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Flat front tire questions

I’d take everything on a case by case basis. Sprockets and chain, you can inspect them and determine their condition. Probably no need to replace unless they are clearly worn. There are no hidden mysteries there. Brake fluid should be changed every 2 years, so change that. For the battery, test the resting voltage after a full charge and you can determine the storage capacity. For tires, if they are damaged, worn, or cracked, replace them, but Honda says tires should be replaced at least by the time the manufacture date code is 10 years past.
 
Some suggestions I have, if you have a center stand I would forego the jack. Aside from pulling the front forks, you can take both tires off with it on the center stand. Just put some wood blocks under the forks when the front tire is off. For anything else there are ways to do it with just the center stand. Second, as a new and inexperienced rider I would caution you to NOT learn to plug a tire on your front tire. Have it professionally done. You screw up a plug/patch on a rear and it blows out, your chances of coming out the other side unscathed are pretty good. The front blows out and those chances decrease to damn near zero real fast. Not saying it can't be done, lots of people do. But I would recommend waiting until you gain more experience both in tire repair and riding before you do it.
 
Some suggestions I have, if you have a center stand I would forego the jack. Aside from pulling the front forks, you can take both tires off with it on the center stand. Just put some wood blocks under the forks when the front tire is off. For anything else there are ways to do it with just the center stand. Second, as a new and inexperienced rider I would caution you to NOT learn to plug a tire on your front tire. Have it professionally done. You screw up a plug/patch on a rear and it blows out, your chances of coming out the other side unscathed are pretty good. The front blows out and those chances decrease to damn near zero real fast. Not saying it can't be done, lots of people do. But I would recommend waiting until you gain more experience both in tire repair and riding before you do it.
Center stand and wood blocks or small floor jack and you can take it all apart.

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Some suggestions I have, if you have a center stand I would forego the jack. Aside from pulling the front forks, you can take both tires off with it on the center stand. Just put some wood blocks under the forks when the front tire is off. For anything else there are ways to do it with just the center stand. Second, as a new and inexperienced rider I would caution you to NOT learn to plug a tire on your front tire. Have it professionally done. You screw up a plug/patch on a rear and it blows out, your chances of coming out the other side unscathed are pretty good. The front blows out and those chances decrease to damn near zero real fast. Not saying it can't be done, lots of people do. But I would recommend waiting until you gain more experience both in tire repair and riding before you do it.
And if the professional screws up a plug/patch. are your chances any better?

Fortunately, nearly all puncture flats seem to be on the rear tire. The front tire kicks up the foreign object on the road, the rear tire comes along next and gets penetrated by it. In all my decades of riding, I don't recall ever having a puncture on the front tire.
 
And if the professional screws up a plug/patch. are your chances any better?

Fortunately, nearly all puncture flats seem to be on the rear tire. The front tire kicks up the foreign object on the road, the rear tire comes along next and gets penetrated by it. In all my decades of riding, I don't recall ever having a puncture on the front tire.
No, but the chances of a professional screwing it up vs someone who has never patched a tire before is significantly lower.
 
Plugging a tire is not surgery. The reamer makes it virtually impossible to cut a cord which is how a catastrophic failure would occur. Just make sure you cut the excess down as close to even with the tread as possible.
 
I've been plugging tires for 35 years from the lightest kids atv to my 15,000 pound 5th wheel trailer. Only once on a street bike front, but lots of rears, and I've driven all of them until the tire wears out. If you don't know how or are uncomfortable with it I suggest you find or buy an old tire, get a plug kit, and have someone show you how, practice with the whole kit. It is a useful skill. I carry a plug kit with CO2 inflator in the frunk. I haven't had to use it in the NC yet, but I feel a lot better knowing it's there.
 
It is a useful skill. I carry a plug kit with CO2 inflator in the frunk.

