Question about replacing tubes with new tires

[mrlmd1]

Don't ever put that stuff into a tubeless tire. It's hell to clean off a rim and regardless of the advertising, probably will not hold air in a 1/4" hole in a tire or and 1/8" hole in a tube. I'd rather spend that money on gas.

[burkbuilds]

Yes I do plan on changing the tires myself, I may enlist the help of my friend the former service manager for a local Suzuki dealer, just to watch me and make sure I'm not doing anything incorrectly. I'll ask him what he thinks about the ride-on TPS in the tubes. As for the tubes, they are in factory sealed plastic wrap, not being exposed to light, unless fluorescent counts, you are correct that they don't have a date stamp like tires do anywhere and yes they will be about a year older if I don't use them until the next tire change, but there's no dust on the packing material or anything to indicate that they've been sitting around for any lengthy period, and if I walked into a dealer and had them put "new" tubes on the tire, those tubes could easily be years older than these and I'd have no way of knowing that either. I did buy tubes from Bridgestone made specifically for the tires I'm using on the bike, which are the OEM spec Bridgestone tires. Good, valid points Easy Rider, thanks for your input!

[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

Don't ever put that stuff into a tubeless tire. It's hell to clean off a rim and regardless of the advertising, probably will not hold air in a 1/4" hole in a tire or and 1/8" hole in a tube. I'd rather spend that money on gas.

Have you personally tried it with Rideon TPS? I ask because I know from experience that what you say is true of a product called "Slime", but supposedly is not true of Rideon TPS, which is a very different and much more advanced product. I also plan to put Rideon TPS in the tubeless tires I will mount for my cross country ride. I don't put much stock in Internet hearsay, but if you personally have had a bad experience with this specific product, I'd like to know about it. Thanks!

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

but supposedly is not true of Rideon TPS,

Never is a long time. Even with things like Slime.......if you are out in the middle of nowhere, and it's getting dark and you have no cellphone service and a car hasn't passed in about a half an hour AND the sky in the west is looking ominously DARK.......well, you get the idea.
I don't personally believe in using ANY of that stuff but don't figure I'll ever be very far from "civilization" either.

You many be in a rather unique position to do some "testing" if you do decide to change tubes this time. While you will never be able to get anywhere near full pressure in a bare tube without it blowing up........you could poke a hole in it and then put in some air to see what happens.
The hole part may happen automatically during removal so it is a good idea to have a spare set available even if you don't plan to use them.

I, for one, will be real interested in hearing the results......including whether or not you will be inclined to recommend that "rookies" try to change their own tires.

[mrlmd1]

You're right, I was assuming that Ride-on was like Slime and other similar products, but i looked it up on their website. What bothers me about that stuff is that it's water soluble, so what happens of you were to get a flat from a puncture in the rain? Or if it gets wet, does it dissolve and then the tire leaks? All those things will only work if the leak is in the tread area, not so much higher up on the sidewall, as the centrifugal force keeps it applied to the outer area of the spinning tire. Does that liquid you inject into the tire stay liquid, how easily can you wash it off if you want to try and patch a small hole later?
It's only meant as an emergency stopgap measure so you can ride somewhere to get the tire repaired/replaced in a short while, it's not really supposed to be the permanent fix for a punctured tire, right? It may get you to safety, that's the intent, then you still have to deal with the damaged tire later. So maybe $30-40 is worth it for your well being and insurance, instead of spending it on a tow or emergency service call for help. Also, if you got a puncture and it worked, you may never know about it, so that could be even more dangerous than finding a flat. You have to check your tires once in a while instead of assuming everything's OK.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

Also, if you got a puncture and it worked, you may never know about it, so that could be even more dangerous than finding a flat.

I was thinking that too.

[burkbuilds]

Easy, as to whether Rookies should try to change their own tires, well, I guess it depends on a lot of things like the rookies general mechanical abilities for one thing. I've changed plenty of tube bicycle tires, even as an elementary school kid, and I watched several video's of people showing how to change a tube motorcycle tire, and it doesn't exactly look like rocket science. I bought some rim protectors and a couple of tire irons for less than the dealer wanted to change my front tire, and in my case, I've got experienced help a phone call away if I get into difficulty, so I decided to try it. I'd never done a valve adjustment before I tried it either. How else is a rookie supposed to learn anything if they never give it a shot? You can read and watch video's all day, but until you actually do something, you don't really know if you can do it. If I had never tried to do any of the things people said, "you can't do that, you don't know how to do it because you've never done it before", then I would never have done much of anything. If I fail, I fail, but I won't fail simply because I was not willing to try for fear of failure. I'll let you know how it went in a few months when it's time to change them, I'll even tell you if I goof up, okay.

mrlmd1, I can't answer several of your questions about the Ride-On, but your reasoning about it possibly saving me from getting stranded was the main reason I chose to put it in my tubes. If I didn't travel anywhere but around town, I probably wouldn't use it either, but I'm on the road twice a week, and despite all we hear about population overcrowding, there seems to be a lot of long stretches of nothing out there between the big cities. I think you are also correct about the danger of not finding damage to a tire, I try to keep a pretty close eye on my tires, and hopefully I will notice if something is wrong.

Oh, yeah, Easy, the Ride-On stuff works when the tire is spinning, so I'm not sure how I could test that with the tube like you were saying. Sorry.

