Tire Repairs!!
for your BMW Airhead Motorcycle...and useful on other makes too!
Includes some information on modifications.
© Copyright, 2012, R. Fleischer

Article # 54....section12
TireRepair.htm

The items shown in this article are things that some folks carry along with them on their rides; or, use at home.  NOT shown are items specifically for tubeless tire repairs (I DO discuss tubeless repairs), nor many of the other available types of tire tools and accessories.  This article is to give you ideas, and to make you think.

I will provide hints throughout this article, and MORE hints near the end of this article... to make tire changes or flat repairs easier for you.

Many BMW airhead motorcycle riders have never repaired a flat tire, nor have they ever changed a tire.  Many have never seriously considered the consequences of having a flat while on the road; especially if out of cell-phone coverage.    Many Airheads DO THEIR OWN tire repairs, changes, balancing, and wheel bearing service.  A LOT of $$ can be saved by doing your own servicing.   Knowing it was done correctly is a big added plus.

In the middle area of the photo below is my own modified C-clamp tire bead-breaker, note the welded-on shaped plates on the jaws.   The welded-on plates are shaped on one edge of each to match the round portion of the wheel rim, so as to have good contact with the tire bead at the rim area.  This particular C-clamp has been lightened a bit by drilling holes in it.   This type of modified C-clamp could be taken along with you on your rides.  Those with TUBELESS tires NOT containing tubes normally do NOT take any type of bead-breaker on rides....but you may want to take along some sort of strap or rope that fits around the circumference of the tire, in case of bead seating problems.

The lower right area hass a weighty and heavy duty tire bead breaker. You'd likely NOT take this one on the bike due to its weight, but it is OK for the home shop.  Just in front of it is a modified wrench to operate the nut of this bead-breaker, although any common open-end wrench would do.   There are many versions of bead-breakers for motorcyclists; the one shown here weighs a LOT.   There are some plastic types that are much lighter, and rather clever.   

NOTE that some folks use one side of the center-stand to break the bead area, but I have never liked that method.  If it works for YOU, then you need NO tire bead breaker.  Please keep in mind that putting pressure on a brake disc and disc carrier is a VERY BAD thing to do, you could warp the disc carrier permanently. 

 The Fix-A-Flat (or similar brand)  is NOT overly practical, and perhaps should not NORMALLY be used.  These SELDOM work on tube tires, but may work on tubeLESS tires.    Fix-A-Flat and similar stuff makes a mess inside the tube/tire/wheel, OFTEN does NOT work (particularly tubed tires), often prevents a patch from sticking if you are forced to try that later.....and if the stuff does work, it often fails shortly thereafter; and one should NEVER let a dealership repair your tire later on without first telling them that you installed that stuff. You will NOT like using solvents and rags to clean out your wheel.  Most dealerships will NOT be happy finding out that your tire/tube/wheel has that messy stuff in it.

At the lower front is a common patch kit for a TUBE-type tire.  The patch kit contains patches AND A SMALL TUBE OF GLUE.  BE SURE you check your glue tube now and then....even if has never been punctured for use, they have been known to dry out.  Some folks replace those tubes yearly.  Others, LIKE ME, purchase a larger container, usually a small metal can with a brush inside the screw top, and check it every year. 

I have not shown a kit for tube-LESS tires....see information later in this article.   

At the top middle area is a package containing a new spare inner-tube.  For most bikes with not hugely different front-rear sized tires you can use a front or rear tube at front or rear in an emergency.   It is usually OK to carry just a spare rear tube, rather than a front tube or both.   Also in this area is an old pill bottle that contains real tire talc (which contains no oils); needed for tube type repairs.  To its right is a plastic squeeze bottle with flip lid; one can use any sort of these flip lid plastic bottles, such as from hair styling products, and this particular bottle is partially filled with  REAL tire lubricant liquid, made from properly water-thinned concentrate. Some use thinned soap, I vastly prefer REAL tire lubricant, which actually is 'flaxsoap', which is not a soap as you would normally think of soap.    Autoparts stores carry real tire lubricant in tubs (thin per the tub info) ...one tube will last several lifetimes for you and several friends; so share your big tub with your buddies.   

