How to patch a puncture in a flat tire with glue
Patching puncture in flat tire is an essential skill when taking any travel, from Vietnam tour packages to Vietnam Laos and Cambodia tours.
How to patch a puncture in a flat tire with glue
If the tire is blown out or has a large hole, it will have to be replaced. If you drove it through a patch of thorns, it may have dozens of holes, but if it is a single small puncture, often it can be fixed on the bike.
- Tools: a rasp, a needle tool, sticky strings, glue
- Steps:
- Let the remaining air out of the tube
- Pump enough air into the tube to inflate it sufficiently to find the leak.
- Look around the tube for a small hole. Feel and listen for air escaping. An easy way is to hold part of the tube under water to see bubbles escaping from the hole.
- Mark the location of the hole when you find it. Remove the air from the tube once more
- Spread a thin layer of the glue around the puncture site. Allow it to dry until the liquid gloss disappears. Let as much air as possible out of the tube
- Slide the tube back into the tire. Be sure that the valve stem is aligned with the hole in the rim it sticks out of.
Bump the tires
Inflation tools is a rubber tube of 2 heads: one is attached to the tyre, one replace spark plug. Before inflating, lock the source of fuel, operate the engine until it really ends (out of fuel) -> Remove spark plug -> let gasoline all out -> use gas in cylinder to inflate tires. I prefer a pump which I bought at only 80.000d. You only need to use your foot press some times to let tire full.
Note: before sliding the tube back into the tire, make sure that there are not sands, rubbles or sharp objects in the tire. If you find such objects, remove and eliminate them immediately.
Several tricky tips
- Remove the object that did the damage before removing the valve stem to deflate the tire and tube completely. This helps reduce the chance of your tire being torn while you move the flat tire.
- It is a good idea to air down your tires before driving on sand. Aired-down tires have a wider footprint and float better over soft sand than hard, fully inflated tires. Then you should reinflate your tires.
- You can insert straw into the tires. This will enable to drive until you reach the nearest garage.