a bike has tubed or tubeless tyres on it, if I've liked the bike I bought it.
A roadside repair is a ball ache, but I've only had a couple of punctures while out riding on the road in fifty odd years, the other handful were from screws , self tappers or rivets carelessly discarded on car parks or yards of Body repair shops I worked at over the years, and it would usually happen within a couple of hundred miles of fitting new tyres, sods law eh?
It became a habit to scan the ground anytime I walked across the yards to bring a car into the workshop over the years ! 😂
Interesting video Stuart
Cheers Mel 🍻
On a good rear tubeless Dunlop tire, one day, I picked up a nail in the road and the tubeless tire went flat. I was on secondary roads about 11 miles from home. I did not stop immediately as I was riding quite sedately and the bike still seemed to handle well. I turned onto another road and traveled a few miles to an intersection with stop sign. I got off the bike and immediately could see the tire was flat. It handled well enough so I simply got back on and rode the remaining distance to home. This would most likely ruin the tire if ridden far enough. However, it survived 11 miles just fine. There were no balls of rubber inside as can often be seen on a tire that has been run flat. I plugged the tire and have ridden it this way for several thousand miles. It is on the rear of my 1980 Honda CB750F. I was amazed at how sturdy the sidewall is on , I think, a Dunlop K591. Now, the tread is gone and the bike will soon get a new rear tire.
Back in the day, we all carried tyre levers, and patches, didn’t think nothing of it, Lovely Road that from Buttertubs😊
I still do on my ADV bike which has tubed tires.
An eye opener for many bikers
And the same rules DO apply here in the USA
Thanks for the vlog
Regards from Florida
Is it true that tire punctures are more common in the rear tire? The theory is that the front tire kicks up the debris and sends it toward the rear tire. For cars and motorcycles.
What does everyone think about this?
Ah, the ole tubeless/tube argument. I had bikes tubeless and now the two bikes I own are both tubed. The only issues I have with them is people looking over my bikes to find fault with them and the ole tube argument get inflate well above their recommended PSI 😀 Since I love (at times) to rough it a bit, I'm pretty well grateful for the ole spoke tire and never felt the need to install tubeless kits or any of that, simple because of the fact that my insurance comes included with road side assistance up to 5 times a year. Once, with one of my older bikes that was tubeless, I did get a flat and I did have a kit. Unfortunately the kit didn't come with an air compressor so I ended up calling the road side assistance anyway. I'm sure there is a use case for both, but as it currently stands, in my use case, I hardly see it mattering - when i have road side assistance and a punctured tire gets replaced anyway - I feel that special care should be given to that part that connects the bike to the road and does all the steering/braking/accelerating. 🙂
Fair points. To add, inner tubes are available with different wall thicknesses and the thicker ones are harder to 'blow off' but feel harsher on the road .. Some people prefer tubed for in the middle of nowhere adventure riding because is more repairable if needed. I've spend many years on mid size off-road adv bike and that wheels and tires are superb for my local bad roads on the other side of Europe.
I've never been lucky and had a repairable tyre, it seems whenever I get a flat the tyre is finished.. its cost a fortune!! I had a flat in France and was miles from anywhere, I ended up laying my bike on its side and filling the tyre tightly with dry grass just to get to a place with a tube. It was the late 80s and I was on a shovel head Harley. 3 hours in the boiling sun to get moving!! I've had some great experiences with friends and our varios road side bodges to get going again. WE NEVER LEFT A MAN BEHIND!!
I've repaired tyres at the roadside with plugs. They are a get you home option, nothing more. It saves hanging about for a rescue. Then it's a case of getting it professionally repaired or the tyre replaced. I'd rather have tubeless because I simply cannot get the tyre off on the roadside. I will live with the cost of getting a new tyre is that's the case, I just want to get home where I can deal with it at my leisure. So, yes, I'll take the risk of ruining the tyre if it gets me home and take the cost later. The DIY kits also have a speed limit - usually 50mph. I have one bike with tubes. I don't bother to carry spare tubes. I'll just wait it out for the RAC.
Let’s face it these are the two most important things on a motorcycle. Condition etc it’s a matter of conscience and what you are most comfortable with. It’s your life for a what is relatively not a huge expense.
