The good, the bad and the ugly...

[Bennie07]

Thanks for the replies all! I did ride it in today, checked the pressure before leaving the garage this a.m., holding steady at 42 psi. I think I'll just continue to ride it for a while and see how it goes, I'd like to get some more miles out of the tires, they were new last year when I bought the bike in Oct., so there's probably only about 4500-5000 on 'em. Seems like a waste to replace it at this time. I'll likely wait and replace it before the trip to Sturgis, I should have another couple of thousand on them by then and I won't feel so bad about it.

Thanks for the suggestion James, that is a good price for any tires, and especially if they handle well.....but.....I just can't bring myself to do whitewalls....

[erock1]

Originally Posted by Monkeyman

40 years. That makes him REALLY old! :)

Maybe he started riding when he was 5

[cactusjack]

Friends don't let friends buy Metzeler 880's.

[Old Bear]

A properly installed plug will last the remainder of the life of the tire. Keep in mind that you should not use a plug if the hole is in the side of the tire. The flexing of the sidewall will cause the plug to break loose.

[Bennie07]

Yeah but CJ, what about a guy that doesn't have any friends?

I'm considering the Avon cobra as well, they're about the same price as the metz.

Any concerns about having mismatched brands between front and rear? Handling characteristics?

OB, the puncture was still within the tread area, but toward the outer edge, maybe a 1/2"-3/4" from the tread edge.

[id-man]

Originally Posted by Bennie07

Thanks for the suggestion James, that is a good price for any tires, and especially if they handle well.....but.....I just can't bring myself to do whitewalls....

They do make that tire in blackwall (for even cheaper probably). I just installed a fresh pair and can tell you the ride is great. They're quiet and grip tight. I pulled my own rims to save a few bucks - $40/wheel to mount and balance (that takes some of the sting out of replacement cost). First time doing it is a learning experience but next time will be fairly easy if you've got a lift and even better if there's a helper to steady things and hand you tools.

[puckoach]

I don't think I'm the only one that will never own a spoke wheel/tubed MC again.

Interstate travel, probably a good idea to add to your bags:

http://www.amazon.com/Slime-1034-A-T...=tire+plug+kit

I also have a zero loss pump obtained from a bicycle store. 0-100 pressure. There are also quite small 12VDC pumps available, much chaper than what I have. But, will not do shocks too.

In addition, I also have the ROK plan. As my local AAA does not cover MC. There is a link on this forum, for cheap first year coverage.

[macmac]

If the plug leaks and you constantly need to inflate the tire every day is where you get into trouble. That sort of thing heats the tire up from flexing the side walls and sooner or later does damage enough that it will cause a blow out. nasty business.

You like songs.. Donovan: First there is a tire and then there is none!

MC tires are not the same as car tires. 2 different animals. What to look for of a mc tire that had a big nail is if it lumps up fore and aft of the nail hole. If it does that tire has cut cords and id DEAD.

If it doesn't then the nail went around the cords and the tire is ok, but needs constant checking.

The closer to the side wall the damage is, the worse it is for either kind of tire.

[Bennie07]

thanks for the heads up id, if they seem to be wearing well for you and perform, I'll have to see if the shop I plan on using can get the blackwall, as for almost the price of the rear metz, I could probably get front and rear tires and have them mounted.

puck, I ended up picking up a slime tire plug kit which I used to plug the tire, and I still have some sticky snakes left, so I should be set in the event that I have to go through this again, although I really hope I don't.

Mac,
thanks for the additional insight. When I first installed the plug, I dripped some soap and water solution over it to check for initial leaks, and I have been checking the pressure every morning and it has been holding steady. No apparent leaking, so I think that's a good sign. I even went on a 150 mile charity ride yesterday and it is still holding up.

After reading your post, I checked for bulging, and there doesn't appear to be any, but here are a few pics of the plug and it's location, so I'd be curious to know if you see anything that throws up a red flag.


Here's more of a silhouette pic from above the plug, it looks to be bulge-free

[macmac]

That plug will probably hold well. It isn't in the side wall enough to be a problem. i see no sign of a problem but oddly pic 2 is distorted and has a resemblance to the problem but it's just eh way I see the photo. If there must be a plug having it in the meat of the thicker part of the tread is better than in a rain gutter too.

Oh I see how pic 2 was taken upon looking more. vertical in line with the tire.