Note the electric air pump with hose and electrical cord (I removed and tossed the original large plastic case before taking this photo).  These are available very cheaply, often much less than $20, from such as Wal-Mart, etc.  The large outer plastic case is removed, and the small fan removed by cutting the shaft with a Dremel or similar tool, and either alligator clips as shown or perhaps a BMW accessory plug attached at the other end.  The current drain from the battery is fairly low for this item.  Some of these pumps have air pressure gauges which can be utilized, or not.    These electric pumps are now available in a SMALL package; previously they were not....so see further down this article. 

The engine-driven type of pump is at the lower left in the above photo;...these come in kits with various sizes of spark plug hole adapters.  Only the 14 mm spark plug adapter is shown in the photo.  NOTICE above it are two coiled-up Sash Rod springs, available from any hardware store.  Those two springs, when you need to use them, are wrapped around the engine cylinder and spark plug metal body, so that the removed spark plug, with its electrical cap attached! can be held to the cylinder fins, to avoid injuring the ignition system during the one-cylinder operation of the Airhead engine.

This next photo is another type of bead-breaker....very practical for the home user, and can easily be modified to work well with motorcycle-size wheels by removing the small vertical tab; and, perhaps extending its tail a bit, and using it with two pieces of 2 x 4 allows it to be used with single or dual disc wheels, without putting pressure onto the discs.   This type of bead-breaker....shown here in its automobile usage style, UNmodified;....is very practical for home use, and not very expensive, and often available from such as JC Whitney; or other stores.  There are motorcycle specific versions of these type of tools.

***There is a bead-breaker combined with tire irons, a clever, if complicated looking unit, that is called the TireIron BeadBrakR, sold by  www.bestrestproducts.com
I have not tried this unit myself, but have heard favorable reports from those that have purchased and use this item.  It completely folds-up and is a small package, totally carryable on your bike.

A small compressor, basically a small plastic cased version of the one in the first photo at the top of this page.  This one, in its blue package (the carton it came in is in the photo), comes with a standard American cigarette lighter plug, which I changed to alligator clips.  It was $9.99 at Wal-Mart.  It is a terrific bargain.  Those willing to have an electric compressor 'package' slightly larger than the stripped one in the first photo on this page, may well want to consider this one.  I carry the one at the top of this page as it is smaller.

I do NOT recommend CO2 cartridges for repairs, best is a cylinder pump or an electric pump as shown above. It can take way too many of the small CO2 cartridges to fill a tire adequately, typically even a handful will only fill the tire partially. Even the larger CO2 cartridges are not adequate many times. Also, if you have to refill the tire if the repair worked only partially, you'll likely have no more cartridges.  More a few paragraphs below!

 For TUBELESS TIRES (no tubes inside) repairs when on the road, you should carry on the bike some sort of tire plugging devices and tools for them.  One common brand is Stop&Go, either the standard model 1075 gun type, or the compact hand unit model 1000.    NOTE that the Stop & Go tire plugs are also useable for steel belted tires, but with steel belted tires the injury hole MUST be reamed really well, with the tool included, before installing the plug.  Failure to do that will likely result in the plug being sheared and permitting a leak very soon.   In general, I recommend the StopnGo smaller plugger kit, and ALSO recommend you carry sticky-strings and cement.  BOTH!

NOTE that plugs, installed from the outside, are a temporary repair for tubeless tires.  You are not supposed to travel far and fast using an externally plugged tubeless tire.  Many have done it, but I do not think it advisable and I DO NOT recommend it.  Many who have bikes with tubeless tires will carry a tube, for emergency repairs, not trusting external plugs.   Many have temporarily repaired tubeless tires with the 'string' or other type of external plug.  Many have gotten away with this for the life of the tire.  My suggestion is that you do NOT do this, but have your road-side temporary plug repair properly fixed at the next available dealership.....or, do it at home. So, what I am saying is that tubeless tires should eventually be properly repaired with an inside patch-plug. 

I personally have had a VERY bad tire puncture, not a round hole either, and had to use BOTH sticky strings AND mushroom plugs.

