Plugging tires - why it is a bad idea

One of the things I see posted on just about every motorcycle forum is "I have a puncture in one of my tires. Is it safe to plug?"

The rubber liner is essentially a very thin high density rubber whose job is to hold the air inside the tire cavity. The rubber of the sidewall and tread area are composed of lower density rubber that is not designed to hold air but is far less permeable than the casing which is not designed to be exposed to air pressure.

The risk that one runs when using a plug is that the plug has not made a complete seal with the rubber liner. There is no way to verify this seal - just because the tire doesn't leak doesn't mean the rubber liner is sealed. If the rubber liner is not sealed and the leak is only contained by the external rubber, the casing will become pressurized. As the tire runs through its heat cycles the pressurized exterior rubber becomes soft and the casing delaminates from the exterior rubber. This is also known as tire separation an is a VERY bad thing! When you see the tread carcasses on the highway from big trucks - that is what happens to your bike tire. Not good.

Use a patch to get you to where ever you can get a replacement tire. Simple as that.