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Cruiser tire losing pressure at bead (?)

Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Messages
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Location
Austin
My front went from 42psi to 0 in 8 days. Out of curiosity I sprayed soapy water on it to see locate the puncture. Much to my surprise, I could find no puncture anywhere but it is leaking at the bead on one side. Has anyone ever seen or experienced this? The tire was mounted in 2016 and has about 7000 miles on it. It’s a Metzler ME888, Marathon Ultra. I put over 14k miles on a front in 2013 which included a trip to Alaska from Austin.
c41ca01fb304f6105e73c30375aabce3.jpg
Thanks in advance for any insight.


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I had a Shinko 705 that leaked at the bead exactly like your pictures. Had about 1000 miles on it and I broke the bead on it 3 times using different tire mounting lubes each time and never did get it to seal. Xtra Seal makes a bead sealing liquid but I could not find any locally so no opinion as to whether it works. It was a pretty slow leak and I wound up just checking tire pressure every time I rode and topping off as needed. Put 12,000 miles on before replacing. Not a recommendation, just what I did.

Edit: Mine was a rear tire and on a NC700X
 
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I had a bead leak several years ago. I shot a can of Fix-Flat ($7 at Autozone) in and the seal held for the life of the tire. That's the good news. The bad news is if you use that stuff, you're gonna have a mess to clean off your rim next time you replace a tire.
 
That is very odd the tire has held air reliably for two years and now started doing this.
I have read of folks having problems with Metz ME888 but it has been internal delamination, not pressure retention problems. However, it is indicative of problems with the tire manufacturing which can extend to other problems.

Corrosion would have to be severe for that to happen but it's possible. However, it would have to be a corrosive agent that attacks the alloy wheel, more than just water from moisture in the air.

Have you also checked with other HD owners? It could be something particular to that model.
 
Just a thought, have you checked the date on the tire?
It could be an old stock tire with some dry rot.
 
I’ll check the tire mfg date this evening. I’m almost sure I’m running “Ride-on” in the front. I haven’t inquired with other HD owners.


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I’ll check the tire mfg date this evening. I’m almost sure I’m running “Ride-on” in the front. I haven’t inquired with other HD owners.


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Unfortunately, Ride-On won't help with this type of leak.
I agree it is odd that it just suddenly started happening after being fine for a while.
 
I have had the same problem on my tractor. And yes, the front tires get buried in wet sand from time to time.
When this happens, I deflate the tire, clean the bead of the tire and the rim. I then wrap a ratchet strap around the tire to easily reset the bead to the rim. My local "works on everything shop" has some sort of secret goop he sprays around tire beads that helps with this problem. I need to sneak around one day and find out what it is. Might be contact cement for all I know! rh
 
Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions. I broke down the tire and cleaned the rim with lacquer thinner and steel wool. After remounting, it appears to be holding just fine. I think I will clean my rims between every other tire change in the future. This is what the rim looked like before cleaning.
c93615cb796c366a38955148aa040d77.jpg




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