I’m beginning the process of selling my motorcycle. I was washing it and taking pictures to post online, when I noticed what I thought was a rock embedded in the tread of the rear tire. It turned out not to be a rock, but a screw, about an inch long. I pulled it out…(possibly a mistake)…no air escaped, apparently.
The tire already has a limited life expectancy; maybe another 1000 miles.
When I get a customer (and I’ve got a nibble on the line), should I:
(a) say nothing. Caveat emptor.
(b) Say (as I had already planned to do) that the tire should be replaced very soon.
If it is a tubeless tire, those gummy worm repair kits are an excellent fix. If done correctly they will last for the life of the tire. If you do nothing, most likely the tire will have a leak. Tire life is easy to diagnose. I am sure the buyer will realize that buying tires in the future will be a necessity.
I’d have an ethical problem selling a vehicle with an obvious safety concern.
Would you ride on a tire that had a known hole in it, even if it appeared to be holding air while parked? I sure as hell wouldn’t. And I could not, in good conscience, sell a vehicle in that condition without full disclosure.
Viable (if I were you) options:
A) full disclosure of the fact that the tire has a known hole in it and may or may not hold air while riding.
B) plug the tire, and full disclosure (some riders refuse to ride on plugged tires except to get to the nearest tire shop).
C) remove the tire and patch it on the inside. Disclosure not particularly necessary (patches are very reliable).
D) replace the tire with new, raise your selling price a little.
No matter what, you should write up (and have the buyer sign) a bill of sale that includes the fact that the vehicle is being sold “as is” with no warranty expressed or implied.
A nail or screw that’s stuck in the tread patch (as opposed to the sidewall) and comes out without causing a leak didn’t actually puncture the tire and is nothing to worry about. Not really that much worse than if it had been a rock in the tread.
Actually those are a terrible idea and reputable shops won’t use them, and if you have a tire that was repaired that way and still leaks (not uncommon) they will direct you to replace the tire.
These are the recommendations of the RMA.
Yeah, a blowout on a motorcycle at highway speeds is a fuckin’ hoot.
Really, jsc1953, don’t even sell the bike with that tire. Replace it and add the cost to the bike. As a buyer I’d be more than willing to pay more for the thing if I had even a symbolic gesture the previous owner kept it in safe operating condition.
True, possibly. But it was “about an inch long” and could have caused a slow leak or a structural weakness that will more readily manifest at faster rotations.
Yeah, if it was a car, I could call this a gray area, but a blowout on a motorcycle can easily be fatal. No wiggle room. Let the buyer know exactly what they are buying or replace it yourself.
Theres nothing wrong with getting a tire patched. Service stations seem to have disappeared. So take it to any tire center. Watch them and make sure the tire comes off, gets a vulcanized patch, and reinstalled. That way you know they didn’t plug it.
Tire is good as new. Sell the motorcycle with a clean conscience.
In that case, there’s no reason not to tell a potential buyer.
But I also don’t think that’s really true. A foreign object that pierces the tread could weaken the tire in a way that would make it more likely to blow out without causing a leak.
The thing is that small objects poke into the tread rubber all the time, they just usually don’t get stuck. The treadblock itself might be weakened to some infinitesimal degree, but if the object didn’t actually penetrate into the inside of the tire, no structural damage has been done.
To be on the safe side, the OP could take it to a tire shop and have them unmount the tire and look on the inside to see if the screw did actually penetrate, but if it’s not leaking at all it probably didn’t.
Not sure which RMA you reference, but I was under the impression that most shops no longer plug tires due to insurance company requirements. I have plugged tires on my automobiles for 30+ years and every one has lasted for the life of the tire. My dad, a professional mechanic who taught me how, did it for 20+ years prior. Now, I have had to redo a leaky plug on on a car I purchased, but it then lasted the life of the tire. Done correctly plugs work fine for small repairs like nail or screw holes (the only type they are meant to fix).
Of course, I don’t have the liability exposure of an auto repair or tire shop. A blow out of a tire with a plug could result on a lawsuit, whether the plug was at fault or not. That I understand.
And if you were talking specifically about motorcycle tires, ignore the above. Risk is greatly magnified in the case of motorcycle tire failure. No sense in taking any chances.
OP claims the screw was “about an inch long”. This is more than long enough to pierce completely through the tire. If the screw really was that long, then the tire most definitely is punctured.
OP, ask yourself this: would you be willing to ride at 75+ MPH on this (unpatched/unplugged) tire for an hour or two?
RMA = Rubber Manufactures Association.
The liability exposure is huge. There was a case a few years back where a Ford dealer improperly repaired a tire. Two years later the tire failed. There was an eight million dollar judgement in that case.
I have never liked plugs and that would go double on a motorcycle.