Modern Vespa

Looks like I got a metal sliver / shard in the tread on my rear Michelin City Grip tire. They have less than 800 miles. Is it possible to repair? If so, can a regular tire shop do it? How much might it cost?

It is possible, and there are a lot of people on this forum who would repair it if it was on their own bike.
Most bike shops in the US won't repair it, because if the plug or patch fails, and something happens because of that, your attorney will get 40% of whatever they own.

It is easily repaired using a mushroom plug.



You need to remove the tire from the rim.
The metal shard is removed and the area inside around the hole is roughened using a rotary file to improve the grip of the plug. Adhesive is applied to the inside surface and the plug is inserted from inside the tire, pulled through and the patch pressed down with a roller. The stem of the patch protrudes through the tire and is trimmed off flush with the tread after re-fitting to the rim. The wheel needs to be re-balanced after repair.

This is a permanent repair.
The sticky rubber worms are only temporary repairs.

I use sticky rubber worms to repair holes just like that one.
The tire itself is just a temporary replacement of the last one, and will only last until the next one.

These are the thing to use if you are patching a motorcycle tire.

Sticky plugs suck, they leak over time and can blow out. BTDTHTB, thank god not on a motorcycle.

I confirm the vote for the patch / plug combination. I went for a couple of years where I never wore out a rear tire. I kept picking up deck screws in them. I was left stranded with a stick plug that failed after 45 miles. I now pull the tire from the rim and patch it from the inside. I use a wire brush on a drill to clean the inside of the tire before patching.

That puncture is in a thin part of the tire so a mushroom plug would be optimal. However I have used sticky rope on a similar puncture and also one in the thick part of the tread and the tires both wore out before any failure of the sticky rope could occur. Both were rear tires.

No need to remove tire.
Can't blow out.
Holding perfect air seal.

Several videos show how to use this plug kit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtphCgcnDVs
The screw was in the center of my Michelin rear tire.


Remove screw.
Ream hole.
Insert pointy bit w/shank.
Unscrew & leave in shank.
Insert plug in gun tip. Lube lightly.
Screw gun and shank together.
Pump handle to push plug through shank and tire until no more movement.
Pull out the tool.
Pull an inch or two on plug to insure seating.
Trim it off and air it up.

"Your father's brother is your uncle!"

The Slime pump aired tire quickly. (comes with cigar lighter, battery tender, and alligator connections for every kind of voltage hook up; plus pressure gauge pen)

Took longer to read instructions than to fix the tire. See no leaks, will check again in a few hours.
7 months later - still perfect air seal.


https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Go-1075-Standard-Plugger/dp/B0018EUDHW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1546870426&sr=8-3&keywords=stop+and+go+tire+repair+kit

O.S.

Any plug CAN leak. Once you put a plug in you need to double up on your tire pressure checks.
Those are good plugs but again, any plug can leak or come out.
Hit a rock just right and it could push the plug into the tire.

They seem to last quite well for me, I currently have about 4 of these in the rear tyre of my NC750, and they last as long as the tyre. The great thing about these repair kits is they're small and fairly cheap. The mushroom plug ones are probably better but you need more equipment to make the fix. My Enfield has tubed tyres and these are a complete PITA to fix when they get a puncture.

Has the OP checked that the metal has punctured the tyre? is air actually escaping?

[quote="robinm"] Yes. Air leaks, although not terribly fast. Definitely a puncture.

Thank you all for feedback so far! This community is very helpful.

Hit a nail just right and it could push itself right into the tire.

For that matter, a rock can also put a hole in a tire all by itself, no pilot hole required.

[quote="spencerkellis"] ... it's also useful, really ...

This happen often on the ATV. Would be cruising down the trail and all of a sudden tire goes flat and it turned out to be a pre existing hole. When dismounting the tire I would find a plug in the tire.

From ATVing I have installed more plugs then most people that fix tires for a living.

Well, I went the cheap/$5 route to hold until I can just replace the rear tire altogether. I don't know how well or long these string plugs will hold. But I rarely go all that far from home, so I think it should be ok. The process was easy; almost too easy. *cue ominous music*

Fun fact: My bicycle pump seems to inflate the tires nicely on the GTS 300; it took about 150-160 pumps to get to 32 psi.

Should do the trick for now. Keep an eye on the pressure.

For that really professional touch you can snip those ends off. Wait till it's all dry though. This will stop them getting unnecessarily pulled around while riding.

I'd suggest looking into RideOn. I had a small metal shard in one of my City Grips and putting RideOn in has held it stable for several months now.

Theoretically, the internal patches are a little less likely to develop leaks down the road. My personal experience is only with sticky ropes, and they seem to MOSTLY patch it, but my patches always seem to have very slow leaks that need topping up once a weeek or so. If I was away from home and had a puncture, I'd use a sticky rope to get home, then remove it and do the interior patch. With more surface area, and glued to the tire, even tread squirm isn't going to create a leak, most likely
.

Quite the Koan, Zen Master.

In the tread is much better than in the bit that hits the road every rotation.

This is the best advice.

No, it doesn't seal the outside of the tire so water can get into the ply's of the tire and cause separation.

I have a sticky rope plug in my rear tire, and so far it's holding nicely. It's been about 8 months now. However, the Stop N' Go system looks like the best home remedy, so that's what I intend to purchase.

I have 1,400 miles to go before the 6,000-mile service interval, so hopefully the plug will hold until then because I intend to get new tires (whether they're totally necessary or not).

We consider that by putting the rubber mushroom or the patch inside the tire, the wheel and the tire must be removed. If you don't drill every day this is best done by the tire dealer; finally the rubber candle is better...

Not on my scooter but I had the same problem on my maxxis truck tires. I just used a sticky rope and had no complaints. I run them until tread wear out.