Tire repair or replace

[blacknight]

OK, here's the deal.

When I purchased my 09 Busa back in march (4 months ago) The dealer replaced the tires with Michelin Pilot Powers 2ct's

Now, I have a nail in the rear tire.

As soon as I saw it I was pissed knowing it happened the day I was riding as after every ride, I clean the bike, clean the rims and put it on stands.

So once I saw the nail, I immediately got some soapy water and poured it over the nail and sure enough, I saw bubbles.



Now, after speaking with the dealer where I purhcased the bike from, they transferred me to service and basically they frown upon repairing a tire with a plug/patch as it's a huge safety hazard. They would strongly remommend replacing the tire.

Now this I can understand as good, RELIABLE tires are virtually essential for safe riding.

But has anyone ever repaired a tire and had good results?

On my last bike (gixxer 04 600) I had a rear tire repaired and I didnt have problems with it.

But now since this is a much newer bike that I REALLY like, I want to be more cautious with things.



So my question is:



1) should I go ahead and replace a 4 month old tire that's virtually still new but now has a nail in it?



OR



2) should I have the tire repaired?

[B Rad]

replace

[Hayabusawannabe]

Well I have done it infact the tire is about to come off this weekend. I don't exactly know how many miles I've put on it but it has to be at least 5K. Call me cheap but I could not bare replacing a tire that I had recently spent $190 bucks on. So I called many shops and they said "NO!" but there was one 10 minutes from my apartment that fixed it for $50 bucks I think. First couple months it didn't loose any air but after that it started to seep a bit, so I slimed it and problem solved. As they told me in my MSF class it just comes down to how much risk are you willing to take?

[blacknight]

Plugged/patched tire
balanced tire
cleaned & lubed chain
adjusted chain
$64.00

Not bad at all....

I wouldnt recommend purchasing a plug kit for bikes.
I would definitely go with a plug.patch kit. And if that's the case, go to a shop and have them do it for you since they have to take the tire off anyway to patch it.
PS. I do NOT recommend this AT ALL FOR A FRONT TIRE

[adamnflorida]

I had some neighborhood kids stab my newly replaced tire on my busa, so instead of spending another $200+, i plugged it and got plenty of miles out of it with no problems. I did check the air pressure often (as you should), but i was more diligent about it.

[dadofthree]

Fix-a-flat ........ is what I've used in the past. It's really a decision you need to make. After all, you're the one that will live with the decision.

[Superzuki]

If it's in the rolling surface, Ive plugged them without a hitch.
The edge or sidewall is a different story, I'd replace that - no matter how new..