I saw an ad for this product in the Competition Accessories catalog. Does anyone have an opinion on how well it works? Per the catalog it fixes a flat before the actual tire goes flat. It also balances the tire and you can remove the balancing weights. Sounds too good to be true.
Ride On Motorcycle Tire Protection
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It works. I've used a similar product called "Slime".
The limitations are about the same as you'd find with a plug or a patch. In other words, nothing can fix a sliced tire. Likewise, you can't repair a tire with a hole in the sidewall.
I know there's a difference in the composition of the Ride-On product and Slime, but I think there's enough of a similarity that this description will help.
When you put Slime in, it distributes itself across the tread area because of centrifugal force. When a puncture occurs, the material is forced out of the hole by the air pressure. Slime has a lot of fibers held in suspension. Those get jammed into the puncture location, while what escapes is a clear green liquid. I think of it as like a log jam on a river that backs up the water.
On my 2007 400, I got a screw in the rear tire. I asked for advice and some of the people said to replace the tire. Others said to repair the tire. I elected to replace it. After about $120, I was back on the road again. About two months later, I got a tinie, tiny, itsy bitsy cotter pin in the rear tire. I pulled it out and it leaked just barely. I decided to use some Slime I had on the shelf instead of going into the house to tell my wife who didn't like me riding, that I was going to spend more money to fix this scooter that was saving us money. I just couldn't go there. Well, the Slime worked.
More months and thousands of miles went by and I got a large nail in the rear tire. I pulled the nail out in the garage and the air started gushing out. I rotated the tire so the puncture location was at 6 o'clock. A couple tablespoons of clear liquid came out and the air stopped. I left it like that overnight and checked the air over the next couple weeks. No leak. I got another puncture after that in the same rear tire. At 15,000 miles, I changed the tire finally.
When I changed it, I asked to be there to see for myself if the rumors were true. Supposedly, there would be a HUGE mess all over and the alloy rim would be corroded. Nothing could be further from the truth. There was some dried on Slime on the hub where it had dripped and baked. Otherwise, all of it was inside the tire and the "green" color had faded away. Nothing dripped. There was no corrosion on the rim. And cleanup wasn't that bad. It's water soluble.
You will find a mess if you put it in, then change the tire a few weeks down the road before it skins over. So make sure you warn the tire shop. Since the motorcycle dealers sell Slime/Ride-On in their parts department, it would be hard for them to refuse to work on the tire.
I did have one bad experience, and I don't really fault the Slime product. I was going down the freeway at 60 mph when a large roofing nail went in...and back out. The centrifugal force shot the stuff out the hole. If the nail had stayed in till I could take it out when stopped and do like I had before, I have little doubt it would've fixed the hole.
And Ride-On supposedly acts like the balance beads to balance your tires.
Chris
The limitations are about the same as you'd find with a plug or a patch. In other words, nothing can fix a sliced tire. Likewise, you can't repair a tire with a hole in the sidewall.
I know there's a difference in the composition of the Ride-On product and Slime, but I think there's enough of a similarity that this description will help.
When you put Slime in, it distributes itself across the tread area because of centrifugal force. When a puncture occurs, the material is forced out of the hole by the air pressure. Slime has a lot of fibers held in suspension. Those get jammed into the puncture location, while what escapes is a clear green liquid. I think of it as like a log jam on a river that backs up the water.
On my 2007 400, I got a screw in the rear tire. I asked for advice and some of the people said to replace the tire. Others said to repair the tire. I elected to replace it. After about $120, I was back on the road again. About two months later, I got a tinie, tiny, itsy bitsy cotter pin in the rear tire. I pulled it out and it leaked just barely. I decided to use some Slime I had on the shelf instead of going into the house to tell my wife who didn't like me riding, that I was going to spend more money to fix this scooter that was saving us money. I just couldn't go there. Well, the Slime worked.
More months and thousands of miles went by and I got a large nail in the rear tire. I pulled the nail out in the garage and the air started gushing out. I rotated the tire so the puncture location was at 6 o'clock. A couple tablespoons of clear liquid came out and the air stopped. I left it like that overnight and checked the air over the next couple weeks. No leak. I got another puncture after that in the same rear tire. At 15,000 miles, I changed the tire finally.
