Avon tire woe.

[fiddle mike]

I have the cleanest front tire in town from spraying soap,  trying to discover why my  (nearly) new Avon front won't hold air.  Today, I took one more run at trying to find the leak and immediately discovered airs escaping from several spots along  the bead. 
I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if there's a fix.
Is there an inner tube I can use?

I'm already so frustrated with Avon I'm tempted to eat it  and buy a Shinko.

[tank_post142]

break it down and clean the bead and rim. install a metal valve stem while your at it.
willow says: friends don't let friends ride on oem valve stems!

[fiddle mike]

break it down and clean the bead and rim. install a metal valve stem while your at it.
willow says: friends don't let friends ride on oem valve stems!

I went to metal valves stems when I bought the Avon preceding this one, the one that wouldn't balance because it was out of round.  That was replaced, no charge, but I've got so much tied up in mounting and dismounting the Avon has turned out to be most expensive tire I've ever owned.

[FLAVALK]

+1 on what tank said.

Weird, the Avon I'm running now is the only MC tire I've ever had on this Valk that doesn't leak air...at all. In the past, regardless of the tire manufacturer, they have all leaked a little. That is, I would have to add a little air every couple weeks or so

[sandy]

At 132K I've changed a few sets of tires. A while back I took some steel wool and light sandpaper to the bead inside the wheel. There was lots of old rubber buildup and a little corrosion. Now I check tires every 2-3 weeks and there's often no loss. Usually 2-4 lbs loss.

[Jess from VA]

Ride-On might solve the problem without dismounting, or it might not.

http://www.ride-on.com/motorcycle-formula-mot.html

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

I'm with Tank as well...Been there , Done that....Clean the rim and it should stop leaking air....I used a scouring pad and elbow grease.

[Joevalk]

Tire shops have some black goo they put on tire beads that help this problem.

[Tropic traveler]

break it down and clean the bead and rim. install a metal valve stem while your at it.
willow says: friends don't let friends ride on oem valve stems!

+1.
Had a slow leak in the front of Kim's Valk with an Avon. Bead was nasty with rubber build up & some kind of old sealant all inside the rim. Cleaned it up squeeky clean, remounted the same Avon with a new metal stem.... no more pressure loss. 

[NITRO]

Ride-On might solve the problem without dismounting, or it might not.

http://www.ride-on.com/motorcycle-formula-mot.html

anything is possible, but ride-on sits primarily in the tread area of the tire, about as car from the bead as it can get.

[Cracker Jack]

I just went through this with my new Austone taxi tire. It lost about 4-6 psi the first night and found that it was leaking at the bead. Thought I was going to have to break the bead and clean the rim. Didn't get back to it for a couple of days after airing it back up and found it was not leaking as much. After a few days the leak stopped completely!

I'd give it a few days and give it a chance to "heal" itself.

[Jess from VA]

I suppose you could let all the air out,  c-clamp the tire away from the rim (a bit at a time) to clean the bead without taking the wheel off the bike and tire off the rim.  Maybe chalk the tire at the leaking spots and clean those first.



One might hope that a shop mounting a tire would clean the rim if it was cruded with rubber.... one might hope.

[fiddle mike]

I just went through this with my new Austone taxi tire. It lost about 4-6 psi the first night and found that it was leaking at the bead. Thought I was going to have to break the bead and clean the rim. Didn't get back to it for a couple of days after airing it back up and found it was not leaking as much. After a few days the leak stopped completely!

I'd give it a few days and give it a chance to "heal" itself.

I'd hoped for the same but it's been way longer than a few days.   I guess the good news is, there's no puncture.

[fiddle mike]

I suppose you could let all the air out,  c-clamp the tire away from the rim (a bit at a time) to clean the bead without taking the wheel off the bike and tire off the rim.  Maybe chalk the tire at the leaking spots and clean those first.



One might hope that a shop mounting a tire would clean the rim if it was cruded with rubber.... one might hope.

Yeah, the guy I use has been good, so far, maybe I took the tire there on a Tuesday, or something.

[jammer]

I  always scrub the wheel where the bead seats before mounting tire!!!!!!!!  Have never had one leak with this procedure:tickedoff:

[Ricky-D]

You can air up the tire to some ridiculously high value and let it set for a day.

There's a chance that exercise will solve the leaking problem.

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[billyjakester]

Can't address bike tires, but Discount Tires fixed a very slow auto tire leak on the rim using sometype of rim sealant they have.

bill

[Cliff]

You can air up the tire to some ridiculously high value and let it set for a day.

There's a chance that exercise will solve the leaking problem.

***

After several weeks of slow leak from My Avon cobra front ,, this   worked for me ,, no leaks since,,, aired up to 60 PSI for 20 minutes then dropped it back to 40 PSI and been fine since then.

[vanagon40]

I have also had luck with hitting the tire with a heavy hammer or sledge hammer just next to the place where the bead is leaking.  Need to be careful not to hit the rim.  My only experience was with a car tire (on a car tire rim), but it did seem to work.

I have used bead seal with much success, but was only necessary when my rims were in really bad shape.  Unless there is pitting or corrosion on the rim that cannot be removed, the bead seal should not be necessary.

tank_post142 was correct:  break it down and clean the bead and the rim.


USED THIS:



TO SEAL THE BEAD ON THIS RIM

[Ricky-D]

Chrome plated rims are the worst for leaking around the bead.

Corrosion starts on the aluminum base underneath the chrome and forms a passage for the air to leak out.

Only way to repair is to grind the plating to get to the corrosion and then to remove it.

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