Tyre/tube sealants - any good?
 

Interesting thread about fitting tubes made me wonder if tube sealants are any good.
Some tyre manufacturers (Conti?) say don't use them.
Does anyone out there have experience of using this stuff like Ultraseal? Is it worth doing? Does it prevent punctures? Or are sealants just bollocks?
I've had the chance a few times to use tyre weld, the stuff in the can that you spray into the valve to 'fix' a puncture... what a total waste of time, money and limited toolbox space.

All I would say is that we have sealant in our tyres on an 1150 GS and have ridden some very very poor roads without punctures, famous last words. For the sake of 25 quid if your fitting new tyres I would put some in.

I read (part of Ultraseal brochure I think) of a couple who used it overlanding and had no punctures or probs. Any first hand traveller experiences (not US or UK road experiences) would be welcome ? Far more chance of knacked tyre in India than UK, was considering using it myself - for overlanding. Comments from people using it in this manner ?

Ultra seal is TOP stuff!!

Although you can never guarantee what its done until you remove the tyre to check to see if there are dye stains anywhere I can certainly tell you a story which is based upon my experience and which has persuaded me to always use it.

On many trips I have not used any form of sealant, just relied on quality tyres and H/D Tubes. Although I have been mainly lucky I have had regular punctures, especially when riding hard off road.

Last year three of us went over to the states to ride the trans am trail (east to west coast off road, see www.no2-online.net). 1 ktm640 and two xr400 hondas. We were light weight, had little time, and rode light and very agressively. Between three bikes over 4 weeks we rode 15000 miles over every imaginable type of terrain.

Desert/Mountain/Forest/Plain/Swamp.
Slow/Fast/Technical/Easy

We rode it all.

Despite changing eight tyres between the three bikes and trashing numerous chains/sprockets we had not one puncture or slow flat during the trip. Each XR bike had £20 of Ultra Seal installed in H/D tubes and the KTM had it installed in normal tubes.

An outstanding (and bloody unlikely) occurance. I cant prove that the Ultra Seal was responsible but I'll certainly be using it again.

Except for using mouses, using it together with good tyres and tubes is my personal bet for apuncture free trip.


Best Of Luck

Dave


[This message has been edited by davidlomax (edited 18 May 2004).]

David
That seems to make it sound worthwhile for 'exceptional' trips if nothing else. Ta

Epic trip! I think there's informal dirt-only trail here, from Jo'burg to Cape Town. Now if only we could get Ultraseal in South Africa. Sigh...

I'll throw in my two cents for ultra-seal as well.

The one thing that really worried me about putting +/- 500 grams of fluid into my tyres was balance - but I was careful to put in the prescribed amount and, as advertised, it hasn't effected the bike (K-75) at all, at any speed.

Does it work? Again it's the same dillema - you'll only ever really know if it's NOT working. But just finished my first puncture free winter of riding in London in three years after ultra-sealing my tyres last fall. A good omen if ever there was one.