Puncture Repair

What do the majority of you blokes carry in case of punctures while touring?

I carry the old-fashioned puncture repair kit, ie plugs, glue, T-handles for rasping the hole and plug insertion, and a couple of cyclinders for repressurizing the repaired tyre. Probably not as simple or conventient as the newer Cargol inserts but as I got experienced with plugging 4WD tyres during our 4WD days (unfortunately), I just kept on with that system for the bike. Haven't had to use it yet thankfully.

Yeah thanks ewok, ill have to invest in one of those,never have used them before. I did have that tru blu puncture goo few years back. Not many places plug them anymore. I did carry the old can of zssh around with me years ago

I carry a string type repair kit also. Haven't needed to repair a flat bike tyre yet but like others have had heaps of experience with 4wd tyres so have stuck with what I know works.

Not sure on the cargol kits. Simple and probably effective, but from what I can see only for smaller holes where as with the string stuff you can put 2 or more in the one hole (within reason) if need be till you get to somewhere to repair it properly or replace it.

I was just down a supercheep and notice they sell kits and individual items in the kits pretty cheeply (was mostly after replacement strings) so I recon you could get away with it for about $30 for a kit that will suit. I intend making up another kit so my wife has one on her bike also.

There are many suppliers of motorbike kits out there, do a search and you'll turn up quite a lot.

I can tell you that 3x16g CO2 catridges will not fill a back tyre on the bandit. It will get it to about 20 psi on a good day and that's about it. I've just ordered 30 odd carts (worked out at less than $3 per cart so why not) and will be finding out exactly how many I need soon.

You can get some small air compressors for around $50 (the slimline slime one) or about $23 at supersheep for a small and light jobbie that should do the job.

I haven't had a puncture on the bandit yet, but a good week on the pushie is only one or two flats. I have a dual purpose pump - CO2 inflator and pump in one. I get my CO2 cartridges from finewhip:

http://finewhip.cart.net.au/store/co2/16g-co2-cartridges/

grahame wrote:What do the majority of you blokes carry in case of punctures while touring?

Basically I'm lazy, so I carry a mobile phone and a credit card.

b12mick wrote:

grahame wrote:What do the majority of you blokes carry in case of punctures while touring?

Basically I'm lazy, so I carry a mobile phone and a credit card.

HAHA. Um same here

whitey1 wrote:

b12mick wrote:

grahame wrote:What do the majority of you blokes carry in case of punctures while touring?

Basically I'm lazy, so I carry a mobile phone and a credit card.

HAHA. Um same here

Me to^. But the phone doesn't aways work out here, so i need to get a kit.
CO2 UN-THREADED OR THREADED CARTRIDGE? whats the go with the un-threaded?????

rolls wrote:I haven't had a puncture on the bandit yet, but a good week on the pushie is only one or two flats. I have a dual purpose pump - CO2 inflator and pump in one. I get my CO2 cartridges from finewhip:

http://finewhip.cart.net.au/store/co2/16g-co2-cartridges/

Also have a look here. As I wanted to buy a few it turned out pretty cheep even with shipping.

reardo wrote:CO2 UN-THREADED OR THREADED CARTRIDGE? whats the go with the un-threaded?????;

It depends on what kind of adapter/inflator you have. ASAIK the unthreaded ones only suit the special duel inflators (co2 and pump in one).

Bit of an update on how many 16g CO2 carts it takes to inflate the back tyre on the bandit

1 cart = 5psi
2 cart = 10 psi
3 cart = 18 psi
4 cart = 25 psi
5 cart = 32 psi
6 cart = 40 psi

This was on a completely flat tyre (I took the valve out to let it down) that was cold so depending on where and when you are using them in anger you might get a different outcome.

In my mind there are a couple of options, apart from credit card and phone that is, and not taking into account the rest of your kit

*carry 6 or more 16g carts in your kit
*carry 3 or 4 carts and a high pressure air pump like this one
*carry 3 or 4 carts and a combo air pump like this one (make sure you get the right carts to suit the pump)
*carry 3 or 4 carts and a small elecy air pump like this one or the slime jobbie

slime jobbie is really small.

Good work again dhula

G'day all,

I picked up a nail in my rear tyre yesterday.... I was wondering why the handling was a bit off! By the time I got to a servo to pump it up, it was down to 12psi! Was still okay to ride - just a bit wallowly through the bends.

I rang my friendly bike mechanic and asked him what I should use: finiliec, tyre goo, etc, but he told me not to put anything in, pump it up & head straight out to him so he could (hopefully) repair it.

I am running Michelin Pilot Road 3's, and this particular tyre only has about 1,800 km's on it, so I was hoping like he'll he could repair it, which he did.

When I picked it up, he told me that these tyres shouldn't be repaired as they're not designed for it. He also said I shouldn't exceed 120km/h. This sounds a bit strange to me. He repaired it with the standard rubber-plug and I would have thought that, if done correctly, it should be fine.

What are your thoughts? Is he right and I should just fork-out another $350 for a new tyre or is he wrong and it'll be fine?

It should be ok to 'TOUR " on but a track day or high speed a no-no .Trouble is its always in the back of your mind (the pug ) .Only you know
if you can put up with that ! Ive done 1,000 S of kay with a plugged tire but was glad to get rid of it .

