How do you repair a punctured motorcycle tire or inner tube on the road?

If a nail is handy for fixing Grandma's portrait on a wall, it's a lot less convenient stuck in your motorcycle tire. And yet, it can happen. How do you react? Accept your fate and put an end to that wonderful off-road outing with your mates? Hell, no. In this article, we give you all the tips you need to deal with a puncture, whether you're using a tubeless or an inner tube. Puncture spray, repair kit, patches, Bib-mousse, Tubliss, you name it!

The ideal solution for emergency repairs. How does it work? A pressure canister that injects a sealing agent into the tire. Equally effective on tubeless and inner-tube models, it can be easily stored in the top-case or under the saddle, and does not require the wheel to be dismounted. Fast, effective, inexpensive - could this be the panacea? Not really, no. The anti-puncture spray has a few shortcomings, such as being very temporary. It will get you to the nearest garage 20-30 km away, but no further. What's more, if the hole is too large, the sealant will seep through. Finally, a tubeless tire requires a minimum pressure for the sidewalls to seal. So, if your tire is no longer glued to the rim, the foam will evacuate, your fingers will be full of it and your tire will still be flat. To complete this A-rhyme, you can visit ....

What's the procedure?

Nothing could be simpler: remove the nail, shake the can vigorously, attach the nozzle to the valve and press until the tire is inflated. The important point? Drive quickly after injection, so that the product distributes itself evenly and hardens as it heats up.

----> IPONE SOS TYRE Puncture Repair 200 ml

These days, 90% of all tires are tubeless. And that's a good thing, because fixing a puncture is much easier when there's no tube! Practical and compact, the repair kit (also known as a peg kit) lets you deal with a puncture on your motorcycle tire in no time at all. So it's essential when you're traveling or off-road. But what does it actually consist of? Drill bits, a drill bit, a guide tool and glue.

How to repair a tubeless motorcycle tire?

Remove the foreign body, clean and enlarge the hole with the auger (aka reaming tool), coat the wick with glue, then insert it folded in half with the insertion tool, leaving a cm overhang, remove the insertion tool, then cut the excess wick flush with the tire. What about reinflating? We've written an article on the subject! Foot pump, CO2 cartridges, self-inflator, you name it! But by the way, the wick: temporary or long-term solution? Let's just say that for short trips at moderate speeds, it's not a problem. However, before considering a trip from Lille to Marseille on the freeway, it's a good idea to get an expert opinion from your mechanic.

As the icing on the cake, we offer you our top 3 repair kits:

----> Chaft tubeless repair kit

----> Tecnoglobe tubeless repair kit

----> Gryyp K004 repair kit for tubeless car/motorcycle tires (Cargol x4)

As I said earlier, if you're one of the 10% of bikers who ride with inner tubes, it's a different story. Why would that be? Because fixing a puncture means dismounting the wheel. Now, you've probably heard of reinforced or even super-reinforced inner tubes. Does this prevent punctures? No. With a thickness ranging from 2mm to 4mm, they're stronger and more watertight. This means the tire maintains correct pressure, even when overloaded, for example, in enduro or trail events. But that's not all! Whether it's 1mm, 3mm or 4mm thick, the rubber membrane won't resist a screw or a thick nail. So the risk of a puncture is reduced, but not eliminated.

How to repair a punctured motorcycle tire?

Once the rim is on the ground, inspect the tire from all angles to locate the foreign object(s). Remove them, then use tire levers to pull out one sidewall of the tire. You can now extract the inner tube. Okay, now what? You've got two options: fit a new one (obviously, you should have thought about taking a spare), or repair it. To plug the hole, there's nothing tricky: just apply a patch like on our good old bikes. In fact, the method is the same. How do you do it? Locate the hole, "rasp" the area to be repaired, apply glue, place the patch and press hard. And that's it! Now all you have to do is replace the tube and put the tire back on without pinching it. Otherwise, it's back to square one.

----> Repair kit for car/motorcycle tubes

Don't have the tools to fix your tire? Or worse, you've got it but can't get to grips with it? Rather than drive over the rim - which would severely damage it - put your ego aside and call in a pro. One call to your insurance company and you're all set. So, yes, your buddies will forever remember that ride that ended up on a tow truck, but that's the way it is. Sometimes you learn a lesson at the expense of your self-esteem ;)

Whether you've patched your inner tube or put a wick on your tubeless tire, there are a few precautions you need to take. First of all, be careful over the first few kilometers, as the tire's behavior may be slightly altered. Then check the pressure to make sure it's not leaking, and inspect the appearance of the tire regularly. And yeah, you don't want it to degrade abnormally.

What to watch out for? The CO2 in spare inflation cartridges passes easily through the tire. So, if you lose pressure, it's not necessarily due to your repair. Finally, we'd like to remind you that puncture-proof spray is only a temporary solution. It's like using chewing gum to plug a leaking gas tank. It's okay for a while.

Double-chamber mounting kit: tubliss

Double-chambered? Have we been drinking while writing this article? Not at all! We're actually talking about the Tubliss system. Now, before we explain how it works, we need to understand the problem: off-road, the lower the tire pressure, the better the grip. Except that if you deflate too much, the tire can't hold on to the rim any longer, so it spins and rips the valve off the inner tube. That's a puncture. The trick found by the Tubliss team? A first tube inflated to 7 bar - which holds the tire sidewalls firmly to the rim - wrapped in a second "low-pressure" tube. It's this second chamber that determines tire inflation and thus grip. The feat is to be able to ride at 0.7 or even 0 bar without any risk. The best thing about the Garonne? In the event of a puncture, this Tubliss device can be repaired like a Tubless with a wick repair kit.

Bib-mousse tire

The Bib-mousse appears to be the ultimate solution for enduro riding without punctures. But is the risk really zero? Yes, and with good reason: this chamber is made of foam. No air, no puncture. CQFD. On paper, it's a dream. In real life, however, this device has a few notorious drawbacks. Let's cut a long story short: it's a pain in the ass to install, the foam has a 6-month lifespan, it resists very poorly to heat and therefore to high speeds - so get off the freeway - and it's frightfully expensive. The risk of punctures is effectively nil, but we'll leave this technology to the hardcore enduro riders and Dakar drivers.

Now you know all there is to know about punctured tires on motorcycles. Now you can enjoy your off-road outing without the fear of a punctured tire. Do you have a specific question? Is there a particular topic you'd like us to cover? Send us an e-mail and we'll cover it on our Ixtem Moto blog.

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Photo credits: header image and last photo, Freepik