WHY do I not recommend CO2 cartridges? (and, some hints when NOT using cartridges)

I do not use CO2 cartridges.  Besides their cost, and bulk, they will not really do the job much of the time.  I prefer the tiny electric compressors shown above, even though they have lower instantaneous air available.  CO2 cartridges ARE  "somewhat" adequate to inflate a TUBED tire after a flat repair or a new tube is installed on the road someplace.  It takes WAY too many of of them to actually inflate to the proper pressure....a nasty little drawback, hardly ever mentioned.  They are adequate for tubeless tires, BUT ONLY IF THE TUBELESS TIRE IS INTACT AND SEALED TO THE RIM, ALL AROUND, OR CAN BE MADE TO BE SO.  They STILL will NOT inflate the tire more than enough to travel at low speeds to a place you can do a proper inflation.
 
It is NOT unusual for a tubeLESS tire to move to inside the rim when it goes totally flat.    When that happens, you MUST find a way to bring the tire sidewall fully in contact with the inside of the rim, in order to inflate the tire.  One has a lot of leeway on this in a SHOP situation, because in a shop you have the ability to remove the valve CORE, and use a tire chuck on your compressor with the tire chuck center removed, and have strap tools.    That  type of modified tire chuck gives a LARGE flow of air, just what is needed in marginal situations for trying to seat the tire sidewall to the rim.   That is NOT available in the field.  BTW...that is one of the SECRETS to getting ANY (tube or tubeless) tire to fully seal around the rim....when a tire, even properly lubed,  is being 'difficult'.
 
For some years now, various types of the Chinese-made small electric piston compressors that are shown in this article have been available, at less than $20, some at $10-$12, from many sources, such as Wal-Mart.  Some are in very small packages, some need to have all the plastic crap removed, and proper wires and clips installed.  There is NO problem in running one of these compressors on a bike battery for even three tire inflations to proper pressure....and still be able to start the bike.  These are MUCH better, in MY opinion, than CO2 cartridges (which are good for spritzing selzer bottles, if these are still in use anyplace??).   Motorcycle batteries are capable of running these small electric compressors to fill quite a few tires....and still start the engine.
 
For those with tubeless tires, I recommend your favorite patch or string or whatever style of repair kit you wish to use (with fresh rubber cement!).   I recommend you carry BOTH sticky-strings and some sort of mushroom plugs, and for these tubeless tires, do have a piece of rope or long strap that goes around the outside circumference of the tire, which you can use with one of the tool-kit items like a tourniquet, in case your tire no longer is sealed to the rim.  I also suggest a good tire lubricant (the REAL stuff).
 
Tire plugs of the Stop-'n''go type are useful, but if you have steel belted tires, be SURE to ream the tires quite well, and be prepared to re-inflate if the plug fails.

MORE HINTS!
 

(1) ***If your fuel tank is approximately half full (or more), I "suggest" you REMOVE the fuel tank before doing this.
One very popular method of repairing the rear tire on ALL twin-shock airheads (some do it for Mono and Paralever bikes too) is put the bike on the center-stand and then to SECURELY!!! tie the center stand to the front exhaust crossover pipe.   Remove the front wheel, tilt the bike forward onto the fork lowers, onto something like your gloves, etc., to protect the fork bottoms.  Be sure to bungee any disc brake calipers so their hoses DO NOT have sharp bends, especially at the fittings ends. 

NEVER EVER hang a caliper by its hose!!  Failure to heed this warning can cause you to kink the INternal tiny diameter plastic tube in that relatively large rubber hose (stainless steel braid covered or not!).  A kinked internal tube will likely eventually cause you a lot of grief.
 

Here is a second method of strapping the center-stand ...here it is to the front forks.
photos courtesy of Dann Rudd (which I heavily cropped)
      

(2) How EXACTLY to patch an inner tube!   If you do it my way, you will not likely have patch failures!  This works well with bicycle and motorcycle innertubes!


NO TUBE that has extremely long splits, tears, etc., should be patched, and usually the patch is not successful if huge, on a motorcycle-sized (or bicycle-sized) tube.  Butyl AND natural rubber tubes, with punctures or small tears/slits, etc., are certainly patchable, contrary to some beliefs.

Most people fail to first roughen the tube and clean it properly. Most also slather on WAY too much tube glue (DO check now and then that YOUR tube of glue is in good condition!). They also fail to dry the applications of glue the correct amount of time. They additionally fail to allow a long-enough final cure.  All these things can lead to patching failures.
 
The best on-road fix, when you want to do it right, is to toss the old tube, and install a new one, and put another brand-new tube in your on-bike repair kit items soon after.