I had a fairly new tyre get a puncture (nail). The puncture was repaired "professionally", then I proceeded to rack up 10,000kms including a track day at the island - no worries!

similar situation, near new,took it to bob jane(only the tyre,not the whole wheel) fixed it, 250km/h later,and had it till it was bald,never had an issue.

Reardo wrote:

whitey1 wrote:

b12mick wrote:

grahame wrote:What do the majority of you blokes carry in case of punctures while touring?

Basically I'm lazy, so I carry a mobile phone and a credit card.

HAHA. Um same here

Me to^. But the phone doesn't aways work out here, so i need to get a kit.
CO2 UN-THREADED OR THREADED CARTRIDGE? whats the go with the un-threaded?????

My tactic as well, I also have a telstra sim card on me incase my optus has no reception. I have RACQ gold so the credit card it not required.... But I have it anyway....

i`ve bought a puncture kit from pashnit in the us.all up cost was about $60 with delivery which took 6 days
very impressive.the whole kit is the size of a small pencil case.fits into the pocket of my bag on the back
from auto 1 got a mini compressor for $55 goes to 150 psi and weight is about 1 kilo again in the bag
however any repair is temporary until it is done by professionals using a combi plug.
this plug goes from the inside out.plug and patch combined.the plug keeps the elements away from the steel belt
which is connected to a patch which holds the air in.suited for v to z rated tyres and good for the life of the tyre
the pressure cans for repairs are amonia based and some tyres don`t like it.the inner lining breaks down
any repair done on the side of the road is temporary just to get you home
i have been in the tyre industry for 30 years,bike tyres can be repaired with no problem as long as it is done right
that`s my 2c worth
ride safe gentlemen

I dont know if its the same where you are but in SA they will put a tube in a rear tyre for you but won`t put one in a front tyre ( for legal reasons & regardless of the amount of tread on it .) I`ve had a tube put in a fairly new rear tyre which was punctured but bought ( had to ) a new tyre for the front when it happened to that one .I probably would use a plug just to get me out of trouble ( I carry an innovations repair kit ) .

paul wrote:I dont know if its the same where you are but in SA they will put a tube in a rear tire for you but won`t put one in a front tire ( for legal reasons & regardless of the amount of tread on it .) I`ve had a tube put in a fairly new rear tire which was punctured but bought ( had to ) a new tire for the front when it happened to that one .I probably would use a plug just to get me out of trouble ( I carry an innovations repair kit ) .

Don't think I would want a tube. One of the bikes I was riding in india had tube tyres.... The rear blew and thank god for the crap traffic and never getting over 30 cause if it had happend at 100 I would have been done and dusted.

I thought the whole point of tubless tyres is that, unless the tyre shreds, it won't blow rather deflate slowly.

the tube is still inside a tubeless tyre /Just think of it as an all over patch . to blow the tube you would have to blow the tubeless tyre as well .maybe the tyre you had on was an iffy old cross ply tyre . I ran the tyre with the tube till it needed replacing with no problems .

paul,
a tube is the last resort
if an object goes through the tyre it will kill the tube and tyre goes down like a bloody dart
the beauty of tubeless is sometimes it goes down slowly and sometimes not at all
on a bike you will notice the difference to stop and investigate
in my eyes,if the tyre on my bike needs a tube to fix it.the bastard goes to the tip,tyre that is.
tubes are ok in trailies cause they`ve got bead locks.not on my roadie
if the tyre moves from either braking or throttle it will rip the valve stem off the tube and go flat in a blink
seen it a thousand times.tubes are for wheel barrows or spoke wheels

bruiser2310 wrote:paul,
a tube is the last resort
if an object goes through the tyre it will kill the tube and tyre goes down like a bloody dart
the beauty of tubeless is sometimes it goes down slowly and sometimes not at all
on a bike you will notice the difference to stop and investigate
in my eyes,if the tyre on my bike needs a tube to fix it.the bastard goes to the tip,tyre that is.
tubes are ok in trailies cause they`ve got bead locks.not on my roadie
if the tyre moves from either braking or throttle it will rip the valve stem off the tube and go flat in a blink
seen it a thousand times.tubes are for wheel barrows or spoke wheels

probably why they wont do a front wheel but Ive done it on rear tyres ( when 90% tread left on it & never had a problem ) I suppose its a risk you take you dont get another puncture .if there isnt enough tread left to warrant a the cost of a tube verses another tyre like when it`s starting to wear then a new tyre is definitely warranted .I`m surprised they still fit them to rear wheels if so many people have had problems with it what with everyone wanting to sue everyone else these days but its a reasonably common practice here with near new tyres . maybe some more questions will need to be asked next time
( hopefully we have`nt jinxed it talking about it & I`ll get a flat now ! )

What about spoked wheeled road bikes .I never had a problem with tubes in them ,and they could "crack the ton ". ? Gee ,thats an expression i
havent used for a long time . Shame we lost that one .

I guess us old school types who were raised on tubed tyres dont think twice about putting our faith in them Gus . ( dont the new bikes " crack a ton " easily though ! )

paul wrote: ( dont the new bikes " crack a ton " easily though ! )

No. They crack a One Sixty. Doesn't sound the same though does it.