I had less than 400 miles on a new rear on another bike, and ran over something..... I think rebar, and needed 6 plugs in one hole to just get home on a Monday of a 3 day weekend. That mess leaked air bad, all the way home but I kept stopping and adding air. Wouldn't exceed 35 MPH either.

[Bennie07]

thanks for the additional comments mac, you're right, pic 2 is vertical inline with the tire, kind of a tough angle to discern what you're actually seeing without a reference point I suppose.

I guess as long as it doesn't leak I'll run it for a while longer, I want to squeeze as much life out of this as much as possible. Likely I'll get it changed before the ride to Sturgis though, I definitely don't want it to become a problem on a long trip like that.

[macmac]

Well as a rider you should be checking tire psi once a week cold.. Bikes are not cars. Who cares if you get a flat or even a blow out on a car. At it's worst it just costs time and money and is a pain in ass.

Bike is a whole other story. But i think so long as you check that tire once a week after there has been no problem for 3 weeks checking for each ride that tire will prove to be as good as any other.

The last comment i guess is that when that tire has say 10% of legal tread where the wear bars are it will be high time to replace it.

I have a Avon Cobra now to replace my still street legal ft tire... I really like wasting air on this side of the grass ya see.

Before the car tire I have on back was there. I had the stocker brick. Hated them twice. Wore them off my 01 and swore never again and then that bike was stolen and i picked up a use 06 with only 1,314 miles on it, so i could pass them off on the dealer and had to wear those off too.

At 8K it was dead but it was late in Fall and I watched it for another 1000 and replaced it in early Spring before the salt was gone.

[Bennie07]

Yeah, I know I definitely slacked for a bit there not checking it as religiously as I had been, but now after this, I'm back on schedule of checking pressure about once a week on the front, and checking the rear everytime now because of the plug.

I'd like to get a cobra for the rear, but I hear mixed opinions on mixing up tire brands between front and back and whether it effects handling. I figure if I'm gonna pony up the $$, the cobra is pretty close to the same price as the metz and the cobra gets much higher praise than the metz.

Sounds like you are running a CT on the back, and MT on front, so is my cause for concern as far as mixing brands of MT tires unfounded?

[macmac]

Originally Posted by Bennie07

Yeah, I know I definitely slacked for a bit there not checking it as religiously as I had been, but now after this, I'm back on schedule of checking pressure about once a week on the front, and checking the rear everytime now because of the plug.

I'd like to get a cobra for the rear, but I hear mixed opinions on mixing up tire brands between front and back and whether it effects handling. I figure if I'm gonna pony up the $$, the cobra is pretty close to the same price as the metz and the cobra gets much higher praise than the metz.

Sounds like you are running a CT on the back, and MT on front, so is my cause for concern as far as mixing brands of MT tires unfounded?

I don't worry about mixing brands, but i worry about mixing bias ply with radials.
So I run radials. My rear with 17000 about miles is a radial CT. My ft is a radial too which happens to be Dunlop for the next few days till I get things sorted out. Then after goose neck grease and new fork oil the Avon radial Cobra will get installed.

This is a big service from my 06 1600 Nomad just now. its getting new spark plugs it's first set, a new drive shaft boot because the oem is split and rotten, new brake fluid in the brakes and clutch just because and new coolant too.

Because of that boot the whole rear end will be out after the ft end is fixed up.

Probably next year the whole rear end will be out again for a new Car Tire.

I liked the German metz ok but heard horror stories about their South American made tires. A bad move on marketing as once your good rep gets tarnished there is usually no getting it back.

I know I don't buy what becomes seen as defective equipment ever again, once I know it is and or just was.

Once working on a M Benze car the owner asked me why I had no Champion pligs in the shop and just had Bosch. I had no idea who he was.

I told him 1 this is a M Benze and it will like Bosch plugs and or NGK, and that too many champ plugs just didn't fire out of the box.. That I had once used them and cars with 4 cyl engines ran better coming in for a tune up than they did when i was done because 2 out of every 4 champ plugs didn't fire, which made more cost and time than they were worth as I saw things.

I explained I had to send the dead plugs back to the jobber and pray the next 2 were good. That took time and money. The owner thanked me for my opinion and then stated he was VP at Champ..... Oh well....

Later I had problems with Bosch plug which would break in two as you tightened them, right below the hex