1000 mile old tire and slow puncture from underneath rim.

[Guest chrismacp]

Hi,

 

Pretty much know the answer I'm likely to get with this question but feel a little bit unsure of whether I have a case here.

 

My X has done about 1000 miles and I just discovered I have a slow puncture in the rear tire. I called out RAC to have a look and they discovered a tiny leak emanating out from behind the rim. Not sure how it's possible I could have done that and seems like a defective tire or assembly or something.

 

Does anyone have any idea if that's something I can try and claim on the warranty. I know it says tires are not included for obvious reasons, but I find this a bit of a joke. Surely being this new and it being a puncture behind the rim it must have pre-existed and therefore be a defective part.

 

Anyway, any advice either way would be great

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

[Rev Ken 6,331]

If the leak is between the tyre and rim, then taking the tyre off and reseating it - after examining the rim and tyre - will normally fix it. Your dealer may well do it free of charge as your bike is so low mileage. If you are saying there is a leak IN THE RIM, then that is a clear warranty claim!

[Derek_Mac 1,404]

 If it's behind the rim, I'd suspect that the tyre isn't seated properly.

Take the tyre off, clean the bead of the tyre and the rim and refit tyre. Re-inflate and see what happens.

  I suppose it could also be a fault with the rim.

[Guest chrismacp]

Thanks for the replies. I have a feeling that you may be right, it being the seating of the tire. Seems weird that it would be a puncture there. I wish I had the tools and knowledge to take the wheel off myself and check, but at present I don't unfortunately. So I'll have to get it to a garage. Will call up Honda tomorrow anyway and see what they say.

 

Thanks for the help

 

Chris

[Rocker66 34,423]

I'm sure that the guys are right and that refitting the tire should solve the problem. If you take it to the dealer from whom you bought it there's a good chance if he is interested in customer service he will do free of charge. In the unlikely event of it being a rim defect then it's definitely a warranty job.

I hope you get it sorted OK

BTW the reason that tires are not covered in the UK is because we use tyres Mind you they are not covered either

[Guest PCBlock]

I had exactly this problem last week on my rear after 1000 miles on my new X. I just had to break the bead on the side with the leak, and clean inside the rim, no need to completely remove the tyre. I did it myself and had no problems, but do have a compressor to re inflate/re seat the tyre. I would be surprised if your dealer would argue about doing it for you though, as Rocker says its in his interest to look after you.

[steelhorseuk 1,690]

I thought that Honda-care (2 year warranty) has AA recovery.

They recover the bike and deliver to your dealer if they cannot fix the problem including punctures.

 

Mark

[Guest chrismacp]

I had exactly this problem last week on my rear after 1000 miles on my new X. I just had to break the bead on the side with the leak, and clean inside the rim, no need to completely remove the tyre. I did it myself and had no problems, but do have a compressor to re inflate/re seat the tyre. I would be surprised if your dealer would argue about doing it for you though, as Rocker says its in his interest to look after you.

 

Hi,

 

That's really interesting, thanks for the info. I'll maybe attempt to do that myself then and learn a bit more while I'm at it, sounds like I should be able to do it.

 

Do you need a compressor, or will just a double barrel foot pump do the trick as well?

 

Could you describe 'breaking the bead' and what you used to clean the rim with at all?

 

If I can't sort it I'll maybe check Honda Care to see what they say.

 

Thanks again

[Guest PCBlock]

If you do decide to have a go yourself;

Remove the wheel! - Sequence is in the owners manual you should have got with the bike, bear in mind that the rear wheel axle nut torque is 72ft lb or thereabouts, so use of a socket/torque wrench is very useful, although in theory the tools in the bike's kit should be adequate.

Lay the wheel on flat blocks of wood to protect the disc, and using a bucket of soapy water find the air leak. A little patience and careful observation and it should be obvious, on mine it was in one site only and a steady stream of bubbles confirmed. Mark the leak site. Completely deflate the tyre and remove the valve core.

You have to break the tyre bead on the side you have the leak; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qaom3dHtVNU - it may look crude but unless you have access to a proper bead breaker this method is pretty much the only way in my experience. It takes a fair bit of pressure but if you use a smooth and fairly wide piece of wood (not metal or any sharp material!) to press down on the tyre wall you wont do any damage.

Push the tyre on that side down into the rim and feel round with your fingers at the site of the leak - my guess is that you will have some dried rubber stuck on the rim, (possibly Honda use some less than ideal solution to lubricate the tyre when fitting or maybe its the release agent from tyre manufacture), rather than any defect in the rim itself. I used a kitchen nylon scourer with soapy water to scrub this off and went all the way round just to be sure.

Re inflating the tyre with a decent foot pump should be fine, bear in mind you need to inflate until the tyre 'pops' out to seal evenly all the way round the bead and to do this you may need to inflate it above 42psi -  the compressor just makes that much quicker/easier.

Use your soapy water again to check you have no leaks before you re fit the wheel.

Take care with the rear brake pads when re fitting, they need to be carefully positioned back into the correct grooves in the caliper and can scratch the wheel if you are gunge ho and don't ensure they are correctly seated.

As you say I looked on it as a good chance to get myself familiar with rear wheel removal on the 700 - and being old school about these things prefer that experience to hanging around at the dealers anyway. Good luck.

[Rocker66 34,423]

Personally I enjoy hanging around the dealers as you can meet some really interesting people. For example yesterday I met the guy who now owns my old Crossrunner and had a really good chat. Another bonus is getting to enjoy Lucy's cooking

[Guest chrismacp]

If you do decide to have a go yourself;

Remove the wheel! - Sequence is in the owners manual you should have got with the bike, bear in mind that the rear wheel axle nut torque is 72ft lb or thereabouts, so use of a socket/torque wrench is very useful, although in theory the tools in the bike's kit should be adequate.