My dual-sports (street-legal enduros, if you prefer!) all run tubes and I'm glad of it, since it allows the tire manufacturer to use a more flexible sidewall so the tire itself can conform to rocks and washouts and the like of backcountry dirt/gravel roads, trails, and fields. Now, whether or not I've been wise enough to carry a pair of spare tubes with me is another matter. Hah! Even still, some dual-purpose and off-road moto tires do have rather stiff sidewalls, but I believe those are more meant for smoother, higher-speed roads and trails. Side note: Uncle Stu you've nearly sold me on a Classic 350 but I need to set aside the money for the new Himalayan - it's a more realistic choice for the kind of riding I prefer to do. Those 350s are sweetheart bikes even still and if I lived in a place with more roads like the UK's I'd have added one to the stable already (with a pair of tubes, a set of spoons, and a small inflator in the bags, of course).
tube slime and CO2 catridges, just as quick a road side repair as a plug, put the slime in ahead of time and you might not even notice the nail in your tyre until you're already home!
Worth adding wheel balancing, as not seen it mentioned so far, especially when removing and repairing tubed tyres, just a thought.
This is the best video I've seen on this subject Stuart. Well done and thank you.
I understand that you can't do it for all, but I enjoy your responses.
Enjoyed the video Stuart your a lucky man living in such a beautiful area 👍
You have been a very lucky chap to have had so few punctures in a long life of riding. I on the other hand seam to be very unlucky. Had two punctures in tubed tyres in 1967 and again in the early eighties. Since then on tubeless tyres I have had that many I can't say exactly how many. These were mainly on sports bikes from the mid eighties onwards and in the rear tyre every time. Appeared to be due to lightness and softer compounds giving less puncture resistance. Every time, plugged at the roadside for ease of repair and taken to the repair garage right away and yes it has been a new tyre sometimes. Don't mind that though because of not having to struggle at the roadside.
Years ago when I did thousands of miles of European touring on tubes tyres, I carried two spanners to fit the wheel nuts, three tyre levers, two spare tubes and a foot pump, which is a lot of space taken up and a lot of weight. My most recent trips have been on a modern bike with tubeless tyres, and all I carried was a plug kit and three compressed air canisters.
Hi Stuart, thanks for another thoughtful video. As a chemist, I think it is perfectly OK to refer to all of the metal wheels as"alloy" wheels because none of them are 100% pure whatever metal they were made of. 🙂
You're correct. I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard people use the word "alloy" when pointing at cast aluminum. They don't seem to realise that steel or copper alloys (for example) exist in their thousands!
@@Trev350 And if anyone wants to get into the weeds, Google and Wikipedia have heaps of stuff on alloys, amalgams, and polymer alloys. Then there is the debate about all the different rubber alloys used to make tires and tubes. 🙂
I took the tube out of my Tiger90 & put some air in it,l have never seen such a misshapen object in all my life,it looked like a piece of modern art that belongs in the tate gallery
Sounds like that tube was in an “edge of failure” condition!
Thanks Stuart for a thoughtful summary of the tubed/tubeless debate. I have the Int 650 and Cont. GT 650, both with tubed tires of course. Royal Enfield warranty includes roadside assistance, which includes towing in the event of a tire failure. And my insurance company here in the US offers roadside assistance as well. I would use the towing services provided (after all, I am paying for them) to get either to my home or to a repair shop. I always pray that a puncture doesn't happen though. So far so good.
Thanks for a very informative video. Ive only experinced 3 punctures in 40 years riding. I always get my tyres professionally checked .
I totally agree with your conclusions. Michelin recommended using talc when fitting inner tubes [to lower friction]. There is also a sealant that can be inserted into an inner tube. I am a bicycle rider and like both systems. Running tubeless usually allows you get home before carrying out permanent repairs, though some sealants are better than others.
Its MrT truly well spoken that been the case since tupless were Introduced to motorcycles s rew in or push in were just a temporary thing and a proper plug patch was inserted from inside of tyre and heat applied to cure cement glue
Glad I watched this. Very informative. Lovely scenic ride, too.
I really enjoy watching your videos! 🍻
Very interesting video. I have one bike with tubed tyres, a Yamaha SCR950. Punctures worry me. I don't want to be stranded. No roadside assistance for bikes in Thailand. If I was in England, I would put Bike Seal in my tubes. It works and lasts the life of the tyre. Nick
Always willing to accept advice from a man who was a copper when coppers were trustworthy.
Excellent video Stuart .
