Am I just unlucky??

[Andrew-MP]

So there I am riding up to Liverpool for the Grand National today when the red warning light comes on with low pressure warning.  Another puncture in the rear in a PR3 that has only done 200 or so miles, and that was a replacement for the PR3 that had a puncture after 100 miles.

So the question has to be am I just unlucky or are these prone to punctures!!  It's getting expensive but they are such good tyres.

And none of my bets were on the winners.  Hopefully I will pick a winner tomorrow to recover the cost of the new tyre and fitting.

[100milesaway]

My only puncture in the last 10 years was last summer.                                 Yep you guessed it PR3         Didn't bother me too much, as I think that I am the only person on here  to   hate PR3s.   It is the only tyre I have ever used on a bike that  looked tortured and deformed, even though it had lots of tread left on it   

[patrick]

In 12 yrs of riding i've only had 2 punctures. Both were way back in the days of my 600 hornet and both times were discovered when I went to get the bike out of the garage.

So am I just lucky?

[O.C.]

I had a puncture on a ZX9R, after parking the bike in a "secure" yard in Portrush after the N.W 200 in 1996 (ish) turns out the secure parking doubled as a builders yard, and full of nails !!! good job the ferry had a foot pump available and we sailed into Heysham so the ride home, two up, fully loaded didn't take too long.
If memory serves me correctly the bike had Bridgestones fitted OEM 

[100milesaway]

Patrick, Is that the sound of escaping air I hear from under your garage door?  ssssssssssssssss

[Lonewolf]

One puncture in six years but then I am extremely careful with my tyres and always ensure that I ride at the correct pressure's which will minimise punctures.

[patrick]

Patrick, Is that the sound of escaping air I hear from under your garage door?  ssssssssssssssss

No.. the hissing coming under the door is actually the extension hose on my Aldi compressor that needs fitting properly and sealed with gas tape!!

No more messing with a 12 volt pump to get those last few psi in the tyres! 

Better not be a puncture as we're going to Matlock Bath for a cuppa tomorrow and im out with the NEG on Sunday.

[shaggs147]

Hi Andrew,
hope you get a few winners then mate! If you get stuck for anything then let me know as I'm up in Liverpool.
Cheers,
Mark

[Winston Smith]

Provided it isn't in the side wall get it fixed.  The PR3 is Kevlar belted and as such is repairable.

[KeVstrom]

I had a puncture in a PR3 on the Vstrom, luckily a tyre plugger kept me going. It was at the end of its life though and i did get nearly 7000 miles out of it. Ive been told the PR3s are a softer tyre, when off a rim, they dont even hold shape and they arent steel belted, wether that is a factor i dont know, but i do prefer them. After these BT23s i might get a set on the R.

[Andrew-MP]

Provided it isn't in the side wall get it fixed.  The PR3 is Kevlar belted and as such is repairable.

I thought the advice was to not run on repairs.  They are only a stop gap to getting somewhere to have the tyre replaced??

Must say that it is great to have the warning on the bike as the puncture was caused by a one inch spike that deflated the tyre within 400 metres.

Hi Andrew,
hope you get a few winners then mate! If you get stuck for anything then let me know as I'm up in Liverpool.
Cheers,
Mark

Thanks for the offer Mark, can you tell me who is going to win?

[Burchy]

I had 2 punctures in 400 yards on my old REX and The very nice AA man came out and plugged them both.  Told me that he has to tell me its a temporary repair, but went on to say that in the States the very same kit is considered safe and permanent by the authorities.

Did a couple of thousand miles on it at all speed here and abroad before it was knackered and it picked up a huge staple on the M1 and I finally had to replace it.

[Winston Smith]

 

Good thing about the non steel belted tyres (a la PR3) is that even if there is water ingress it won't rust/rot if there is an intrusion into the material.

Bike tyres are less susceptible to this, even with a repair, as they tend to be replaced more or less annually.

[Martin#30]

I have had two punctures on PR3s in 27k miles, plugged them both with a DIY eBay kit, and happily rode on them for 8k of those 27k miles.

I do think the PR3s are a little more puncture prone than others, but I also have absolutley no problem using the plug repairs.

My next set of tyres will be PR3s too, my fourth set, they are simply magnificent.

Martin.

[Bryn]

I've never had a problem with tyre plugs ... and I'll keep running the bike or car once plugged....


The DIY kits are good.. but if you have the opportunity to have the tyre taken off and plugged from the inside even better  ( Imagine a conical plug with the narrow bit pulled through from the inside... no chance whatsoever of it coming through