Lay the wheel on flat blocks of wood to protect the disc, and using a bucket of soapy water find the air leak. A little patience and careful observation and it should be obvious, on mine it was in one site only and a steady stream of bubbles confirmed. Mark the leak site. Completely deflate the tyre and remove the valve core.

You have to break the tyre bead on the side you have the leak; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qaom3dHtVNU - it may look crude but unless you have access to a proper bead breaker this method is pretty much the only way in my experience. It takes a fair bit of pressure but if you use a smooth and fairly wide piece of wood (not metal or any sharp material!) to press down on the tyre wall you wont do any damage.

Push the tyre on that side down into the rim and feel round with your fingers at the site of the leak - my guess is that you will have some dried rubber stuck on the rim, (possibly Honda use some less than ideal solution to lubricate the tyre when fitting or maybe its the release agent from tyre manufacture), rather than any defect in the rim itself. I used a kitchen nylon scourer with soapy water to scrub this off and went all the way round just to be sure.

Re inflating the tyre with a decent foot pump should be fine, bear in mind you need to inflate until the tyre 'pops' out to seal evenly all the way round the bead and to do this you may need to inflate it above 42psi -  the compressor just makes that much quicker/easier.

Use your soapy water again to check you have no leaks before you re fit the wheel.

Take care with the rear brake pads when re fitting, they need to be carefully positioned back into the correct grooves in the caliper and can scratch the wheel if you are gunge ho and don't ensure they are correctly seated.

As you say I looked on it as a good chance to get myself familiar with rear wheel removal on the 700 - and being old school about these things prefer that experience to hanging around at the dealers anyway. Good luck.

 

Nice one for the details, I thought I may have been able to do it with the wheel still on, so I think I misread your first post. I don't really have the tools for removing the wheel right now so going to take it to the dealer to get it sorted. Going to make sure I get some tools sorted though so I can do this in the future.

[Guest chrismacp]

Hi,

 

Just thought I'd update you all. I rang Honda care and they sent out the AA who arrived on a motorbike and obviously couldn't do anything for me. Not sure why they decided that was the best thing to do but anyway, he told me it should be fine to ride to the dealer as the tyre was holding air. So I decided to go try Dobles out having promised myself never to go back to Chiswick.

 

At Dobles this morning they re-seated the tyre and all is now good. They said they would try and claim it under warranty but not too worry if they couldn't. I did get them to fit a centre stand while I was there anyway so I guess they got a little cash from my visit at least. Must say the service was great though! Left there feeling very satisfied and will definitely go back there in the future. So at least I also got something from this tyre issue also I guess

[Crofty 119]

Hi

Another tyre not holding pressure. i have had my nc700x for a 2 months but only had it for a week before I had to go away for a month. on my return i rode the bike for a few days and checked the tyre pressure along with other things. 24psi so off to the garage and blew it up to the recommended 42. i have been touring the highlands and checked the press on Mon the 19th august back in the twenties,so pumped it up to 42 again and checked every day on my wee tour,losing about 10 psi a day so will contact the dealer about reseating the tyre as a possible fix

thanks chris and pcblock for posting.

[ted 5,734]

To owners with slow punctures. Were there any rusty coloured marks, stains, on the sidewalls of the tyre?

 

 

Like on this bike....

 

 

 

The reason being, it may well be brake dust in this example but I've seen similar when the soft rubber bead seal has been split, exposing the steel bead wire. This often happens if you have fitted the tyre using a damaged lip on the mounting head of the machine or by using rusty spoons!

 

The rust comes from the bead wire as it corrodes. You then get secondary galvanic corrosion if it contacts the alloy rim. Either way it's bad for an efficient seal.

 

I'd want to remove the tyre for an inspection.

[Crofty 119]

Thanks for the tip Ted,however nothing like this on my bike.  

Edited August 24, 2013 by Crofty

[Guest motorboy]

You know, I'm not sure how Honda mounts their tires and what they use for lube,but last week a friend bought a new CTX DCT and out the crate the tires were low so air was added and water came out of the bead all the way around the tire that was a new one for me so maybe the water or what ever it is was already there.

[Guest chrismacp]

Hi Ted, no rust colour around mine either.

[Guest Ixworth]

Wish my puncture problems were something I could blame on Honda.  I've picked up 3 punctures in 4 months of commuting into London from Suffolk.  2 small nails and a 2inch screw have managed to insert themselves into my rear tyre.  Getting to be a bit of a dear do this commuting.  Last puncture came only 3 weeks after I'd replaced the tyre following the previous 2.  I've had it repaired but I'm losing a little air now so it looks as if it's time for another replacement.

Edited September 2, 2013 by Ixworth

[Rev Ken 6,331]

The majority of punctures occur in the rear tyre, and it seems as if the front wheel picks up the weapon, making sure it is facing upwards for the rear wheel to run over. The answer is simple - realign your bike so that the wheels aren't in a straight line.....

 

Seriously I think it was Avon that gave a guarantee that they would replace punctured tyres free of charge if it happened with a 'new' tyre. I wonder if they still do it as that might save you some expense - well at least it would stop you having punctures if your life works as mine does....

[ted 5,734]

Every puncture, I always think of "Nerg Nail" who used to feature in some of the Paul Sample, Ogri comic strips in Bike magazine.... the little blighter!

 

 

[lipsee 1,351]

I just use to love "Orgi",,  myself I think I was more like Malcom...I remember buying   Orgi,s first 100 cartoon strips in a book,,,still have it some where....