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Need advice re: leak at tire bead


John Ranalletta

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John Ranalletta

This leak is on the front of the '15 GS I bought last fall. Last ride, the TPMS alarmed. Found the leak tonight.

 

I did not mount the tire; so, don't know what condition the rim is in.

 

TIA.

 

 

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Well, it's "already broke", so there isn't any "don't fix it".

 

Seems to me, the only thing to do is pop the tire off, and inspect the bead and rim. Let us know what you find.

 

If it's minor, you may get lucky, remount the tire, and solve the problem. (say, there's a pine needle or something caught in there). If it's the tire, well, it just depends no how bad it is. The rim perhaps could be cleaned up with sandpaper (say there's a nick, or corrosion). Emphasis on "perhaps". But pull it off, see what you got.

Edited by elkroeger
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Might be able to just break the bead at the leak site,examine tire and rim in that area,clean up,scotchbrite the area,then lube bead in that area and reinflate tire.

However likely need to dismount,inspect,etc as elkroeger has discussed above.

 

JR356

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what they said......break the bead, inspect everything, reseat the bead using lube. I've had it happen before with no decent explanation of why. The reseat always fixed the leak for me.

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This leak is on the front of the '15 GS I bought last fall. Last ride, the TPMS alarmed. Found the leak tonight.

 

I did not mount the tire; so, don't know what condition the rim is in.

 

TIA.

 

 

Morning John

 

Easy to see the leaking area but can't tell much more. It sort of looks like the leak is at a mold area in the side of the bead. (might just be a bit of raised rubber in that area of the tire's side bead).

 

You definitely need to dis-mount that side & look at the tire & rim in that area. Might be as simple as trimming a little raised rubber off the tire bead or removing some junk caught in that area.

 

If the tire was mounted using tire irons then possibly some tire bead damage or inner rim damage in that area so inspect for that also.

 

 

 

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John Ranalletta

Thanks everyone...

 

I peeled back the bead and cleaned up schmoo on the rim and applied bead sealer. It worked, EXCEPT when I checked, there are multiple leaks along the bead.

 

So, I took the wheel to a local m/c shop, asking them to remount the tire after cleaning the rim. Should see tomorrow if successful.

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Been a while since I did a lot of tire mounting. A tire specified for use with a tube on a tubless rim would cause the bead to not seat well....but that is so yesterday. I would think that most tires are designed for tubeless rims these days.

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John Ranalletta

The tech said the bead is pretty scratched up. He applied bead sealer all around this morning and 8 hours and a few miles later, it's still holding psi. We'll see. The previous owner said he changed the tires and only had his dealer balance them. I asked him how long a wrecking bar he used to change rubber.

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Ooof. Sounds like his tire irons are called flat blade screw drivers by the rest of us.

 

If you still have a leak maybe fill in the gouges with a littler 2 part epoxy and sand smooth

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Good grief! It just really isn't that hard to do. You save a couple bucks doing it yourself, but ya gotta spend some on the right tools.... Between that, and Youtube, you're practically an expert before you even begin!

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John Ranalletta

Tire pressure is holding >24 hrs. Will ride a few miles tomorrow as final check. Thanks for all the help.

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John Ranalletta

DR, what's the composition of the rim? Is it aluminum? If so, it is powder or otherwise coated?

 

I'm asking 'cause if it's just aluminum, could the gouges be filled with a tig welder and smoothed?

 

Thanks...

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DR, what's the composition of the rim? Is it aluminum? If so, it is powder or otherwise coated?

 

I'm asking 'cause if it's just aluminum, could the gouges be filled with a tig welder and smoothed?

 

Thanks...

 

Afternoon John

 

The rim is an aluminum alloy so it could be welded but that really isn't an option as welding on the alloy could change or soften the alloy in the weld area.

 

You would be much better off using a cold repair like a 2 part Devcon type machinable aluminum repair.

 

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+1 on the 2 part epoxy repair. For sure follow the instruction, but to ease sanding filled areas smooth do it while on the green side of being cured. if you wait too long it gets a lot harder and more difficult to sand.

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