[dhgeyer]

On my very first multi-day ride in 30 odd years, in 2002, I got a flat from a roofing nail. I had been in some pretty remote areas of the Adirondacks, hundreds of miles from home on my Vulcan 1500 Classic FI. I got the flat, or at least became aware of it, pulling into a gas station in Marlboro, NH, 45 miles from home. I was lucky. I only lost a few hundred dollars for a tow, and emergency service at a Kawasaki dealership, which was only about 10 miles away. And I only lost about 5 hours. Very lucky.

After that, I got very interested in how to keep from getting stranded by a flat tire in my wanderings. There are all kinds of solutions if you have tubeless tires. But, if you have tubes in your tires, it's some kind of goop and some means of reinflating, or you're stuck. Oh, some people carry spare tubes and the means to dismount either wheel, change out the tube by the side of the road, and remount and inflate the tire and wheel. That's more gear than I'm going to carry, so it's back to some kind of goop in an emergency.

I did a bunch of research on various types of goop, and Rideon TPS got far and away the best reviews of any of them, including a very positive write up in Motorcycle Consumer News, which I trust more than the other mags because they have an excellent technical staff, and don't accept advertising. No one who has actually used the stuff has ever said anything bad about it that I'm aware of.

I've only used Rideon TPS in tubed tires in the past, and I also carried a CO2 inflator. I've never picked up another nail, or had another flat, so I can't say I've tested it. But it gives a measure of peace of mind.

I did have the displeasure of buying a bike in which a previous owner had used Slime. Short version is, I had to throw away the wheel. I don't think Rideon TPS would do that kind of damage. That's one of its main advantages, apart from the fact that it is full of microfibers that actually form a repair to the puncture while you ride. As for it being ineffective in the rain because it's water soluble, that defies every concept of physics that applies. As you ride, centrifugal force, not to mention air pressure, push the goop into the puncture. Water doesn't get sucked in. The instructions say very plainly that you must ride the bike, adding air as needed, to form the repair.

The point that, with Rideon TPS in your tires, you have to check for intruding objects regularly is a valid point. It's a price I'm willing to pay. I do that anyway.

I'm going on a coast to coast ride sometime later this Spring or early Summer. I will inevitably be in areas with no cell phone coverage, well away from any BMW dealerships, or even motorcycle dealerships. I plan to put Rideon TPS in the new tires I have already bought and intend to mount shortly before I leave. They're very high mileage tires, and should easily make the whole trip. I also have purchased and will carry a Dyna Plug kit, which is the "latest and greatest" plugging kit available, and a Cycle Pump, the best small lightweight 12 volt air pump available.

My thinking is, the Beemer is new, and unlikely to break down. The only thing that could be likely to ruin my day would be a flat tire. So I'm going to be as prepared as possible to deal with that. I hate getting stranded, and in the desert it can be downright dangerous, especially for an Easterner who is not familiar with that environment.

So I think everyone has valid points. No goop, or plug for that matter, is a permanent fix. There's no guarantee that any preventative measure or repair will work in every situation. And, if they do work, they are only intended to get you safely to someplace where you can get a proper repair or replacement as appropriate. To me, given the kind of riding I do, that's worth everything. And, from everything I have been able to find out, Rideon TPS is the best goop there is right now, and basically the best emergency measure to get you home if you ride on tubed tires. With tubeless tires, it may be all that's needed to get home. And, unlike other goops, it will not interfere with a plug patch if you have to resort to that in addition.

[mrlmd1]

"As for it being ineffective in the rain because it's water soluble, that defies every concept of physics that applies. As you ride, centrifugal force, not to mention air pressure, push the goop into the puncture. Water doesn't get sucked in. The instructions say very plainly that you must ride the bike, adding air as needed, to form the repair."

I am well aware how the stuff is supposed to work and that the spinning wheel keeps it in position. What I was asking was, that if it's water soluble, won't water that WETS the hole or gets pushed into the hole or on the hole, from riding in the rain, tend to dissolve that repair? If it's able to be washed or rinsed off the inside of a tire or the wheel, wouldn't it get washed away slowly from the 1/4" hole in the tire? The stuff doesn't solidify on exposure to air, otherwise it would be solid in the tire. It's relying on its' stickiness to bind the fibers together to plug an air leak, with the tire pressure pressing it all together.

[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

"As for it being ineffective in the rain because it's water soluble, that defies every concept of physics that applies. As you ride, centrifugal force, not to mention air pressure, push the goop into the puncture. Water doesn't get sucked in. The instructions say very plainly that you must ride the bike, adding air as needed, to form the repair."

I am well aware how the stuff is supposed to work and that the spinning wheel keeps it in position. What I was asking was, that if it's water soluble, won't water that WETS the hole or gets pushed into the hole or on the hole, from riding in the rain, tend to dissolve that repair? If it's able to be washed or rinsed off the inside of a tire or the wheel, wouldn't it get washed away slowly from the 1/4" hole in the tire? The stuff doesn't solidify on exposure to air, otherwise it would be solid in the tire. It's relying on its' stickiness to bind the fibers together to plug an air leak, with the tire pressure pressing it all together.

I suppose it's possible, although I've never heard of it happening. But remember, neither Rideon TPS nor any of the roadside fixes are intended as a permanent repair. It's supposed to get you home, or to a repair shop. It does that 55 to 60 percent of the time with tube tires, 85 percent of the time or better with tubeless. I'm not claiming the stuff's perfect. I'm just saying it's the best game in town for tubed tires, unless there's something better that I don't know about. For tubeless tires, even though it's more effective, there are other alternatives, and there is some question in my mind as to whether I might be better off to rely on plugging and reinflating as a temporary fix. I'm leaning strongly towards putting the stuff in, since it doesn't interfere with plugging, and it could save me from a rapid deflation of, say, my front tire at highway speeds.