Second best is to install a new tube and repair the old tube when you have the time, perhaps at home.

Here is the full procedure, that you should try to follow when repairing an inner-tube.  Obviously you will have to do what you CAN, when in the field.
 
    a.  The puncture or tear needs to be cleaned up, sanded/abraded with a inner-tube metal abrader, and best to do it VERY thoroughly; don't use
         sandpaper, unless you have a way of solvent cleaning the area afterwards.   In my garage, I often use a final abrasion with a 320 grit paper.  
        Next clean the area with alcohol or other solvent (NOT gasoline from your bike's fuel tank).

    b. Using one of the repair kit patches, peel off the protective layer, KEEP FINGERS OFF THE ACTIVE SIDE, and using a CLEANED fingertip, spread
        the smallest amount, thinnest layer, of the cement goo on the tube, and the patch..... yes, BOTH of them.   BE SURE the patch is covered to its own
        edge. BE SURE the tube is properly prepared and you keep dirty fingers off of the repair area and patch active surface.

    c. Allow each application of the tube's goo, in tiny amounts remember!... to dry a bit...how long depends on humidity and temperature. At home,
        allow a number of minutes.

    d. Repeat the fingertip application of glue THREE TIMES. Use the TINIEST amount of goo!!!  On the last application (the third one), before it
         is totally dry, press/clamp the tube and patch together, and leave clamped for a day or so. If doing this in the field, try to clamp with some sort
        of flat wood or?, as flat as you can.......try to have the patch lay quite flat, particularly at its edges!.....and...allow as much time as your patience allows.

    e.  When installing the tube, using your hands with TIRE talc all over the tube, and inside the tire. I like to wait a bit after inflating, perhaps
         15 minutes or more, before riding taking off, on a patch job.

(3) If your tire is marked on either sidewall that it is to be installed in one direction, pay attention to that. On BMW twin-disc wheels, the carrier NUTS are normally on the LEFT; which, thusly, identifies the wheel direction of installation.  Whatever YOURS are, keep it that way, or you will need to re-break-in your disc brake pads.  Some wheels, some discs, are marked for direction.  Install one sidewall of the tire onto the CLEANED rim inside surface first, using tire spoons and REAL tire lubricant.
Note:  Sidecarists sometimes use rear tires at the front, and front tires at the rear.  Sidecarists may mount those tires with the arrows in opposite direction from the tire markings. Do NOT do this on a 2-wheel bike.  Sidecarists also do strange things, such as using rubber pieces under the rim where the valve stem sticks through, and rubber on the outside, then have the stem nut and cup washer against that.  The idea is that the tire, whether a tubeless type or not, will hold some air, for awhile at least, if the tire/tube is punctured.  Normally, the proper installation is no rubber things, and the nut that comes with tubes is threaded UP to the TOP of the valve stem, meeting the stem air cap.  The idea being that if a flat occurs, the tube (you DID install it with tire TALC all over it surface?) can move a slight amount, with tire movement on the rim... avoiding having the tube stem rip out, making for a very sudden flat.  BMW even had a bulletin about that....more on this below.

(4) Use TIRE talc on your hands to get the tube surface and inside tire surface slippery, before installing a tube.  Install the nut on the tube valve stem, finger-tight to the rim.  If the tube came with two nuts, discard one, but keep any cup washer onto the tube....I like it INSIDE the tire, if it fits the stem properly.   Feeding the tube stem into the rim hole after the tube is otherwise fully inserted into the tire may be fun for some folks....some even use forceps gripped onto the stem threads. There is actually a thin braided steel flex cable tool for doing this job, that screws into the stem, after you remove the Shrader valve.   NOTE that on tube-type installations, the nut can be tossed after installation, or, moved up to the stem cap.  DO NOT leave this outer nut tightened to the rim!  The stem should be free to move about in the rim hole, stick straight out at 90°, and not on an angle, when you have the tire/tube/wheel properly assembled.  Line up the painted dot marking on the tire with the tire valve when installing the tire onto the rim, and certainly before spooning the second sidewall onto the rim....that's a good time for more tire lube...note that tire lube is used on the bead seating area of rim/tire...and, on the EDGE of the tire bead area.

