Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

[Danny D.]

clare wrote, on Wed, 09 Dec 2015 17:58:18 -0500:

It didn't come from Bayerische. It came from BSA. Did you read the reference?

[Danny D.]

clare wrote, on Wed, 09 Dec 2015 18:14:41 -0500:

It turns out that the minimum you need to fix your own holed tire is the patchplug and something to scrape and stitch the inner liner rubber away (plus lineslman's pliers which everyone has).

1. Patchplug
2. Scraper/stitcher

1. The vulcanizing cement is very easy to come by.

The two sort-of-nice-to-have things are harder to come by though:

1. The smooth flute-sided carbide reamer, and,
2. The inner liner sealer

So, I'm looking for a local source for both of those (#4 & #5). If you have a good idea where to get them, let me know.

[Danny D.]

Ashton Crusher wrote, on Wed, 09 Dec 2015 15:27:41 -0700:

Certainly millions of tires have been plugged from the outside. I even saw plenty of videos on how to repair slashed sidewalls.

But, still, this is a repair and tech group.

We can fix things any way we want; but we should, at the very least,

*know* how to do it right.

[Danny D.]

AMuzi wrote, on Wed, 09 Dec 2015 13:11:23 -0600:

Interesting. Thank you for that reference. That site has a lot of details for each fluid.

They have vulcanizing fluids and cements for example:

However, the vulcanizing cement is easy to come by; but the black goopy final inner liner sealer (tar?) is the hardest to find on the street.

I think this is that sealer (Butyl Liner Repair Sealer):

It's made by Tech International, 200 E. Coshocton St., Johnstown, Ohio 43031,

740-967-9015, and also listed by Chemtrec 1-800-424-9300. So I will call them tomorrow to ask where I can get small quantities and what is a suitable substitute.

The ingredients on the MSDS don't tell me much: 50 to 100% solvent naphtha (petroleum blend), light

Does anyone on this newsgroup know of any commonly available substitute for this black goopy inner liner sealer?

[clare]

You sure got one thing right. Most bimmer owners WILL be saying "My bimmer has been costing me a lot lately".

[clare]

I saw it later. News Servers are notorious for latency.

[clare]

I always bought mine from the "wagon jobber" who came to my place of business every couple weeks to make sure I had enough valve stems, patches, cement, balance weights, and other tire supplies. Most of my working life that was REMA TIP TOP, and at one location it was Tech Tire.

I always used the cement fast enough that it sisn't go bad in the can

- I'd never use it fast enough now to keep it fresh enough to be sure it would always do the job properly..

For tubes I generally had "monkey grips" in stock and the clamp required to use them. If they sit around too long they don't light and burn properly so they don't vulcanize properly. That's the only way to replace a bad valve stem too. (you don't throw away a tractor tire tube just because the valve stem lets go, and you can't use a bolt in stem without a vulcanized "hard spot".

[Danny D.]

clare wrote, on Wed, 09 Dec 2015 23:05:11 -0500:

Yeah, I read my mail from top to bottom, threaded and subthreaded, so I sometimes respond to mail that came later but to an earlier subthread.

People accuse me of not reading all the posts, but, I do, but it just takes time to get to each one of them to respond.

In short, for those who didn't read the history, it goes something like this...

1. In the UK, BSA racers were known as beesers.
2. Then came along BMW, so, they called them beemers.
3. Then the cars started being sold in the USA, so they called 'em bimmers.

[Danny D.]

clare wrote, on Wed, 09 Dec 2015 23:04:08 -0500:

Actually, "my" bimmer is more than a dozen years old, so, I found it funny that people consider bimmer owners haughty.

And, someone disparaged the beemer owners, but, as a group, they're usually engineers who ride in all kinds of weather wearing Aerostitch outfits where, when they go into a place to have lunch, they unzip completely out of their outfit and, leaving their helmet and gloves on the bike, actually, save for the boots, look pretty normal.

Watch how *different* a pack of Riceburners look, what with all that colorful leather; or, heaven forbid, a gang of Harley riders when they go into the bar, practically tattooed on the forehead with the moniker of a bike manufacturer.

Three different worlds on two wheels.

[Danny D.]

clare wrote, on Wed, 09 Dec 2015 23:12:31 -0500:

Did you use all three fluids? They seem all to be very different.

1. The first fluid seems to be a strong solvent, which seems to *melt* the rubber a bit, so that the half-moon scraper can scrape away the surface.
2. The second fluid is the vulcanizing cement. I always thought that vulcanizing required *heat*; but apparently not.
3. The third fluid is the last thing you apply, which, I believe is critical, which is the *sealer* to prevent moisture and air from seeping into the belts.

The first fluid, if I only knew what it was made out of, seems to be an easy fluid to substitute using some strong solvent in the hardware store.