Thanks for the info I did plug my wife’s motorcycle tyre one week prior to a touring holiday. Purchased the kit for my car as only has the tyre sealant and compressor in the boot. It was ok for a couple of ride outs but when on tour would lose 5-8 psi during the day so I do need to remove the wheel and get it repaired properly.
Do any Riders use a Product Called
SLIME ? I Always Remember that Company Would Have a Trade Stand at Motorcycle Shows
This Sealant was A Lime Green Colour and the Dye would show on the Surface of the Tyre to show if It Had been Punctured
I tried it in the 90s never got a puncture though so dont know if it worked or not.
OK for a bicycle or sit on mower. Motocycle? Imagine that gunk like slime spinning around at 95 full lean, no thanks.
The Harley-Davidson Heritage, for example, has laced/spoked wheels front & rear and uses ‘tubeless’ tyres (with an inner tube) on both. It’s something I’ve avoided on my new bike…which has ‘imitation’ spokes, but is a cast wheel 😌
On the button. My early touring days with my pal…he had spoked wheels and carried spare tubes, I had tubeless and carried a repair kit. Neither ever used. Getting you somewhere a repair kit is maybe a comfort, say out in the Pyrenees, but absolutely it’s simply a get you home. In the car I picked up an object on the M5 Avonmouth Bridge. Noticing the screw head and removing it was a ‘deflating’ experience as a 3 inch screw came out. The AA simply used a BMW Motorcycle Repair Kit and said go to the nearest tyre depot. Could my mate repair his inner tube at the roadside (?) I’ve only done bicycles although same principal and lower pressure.
Here in California and the neighbor states of Nevada and Arizona many summer weeks are 100-110f or 38-43c and I’ve measured the pavement on those days above 150f or 65c. I haven’t had tire problems yet but I imagine this shortens tire life. I’ve been told that heavy duty tubes overheat more often than standard tubes.
Nice one Stuart 👏🏻 I like the way you emphasised “You can’t” in replying to people who think they can make a permanent repair to a tubeless tyre 😀
I got a flat tire on my V-Star riding thru a desolate area of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona . At 105F and zero traffic with poor cell service , I was more than happy to plug it , pump it up and get out of there . I rode out of the situation with my rear end clamped shut , my jaws clamped shut and my hands clamped shut on the bars . Replaced the tire with a new Dunlop at the first available motorcycle shop .
I've had a few punctures over the years always in a tyre with less than 1000 miles on them. I commute all year round 70 miles a day. Used roadside repairs and they've always continued to hold pressure and never given me problems. The price of tyres these days replacing after less than a thousand miles is a no no for me.
I plugged a tyre and rode 400 miles in a day. It was fine for the ride but deflated overnight. I plugged it again and did 400 miles with no problem, it held pressure perfectly. Next day, I changed both tyres.
That was my one and only motorcycle roadside puncture in 40 years.
Pro’s of tubeless - 10 minute repair. Tubed - 1 hour minimum, but this is insignificant if it only happens once in a blue moon.
Once again, great content, well thought out points. Thanks very much for your time and effort. Helped me solidify my owns views; thought provoking. If I were traveling off the beaten path and needed a way to get by until near a shop or other assistance I think for sure a roadside patch kit and pump is fine but for sure you’ve got to then consider replacing the tire for all the reasons you mention, or you’re just hoping blindly that the patch will last and there’s no hidden damage. It’s all about risk mitigation. Personal choice, but why add risk where there’s not much reward and the consequences could be so high.
If i go touring or any major distance from home always carry a can of tyre weld.
Vielen Dank für den nützlichen Tipp. Ähnlich wie Sie, hat sich auch Noraly zu dieser Thematik geäußert. Ciao und weiterhin gute Fahrt! 👍🏍️👍
Great info about both types of tyres. I'd love to know more about the safety of tubeless tyres on tubed wheels. I have a set of tubeless to put on my Classic 350.
If either type of tyre goes flat on the road, it’s going to be a major headache. With a tubeless tyre there is a good chance the tyre will not be too flat to ride on when the puncture is noticed and that you can get home, maybe with some forecourt airline surfing. For road bikes at least, I think that’s a major consideration.
I experienced a pressure loss of around 1 psi per day with the usual inner tubes of Thai quality, sorry I just live there. Whenever I have somebody to visit me, I ask him to buy me some Heidenau inner tubes. There is no such experience with the tubeless tires of my other motorcycles. Still enjoying Stuarts Videos, and what a beautiful voice!
