So i went out for a quick ride to the store about 4km from home.

On the way out of the parking lot on the way home I ran over a freaking nail and my rear tire immediately lost all air pressure. I limped home in 1st gear about 15mph for 4 km.

My question is:

If I remove the nail and install a new tube, am I ok to keep using that rear tire I limped home on? I have a DRZ400SM with a Avon Roadrider AM26 front and back (140/70-17). The tire looks fine from the outside. When it went flat I didn't touch the rear brake and accelerated very gently in 1st and stayed in 1st all the way home.

Should be fine i would think.

Did the same thing ago about two years ago with a relatively new tire.  Replaced the tube and the tire lasted until it was out of tread.

Put a patch over the hole in the tire. I had a similar thing happen to my tire and I would get flats randomly it seemed. I realized the third time that the hole in the tire was flexing and moving enough to sort of bite the tube and eventually wear a hole in it. Patched it up and ran the tire without anymore problems.

agreed.. if it was a small to average nail a new tube is the only fix you will ever need, until you catch another nail.... If it was nearing 1/4" in diameter I suppose you could have an issue in the future with a patched tube or maybe even with a new tube, but I'd be surprised..

I say you throw a new tube in there and ride the tire till it's bald.. Get a Heavy Duty tube rather than standard, just to be safe..

Patch the tube, don't stress over the tire.

The problem is ya rode the tire 3-4K flat on the road. I would never trust that tire on the road. The belts and/or plys could have internal damage that is invisible.

Oldhippie, on 15 March 2012 - 10:26 PM, said:

Done it several times.. Never a problem.

buddoggin, on 16 March 2012 - 04:42 AM, said:

I said "could". Ya pay your money and take your chances. Only takes once? My life is worth more than 80 or so bucks, even at my age.

Edited by Oldhippie, 16 March 2012 - 06:18 AM.

You should carry some large zip ties...when you get a flat just zip them up and ride on....could get you home or to a place to fix if not far.

Limped 15miles home on a flat rear trailwing. Did about 25-30mph on the asphalt the whole way. Installed a new tube and never had any issues with it til I sold it a year later.

Oldhippie, on 15 March 2012 - 10:26 PM, said:

x2
zip ties and such won't work too good on SM street tires. Also SM tires are much softer than S or E so I wouldn't take any chances if that would be me.

DRZ-Nut, on 16 March 2012 - 06:45 AM, said:

Zip ties? how does this work??? never heard that one

dr-zed440, on 16 March 2012 - 10:20 AM, said:

zip tie tire to the rim so it won't come off

The tire never came off of the rim. It barely even changed shape. I was Oh so gentle. I am going to patch the hole and toss in a tube and I think I will be ok. Just wanted to see if anyone else ever patched a hole and put in a new tube. I was actually pretty surprised because the bead didn't even break off of the rim.

If the bead didn't even break the tire could not have been flexing that much.  It is the sidewall flexing while rolling that can heat up and damage the sidewall.

If you want the 'safety first' answer that you can take to the bank scrap the tire.  Here in BC it is actually illegal for shops to repair tubeless bike tires.  Not sure with tube tires.  The concern of course is liability.  "what if" the patch failed and the tire deflated quickly.  Sigh.  "What if" an asteroid hits earth.

If you don't want to go to the bank to buy a new tire give it a good look over especially for damage to the threads at the puncture site.  Depending on the size of the nail hole you could also get the patches that have a plug attached that you pull through the hole.  These require reaming the hole to be large enough for the plug so if the hole is small it is kind of pointless but they do help protect from crap entering the hole.

I have never scrapped a tire because of a nail hole.  Tube or tubeless.  I have scrapped a few that had obvious damage to the sidewall from running low.

I was more nervous with a 20mm tire running 120psi failing at 80km/h going down a hill on my skinny tire road bike while dressed in nothing but spandex and a foam helmet than I ever have been about a motorcycle tire failing.

I'm with everyone who thinks it will be ok. I've done it and never had a problem. If The puncture is small and the tire isn't torn in any way, you will be fine.

Patch tube if hole is small.  Make sure hole in tire has no jagged edges coming through.  I would patch tire, but its not really needed.  When you pull the tire off, make sure there is no loose rubber in tire, if not ur good.  If the inside looks like it has coffee grounds in it then you are going to need a new tire.  Since it's a rear tire, I would worry even less.

So much for changing the tube, I couldn't even break the freaking bead using a giant crowbar. Amazing.

I guess I will have to ask a local shop to do it for me. Unless you guys have any tips. I tried pulling back the rubber as much as possible and spraying a shit load of Windex in there but no luck. I even tried taking an iron tire spoon and trying to hammer it between the bead and the rim..... no luck. I am definitely not worried about a small hole in the tire now haha, considering King Kong himself couldn't break this freaking bead.

One More question. Would you guys bother patching the hole in the tire or just leave it and would the tube put enough pressure on the hole to keep shit out? It was a thin nail and the hole is in the inner groove not on the rubber that contacts the pavement.

I would never again trust a tire run deflated for that distance.  It may suck, but peace of mind goes a long way when riding a bike, like these bikes like to be ridden.  If you have the money, buy a new tire and get on with it.