So I had a completely flat as a pancake tyre last Thursday before I went to work. I pumped it up and it didn't deflate and I couldn't see, feel or hear any air escaping. The tyre seemed fine and was holding its air so I thought maybe some chavs had let the air out or a stone had got wedged in the valve.

Going to work this morning at 40mph round a roundabout the f**king tyre goes flat again (big brown trousers moment)!!

I carry one of these: http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/cargol-turn-go/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and I also had my 12volt pump with me (a bit of paranoia left over from last week!) and managed to plug the hole carefully and pump it back up and ride to work and then get to the garage on my lunch break to get the tyre sorted so it was worth carrying the repair kit as I have no break down cover.

However, the garage couldn't repair the tyre, they recon because the puncture repair enlarged the hole to be bigger than their biggest mushroom plug. I probably saved money by having the kit anyway as I don;t have breakdown cover and a recovery truck would have been slow and expensive but I'm a bit disappointed that the plug could damage the tyre beyond repair.

I don't understand how my rear tyre could have had a puncture but sealed itself when re-inflated and work for days after (used on fast roads too!) Any ideas????

When we had tubes in the tyres i always carried the puncture seal stuff, that also inflated the tyre. I now carry a tubeless repair kit with plugs and those gas canister things that screw onto the valve and inflate the tyre. The last time i got a puncture (luckily i was at home, and saw the tyre was flat before setting off) i repaired it with a plug and did over 3,000mls on it with no problems, it even passed the M.O.T. with it in.

rtfm wrote: I don't understand how my rear tyre could have had a puncture but sealed itself when re-inflated and work for days after (used on fast roads too!) Any ideas????

It does sound odd, especially the hole is a big one! Had you ridden it between last Thursday and today? Valves can play funny tricks. The only vaguely plausible - if unlikely - scenario I think of is that you had some sort of temporary valve failure last week, which then fixed itself, then had a real puncture today.

Sylar wrote:When we had tubes in the tyres i always carried the puncture seal stuff, that also inflated the tyre. I now carry a tubeless repair kit with plugs and those gas canister things that screw onto the valve and inflate the tyre. The last time i got a puncture (luckily i was at home, and saw the tyre was flat before setting off) i repaired it with a plug and did over 3,000mls on it with no problems, it even passed the M.O.T. with it in.

It would have been nice to leave it but I didn't trust the plug I used, it had to go all the way in before it sealed it and it was at an angle in part of the tread, not a nice shaped hole at all. I don't trust the tyre goop just in case I got a puncture it couldn't seal and then I couldn't fix it at the side of the road either.

This repair kit looks quite sturdy though I might see if I can find one of these in the UK: " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MrGrumpy wrote: It does sound odd, especially the hole is a big one! Had you ridden it between last Thursday and today? Valves can play funny tricks. The only vaguely plausible - if unlikely - scenario I think of is that you had some sort of temporary valve failure last week, which then fixed itself, then had a real puncture today.

That's the strange thing, it was ridden Friday, Saturday and Monday without any problem and then this morning a sudden failure. It's a bit of a bummer as it's my 2nd puncture this year, first time they didn't have a new tyre in stock so plugged a nearly worn one and this time couldn't plug a fairly fresh tyre so replaced it On the plus side I'm glad I did at least get the temporary repair to work and it was fairly idiot proof

If it was a nail or similar they sometimes push back in as you ride and seal the whole until it gets worn, broken or falls out

Car or bike, garages always come out with cant be repaired you need a new tyre. Now I know I am going to get jumped on but once again I am going to plug 'Puncture safe', 'Ultra Seal'. The night before my camping trip last month I noticed something in the rear tyre. The pressure was fine, but I decided to pull the thing out. It must have been in for a while because it turned out to be a large screw with the head missing. I had Puncture Safe in the tyre and it had made a tight seal around the screw. However with a screw PS recommend that you unscrew it rather than pull it out. This way Puncture Safe seals the hole on the way out, I did not do this so Puncture safe could not maintain a seal over 22 psi. So I also had to resort to one of those worm type plugs, that coupled with the PS seems to have made a good secure seal. Its been a month, I have been away loaded with camping gear, off road and sat between 70 and 80 mph on the motorway. No problems and no loss of pressure. My choice I know but I shall not be replacing my tyre until its worn out.

