Tires - fix or trash

[Motorhobo]

I just rediscovered two Metzelers in the basement of my mother's house. One has a clean puncture from a decking screw - the screw is still in there. The other has a gash of some kind...hard to tell exactly how bad it is. The tread on both is brand new, they had less than 1000 miles on them when damaged. The damage is on the contact surface not the sidewall. Can moto tires be reliably repaired or are they trash? That over $300 worth of tire there...or maybe $0?

Btw rode 120 mi from MD to NJ in 30 deg F and back for Xmas...didn't see one other motorcycle. Where the hell is everybody?

Van

[Chaos]

I have no qualms about patching holes in the tread, but check the date of manufacture on the tires.  If they're 5 years old or more I'd just pitch them.  And I've been out on my Ural every day this December.  Actually saw another biker last Monday, 16F, we waved, I sure he was thinking same thing I was, someone else nuts as me.

[Grim]

Yeah I agree.
Gash into the belting. Dumpster.
Puncture I'd run with a good patch.

I'm on vacation so I haven't rode this week. I rode to work all last week except Monday when it was raining. I'm still seeing bikes on the road.

[Motorhobo]

I didn't see a pronounced gash and the belting looked intact. 5ish yrs old is about right...but stored high and dry in heated basement. I'll patch the punctured one but the other one...dunno. If I take it to a moto shop they'll probably say, o no...you must buy a new tire, right now, right here! Is there a shop anywhere within 100 miles of Philly that will give the straight scoop on tires?  A question made more complicated by the fact that I'm just not a very trusting person....

Another 120 mi day today at balmy 40 deg F and no other moto to be seen...I guess Harleys all fly south for the winter.

V

[MEL]

On a motorcycle your tires are your life...I saw the results of a blowout on a motorcycle 40 years ago...two dead... just my two cents worth...dont take a chance..live a while longer

Mike

[Grim]

Find a shop that can do hoopty wheels. Ask if they have a bead clamp machine. If so they will have no trouble with your wheels. Local shop mounts my motorcycle tires for $10 each. My buddy and I went in on a harbor freight balancer. We have already paid for it with what we saved over the $40 the moto dealers were sticking us for.

[wmax351]

I would definitely dump the gashed one. The hole one- it's a calculated risk. I would avoid it if it is the front.

[Motorhobo]

On a motorcycle your tires are your life...I saw the results of a blowout on a motorcycle 40 years ago...two dead... just my two cents worth...dont take a chance..live a while longer

Mike

..

I would definitely dump the gashed one. The hole one- it's a calculated risk. I would avoid it if it is the front.

Good advice...well taken. I'm going to hang on to these till spring and see if I can get the sidecar rig back on the road. With the hack I blow through tires anyway because there's no lean and they wear flat...so all that moto tire performance engineering is wasted, plus even with blowout odds are good the sidecar rig will stay upright.  Noone makes a sidecar tire that fits a K75 anymore and I'm not gonna do all those leading link and rear wheel mods...I love my dog but there are limits to my devotion.

Van