VERY Enlightening, and interesting, I was certainly unaware of the laws and facts you pointed out, thank you, Great channel, Cheers, DINO.
Good video and info I didn’t know the legalities of it all. In 30 years of motorcycling I’ve only had one puncture so it’s not worth worrying about. I met one rider at a cafe who was going to change the wheels on his new bike from tubed to tubeless (in case)he had a puncture out on the road. This was going to cost him in excess of £500 considering we’re rarely a few miles from a garage. All the best
Morning Stewart. Back in the early 1980s I took my bike for an MOT. While I was chatting with the guys a Pony Express rider came on his CX500 for an MOT and service. I never forgot he had several nails and screws in his back tyre and it showed no sign of going flat? He ended up having a new tyre fitted on the back wheel. So I can see why so many people say tubeless is best. But the points made in this vid also has it's merits too sir. As for me, I'm not fussed one way or the other because in the past I've had punchers in both tubeless and tubes tyres. Safe riding, till next time 👍.
The legality of tire plugs in the UK is interesting to hear. Thats similar to the US commercial truck laws. The US does not have this law for cars though. (some states may) Generally, regulations relating to how cars are operated an maintained is a 10th amendment issue. (state powers) Commercial falls under the Commerce section. (federal control) It gets rather complicated. But you can drive a car without a windshield or exhaust in a state like Alabama, but states like California have strict rules an inspection requirements.
I was in the tire business early in my career. You take what you can get straight out of college. I worked for a big chain. Company policy was to not repair any damage in the outside section of tread or sidewall. Has to do with the way the tire flexes there. Thats a NTSB recommendations so doing otherwise could cause liability. Same with plug patches. Thats all they would use because the NTSB recommendations. But we did fix tires with old fashion plugs already in them. It was a large part of our business. There may be some self interest in why though. Not only did we sell those plugs, we sold tires covering punchers. So we would have had problems telling them that using a product we sold them means they have to buy a new tire. And in the case of tires we sold them, we were on the hook to give them the new tire if we decided it was not fixable. A company that didn't cover their tires for punchers would likely lean the other way to sell more tires. Not refixing a roadside repair is an RMA recommendation so that also has bias as they want to sell more tires. I sure would have loved to be in the room when the corporate lawyers an accounts debated that detail. But none of this was a direct legal issue.
Years later, owning my own shop, I put a lot of cheap rope plugs in. I didn't do tires but someone was always pulling in with a flat. I would go out an plug it at no charge. But the "cover my butt" speech I gave them took about 4 times longer than the repair did. And I did it in front of my security camera. Never was an issue though.
The danger is not that the repair will cause the tire to blow out, thats not what generally happens. Blowouts are heat failures. The RMA and the NTSB have said this. The problem with plugs is they sometimes leak. Because few people check their tire pressure, a leaking tire get ran low. A tire ran low of air builds up to much heat an the tire fails dramatically. All the recommendations an laws exist to fight this. Not a direct danger of the plug. Its likely also why they are not outright banned. "To get to the shop" use leaves little time to leak down. Once all cars have TPMS, this may become a problem of the past.
I will run plugs for the life of my tires without worrying about it. But if my sister has a flat, I will take it over to my cousins tire shop an have him fix it on the inside. The different being that my big 33 inch truck tires are easy for me to notice they are low long before its an issue an her cars rubber band tires are not. An she rarely checks.
This is all car stuff though. Motorcycle tires are a completely different animal. I dont know enough about them to say much on the subject. The reason we dont plug the sidewall or the outside section of tread would seem to me to apply to all of a motorcycle tire. I prefer tubeless tires for ease of roadside repair. Being disabled, pulling a tire to patch a tube on the roadside is problematic. But I dont think I want to ride any farther than I have to on a fixed tubeless tire no matter how its fixed. I would replace it. While I would like to say I would feel a low tire on my bike long before it became a heat failure issue, my last ride video proved otherwise.
Very informative post, thank you.
The point about rarely checking tyre pressure is something I warn my young adult daughters about often, and they never have done it recently. Sadly, their “modern new man” partners have no skill, experience or interest in even the simplest repairs to anything mechanical. They both regard me as an English eccentric because I have a workshop filled with the tools I’ve inherited or bought for any mechanical task I have ever done. Never throw anything away.
I heard a great quote recently:
“The difference between a hoarder and a collector is that the collector knows what he’s got”.
