Do you ride with a nail in your tire?

I use tubeless Bridgestone tires on my bike. For months I have a nail in my rear tire. I've been meaning to do something about it but the air pressure is still good. And I even forgot about it. Last I looked the head of the nail wore off. All you see now is the shaft.

A friend said that it is better you remove the nail and patch the hole. At least you are in control of when the nail leaves the tire. He said that if the nail should come out I'll have a flat at that moment.

Well, I think this nail isn't going anywhere.

What's the general opinion? If you get a nail in your tire, repair as soon as possible or let it wear down?

Your friend is right! That nail will come out of there when you least expect it. You know how that is. You'll be in the middle of a tight corner and Pshhooo! you have a flat. You'll go right under a semi.

Ever had a flat on a motorcycle? At speed? It's one of the scariest things that ever happened to me. You can't steer, you can't brake, it's all you can do to keep it rubber-side down. If you're doing 85 MPH or heeled over in a corner, you're gonna do a face-plant. Those two little contact patches, like 1 sq. in. each, are all that stands between you and Eternity!

And the thing is, with tubeless tires, patching that hole with one of those 'gummy worm' kits takes about 2 minutes. Would you rather spend two minutes or would you rather die horribly with all your skin scraped off?

Personally I always replace the tire. I've replaced 4 tires this past year alone due to nails & it sucks, but at least I know my tire has no faults. I do have freinds that have ridden several miles with nails stuck in their tires w/ no problems. If repairing it is the only option then plug and patch it from the inside.

i wanted to try the lazy route with a nail a few weeks back and took the advice of the people here and patched it. couldn't tell you which would have been the result, but now i at least have piece of mind.... until the next one (new construction in my neighborhood, so i've had my share of nails already between the bike twice and car 5 times in the last few months)

please get that patched asap! take it from an ex pro driver. I once thought the same thing. You do eventually forget about it and once you do....bam! There are plugs you can get that are fairly easy to install. That is much safer putting a plug in it then riding around on a nail if you can't afford a new tire right now.

it is just a better idea to get the tire repaired before the problem gets worse than it already is. sure the thing has been able to stay in place to to this point, but what are you going to do when it decides to let go when you are doing about 70 on the freeway? hope that you have clean shorts in the trunk. you just might need them

Geeeez...it's only one tire replace the damn thing!!! If it was me I would rather ride knowing that there is a NEW tire behind me than always hoping the nail doesn't come out or the plug doesn't work properly!!! Not to be an ***...but some these questions on here that people ask are common sense questions..why would you have to think twice about something like this???

go to autozone or some parts store and just buy a tire repair kit. if that nail decides to come out while u r ridin ur in for some serious trouble. better safe than sorry. or if u feel like spendin some money buy a new tire. personally thats what i would do

I would get it out ASAP.

I know you say its not going anywhere at the moment but your mate is right. It could work its way loose at anytime, and leave you in a bad spot.

Get it changed. Best to be safe.

Your friend is right.

If it was a SCREW, you might be okay, but you can't predict what that nail will do.

if you never cross into triple digits, pull the nail, and patch it...

if you DO cross into triple digits, get a new tire...

I'm afraid I'd have to side with your friend on this one.
Remove the nail, and patch the tire from the inside, not a plug.

Get an inexpensive tire plug kit, pull the nail out with plyers and plug it yourself. I wish I had tubeless tires on my scoot!

your life is literally on the line, fix the tire for god's sake