Ride On Tire Balancer & Sealant

[2011Blk]

I did a search and couldn't find any information so ... is anyone using Ride On? I put some in the front tire on my KLR a few months before I sold it and there was a noticeable improvement. I used something similar a long time ago that worked great but hadn’t found anything like it until a few months ago. Checked with a local motorcycle shop and they are giving their customers the option of weights or Ride On. Since I just put on some PR3s I was thinking of adding some but wondered if anyone else had good or bad experiences with it.

 

[Cap'n Bob]

Ride on has sparked some controversy in past threads I've seen. Some like it, some hate it. It has been said that it will corrode the wheels inside the tires. I'm not mentioning names (although they may pop in anyway). But there was a thread from a representative of the manufacturer and members that was pretty interesting to watch.

 

[JohnC]

Tarron:

I too used RideOn at one time, then I switched to UltraSeal, which is a good bit better.  Definitely a lot easier to clean off and work with, plus it does a better job of coating the inside of a tire.  Now they have it at Gemplers, but I get mine directly from the factory, here is the link: http://ultraseal.com/    I use the commercial grade, bought a gallon, and put it in all my motorcycle tires.  Have I ever had a flat and been found on the side of the road, NO.  But I did find a large gash in a tire that I continued to ride on for another month. 

 

[2linby]

Years ago when I did my first SS1000 I thought why not give it a try. I mean what easier way to ensure your pants will stay up than with both suspenders and a belt, right?

Other than being a slight bit messy when changing tires it really did nothing for me.  In hindsight and again, I think these things are well intended, but prove no measureable value to anyone other than the manufacturer and retailers.

Their video shows a tire rolling over a nail ladden board at walking speeds and someone drilling holes in the main body of a good tire. This proves what? That if you use their product and happen to have a nail ladden board lying about and just so happen to be stupid enough to roll over it at walking speed well then you are in luck!  Or if your drunken friend with a new drill wanders over your house and starts driling 1/8" holes in your new MC tire you can be rest assured things are fine?  Niether replicate "real world scenarios". 

Sorry for the cynicism, but my advice is to save your money for a good tire fix it kit, tire plugger, sticky rope and a small compressor.  Soapbox is now available.

 

[GaryW]

"my advice is to save your money for a good tire fix it kit, tire plugger, sticky rope and a small compressor."

I have all of the above + Ride On installed, in both the first and second set of tires.  Does it work? Do not know, really do not want to have to find out.  Does it hurt?  Two different dealers do not mind the stuff in the tires when I bring the bike to them for service, and it does provide another potential safeguard whilst tooling around the desert miles from civilization.  Cheap insurance.  Might look at UltraSeal next, like the concept.

 

[worncog]

I have looked at Ultra Seal with some interest. I too have been in the camp of skepticism on more than a few occasions. But, I do have experience with similar products used in the bicycle industry. I have used a latex tire sealing compound while riding and racing mountain bikes. The compound coats and seals the tire to 'tube type' rims with no tube required creating a 'tubeless' tire out of a tubed tire combination. This latex tire compound seals very well and allows lower than normal tire pressures (I use 24-28 psig). Lower tire pressure allowed superior traction and tire flexibility. These qualities are different than motorcycle tire requirements, but the one thing I did not experience was a flat. Not a single flat in three years of aggressive riding in various terrain. Prior to switching to tubeless I would experience flats on a regular basis. Different tire requirements, but the desire to keep the air in the tire is the same. I carry a plug kit and a compressor, but it would be nice to have it gather dust and not have to use it on some back road in the rain, ya get the gist.

This is not a balancing compound though. You still have to balance prior to installation as per mfg instructions.

 

[JohnC]

Well,

It is not snake oil.  My compressor has been on the shelf for 6 years, the tire plug kit has been in my toolbox, (in the shop) for the same length of time.  And this is one I rode on for another month, until my new rear tire arrived.    http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2271735170053698080JGPTSu

As for the differences of the two, with RideOn I had a lot of it that even got on wheel and it took more effort to get off.  The UltraSeal, none was on the wheel, only inside the tire, and even that was a good deal easier to clean, just hosed it off.  http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2594545320053698080dKMsMd 

So do I ride without it, not by choice.  It is like this, I only have two tires to keep me up and going and they get everything that gives me a greater safety factor.  Tire pressure indicators, they only tell you when it is low.  They don't prevent it.

 

[mcgyver74]

Wouldn't products like this gunk up the TPMS sensors?