I’m more a hoarder, but I’m patient and can usually find something to fix many things that can be repaired at home.
@@GT380man My cousin called me a hoarder the other day. I told her no, I am just poor. I need all these tools an parts to fix problems myself, that she would just throw money at.
All comes back to personal choice. Having spent part of my youth working in a garage getting cars and motorbikes crossply tyres off their rims, by hand, and then patching the tubes as well as vulcanising a patch inside the tyre I much prefer the repair kits we have now. 😀 Even if it means getting a new tyre. Just as an aside, how many new models of cars have a full size spare, an awful lot come with just a repair kit.
Use plenty of talcum powder on the inner tube, this helps reduce friction heat.
Make sure it's not baby powder with mineral oil,tends to rot the tubes at least with bicycle tires
Had punctures in both tubed and tubeless and carried out roadside repairs, although only 3 in 40+ years of riding, although last puncture was on a brand new bike, picked up a screw on the ride home from the dealer... Thankfully was repairable and the repair lasted the life of the tyre. The fear of getting a puncture seems to be much greater than the actual risk :)
Two weeks ago, I had a tube fail (rear). Upon bringing the wheel to the dealership, (Florida, USA), I asked if they could simply replace the tube, but they said “for liability reasons” they can not remove and remount a used tire.
I wound up buying a new tire, tube and rim band.
Thanks for a very informative video Stuart 👌😎☕️ Fred
One commentor mentioned that today's tires are expensive and maybe plugging would be good enough. Considering the price of an amulance and hospital- the price of replacing the tire at earliest seems much better.!! 👍👍5🏍🙋♂️
New Tires can be very expensive so they made a law to make it hard for you to patch up your tires. UK bureaucracy at its finest..
Although I don't trust our governments to not spot a money making opportunity for themselves or their friends, I really don't think that this is just one of those opportunities. Even if it is possible to make a permanent repair, what is the range of reliability that can be expected from the general public? Some can't even wire a three pin plug in a safe manner. And, If you can't afford the tyres, can you afford the bike?
The cost of a new tire, with you and the bike safely at home, is nothing compared to being stranded out in the middle of nowhere. That's the main thing.
Once again Stu, great video, Thank you!! I have been mulling over the same questions over the past few days for my Interceptor.
Interceptors have tubeless tires but spoked wheels so carry inner tubes, need either cast wheels or conversion kit to seal the spokes
Lovely run video today Stu
I've not had a bike with tubeless tyres so can't really offer an opinion on tubeless but I have nearly always carried spare tube(s) since the early days of my riding career. One thing I will not do any more except in an emergency is to use a patched tube. I learned my lesson on the Doncaster bypass back in 1976.
Adv, road or dirt.. So tubeless tires are quickly plugable but require a shop to inspect and repair them properly which could include, due to carcass damage, having to buy a new tire.. tube tires require immediate attention preferrably installing a new tube on location, whether or not it's convenient. it's a saw-off.. either choice is a pita.
Stuart, great and informative as always but when you recommended considering break down/ recovery, I was with a mate who got a puncture on a Sunday and because there wasn’t anywhere nearby open, they wanted a small fortune to take him and the bike to a repair shop…if they could find somewhere open. If you get a puncture abroad it also brings its own issues. Perhaps you could discuss breakdown cover in a video? Ride safe…
Only ever had rear tyre punctures ,usually a nail or screw but once a sharp piece of flint, It seams the front tyre flips it up and the rear catches it..!
Off road tyres are often run with lower pressure. Making a tubeless more likely to loose pressure. With tube the tyre can slip on the rim. Resulting in valve stem at an angle, Worst case ripping the valve from the tube. Solved with rim locks. Rim locks makes changing tyres cumbersome and more weights needed balancing.
CHEERS LOVED THE RIDE WITH YOU
Another interesting video Stuart👍 Of about 40 years of riding Scooters & still do (Vespa / Lambretta) I've only ever had two punctures which luckily can carry a spare on those as they are only 10 inch wheels so a quick roadside change is fairly easy. Saying that you can fit tubeless tyres/wheels to them these days but getting them removed & fitted can be a pain as well as expensive so I've always stuck to tubed. On my Triumph T100 if I ever get a puncture I'll just get recovery & let a professional tyre fitter sort it. Always look forward to your vids sir
I have had 2 front-wheel blowouts on tubeless tyres. One at low speed, two-up…interesting and a bit scary….and one at 3-figure speeds. Very scary! Ironically, I’d read, just the day before the 120mph front wheel blow-out, an article in ‘Bike’ magazine on how to survive a front-wheel blowout. That pretty much saved me and my motorcycle from a big crash. I’ve also had 2 x rear-wheel blowouts on tubeless tyres….barely noticed much of a problem! The holes were tiny and some tyre-snot fixed it at once.
