Brand New Conti Attack 300 miles with Screw? What to do?

[redciv1]

So I save up for my Conti Road Attacks to eventually do some track days. Take the bike over to Lorne at OTC and have them mounted about 1 month ago. Getting ready to take the bike out Friday night and check the tire pressure in rear. It's reading 20psi. I ride up to my friendly neighborhood QT and air up. The wife wanted me to go and pick up her ring from being cleaned. I check the pressure in the rear tire again and same thing 20psi. I air up again and start to look at the tire to see where the loss of air was coming, but could not see anything. Parked the bike in the garage and looked at the rear tire and a screw is sitting flush in the center of my brand new Cont Road Attack. No road hazard so how do I fix? Can I plug like a car tire, which I have unfortunately had my fair share of experience with, or is there another method?

[huskyduck]

Although most shops refuse to plug tires for liability reasons, I've logged thousands of miles on plugged tires with no problem.
But the BEST way to fix the tire is by removing the tire from the rim and placing a patch on the inside.
If you go the plug route, only use the good quality red plugs, the black ones suck.

[TroyBoy30]

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[redciv1]

^^^^
Ah, Troy, you really didn't have to show that, I mean REALLY did not.

[joemama]

I've never tried plugging a motorcycle tire, done it on LOTS of car tires, but I've ran a few patched motorcycle tires with no problems. If it patched properly from the inside you shouldn't ever have a problem. Good luck. Oh, and if your planning on scrapping that tire, I got dibs! :D:up:

[KTM Rider]

I would take it off and patch it for a street ridden motorcycle.

[joemama]

I REALLY, REALLY hope that dude didn't try to ride on that duct tape!

[KTM Rider]

this guy flew with duct tape:up:

http://nowthatsnifty.blogspot.com/2010/01/bear-attacks-plane-fixed-with-duct-tape.html

[magnetnerd]

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What's this? Taking vids from other forums? Soooooo close to a repost...:NONO:

[TroyBoy30]

What's this? Taking vids from other forums? Soooooo close to a repost...:NONO:

actually searched for it on youtube after c'in it somewhere else and not being able to find it. not even close to a re-post. has to be same forum dude! :crackup:

[TLR67]

Get a new tire... 1 Less thing to worry about...

[magnetnerd]

actually searched for it on youtube after c'in it somewhere else and not being able to find it. not even close to a re-post. has to be same forum dude! :crackup:

Yeah yeah yeah, you probably saw it on SSB, because I posted it there. Still close to a repost. Just sayin'...

[redciv1]

Get a new tire... 1 Less thing to worry about...
That would be the best thing to do, but I think I am going to go for a patch on this one. Will shop's patch tires or are they hesitant about patches as well?

[joemama]

Most won't due to liability. I had a shop dismount the tire "half way" so I could patch it myself. Then they remounted it and all was good.

[redciv1]

Most won't due to liability. I had a shop dismount the tire "half way" so I could patch it myself. Then they remounted it and all was good.

Wow...interesting.

[Teutonics]

Most won't due to liability. I had a shop dismount the tire "half way" so I could patch it myself. Then they remounted it and all was good.

+1. I tried every place I could find on the northside and none would patch a tire. If you find one please post 'em up!

[redciv1]

+1. I tried every place I could find on the northside and none would patch a tire. If you find one please post 'em up!

Will do.

[bigmixx]

Take the hit and buy a new tire. Especially if you plan to do a track day on it. I know it sucks but there's only 2 tires on a motorcycle so I'd want them both to be in top notch shape if I'm going to go hauling ass around a track.... or around 285.

[Batgirl]

I have the same problem. Got maybe 1000 miles on a Road Attack and got a nail in the center. It currently has a plug so I can go on short rides until I get the new tire this weekend. I am picking up a new Road Attack from Valucycle for $139.

[BlueLghtning]

LOL, I always get a kick out of these topics, as there are so many naysayers with the plug or patched tire that tell you to toss the tire and go buy a new one. Murphy's law saws you are going to puncture that one too! haha. I wonder if any of them have actually tried it, or just like telling people to go spend their hard earned money on new tires. You can usually tell right away if you get the plug in correctly or not. If the plug doesn't hold, your tire will just start leaking air again which if you check it regularly isn't that big of a deal. Its not like its going to be an instantaneous catastrophic failure.

