Folks

Do any of you recommend this type of product? Has anyone used it on their travels? Sounds to me like a good idea. No hassle with punctures at inappropriate times(as if there ever is an appropriate time for a flat!!). and since I'm likely to wear out a set of tyres on a 4 week trip there shouldn't be any problems. But am I missing something? Is there a genuine reason why it isn't worth doing?

Chris

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"Life is too short to drink cheap wine!"

Depends on whether you're tubeless or not I think. You can't repair a tubeless tyre if its got slime in it. Might be ok for tubed but not too sure. I didn't use any on my tubeless tyres but as they're so easy to fix punctures on, it was never a problem.

But don't get me started on repairing tubed tyres...they're not much fun when you don't have a centre stand.

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Mike


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Ultraseal and slime does work in tubes for small punctures. It at least slows down the release of air... Don't expect it to stop a snake bite or tear though.

It would make a fair mess if your tube split. You CAN repair the tube but you will need to clean the area first.

I think its good choice in tubeless tyres. It usually completely seals the puncture so you never know its there anyway...

FYI, You CAN plug a tubeless puncture with slime in it and i've seen it done hundreds of times. They wont because its messy and needs a lot of cleaning. It's too labour intensive for the price of the fix. I think they wont just incase its a cheap crappy "Slime" alternative which isnt water based.

Read this:

SLIME Flat Tire Repair - Smart Solutions for Flat Tire Prevention: ATV, Bicycle, Motorcycle, Lawn Tractor - The leader in tire inflators & gauges May. Bike Month. Be Slime Month.

Most tyre places won't plug a motorcycle tyre for health and safety (make that insurance / lawsuit reasons) as theres a 0.000001% chance it could fail and cause an accident. To be honest, this suits them great because selling you a new tyre is far more profitable.

I used to (until recently) work in a very large respected motorcycle dealership so I know this first hand....

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Did some trips.
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Can't say anymore.

I used OKO for years (probably since about 1975, thinking about it) very successfully in tubed and tubeless tyres. One front (tubed) tyre turned out to have had 17 (I think it was 17 anyway, it was a fair few years ago now) punctures and I hadn't noticed even one of them, and pressure hadn't gone down by more than about 1psi when I did the routine pressure checks.

Haven't seen OKO round here for years now, so use Goop instead, which a local garden centre stocks, but I just found that M&P do it for about half the price.

Goop Puncture Preventative 500ml

The other thing I like about it is, its flow round the inside of the tyre balances the wheel.

You will get punctures. The stuff has a limit of a single 5mm hole or smaller ones that cause the same volume of loss. You get multiple holes because the nail/thorn/whatever stays in the tyre, you just don't notice. It can't seal V-shaped cuts as they flex. Once you've reached the limit you need a permanant repair and so need to get the stuff off before anything will stick. This is a real PITA. You can wash it out with water according to the suppliers, but at my last experiment three washes in detergent, a week soaking in fresh water, various wipes with white spirit and roughing with sand paper and a patch still wouldn't stick!

I'd only use it on a two up European trip where ultimately a tyre place could sort you out (they moan like **** about the goo and will charge you for a new tube or even a tyre), but not where I'd be on my own.

Tubed tyre changes are a piece of cake so long as you prepare. Fit TT tyres, not TL rated for use with tubes. Lube the bead when you fit them and they will just pop into the well when the valves out and you stamp on them-press with a 6" G-clamp - use a mates side stand etc. A spare tube and a box of patches can keep you going for week and you are always riding on a proper repair.

Tubeless repairs work well with external bungs. They can be defeated by V-cuts and sidewall problems but that seems rare. In the sticks I'd carry a tube so any car tyre place can get you moving well enough to find a proper repair.

One use for slime is the likes of F650's where they run a TL tyre and rim with a tube full time. Can't use bungs, will struggle to get the tube out.

Andy

I'd consider it for tubeless tyres. For tubed tyres, it's only a matter of bike on side in the dirt and popping one bead off to find the offending puncture, there's no need to remove the wheel, 30 mins tops??

RTS

+1 for Ultraseal I use them in both- my tubes and tubeless tyres- it serves me well.
I do not know about other products but Ultraseal washes out really easily-

hi chris,
i`ve used slime to keep going after a puncture(tube).some guys are happy to put slime in their tubes as a preventative but I prefer to patch the tube at a time and location to suit or replace with spare tube as circumstances permit.having said that I would carry slime on the bike for emergencies no doubt it serves a purpose

I have used Oxy tractor tyre sealent in my enduro bike tyres for a couple of years and never had a puncture (I'm happy to tempt fate as I'm fitting mooses on Friday).

Its half the price for twice the amount of the bike specific products and available from SCATs agricultural stores in the UK amongst others.

cheers

38

good tip 38, i use ultraseal/punctureseal and i think its great but its not cheap!

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dave