Interesting video Stuart👍
Additional information... if you have a puncture and it's repaired, according to most manufacturers, the speed rating for the tire is reduced to 85mph. So for instance, if you were going to have a track day or planning on a scoot on the autobahn, it would be advisable to have a puncture free tire.
Hello Stuart, carefully avoiding taking any position on this subject, all I would say is I waited from around 12.00hrs to 16.00hrs for the RAC to arrive and say they couldn't fix the puncture or transpost my Interceptor 650 home. The RAC then called to say I might have to wait untill 19.00hrs for a pick-up vehicle. It was getting dark, I was getting very cold and hungry and didn't have waterproofs so I called Motorcycle SOS which cost another £120.00 but got home around 20.00hrs. I'm not sure what's the point of my RAC membership??
Had punctures in both tubed & tubeless. With a tube puncture,can usually just change the tube (experience of tube repair aren’t t good). With a tubeless, the tyre has gone from the bike & into the bin, wouldn’t trust it. Once had slow deflation on a tubeless & couldn’t find the cause. It turned out to be corrosion on the inside of the alloy rim from tyre slime causing a very slight break in the tyre/rim seal.
Interestingly most tyres these days during my search for new tyres seem to be tubeless, so because the tyre rim is stiffer on these, I would assume it’s a bit harder to remove these tyres from the rim by the roadside or at home by many , if the tube inside such a tyre gets punctured.
thanks for this information ! one question how do / could they police it !?
Police have the power to examine tyres of any motor vehicle to ascertain condition through routine stops. They also have the back up of VIB. MOT stations should also pick up on repairs that render the vehicles compliance.
@@stuartfillinghamAre manufacturing date codes a factor in MOTs (or roadworthiness) checks?
For example, a tyre in apparently good condition & with lots of tread, but with a date code showing the tyre was ten plus years old. Is that considered unsafe & is there room for the testers opinion on roadworthiness?
I change my vintage bike tyres at least every ten years if I’ve not worn them out. Though very recent tyres feel better and go off over time, I’ve never heard a thoughtful and experienced riders opine on limits of elderly rubber.
Got fed up with tubes fitted bolt in valves had 2 puntures since that i fixed at the road side, im never going back
My tubes have green goop to slow the air escape. My tubeless I carry the ribbons and have mushrooms at home. All bikes have a USB port. I carry a small cordless inflator. Benefit of this is I blow my camping pillow up with it also.
@@Ijusthopeitsquick It's cordless. Charge via USB between stops to top up the tyre. Great bit of kit. Carry one in my van also.
Hi Stuart just to mention you get a free 12 months subscription for roadside assistance with a new triumph and the option to increase it for a second year also free .
I think the odds of a flat with a modern motorcycle are slim. Having said that I prefer cast wheels with tubeless tires simply because of the looks.
I dig the design of the wheels on my RE Hunter 350.
What tools would i need to replace a tube on a T120? …a video would be great too 😊😅
I have ridden 200,000 kms (120,000 miles) on black top, pavement on bikes with tubeless tires and not 1 leak.
Now I have an ADV bike with tubes.
Has anyone upon getting a thorn, nail or screw into the tire and tube tried using one of those liquid sealers as a temporary repair?
I am thinking instead of dismounting the tire to instead not dismount the tire and inject the liquid tire sealer into the tube.
It would seal the hole in the tube where the nail or screw was. It should stop at the hole and not get all over the rim.
Then I could put air into the tube and ride to a better location to remove the tire and repair or replace the tube, or ride to a bike shop.
Nice one Stuart, sound advice as always...
Good morning Stu. I have no preference for either tubed or tubeless tyres. Over the years I’ve had both. In some ways, I prefer spoked wheels as I think they look better and not that bad to keep clean. I’ve only ever tried to repair one puncture on a tubed tyre and made such a pigs ear of it that I had to have new tube anyway. I have had four punctures in 50 years. Two on the aforementioned bike in the 70’s and two on tubeless wheels. One front, which got me home and a rear that had only done 20 miles. I’ve never used a tyre repair kit for the very reasons you mentioned.