That last fluid, which I think is the most critical, seems to be some sort of "rubberized tar", which, to me, seems the most critical of all the fluids, because you want to seal up all the damage you did with all that scraping away of the inner liner skin.

[AMuzi]

The first is a cleaner (used to be MEK). You can't get a decent bond until you remove ALL the dirt, wax, oil, crud etc from the surface. Contamination spoils more patches than any other fault.

[rbowman]

I look the same whether I'm riding one of my Suzukis or the Harley with one exception. The Harley has a handy sissy bar to hang the helmet on where with the Jap bikes i wear it.

I do not have any HD apparel; I just have the HD.

If I had a BMW, it would be the same. The closest I've gotten to Aerostich is reading the catalog. I could replace my entire wardrobe for the price of one of their Power Ranger suits.

[Danny D.]

rbowman wrote, on Thu, 10 Dec 2015 08:21:48 -0700:

I agree the Aerostich suits are expensive, but their quality is phenomenal and their customer service fantastic. They even let you ride for a month to test out their suits (ask me how I know) for size and fit (which is especially useful for big fat guys).

Also, they unzip beautifully so once you figure out how to get "in" to them, they come off easily. Which was my point.

Most Harley riders do two things differently than other bikers:

1. They wear less-protective gear (as a statement?), and,
2. They wear HD-branded gear (as another statement?).

Most riceburners do two things differently than other bikers: A. They wear colorful leathers, and, B. They carry their helmets with them whenever they go into a joint

Most beemer riders do two things differently than other bikers: a. They unzip their Aerostich such that they look normal in a joint b. They brave weather and carry lots of stuff in those ugly saddlebags

Of course, these are generalizations borne out of experience, but, you know what I'm talking about.

[Danny D.]

AMuzi wrote, on Thu, 10 Dec 2015 07:51:35 -0600:

Ah, MEK, Methyl-Ethyl Ketones.

This is a great help because that first stripper being MEK makes it 2 out of the 3 tire repair fluids that are easy to come by!

Googling the hardware stores, it looks like MEK is sold as a common paint thinner.

1. HOME DEPOT: Klean-Strip, 32 oz. Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) Solvent Model # QME71, Internet # 100210976, Store SKU # 834408

1. LOWES: Jasco Gallon Size Can Fast to Dissolve Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) (128-fl oz) Item #: 622034, Model #: GJME180

1. LOWES: Crown 1-Gallon Fast to Dissolve Methyl Ethyl Ketone Item #: 206493, Model #: CR.MK.M.41

1. MENARDS: Sunnyside Methyl Ethyl Ketone - 1 qt Model Number: 84732, Menards SKU: 5613803

Am I correct that MEK is our basic paint thinner at any box shop?

[Scott Dorsey]

Most Moto-Guzzi riders do two things differently than other bikers: a. They carry a complete tool kit b. They spend most of their time on the shoulder trying to fix the damn thing.

--scott

[Danny D.]

Scott Dorsey wrote, on Thu, 10 Dec 2015 11:11:40 -0500:

:)

[AMuzi]

Don't overthink this. Find a Tech service truck or similar vendor who does this all day long and get your materials and advice from an expert.

[Danny D.]

AMuzi wrote, on Thu, 10 Dec 2015 10:17:26 -0600:

You have no idea where I live. Nor that I'm retired, so, I never go into town.

I'm in the mountains. We don't even have cable. We don't have sewage pipes. We don't have gas pipes. We all have wells.

There is zero chance I'm gonna run into a 'tech service truck'.

I have to go into town, explicitly, and then *look* for my solvents.

So far, there are three that are useful for tire puncture repair:

1. The stripper (which, if it's MEK, is easy to come by!)
2. The cement (which is very easy to come by)
3. The sealer (which is a tar-like substance of some sort)

Does anyone know what might be a good source of the tarlike substance at the box stores that is similar to the butyl rubber tire sealant they use to seal the inside of the tire after we've buffed it all up during the patching process?

I'll head off to Home Depot today to see if I can find a tar-like chemical that works with butyl rubber - but - as you know - those orange-aproned people, while very nice, won't be able to advise me.

[Danny D.]

Vic Smith wrote, on Wed, 09 Dec 2015 03:47:08 -0600:

Most of the tire repair videos do *not* use the dimpled scraper that most of us use to repair a tire.

They pour what turns out to be MEK onto the inner liner, which, presumably, dissolves some of the inner liner, and then they scrape with this tool:

After they scrape, they do "grind" the scraped area also.

They seem to prefer very low speeds when grinding, like 500rpm and never more than 5,000 RPM.

Is that for heat reasons?

[Danny D.]

Danny D. wrote, on Thu, 10 Dec 2015 00:30:03 +0000:

This seems to be the inner liner sealer goopy tar. But I don't know if there is a box store equivalent.

$1 per ounce:

$2 per ounce:

I still haven't been able to figure out what this stuff is made up of, and where I can get it at reasonable prices in small quantities at the box stores.