[bharris]

Anyone have any experience with using tire sealants? I ask because I laid my '03 Ultra Classic down in late Oct. due to a puncture that caused a rapid deflation of my rear tire at about 75mph. Almost had the bike stopped but the bike low sided on the right, tire came off rim and slammed it on the left. Bike got only cosmetic damage but it scratched up a lot of parts, I got minor rash from a very short slide but suffered broken collar bone due to being thrown off bike. Only issue I'm concerned about is possibly it causing an out of balance of the tire at higher speeds. I know if my tire hadn't lost air so quickly I could have gotten it stopped without laying it down so I'm thinking a sealer of some sort might help a situation such as I experienced. Any comments or advice is appreciated.

*note* Bike is almost back together, waiting for my new V&H Pro Pipe II and Power Commander from Direct Parts to come in! Anyone in need of some lightly scratched parts for a similar bike, email me and I may can fix you up!

[fatboyvtwin]

In July while riding with a friend who has a bullet bike, he came out of the house and found that his rear tire was flat. Upon further investigation we found a nail that was located about 3 inches from the rim. We first pulled the nail out, ran a small round file in and out of the punture sight and then put a plug in the nail hole. Lastly, we used a can of Fix-a-flat and followed the directions specified on the can. My friend ran on the tire all weekend and in fact he ran the tire for another 2,000 miles. I myself would not have done this, I would only use Fix-a flat only in an emergency, (and only to get me to the nearest tire shop). The reason being is lets say that you get a nail in your tire, you pull out the nail and use the can of fix a flat. Now if you have a tubed tire, wherever the hole is, the "slime" will go to the hole in the tube and exit into the tire and rim itself. Fix-a-flat and all the other tire fixers will not be layered evenly thru out the whole tire, making the tire run off balance, which in return may give you a wobble at high speeds which is dangerous, or over time wear out the rear bearings in the rim. The sudden loss of air pressure would not have been stopped by pre-adding the Fix-a-flat because the "slime" would already be hardened. Whenever I take trips I bring Fix-a-flat because I know in an emergency it works. Ride Safe, David.

[bharris]

Thanks for the input Dave. My situation and I guess I didn't mention was using it in a tubeless tire. I agree about the 'Fix-a-flat' stuff but the brand "Tire Slime" or just "Slime" doesn't harden, it stays liquid.

Got my bike back yesterday and rode for the first time since the wreck....sure felt good!

Thanks!

[Ross]

I slimed a tire in Sturgis a few years ago and it did not get me home. 950 miles. I made it one full day of careful driving.