I do change my own tires and have the pleasure of not having to worry about a shop telling me they can't do it. I've done both plugs and patches with good results. I've probably have at least 5+ tires at some point that have been patched or plugged. The latest was when Sarah got a nail in her front tire on the first ride after having it put on (less then 500 miles). We actually tried patching it at first, but it kept having an ever so slightly slow leak; couple psi over a week. (nothing catastrophic, would just loose a few pounds). So after about the third try of patching, I just said screw it and put a plug in it. It never leaked again and we got 15k miles out of that tire including our 2 week trip out West on it last year. After the first 500 miles and it not doing anything, I never thought about it again.

Hell, I even used slime in a race slick one time for a track day. :eek: It wasn't my first choice and probably not something I'd recommend, but I had just bought a set of take offs and put them on right before a track day only to find out the rear had a hole in it. The track day was the next day and I had no other tires and no time to do anything else, so slimmed the thing and said I'd watch it. I ended up doing a couple track days on it with no issues! haha.

Let me know if anyone is throwing away tires with holes, I'll run them! :D

[petrel800]

I've never tried it, and for a track day, I never would. Not when you can get a set of Q2s delivered for $205 or a set of Pilot Powers for $170. Not worth the worry or the hassel.

Most track day orgs say not to run plugged or repaired tires. Remember as well, when you're on the track, everyone out there is operating under a certain level of trust. If I found out a guy plugged a tire and it was the cause of an incident at a track day, I think I might get beyond words with the guy if I was involved in the incident.

I know money is tight, and it's probably OK for the street and your day to day riding, but please don't bring that to the track. Sure you'll probably get away with it, and probably not have a problem, but why put yourself and others at more risk during an event where you're already pushing the envelope.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

LOL, I always get a kick out of these topics, as there are so many naysayers with the plug or patched tire that tell you to toss the tire and go buy a new one. Murphy's law saws you are going to puncture that one too! haha. I wonder if any of them have actually tried it, or just like telling people to go spend their hard earned money on new tires. You can usually tell right away if you get the plug in correctly or not. If the plug doesn't hold, your tire will just start leaking air again which if you check it regularly isn't that big of a deal. Its not like its going to be an instantaneous catastrophic failure.

I do change my own tires and have the pleasure of not having to worry about a shop telling me they can't do it. I've done both plugs and patches with good results. I've probably have at least 5+ tires at some point that have been patched or plugged. The latest was when Sarah got a nail in her front tire on the first ride after having it put on (less then 500 miles). We actually tried patching it at first, but it kept having an ever so slightly slow leak; couple psi over a week. (nothing catastrophic, would just loose a few pounds). So after about the third try of patching, I just said screw it and put a plug in it. It never leaked again and we got 15k miles out of that tire including our 2 week trip out West on it last year. After the first 500 miles and it not doing anything, I never thought about it again.

Hell, I even used slime in a race slick one time for a track day. :eek: It wasn't my first choice and probably not something I'd recommend, but I had just bought a set of take offs and put them on right before a track day only to find out the rear had a hole in it. The track day was the next day and I had no other tires and no time to do anything else, so slimmed the thing and said I'd watch it. I ended up doing a couple track days on it with no issues! haha.

Let me know if anyone is throwing away tires with holes, I'll run them! :D


Dan, FTMFW. Took what I was going to post, polished it up, added years of experience, and laid it down.

[TroyBoy30]

I've never tried it, and for a track day, I never would. Not when you can get a set of Q2s delivered for $205 or a set of Pilot Powers for $170. Not worth the worry or the hassel.

Most track day orgs say not to run plugged or repaired tires. Remember as well, when you're on the track, everyone out there is operating under a certain level of trust. If I found out a guy plugged a tire and it was the cause of an incident at a track day, I think I might get beyond words with the guy if I was involved in the incident.

I know money is tight, and it's probably OK for the street and your day to day riding, but please don't bring that to the track. Sure you'll probably get away with it, and probably not have a problem, but why put yourself and others at more risk during an event where you're already pushing the envelope.

agreed! I wouldn't even risk it on the street

[TLR67]

To each his own.... I guess Im a Naysayer instead of a Risk Taker.... For the street I can see for commuting (REAR ONLY)... On the track no friggin way... And if I saw one at Tech they wouldnt pass... In my line anyway...

