Topic: Would you plug tubeless tire?

[cb650PK]

When I did research on the same subject, my conclusion was that regular rope plugs work the best and haven't found real documented catastrophic failure. I used it only once, then monitored the tire for slow leak and then forgot all about it, which is really easy for person with short attention span like me.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, you can buy a new tyre every time you run over a nail, but that can get real expensive real fast, especially if you live near a major construction area like I do.

As previously mentioned, I bought a BMW K1100LT from a friend that had a plugged front tyre that was done at the BMW dealer, and it lasted for the life of the tyre.

How many people would buy a used bike and inspect the tyres thoroughly to the point where they find a near invisible plug before they rode it?

I usually replace the tyres on a bike when I buy it (the Michelins on my VFR750 were close to 20 years old) because new tyres can really change the dynamics of a bike, but for most folks, unless you told them, they wouldn't even know if a tyre was plugged, if it was done right.

[FunJimmy]

Another consideration that hasn't been mentioned.
If a plug where to fail, they don't fail catastrophically but leak like any other puncture.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, that's the benefit of tubeless tyres, they don't blow out like tubed tyres. I've had a blowout on a CB750 tyre, which resulted in another blow out, in my underpants......

[scottly]

Yep, you can buy a new tyre every time you run over a nail, but that can get real expensive real fast

For a period of about 2 years I was averaging about one nail a week in my pickup. Since it cost me $5 to have a plug installed, after I had already taken the wheel off the truck, I invested $20 in a proper needle, ream, and industrial size box of plugs. The investment paid for itself the next day when I repaired 4 nail holes. (BTW, a nail doesn't leak nearly as badly as a screw) When I finally replaced those tires, they must have had 20 plugs apiece, judging from the appearance of the insides.
I thought that was a very good video you posted, and I had to laugh when the handle broke off the needle; I'll have to post a pic of the welded-on handle on my rasp, after the same thing happened to me.
I thought that mushroom plug system was very interesting; I wonder what the OD of the insertion tube is?

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, I'd prefer the mushroom plug to the sticky rope Scott, I liked the mechanical applicator too, I might buy a set now that I own 5 bikes with tubeless tyres.

[scottly]

We had a similar device at the gas station to insert a rubber valve-stem into a car rim from the outside: you loaded the stem into the barrel, held it up tight against the opening in the rim, then triggered a compressed air valve to "blow" the stem into the rim. It didn't work worth a #$%*, as the OD of the barrel was too large to fit into the hole in the rim, and as soon as the compressed stem exited the barrel, it expanded on the outside of the hole, shoving the installation tool back. We tried it about 4 or 5 times before we realized we could have thrown the wheel on the Coats 10-10 tire machine and done the job in half the time we wasted.   

[70CB750]

My wife got a drill bit into her rear tire once, she filled it up, got it home I plugged it and it never stopped leaking till I fixed it from the inside.

Another day there was a leak in the tire, I found piece of steel sticking out - it was a horse shoe nail, stuck in bigger end first