(5) Many modern motorcycle tires have VERY stiff sidewalls and are NOT very easy to put onto a rim.  Whether you have a tube inside them (MOST 'tubeless' marked tires CAN have a tube installed) or not, you MIGHT have a problem getting the tire bead to seat all around on both sides.  Copious quantities of tire lubricant may help. Often the tire beads snap into place over a few minutes.  A big help is to have the tire, wheel, tube, etc., all in the hot sun for quite some time, before and during ANY tire work.

 Occasionally there are problems even with repeated inflation, deflation, inflation, a pesky lubricated bead may not seat.  While it is true that....in VERY rare instances...a tire is faultily made...or a rim unequal on each side (usually due to straightening of the rim at some time), those are VERY rare.
 To avoid problems, I recommend that you follow my suggestions FIRST:

    CLEAN the rim inside wall, so it is clean and very SMOOTH...this allows the tire bead to move on it easier.  Use a combination of liquid solvents first,
    finishing with  fine sandpaper, then clean off any sand from the sandpaper, etc.

    Do NOT leave the Schrader valve in the valve stem when trying to seat the beads from your compressor.  That valve, together with perhaps your air source being of too low a pressure, or maybe too small or no tank volume, too restrictive a hose (or chuck!!)....may not allow a fast-enough inflation.   FAST inflation is one of the super-secrets!!   Otherwise, the lubricated bead STARTS to seal in a pesky place, and then hangs-up.   Many have very considerably overinflated a tire (to dangerous pressures) and still not had the bead seat.  So, heed my hint:  remove the valve core and fashion a compressor hose end that will fill the tire FAST (with well-lubricated tire bead too, of course).  A TANK at the compressor with high pressure (at least 80 psi, but 125+ is nicer) is very helpful to supply the huge amount of air really needed; via a modified air chuck.  

    I can't give you a maximum pressure to seal beads; frankly I do not know what is truly safe for the wheels...let alone the tires. HOWEVER... I am aware that most motorcycle tires should never be inflated to more than 1.5 times the sidewall printed maximum; per the manufacturers.  That is for inflating during installation ONLY.  I would NOT want to inflate a tire so high that a rim exploded, let alone the tire be injured.  I never ever go over 65 psi, with 60 my usual limit.  I use a compressor that fills its tank to about 125 psi, and I use the no-valve-core method with a modified compressor hose chuck (I remove the chuck's valve stem tit and that leaves a larger air passageway), for a BIG inrush of air.  I remove the tires Schrader valve core.   I use a gauge in the hose fitments, to tell me the PSI that the tire is filled to.   Once the WELL-lubricated beads SNAP into place on both sides of the tire, I check that the RIDGE that is on the tire near the bead, is EQUAL all around, on BOTH sides of the tire.  IF NOT, I deflate, break the bead, lubricate, repeat the process.    If you do this procedure with a hot tire/wheel from being in sunlight; and a non-restricted hose chuck and compressor tank, and lots of REAL tire lubricant, and no valve core, you will almost always have 100% good results.

    I use REAL tire lubricant....which comes concentrated, and I thin it with water per the can.  If it dries out, add water from a hand-sprayer, or more tire lubricant.

(6) Modifying the rear fender, rear sides and rear bottom on some Airheads, can make for MUCH easier tire/wheel removals.  This is easy to do, can be done so no one notices, and can be very helpful. The rear fender, a composite material, is relatively easy to cut with a hacksaw blade in a single blade holder, and to smooth that cut edge with a common file.  Using a piece of chalk (or?), mark the fender from the side opening, downward/rearward, smoothly, to the bottom of the license plate.  Do on both sides of the fender. Cut and smooth.     When done, the fender will end at the lower edge of the license plate (approximately).  You can, not necessary, install a rubber mudguard, such as one from JC Whitney...or the ones I prefer, the BMW ones:
    Black:  46-62-1-230-766   or   46-62-1-238-996 
    White:  46-62-1-239-259 or -273.
    Check the dealerships' ETK's for number and fit/model....those numbers may be superseded or obsolete.  If you do this smoothly and neatly, it will never be noticed by anyone as not being stock. It makes removal of the rear tire easier on the twin shock machines...particularly if you have a 120 oversize tire.

This is a photo of my 1984 R100RT that has the modification, including a mudguard (neater ways of installing a mudguard can be done):