The Honda Owners Club

In another topic a member says that rather than wait for the RAC in the case of a puncture, he has a plug kit with three little gas cylinders.

Does anyone know at what pressure the air is in the little canisters? Does anyone know the capacity of them? If you are ever faced with a puncture and you place the three little canisters down beside a big flat back tyre, you may wonder how can they possibly fully inflate the tyre?

They can't. You may be lucky to get the tyre up to 15lb. Which is probably enough to get you, slowly to an air line, or someone with a pump.

This movement can create another problem. The mushroom plugs are held in the tyre by the internal air pressure, plus some initial help from rubber cement. If the plug is inserted before the cement has partially cured and then the bike is ridden on the partially inflated tyre, the extra flexing of the tyre can cause the plug can fall into the tyre - lubricated by the sill soft rubber cement.

Never cut the 'tail' off of the plug until the tyre has been inflated to its full pressure.

You may as well use all the rubber cement in the tube because any left will harden in the tube very quickly.

A well set plug allows you to ride normally and will last the life of the tyre.

But so will Ultraseal and it will also avoid the nasty experience of a high speed deflation - or rather the slowing down from a high speed puncture.

My local tyre fitter is charging an extra £5 per tyre if you have Ultraseal in your tyres for cleaning the mess up.... (tubeless of course) i dont carry anything just my roadside help card..... but i might have a look at the different things on the market for next year when we go to the Scotish Highlands on Hols next year....

Sounds like you are speaking from experience Barry!!..Though how long ago did you experience this? I have to say that Ive never used one of those kits but took one to Le Mans this year 'Just in case'!! Luckilly, not needed!

..Well the instructions say that the TWO air bottles are sufficient to fully inflate two tyres. I would rather not have to find out if that were the case however!

steviebaby1000 wrote:My local tyre fitter is charging an extra £5 per tyre if you have Ultraseal in your tyres for cleaning the mess up.... ....

I suggest you find an honest tyre fitter Or perhaps it was not Ultraseal? It is not until the tyre has been removed that the Ultraseal can be seen as a relatively thin layer of thixotropic material spread evenly round the tread area of the tyre. There is no mess.

I have put it in my tubed tyres, not expecting it to repair a puncture but I am confident that is will slow down the rate of deflation. Now that may cause a bit of a mess depending upon when the Ultraseal is migrating from the hole in the tube to where the air is leaking from the tyre. But whilst it is in its thixotropic state Ultraseal can be cleaned off with water.

True i dont no if it was Ultraseal but one of our branch members was taken into the back fitting bay and shown the mess.... will have to find out which make it was..... i think the repair kit will be the best as i pay £240 a year for my tyres and another £30 on top every year is a lot... the kits last till you need them. (before i get loads of people telling me to change where i get my tyres from there 18" and like hens teeth)

Sounds like you are speaking from experience Barry!!..Though how long ago did you experience this? I have to say that Ive never used one of those kits but took one to Le Mans this year 'Just in case'!! Luckilly, not needed!

..Well the instructions say that the TWO air bottles are sufficient to fully inflate two tyres. I would rather not have to find out if that were the case however

Chris, I am talking about the small air canisters you often get with plug kits.

There is another product that inflates the tyre while inserting a white foam like substance to seal the puncture. These will inflate the tyre and allow you to carry on, albeit at a reduced speed. It is not a permament repair.

But be warned, they do have a shelf life. Keep it too long - couple of years - and you may find yourself covering the wheel with white foam whilst the can spits and splutters and only half inflates the tyre.

I used to carry one in case I got a puncture on a motorway or some other unpleasant location where it was not conducive to fitting a plug. I did eventually use it to inflate the rear tyre of one of my other bikes that had developed a slow leak caused by a leaking rim seal whilst the bike was sitting in the garage. Now that stuff can make a mess!

I have not tried to plug a tyre after using one of those cans. I assumed that as long as you let all the air out of the tyre via the valve, you would then be able to clean out the puncture hole with the reamer that comes with most kits and carry on as normal.

Just about 2 weeks ago I rode up to my local bike club and having put the bike on the side-stand looked down in amazement to see the silencer and the entire back of the bike covered in blue---thinks have I burst a radiator hose?----has the battery split ? No my ultra-seal was trying to do an impossible job of sealing the rear tyre which had been ripped open by of all things a COAT_HANGAR !! Now the good thing was I was unaware I even had a puncture before stopping. Although several members had repair kits I wrongly took the view that the tyre was beyond repair and called out the AA the patrolman who managed to insert a plug and restricted my speed to 40mph and followed me all the way to my house . The tyre had to be replaced. Still think ultra-seal is worthwhile and its now installed in my two new tyres. When the fitter removed both the old tyres you could see the sealer around both inner walls of the tyres but there was no mess. Well now you know the streets of Glasgow are not paved with gold but with ---COAT--HANGARS!!!TOM

One of the most sphincter fluttering moments I have had was getting a HAIRGRIP in my front tyre on a bend. Managed to wobble to a stop, thank god. Must have hit it at just the right angle, but I tried to embed one in an old tyre at home. Nothing, nada, niente, zilch...etc. Still a mystery.

Ultraseal is good. Norma had a high speed blow on the French motorways and we only noticed when we saw the red stuff at the next service stop. Turned out to be a 1" gash in the tyre.

It was repairable enough to get us to a dealer.

Now, we always use it.

good to hear the stories - I have used Ultraseal for years - its always in my tyres.