Good info, thanks. How do you find the leak if it's small, just with spit? My last one was so small I couldn't find it until the tire was inflated & in soapy water. Also, do CO2 inflators have enough to fill it, find the leak, repair it, then fill it again?
 
I bought a Ring inflator which also a charger and torch. It will inflate your tyre to the what you set, it has a good torch and it also has a battery charger so you can charge your phone or other USB device. I found it really handy for inflating my car and bike tyres. Best bit it the size and shape of a 500cc beer can, see photo
 

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I bought a Ring inflator which also a charger and torch. It will inflate your tyre to the what you set, it has a good torch and it also has a battery charger so you can charge your phone or other USB device. I found it really handy for inflating my car and bike tyres. Best bit it the size and shape of a 500cc beer can, see photo

Thanks for the info. I bought a similar one but returned it because it would only add pressure to a low tire, if the tire was completely flat it didn't have enough of a "burst" to get the bead to form a seal. Have you used it on a completely flat tire?
 
Thanks for the info. I bought a similar one but returned it because it would only add pressure to a low tire, if the tire was completely flat it didn't have enough of a "burst" to get the bead to form a seal. Have you used it on a completely flat tire?
I have never had a tubeless tire go flat and had the tire bead unseat or unbond itself from the rim. Has this happened to you? Generally, “breaking” the bead takes considerable effort.
 
I have never had a tubeless tire go flat and had the tire bead unseat or unbond itself from the rim. Has this happened to you? Generally, “breaking” the bead takes considerable effort.

It worked for my flat tire but my neighbor was replacing his tires & we couldn't get it to seat & form a seal. He went & got his large compressor w/tank (that he had loaned to someone), and that worked first try.
 
It worked for my flat tire but my neighbor was replacing his tires & we couldn't get it to seat & form a seal. He went & got his large compressor w/tank (that he had loaned to someone), and that worked first try.
OK. Airing up a tire that went flat, and seating beads while mounting tires are two different levels of needs for air compressors. I use a 10 gallon air tank to intially seat beads, but a small portable compressor is all that is needed for most road side repairs.
 
OK. Airing up a tire that went flat, and seating beads while mounting tires are two different levels of needs for air compressors. I use a 10 gallon air tank to intially seat beads, but a small portable compressor is all that is needed for most road side repairs.

So have you repaired a screw/nail hole on the side of the road without removing the tire?
 
There is the always the "street" method of using starter fluid and a match to seat a bead. Some will remove the valve core if you are doing a ATV low pressure tire. Have used that method on stiff side wall tires that were a bear. As far as "rope" plugs go you should use the reamer first to clean the hole then install the rope into the install tool at the middle and fold it in half first, then after inserting twist it a few times to form a mushroom before pulling the tool out. Cut off the excess and inflate the tire. The centrifugal force is suppose to flatten out the plug for a better seal. Even if the tire was dismounted and a "umbrella" patch was installed a patched tire should not be driven over 55mph and if it was balanced it ain't no more. The CO2 kits out there are good in a pinch and usually come with the little arrow plugs that work on small holes. Proper seating of the tire bead is essential for the tire to stay true and locked to the rim. I ride with a can of fix-a-flat and rope plugs with a small compressor and have never had the need for my bike. There were a few times I helped a fellow rider with a flat and without tools, the last time I installed a rope seal inflated the tire and gave him the can of fix-a-flat for his ride home.
 
So have you repaired a screw/nail hole on the side of the road without removing the tire?
Absolutely.

The roadside repair is to plug the tire from the outside. Upon arriving home, if the tire is salvageable, the tire is dismounted to install a permanent plug/patch from the inside. I have repaired a punctured tire that had less than 500 miles on it, with an internal plug patch (“umbrella?”), then rode on it thereafter until the tread wore out.

I carry with me, on the motorcycle, the means to plug and inflate a tubeless tire. I do not carry with me the means to dismount and remount a tubeless motorcycle tire at the roadside.
 
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