When I changed it, I asked to be there to see for myself if the rumors were true. Supposedly, there would be a HUGE mess all over and the alloy rim would be corroded. Nothing could be further from the truth. There was some dried on Slime on the hub where it had dripped and baked. Otherwise, all of it was inside the tire and the "green" color had faded away. Nothing dripped. There was no corrosion on the rim. And cleanup wasn't that bad. It's water soluble.
You will find a mess if you put it in, then change the tire a few weeks down the road before it skins over. So make sure you warn the tire shop. Since the motorcycle dealers sell Slime/Ride-On in their parts department, it would be hard for them to refuse to work on the tire.
I did have one bad experience, and I don't really fault the Slime product. I was going down the freeway at 60 mph when a large roofing nail went in...and back out. The centrifugal force shot the stuff out the hole. If the nail had stayed in till I could take it out when stopped and do like I had before, I have little doubt it would've fixed the hole.
And Ride-On supposedly acts like the balance beads to balance your tires.
Chris
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ride-on
I have used Ride-on in A Valkyrie and in both my 400 and 650 Burgmans. It does help Balance the tires and give a smoother ride. I have not yet used the sealant protection yet as far as I know. I understand it works well and is somewhat better than Slime but similar i concept. I did use it in a prior Burgman that had a plugged tire and it sealed a slow leak in that for a while before I replaced the tire.
I have seen the videos and heard of reports on how well it works and it is a great security feature. I also still cary a plug kit and Co2s but hope I never need them!
I have used Ride-on in A Valkyrie and in both my 400 and 650 Burgmans. It does help Balance the tires and give a smoother ride. I have not yet used the sealant protection yet as far as I know. I understand it works well and is somewhat better than Slime but similar i concept. I did use it in a prior Burgman that had a plugged tire and it sealed a slow leak in that for a while before I replaced the tire.
I have seen the videos and heard of reports on how well it works and it is a great security feature. I also still cary a plug kit and Co2s but hope I never need them!
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340 Posts
Be advised that slime, or any comparable product, tends to clog up your valve stem whenever air is released out of the tire (fill and/or checking psi). Best thing to do is, when adding air or checking psi, have the stem rotated to 12 oclock position. This won't completely eliminate it, but it helps greatly in preventing the goo from coming out of the valve.
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there are youtube video's on Ride-On
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Gotta say jedd that I've used Ultraseal for over 20 years in all my cars and bikes and not once has it ever clogged a tyre valve. I've not used Slime which is a different chemical make up and over in the uk is not a permanent repair like Ultraseal is so maybe Slime may be different. If anyone ever experiences a valve blockage I would suspect it's because someone has overdosed the tyre by way too much. After all, (and again I'm just talking about Ultraseal) Ultraseal is really very gell like once in the tyre, barely liquid. All my friends use it too and none of us has ever experienced a valve blockage or even any of it trying to come through the valve. It's a common misnomer, often mentioned but not actually a problem (for Ultraseal). If it was no one would use it. By the way, putting the valve at 12 o'clock may make it more likely to extrude some sealant from the valve as the sealant may run down the tyre sidewalls inside and settle in the valve core entrance. 5 or 6 o'clock is best as any sealant will 'fall' away from the inner valve core entrance. There should not be enough of the sealant in the tyre to come into contact with the valve area even if the valve is at 6 o’clock.
Ride ON
Mary, I used Ride On on my Honda Shadow Aero because it has spokes and uses tubes. You can't plug a tire on the side of the road like you can for the tubeless tires on our scooters. My tires were already balanced so I don't know if that benefit works, but it gave me a LOT less worry about tire issues on the motorcycle. On my scooter, I carry a small plug kit and the little 12 volt Slime brand tire pump on long rides.
I think Ride ON is a great product. Probably the Slime version also, but make sure you only use the waterbased kind of Slime. They used to have two kinds and only the waterbased kind is easly washed out during tire replacement.
Tom
Mary, I used Ride On on my Honda Shadow Aero because it has spokes and uses tubes. You can't plug a tire on the side of the road like you can for the tubeless tires on our scooters. My tires were already balanced so I don't know if that benefit works, but it gave me a LOT less worry about tire issues on the motorcycle. On my scooter, I carry a small plug kit and the little 12 volt Slime brand tire pump on long rides.
I think Ride ON is a great product. Probably the Slime version also, but make sure you only use the waterbased kind of Slime. They used to have two kinds and only the waterbased kind is easly washed out during tire replacement.
Tom
I had that problem with bicycle tires. I couldn't check the tire pressure or get air in or out.
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