When I found out my Intercepter came with tubelees rims with spokes, I used 3m sealant tape to seal the spokes, that was about 1000k ago, so far no problem, as the Sport Demons(fitted by previous owner) were an absolute bitch to remove I had no wish to repair a tube in the rain and dark, so plugs are it for me.
Well for me I had to call roadside assistance and get a rescue truck to take me to a dealer to get the inner tube replaced. What about using sealing foam in a tubeless tyre?
If I had a tubeless tyre repair aerosol, I’d give it a go by the roadside.
I have a faint memory that this condemns the tyre, on which bike shops will then refuse to countenance a professional repair.
Brilliant video as always Stuart and a very interesting piece on tyres and wheels, something which hadn't entered my tiny brain before now, I also have only had 1 puncture and on a GS Adventure - it just happened to be in Mongolia 😌👍🏻
I had a puncture on a tubed tyre and it went down very fast, and that was with slime in the tube. Without the slime I think I may have come off the bike as once it was flat I could barely move the bike. Even after stopping almost straight away the tyre was badly damaged by the under inflation. Also it happened in the middle of nowhere and no local garage had a spare tube. A friend had to ride a 400 mile round trip to source one for the next day and I was taken away on a flatbed. Tubed, never again!
Tubeless never again ?? Was that a typo.
Corrected. Thanks 😂
My assumption is modern tyres are a little more puncture resistant but that might just be personal experience . I've had 3 punctures in the last 20 years 2 tubeless, 1 tubed. I was only able to repair one of them roadside but replaced both tubeless tyres with new as I didnt "trust" the repair long term. When buying a new bike I always note which system the bike has but it doesn't really influence my choice
Also, if you put a new tube in a tubed tyre, remember to patch the hole inside the tyre! Otherwise the hole can flex under load and cause another hole in the new tube.
I will miss your response from now on. It's sad if it's because of trolls or argumentative people. I always bring you up as a channel that is close to his fans as he still responds even with high sub count. I could see it would be crazy with 2000 responses to every video. I will continue to make comments as I will try to keep them to the point! Thank you for making entertainment that educates. Well done sir. I found I have surpassed you with subs, as I still need to find out how to get that "k" after my number! 😂
Unfortunately there are not enough hours in the day to respond to argumentative types. because it never ends with one response. they just keep going!
@@stuartfillinghamYou need to come up with the ultimate ‘caustic put-down’ Stu, old son.
I bought my bike because I liked the color and the alloy wheels. I did get a plug kit for my adventure's JIK I get stuck in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately it didn't happen. Possibly because I put brand new tires on before I left. Punctures in car tires are statistically most likely near the end of a tires life. No idea for bikes. So I accept if I get a puncture. It will cost me a new tire. My priority is about my safety. Rather than regulation. All plug kits I've seen recommend temporary use only due to compromised safety of the tire.
I have lost count as to the amount of nails and screws I have had in my tyres. I have not had a problem in getting my tyres repaired. I would never consider buying a motorcycle that has tubed tyres. My current V Strom has spoked wheels with tubeless tyres, the best of both worlds
Interesting. Do you know how the spoke holes in the rim are sealed against air leaks under pressure?
My remaining two bikes are both 1977 and carry OEM chromed, steel, spoked rims. They’re not brilliantly round or free of rim distortion, even new.
They’re pretty but on the last restoration, in which I replaced everything except the hubs, I found that the built up rim was imperfect due to ground down, welded seams.
Side to side movement when spun on a spare axle clamped in a Workman (TM) was under 1mm and up and down (“bunny hop”) type movement close to zero, after patient tweaking with spoke spanner.
The side to side runout was far too small to trouble myself with, in that once fresh rubber was installed by the nearest bike shop, the machine ran perfectly smoothly.
I ground down the threaded spoke ends which projected above the inner faces of the spoke nipples and the bike shop installed a rubber rim tape before fitting new tubes & tyres (+ balancing them, too).
Thanks for your reply. There is somewhat of a misunderstanding, I'm talking about spokes being fitted by the manufacturer to the outer rim, therefore does not interfere with the sealing of the tubeless tyre. Example: Suzuki V Strom 650XT, Moto Guzzi V85. I admire the amount of work you have have carried out on spoked wheels on your motorcycles.