Slime and tyres
 

Can nay one please tell the story of that magic slime thing?
i heard a lot about it ,for a trip crossing Africa on xrv Africa twin ,sure not rally ride , just a mix of paved , dirt roads and some sand in (north of sudan for sure )
some people think its great , and others doesn't recommend it !!!
any help in that ??

Hey,
The magic slime thing, it is a goo that you stick in your tyres and if (when) you get a puncture it seals the hole. I am also riding an XRV, and use slime in my tyres. I have had some punctures with it and I can say without a doubt it slowed the deflation of the tyre, which could save you rapidly loosing pressure and thus control at the wrong time. It also allowed me to pump the tyre back up enough to "safely " get me and the bike to a place where i could deal with the flat with out getting run over. That alone makes it worth while to me. I dont know if it will stop you from going flat or anything else. all in all for the few £ per tyre it is worth it.

Down side. It can make patching a tube a bit more difficult. yes you can find the hole easier (look for the green stuff). But you do have to clean the tube very well or your patch will not stick.

if you are going to get some, and I think it's great for trail and enduro riding you can get Oxy tractor trye slime from agricultural suppliers such as SCATs.

Works out much cheaper.

38

xander
thanks a lot for that
cheers
wonder how to find it in Egypt though:confused1:

hey 38thfoot
think it will be long ride to go from Alexandria , Egypt all that way to just get the slime and go back to ride south from here
thanks man
cheers :scooter:

I agree with the above. It can work very well,

Tyre Balls
 

Here is another take on puncture proofing your tyres. It's called "Tire Balls" and I have not tried them, just read about them:-

"It works like this - balls (air-cells) replace the vulnerable inner tube or tube-less inflation system. The system is designed to retrofit to conventional tires and wheels and is lighter and more durable than foam inserts. In a motorcycle the best number of cells equates to somewhere between 28-36 Tire Ball cells with the effective tire pressure varied for the prevailing conditions by adding or removing Tire Ball cells or by adjusting the air pressure in the individual cells. Cell pressures can be adjusted from 10 - 12 psi for woods riding, 3-5 psi for Trials riding, and up to 16 psi for high-speed desert conditions and the good news is that as well as being lighter than most tubes, you can run much lower pressures for better traction, without worrying about flat tyres.

Each individual Tire Ball cell is made from materials that are claimed to be ten times more puncture resistant than conventional heavy-duty neoprene tubes. Punctures are still possible, but very rare. Instead of losing all the air in your tire, only one cell goes flat, allowing you to finish the ride without needing to lose countless places in a race, or spend 20 minutes fixing a flat in the middle of the woods when you’d rather be having fun."

Tireballs.com



It sounds like a load of balls to me and if anyone has tried them out perhaps you could share your experience of them.

I found out about Tire Balls 3 or 4 years ago.

I did a lot of research into Tire Balls last year, and although they seemed to be a good idea lots of people were complaining about loss of pressure / faulty valves. There was a known issue with the valves a couple of years back, but those balls should be out of circulation now.

Other than that, I know the UK Royal Engineers enduro team used them for a while, but binned them due to reliability issues. I went with Bib Mooses in the end, lot less to go wrong but like TBs, no good for high speed and not legal on UK roads.

RTS

SLIME Flat Tire Repair - Smart Solutions for Flat Tire Prevention: ATV, Bicycle, Motorcycle, Lawn Tractor - The leader in tire inflators & gauges or Ultraseal Tire Sealant

both products good. Ultraseal better.

check out the suppliers, maybe there is a supplier for US forces near you? If I were you I would find your nearest AS army or Airforce Base and go begging...............

I had ultraseal in my tubes for all of South America and never had 1 flat !!

I can't say its completely down the the Ultraseal but who knows !!

Slime hell
 

I had slime in my tubes once. It was put in by the previous owner and I had no idea it was in them. Ran over a nail, resulting in a flat tire. Maybe slime slowed the speed of the leak, but the tire still went flat. When I reached into the tire to pull out the tube and patch it I was greeted by a tube and inside of the tire covered with green sticky stuff. Dealing with that green s**t probably doubled the time it usually takes to fix a flat.
From my experience, I will never used that green menace again. Just learn how to patch a flat tire! From my experience, Slime can't defeat a good sized nail.

The limitation is size of hole and location. Any hole bigger than about 3mm and the stuff can't form a surface, so never sets, so the tyre goes down. A hole in the seam of a tube or wall of a tubeless tyre constantly flexes and again it can't form a seal. Then there is the nail still stuck in the tread making repeated holes, the goo eventually runs out or it finds a chink in the armour.

I used to work for a brake manufacturer that as a sideline got into this sort of stuff for trucks. We had to design a demo, so got an old truck tyre and started drilling. The "up to 5mm" claims are rather pushing things, for a reliable demo we went with a 3mm drill bit.

It works but has limitation. I'll use Ultraseal if I ever go back to European touring on a solo bike two up. I'll carry nothing but an RAC card and phone and if the sealant gets me to a nicer spot to wait for the recovery truck I'll be happy. Up some Northern trail with luggage capacity to carry the right kit I'd rather do a proper repair. You wouldn't catch me in the desert without two tubes for each wheel, a patch kit, levers and a 6-inch G-clamp.

Andy

well said, slime does have its limitations, Ultraseal better, instead of using ultraseal for Bikes, get the CAR pack and double the quantity, makes for a better chance of a seal.

I picked up 3 nails on a section of forest track with ultraseal and didnt know till i got home.