[THE MUFFIN MAN]

To each his own.... I guess Im a Naysayer instead of a Risk Taker.... For the street I can see for commuting (REAR ONLY)... On the track no friggin way... And if I saw one at Tech they wouldnt pass... In my line anyway...ever since i beat you to that torque wrench, you've been grumpy as hell!! lol

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

agreed! I wouldn't even risk riding in the rain



i had to

[BlueLghtning]

agreed! I wouldn't even risk riding in the rain



i had to

Haha, perfect! :D

[TroyBoy30]

i had to

I don't get it? there's a difference between not riding in the rain and not planning to ride in the rain! I don't plan to go on the lake in the rain either!

[redciv1]

Thanks everyone for their input. I agree with Blue on this one. Not sure if I will track the bike, but for the street I'm fine. I think the key really is checking over the bike BEFORE your butt hits the seat...patch or no patch. I've never had plug instantly fail on any of the tires I have plugged. Where did all the dislike for plugs and patches originate anyway...rumors, friend of a friend?

[chris948]

Where did all the dislike for plugs and patches originate anyway...rumors, friend of a friend?

Less thickness in the tread to insulate the plug, less belting in motorcycle tires in general to maintain the integrety of the tire that is plugged and hold the plug. Not so much rumors as science.

I personally view my motorcycle as a toy, there are cheaper ways to get from point a to point b. Viewed as such you have to pay to play. If you've got 4 wheels and you lose some tire pressure in 1 it's no big deal. If you've got 2 wheels and you lose tire pressure in 1 it's a very big deal, especially if you're leaned over. I don't want to kick my own ass in the hospital regretting cheaping out on a tire.

[redciv1]

Less thickness in the tread to insulate the plug, less belting in motorcycle tires in general to maintain the integrety of the tire that is plugged and hold the plug. Not so much rumors as science.

I personally view my motorcycle as a toy, there are cheaper ways to get from point a to point b. Viewed as such you have to pay to play. If you've got 4 wheels and you lose some tire pressure in 1 it's no big deal. If you've got 2 wheels and you lose tire pressure in 1 it's a very big deal, especially if you're leaned over. I don't want to kick my own ass in the hospital regretting cheaping out on a tire.
Good point. But some of that depends on where the plug or patch will be placed. My screw is dead middle of tire.

[mkeeney]

Less thickness in the tread to insulate the plug, less belting in motorcycle tires in general to maintain the integrety of the tire that is plugged and hold the plug. Not so much rumors as science.



This is simply not true. The idea that motorcycle tires have fewer plies or steel belts is a complete myth. Sportbike tires are generally W (168 mph) speed rated, where most car tires are T or H rated. They don't get a W rating by making a weaker tire. The carcass is much stronger than most car tires.

[TLR67]

The carcass is much stronger than most car tires.


Yes but none are designed to have a plug put anywhere.... THATS why I would never want to try one out over 100 plus... Its not worth it... Especially when you see a GOOD Tire do this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdFpqY00GRk

[BlueLghtning]

Less thickness in the tread to insulate the plug, less belting in motorcycle tires in general to maintain the integrety of the tire that is plugged and hold the plug. Not so much rumors as science.
Please post up some tire reference that backs this up.


I personally view my motorcycle as a toy, there are cheaper ways to get from point a to point b. Viewed as such you have to pay to play. If you've got 4 wheels and you lose some tire pressure in 1 it's no big deal. If you've got 2 wheels and you lose tire pressure in 1 it's a very big deal, especially if you're leaned over. I don't want to kick my own ass in the hospital regretting cheaping out on a tire.

No one wants a flat tire on a car or a bike, but if you are in tune with your bike, you should be able to detect a tire loosing pressure before it actually goes flat and really becomes an issue. Even then, riding out a flat isn't nearly as big a deal as most people make it out to be. Of course, leaned over usually ups the stakes, but you usually also figure out quicker that something isn't right. I hope most riders can actually tell when they suddenly drop 10psi in a tire (especially the front). The steering becomes heavy and slow and this should be an instant warning that something isn't right. But even at 15-20psi, you still have plenty of control over your bike and tires. Its not until it actually goes completely flat that things start to get rough.

You know what cured me of my fear of flat tires. In 2006, I was 50 miles outside of Deadhorse, AK heading back to Fairbanks on the Dalton Hwy on my first Vstrom and I got a rear flat tire. The Dalton is 500 miles of desolate gravel/dirt/chip seal and what ever else they want to throw down and out in the middle of no where. You have 1 truck stop in the middle at the 250 mile marker and nothing else between Fairbanks and Deadhorse. You can't even get a tow truck to touch you for under a $1k and probably a lot more then that.

