RE: Radial tyre repair ?

["Clive Liddell" <cliddell@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Kit,
Haven't had a puncture in ages but had the same response from dealers.   I
use so-called mushroom patches which work well if the hole is quite large
and the band is not steel.

These are for application on the inside of the tyre and have a rubber "stem"
ending in a steel wire.   The idea is that after preparing the inner surface
and applying solution the steel wire is threaded out through the hole and
the patch pulled into place.   If the hole is a small pin hole I prefer not
to gouge it out but just cut off the stem and use the patch normally.

Good luck
Regards
Clive Liddell
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
'96 R850R 85kkm
'01 R1100RT 75kkm
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Subject: Radial tyre repair ?

Recently installed a pair of (new) Avon Viper radials. Less than 2,000kms
wear to date.  Gutter-crawled at a set of lights the other day and picked up
a nail in the rear resulting in slow deflation. Due to fear of litigation,
most repair shops will now not plug/repair radials, so a new tyre was
required - at A$290 (U$145) !

Is there a "safe way" to repair radials for anything other than track-days ?

What's the current trend in the good old US of A ?
Has anyone successfully sued their local council for the (here at least)
terrible state of garbage in the gutters on most suburban roads ?
Should you just lie back and think of it as "doing your bit" for the world
tyre economy ?

Kit Scally
R1100s Mandarin, 110,000kms
Sydney

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