Puncture repair - string type

[dern]

Do any of you use the string type of puncture repair kits? These are the ones where you ream out the hole and then push in a string covered in soft rubber. They look like this...



I bought one of these for my bike so I didn't get stuck anywhere. Hadn't used it until last night when I had to use it on my wife's car. Found it really easy to use and it did the job.

If you use this type of repair would you consider this a get you home repair or a permanent repair good for the life of the tyre?

Thanks,

Mark

[Cylon2007]

They are meant as a temporary repair. I carry one of the kits that use Mushroom shaped plugs and have used these (on a bike) as a permanent fix, again I believe the blurb says temporary.

[Bob_Defly]

Yep, I have a Dynaplug kit for when I go touring. Comes with a mini compressor too.

[trickywoo]

Much better than the foam alternatives cars without spare tyres seem to come with these days.

I carry a kit on my bike at all times but not had to use it yet.

I've heard people run significant distances with one of these patches but it is only supposed to be temporary.

[Slushbox]

Used them twice, once on my 4x4 and the second time on a four month old Suzuki. Put a lot of miles on the 4x4 without problems, Suzuki still going.

Trick is to ream the hole out thoroughly with the reamer tool, add 'glue' to the hole with the reamer, then lube up the string so it slides in.

They're used a lot in the wilder regions of the USA like Alaska where getting a fast repair is all but impossible. Plenty of reviews on YouTube etc saying they last the life of the tire.

The kits only come with one tube of 'glue' - enough for one repair or so, got five extra tubes on Amazon for not much.

Handy on bikes as you don't need to take the wheel off.

Edited by Slushbox on Monday 11th March 15:54

[moto_traxport]

Done a trackday on one!

Only takes up a small space under the seat - great bits of kit.

[dern]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm taking her car in to get the repair patched as it's her car and it's the front tyre on a civic type-r. If it looks ok on the inside I'll not bother replacing them in the future on my car/bikes.

[jjones]

moto_traxport said:

Done a trackday on one!

Only takes up a small space under the seat - great bits of kit.

Yep, have had them in a s1000rr, cbr1000rr and just put one in my GS yesterday. Never had an issue and use the tyres until the tread has done.

[Andy XRV]

One of our group got a puncture in the front heading back from Tilburg on the German Autobahn. At the time we were miles from anywhere. Managed to fix it with ones of the worms but found it was better push through and then pulled back so there were four strings in the hole. It also made it easier to cut off.

Needed 3 air canisters to inflate and my tip for the day is don’t forget to transfer the canister insulting bottle holder to the next canister before using it…It will get cold very quickly and it will very painfully stick to your fingers

[Slushbox]

The more er, electrically minded renegade-outlaw BMW Owners Group members of our touring group used to get a 12V electric tyre pump, strip off the plastic housing, and ghetto rig an under-saddle tyre pump aided by gaffa tape, crocodile clips and flip-up helmets.

Saved the ride a couple of times in the desolate, uncivilised wastelands of North Devon and Cornwall.

For what it's worth, decide what kind of tyres are on your bike the day after you get it:

Had a Cagiva Elefant with spoked wheels. Somewhere in deepest cannibal-infested Somerset on a Sunday morning, wheeled my bike out of hotel garage, with flat rear tyre.

Aged grey-beard BMW GS (with all the panniers) biker companion says 'Oh! Spoked Wheel. There's a tube in there'. He decides to take tyre off so he can patch it with beard shavings and moist Rizlas. My protests are ignored.

An hour goes by. Then another. Three hours later, he gets the tyre off, aided by mangled hotel spoons, to discover it's tubeless. I stand by, limp-wristed and helpless. The tyre won't go back on. A day is lost. Many spoons are ruined, as is my alloy rim. Friendships are strained. I no longer trust Men With Beards/BMW's.

Towed to remote Hicksville bike shop next day by AA Recovery. Takes them 24 hours to source a new tyre. By now, it's Tuesday and I'm £110 lighter, plus two extra nights in the fleabag hotel. A sodding £5 plug kit would have fixed it.

Learn to patch your own bleedin tyres, or get the bus. :-)

Why not practise on your neighbour's Audi with a power drill and a plug kit while they're asleep? You know it makes sense.

Edited by Slushbox on Monday 11th March 19:05

[dern]

dern said:

Thanks for the feedback. I'm taking her car in to get the repair patched as it's her car and it's the front tyre on a civic type-r. If it looks ok on the inside I'll not bother replacing them in the future on my car/bikes.

Not great feedback from the tyre place. It looks like the repair is fine but they wouldn't recommend it as a long term repair which I guess is to be expected. I'd have no hesitation in using the fix again though.

However, the last time the tyre went down (couple of months ago due to a valve core failure) it looks like she drove it further flat than she claimed as all the internal codes are broken and showing