Sloooow Tire Leak

I've been having this problem for a couple of months now, and I cannot figure out what is going on. My back tire has a slow leak, about 10-15 lbs every other week, independent of mileage. It is so slow, that you can't see any air bubbles coming out of you submerge the tire. I've also checked the entirety of the tire surface and cannot find anything stuck in it or any cuts. I am thinking maybe a stem issue? Anyone had a similar problem?

Thanks,
Mel

 

Mmm I'm thinking here, did you let it sit for a few minutes under water? could take a bit for a bubble to form, that and did you take the cap of the valve stem? also could be on the back side and wouldn't be noticeable due to moving it. it's not going to show up as one that burbles to the surface, if it's real slow or you might use a wee bit of dish soap to that, sometimes it makes it show up better as some water has a different tension to it. just my two cents worth.

 

Could try a burnout test!

:biggrin:

 

could be that sneaky valve stem take it out clean it and put fix a flat or slim in it air it back up i know they both work if its that slow of a leak your problem is solved....next time u change your tire clean your rim. vfr world rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

recently had a flat repaired did install an automotive style plug my self and the guy gave me a long lecture of why i should never use one of those. on an MC they fix from inside with a plug with a very large head installed from the inside, the only legal plug apparently allowed. even at that i was told never to exceed 80miles per hr so i dont think you have a choice you need to take your tire to a MC shop and even if it needs just to be reseated on the rim you still have to get them to doit

 

Thanks guys, I try each of those suggestions this weekend and see if i can sleuth it out. It's really pissing me off because the tires are relatively new (<6k).

Mel

 

Mwohlgem,

Did you ever get your slow leak resolved? My 01 with fairly new tires also has a slow leak from the rear tire (couple lbs per day) . No obvious cuts/punctures so I am guessing rim or stem leakage.

I was thinking of having the local shop re-seat the tire and replace the stem and see how it goes...

 

I took it to the tire shop and they found a very smal sliver of metal in it. They pulled it out and plugged it up. Once I had done that, I started thinking maybe patching it up wasn't such a good idea, and I should have just bought a new tire. I started the following thread to ask:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/13754-fixing-flat-tire-risk.html

I've been riding on it with caution and checking the air often, and everything seems to be fine. If your tire has been leaking since they put it on, re-seating it might work; but if it just started leaking, you probably have something small in it like I did.

Hope this helps,
Mel

 

This may go against the masses but I've installed dozens of those "mushroom" shaped patches over the years when I was in that business. The 80 mph speech was another in the long list of liability cya speeches. I've put them in my own tires and rode like I would any other day on any other tire, and I would do it again. The patches we used to install came in two different sizes for small or large punctures. The first step after tire removal would be to ream the hole with a reamer that comes with the repair kit. The reamers match the patch sizes so the patch fits very snug. The way it's shaped I don't see how it could fail when installed correctly. Anyway, that's my 4 cents worth. If you have one of those patches installed from the inside of the tire, don't let it bother you. Tire companies always want you to buy more tires.