So, my tire wasn't just a slow leak, I had ran over something that put a nice hole and it was totally flat on the ground with-in minutes. I didn't crash when it happened even though it was quite a loss of air pretty quickly. I felt the tire going down and stopped safely. It ended up taking us more then 12-14 hrs just to make it to the half way point and over 24hrs to make that 500 mile trek from Deadhorse to Fairbanks because the plugs weren't holding. That gravel was taking the toll on them, not to mention it was just a weird hole I had gotten. The hole kept getting bigger each time we plugged it and I could never get it to stop hissing air completely. I would pump up the tire to about 40-50 psi (with air hissing out the entire time), then go ride for 45mins or however long I could push it, the entire time my tire loosing air. When I'd get down to about 10 psi where I'd start worrying about damaging my rim on rocks and pot holes, I'd stop and repeat the procedure. I did this over and over again. It was a very long trek to get back and ended up going through all my reserve fuel because my bike was ideling so much pumping up the tire. I was 50 miles out of Cold Foot when the 2nd air compressor gave up and there I was stuck with no more air and a flat tire. Matt went on a head to find help, but I finally managed to stop a truck heading up to get just enough air to get me back to Cold Foot where I had some more options. While in Cold Foot, I finally found trucker there offer to put a couple big 'ole truck "plugs" in my tire and those held and got me back to Fairbanks.

I guess if that doesn't get you over your fear of flat tires, nothing will. I learned then that 10-15psi was enough to get me by in a true emergency. Granted my tire was trashed by the time I got back, but I made it with no tow truck and in tact. New tire on my bike and I was ready to ride the thousands of miles back home.

I'm starting to think some of you guys really couldn't handle a true bike emergency while out on the road. Maybe you could if you were actually forced to do it like I was. We know things happen when we ride and sometimes way out of our control. You just have to be ready to cope with them.

[chris948]

Please post up some tire reference that backs this up.


Ask Huey, or tell the OP to find a tire reference that proves I'm wrong. The speed rating has NOTHING to do with the comparison, bike tires are a whole different ballgame flex wise. Just providing an informed but not expert opinion.

I'm tired of arguing on the internet (thus the low post count) say what you want. I've been to Fairbanks and I've had a flat tire on a bike and many cars, that doesn't change the point. I wouldn't do it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that I remotely care about, too many other things to go wrong with 2 unplugged tires.

Either way, best of luck, really do mean that.

[mkeeney]

Ask Huey, or tell the OP to find a tire reference that proves I'm wrong. The speed rating has NOTHING to do with the comparison, bike tires are a whole different ballgame flex wise. Just providing an informed but not expert opinion.


I'm all the reference you need, and you're wrong. I've designed tires with maximum loads between 500 lbs. and 50,000 lbs. Why would you think that motorcycle tires have "less belting," to use your words? That makes it appear as if you don't understand tire construction. How can you even make such a generic, blanket statement that you think is valid for all manufacturers? The spacing between the cords in the plies and the wires in the steel belts are optimized for the intended use of the tire, no matter what that is. Have you ever seen motorcycle tires or auto tires being manufactured? I think your opinion is neither expert nor informed.

The speed rating has a lot to do with it. Which tire will be stronger and endure more - a 73W or a 73T? The load rating is the same, but the W rated tire has been tested to take that load to 168 mph vs. 118 for the T. Fifty mph is a big difference that requires a much stronger construction.

[Todd]

:deadhorse::fubiker:

[redciv1]

Blue is correct on telling the difference between a tire with correct pressure and low pressure. With only about 20 psi on Monday, I could instantly feel the difference on the rear tire. The tire felt soft and squishy if you will when I leaned over to turn and as stated earlier the turn is really heavy, even on the rear.

[TLR67]

:deadhorse::fubiker:


Tell me about it.... Between this and the 190 vs 180 stuff its getting old....

[Hammerhead]

What is is it about the Contis & screws? Last night I found a screw dead center of my rear Road Attack.

[redciv1]

What is is it about the Contis & screws? Last night I found a screw dead center of my rear Road Attack.
I can only laugh because it happened to me. I don't know. I guess they are super, sticky nail attractors, lol.