Quite agree spaceprobe. That Ultraseal/PunctureSafe is superb. It's always worked for me. I've found that mostly if you follow the instructions in the booklet that comes with the sealant it always works. I find if you always tap the tyre around the puncture as you wait for the hole to seal it works virtually everytime, as per instructions. I had a rear puncture in the Burgman last year with a massive nail. I rode over 100miles with the nail in without knowing it was there. Upon fuelling the bike I noticed a touch of blue/green on the tyre. PunctureSafe had sealed the leak but the nail looked so big I daren't take it out because I thought it wouldn't seal. When I got home I pulled the nail and sure enough, it was about 8mm across and square in shape. It didn't seal but that didn't matter. It had done it's job and I was home safe. I later took the tyre to my bike shop who repaired it and I again will use it with PunctureSafe in it when I refit it. I bought a new tyre at the time so this one is a spare. I just ordered some more PunctureSafe at £19.99 free delivery.

rtfm wrote:
This repair kit looks quite sturdy though I might see if I can find one of these in the UK: " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That is basically a copy of the stop n go which is available here. I have one of these and have used it several times with good effect. http://www.stopngo.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Data wrote:Quite agree spaceprobe. That Ultraseal/PunctureSafe is superb. It's always worked for me. I've found that mostly if you follow the instructions in the booklet that comes with the sealant it always works. I find if you always tap the tyre around the puncture as you wait for the hole to seal it works virtually everytime, as per instructions. I had a rear puncture in the Burgman last year with a massive nail. I rode over 100miles with the nail in without knowing it was there. Upon fuelling the bike I noticed a touch of blue/green on the tyre. PunctureSafe had sealed the leak but the nail looked so big I daren't take it out because I thought it wouldn't seal. When I got home I pulled the nail and sure enough, it was about 8mm across and square in shape. It didn't seal but that didn't matter. It had done it's job and I was home safe. I later took the tyre to my bike shop who repaired it and I again will use it with PunctureSafe in it when I refit it. I bought a new tyre at the time so this one is a spare. I just ordered some more PunctureSafe at £19.99 free delivery.

Hmmm. Sealants and silly string are okay as a temporary get you home aid and I carry one myself when going abroad but I'd be a bit concerned about the standard of that tyre repair myself. Tyre repair is one of the units we train/assess students to carry out at work to get their City & Guids qualification. 8mm exceeds the permissible size (6mm max) for a permanent puncture repair in line with BS AU159. We'd refuse to repair a tyre with 8mm hole in it.

Steve_D wrote:

Data wrote:Quite agree spaceprobe. That Ultraseal/PunctureSafe is superb. It's always worked for me. I've found that mostly if you follow the instructions in the booklet that comes with the sealant it always works. I find if you always tap the tyre around the puncture as you wait for the hole to seal it works virtually everytime, as per instructions. I had a rear puncture in the Burgman last year with a massive nail. I rode over 100miles with the nail in without knowing it was there. Upon fuelling the bike I noticed a touch of blue/green on the tyre. PunctureSafe had sealed the leak but the nail looked so big I daren't take it out because I thought it wouldn't seal. When I got home I pulled the nail and sure enough, it was about 8mm across and square in shape. It didn't seal but that didn't matter. It had done it's job and I was home safe. I later took the tyre to my bike shop who repaired it and I again will use it with PunctureSafe in it when I refit it. I bought a new tyre at the time so this one is a spare. I just ordered some more PunctureSafe at £19.99 free delivery.

Hmmm. Sealants and silly string are okay as a temporary get you home aid and I carry one myself when going abroad but I'd be a bit concerned about the standard of that tyre repair myself. Tyre repair is one of the units we train/assess students to carry out at work to get their City & Guids qualification. 8mm exceeds the permissible size (6mm max) for a permanent puncture repair in line with BS AU159. We'd refuse to repair a tyre with 8mm hole in it.

its been a few years so I might be wrong but on datas bike a 3mm plug is or was the largest allowed by law and 6mm on tyres rated 60 mph or less