What to do when you've got a nail?

Slime does work, cause i've got at least two nails in my back tyre which have been there a while now without the tyre going flat.

But am i meant to pull them out? And if i do will the slime seal the hole or will i need to take it to a shop for a proper repair? I gather they don't like dealing with slimed tyres, but the tyre is nearly new and i ain't buyin a new one cause i'm cheap! So what's the downside of just leaving the nail in as the tyre wears? Major blow out not likely as it's only a commuter bike and hardly ever gets up any speed.

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KTM supermoto
BMW R1100GS
"tourer in waiting"

If it's a tube type tyre you risk shredding the tube. If it's tubeless you risk damaging the carcass, which is also dangerous.

Tube needs to be patched, tubeless take it to a shop who can repair it properly.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Yes.

Leaving them in can make the hole bigger, as they move everytime they touch the ground. Esp true with screws. So take them out, spin the tyre a few times, fill up if necessary, and you are ready to move on.

i had a puncture a few weeks back in a tubeless tyre, I phoned around almost every tyre shop where I live and none of them would fix the puncture, i was told due to insurance reasons but all of them told me to buy a new tyre - I did as it was almost shot anyway but what if it was new?

I have not tried tubeless repair kits but assume they work and a road side fix is possible?

They work pretty well, and are not too difficult to use either. Suggest you practise on a discarded tyre so that there are no surprises when your kit has to go to war. The tyre usually does not have to be dismounted either.

On road, it would help if you have some water to help locate the puncture - and a source of compressed air.

If you use a sealant, minor punctures *should* be plugged automatically, anyways. I was surprised to read that the Ultraseal did not work for you.

humm. pulled it out, spun the wheel, but it didn't seal. Have now put a bit more fresh slime in, pumped it up again and left the tyre with the hole at the bottom. Think it is still leaking, but will know for sure tomorrow morning.

Looks like it's a trip to the tyre shop and an apologetic request for them to deal with a slimed tyre

From now on nails stay in! Town riding is a pain. Tyre already had 2 plugs in it before i decided to slime it. This will be 3rd and the tyre is still nowhere near worn out.

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KTM supermoto
BMW R1100GS
"tourer in waiting"

This is rubbish. Unless the nail has gone through the wall of the tyre or has completely slashed the tyre it should be fixable. There are several shops in and around London who spend most of their days fixing punctures. They certainly don't say you need a new tyre every time. As said above i've already got two plugs in my rear tyre fitted by a shop with no suggestion that it needed a new tyre.

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KTM supermoto
BMW R1100GS
"tourer in waiting"

Slime/whatever tends to get "used up" sealing small punctures, which may not be obvious (as the slime has already done the job). What you have done should save you the trip.

I had to take a tyre (with sealant - "Tyre milk") to the repair shop once, for a puncture that was at the edge of the tread. Once the tyre was cleaned out, it had to be repaired in 5 places - the original leak + 4 that reopened as the sealant was washed out.

yep, a little squirt more slime seems to have done the trick. Stayed inflated all last night and on a ride today. Will keep an eye on it for a few days though.

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KTM supermoto
BMW R1100GS
"tourer in waiting"

Ultraseal Tire Sealant now do a HEAVY DUTY sealant that wil seal the hole from a 7.62mm BULLET!!!!!!!!! or a half inch gash! like a knife stab?

"World's finest tire sealant", perhaps... world's worst commercial web site: strong contender!

I have always used Ultraseal in my tyres but I think I might stop now... I'm concerned about the side effects.
Stephan

This is an old thread.
Anyway, I've been using slime or equivalent for 4 or 5 years now and I've yet to have a puncture in that time (I'm touching a wooden table as I type this).
Although of course my experience doesn't actually prove that it works.

27,000 miles, Buenos Aires to Vancouver, mucho ripio in the south:

1 set of heavy duty inner tubes.
1 bottle of Ultraseal.
Zero punctures.

I've been back 7 months and still have the same tubes in, still no punctures.
*insert standard disclaimer here*

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Simon

London-Cape Town 2004-06
Buenos Aires-Vancouver 2008-10:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/fitzpatrick

Back in 2004, so even longer ago that the start of this thread I ultrasealed the Bonnevilles tyres as two up with soft luggage (waiting for the rack to be made) we were short of space. I put the gloop in on the Thursdays night and on the next Tuesday we were less than a thousand miles away getting a puncture fixed

The good bit: The nail had made about a dozen pin ***** holes that the goo had sealed.

The bad bit: The nail, working in the tyre then managed to hit the seam of the tube and make a V-shaped cut resulting in a complete loss of air.

We came out of the Bayeaux Tapestry to find a very sad looking bike sat on the rim. In France this was no problem, a mad Polish tyre fitter gave me a choice of a new tube (Branded or Chinese Sir?) or a patch via some pretty crude sign language while his chain smoking Gallic boss made us coffee and chatted up my wife. We were back on the road in an hour for under twenty quid. This proves:

a) France is more civilised than the UK.
b) Ultraseal mostly contained, only causes repair issues to lazy cockney rip off merchants (like a certain Surbiton Honda dealer of my experience) who'll give you the old "Nah mite, the 'ole tyres ****ed" routine followed by "Sorry Mite, can't even touch it fer a week, it's them black rahnd tyres, can't get 'em for love or loads-a-money".
c) Ultraseal can work but at some point the dam breaks. Imagine if the V-cut had opened up at auto-route speeds .

IMHO, if you use the gloop put it in only after you find and remove the cause of the puncture. If you can carry and use a patch/plug kit (Which I do now the luggage is sorted), that's still a better solution.

Edit to add: My whole pack of long distance tyre stuff (Tubes, levers, patch kit, compressor) can't actually be much bigger than the bottle of gunge. I image a leaking bottle of Ultrasteal would ruin your day?

Andy

I've changed my opinion in this stuff...I used it in South America in tubes and didn't get ONE puncture. I was convinced it was this stuff.

The manufactureres say you can use it in inner tubes.... Well you can !

But.. From using it in Africa I found It will only stop the TINIEST of punctures (and then only slow them down)

In larger punctures (nails, snakebites etc) , the sealant will seep out and coat the whole tube and tyre in sealant which makes roadside repairs almost impossible. No patch will stick to that mess.

The contamination by the sealant prevented it from sealing completely. You can't put pressure on the patch without the remaining sealant getting in the repair and seeping out and ruining the vulcanisation of the patch.

Thank god I had a spare tuble.

So...Once that sealant is inside your tube, it's there for good...

Once it's in there, you will have a lot of trouble patching any punctures.. If you can at all !

Complete waste of money IMO. Just take spare tubes and plenty of patches and glue.. If you have 2-3 tubes of tyre glue you still haven't got enough


I can't commment on tubeless...

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.