 

[Cap'n Bob]

Wouldn't products like this gunk up the TPMS sensors?

They say that it doesn't. Probably since centrifugal force would force it out towards the tire casing and away from the rim. It doesn't seem to gum up the valve stems.

 

[ddtmoto]

I have Ride on in my Road3s for 850 miles now. I put it in last week before a 3 day trip, down to Bryce canyon. The balance of the tires felt great. So far, that is all I have to report....

 

[Fred H.]

Its your choice, but you'll never catch me putting Ride-On or Slime or Fix-A-Flat in any vehicle I own.

 

[JohnC]

Fred:

Just wondering why your aversion to RideOn or UltraSeal.  Now Slime or Fix-a-Flat, they are not very reliable.  But I've used both RideOn and UltraSeal, the latter being the better product.  It seals larger holes for longer periods of time, it is a lot cleaner to work with (rarely get on the inside of the wheel) and it is easy to clean up.  I've not had a flat since I had a rear tire go out rather suddenly at 90 mph, right after I had passed two cars.  Needless to say, I was all over the road but somehow I managed to keep it up.  I swore then, never to be in that position again, where I did not do all I could to prevent any flat.  So I don't run on any patched tires and I do keep UltraSeal in both tires.  Thus far it has worked, no flats in over 12 years.

 

[Fred H.]

I've seen wheels that were damaged beyond repair from RideOn after it caused so much corrosion inside the rim that the tire bead would no longer seal.

I've also seen RideOn in tires that dried up and turned to flakes like oatmeal after a few thousand miles and was totally useless.

I've also seen tires that were filled with RideOn that got a nail hole in them, and the RideOn totally failed to plug the hole. In My Opinion, all RideOn does is provide a totally false placebo effect for the Rider making him think he is somehow magically protected from getting flats.

Call up virtually any tire manufacturer and ask how they feel about putting ANY liquid products in a tire, and if they will honor the warranty on your tire if you do. I think you'll find every single one of them will tell you your warranty is voided the minute you put Slime, FixAFlat, RideOn, or any other liquid in your tires.

Do what you want, but you couldn't pay me to put any of that stuff in any vehicle I own, and I'd advise you not to as well.

Here are some photos of the inside of a couple GoldWing rims after the owner put RideOn in them. These pictures were taken after extensive cleaning.  RideOn refused to cover the damage caused to them and told the owner that it was somehow his fault. And I guess in a way it was his fault, because he bought off on their marketing hype and put their product in his wheels.

 

[911ZG Guy]

Thanks AGAIN , Fred. A picture is worth a thousandmillion words.

 

[JohnC]

Rideon worked for me, but as you showed, it does get on the rim and it is a PITA to clean off.  But UltraSeal is a far better, none was on the rim and the entire casing of the tire was covered.  Plus, it is easy to clean off, just hose it off.  So I'll stick with my UltraSeal.  As I said before, I will take every precaution I can to see that I don't end up with a flat tire and me doing 90 mph down the road.  At my age, just the scare might kill me.    bgof

 

[caveman]

Hi All.

I am a RideOn user. Admitting guilt is one of the 10 steps to recovery, right? I did put RideOn in both my tires (Metzler Z8, at 3 months old with about 4K miles on them) after a long battle with myself over whether or not I should. Like John and other users, I felt the additional protection from a nail blow-out on the highway superceded all other negatives...even possible corrosion issues. My TPS's had both gone out in the 5 months that I owned the bike anyway, so I wasn't worried about ruining them. A word of warning, though. The Kaw service shop will not warranty the TPS replacement if they find anything inside the tires. He cut me some slack on the back tire this time because he replaced my back tire (at list price of $260 - ouch!).

FYI: there was a nail clean through the middle of the tire when I took the bike in. The RideOn worked for me this time! Will I add it again to the new back tire? Well, for now I think I will carry some with me, along with a compressor. )

FYI -2: I would not have any problem whatsoever putting the RideOn in a cruiser bike (my wife makes me put it in her cruisers), but sport bike tires are different and I operate mine at higher speeds. The Metzler Z8 is extra special tire, too. It is supposed to allow for internal vibrations of the bands to work as they designed it. The RideOn might dampen those vibrations and nix that effect and may change the tire characteristics. I only noticed an improvement [in tire balance] myself.
 

 

[Gypsy JR]

This is an excellant point. No matter if tire sealant works or not, if TPMS goes bad and Kawasaki finds sealant in your tire, or residue from same, they can deny your warranty replacement.

For that reason alone, and because tire sealant probably won't save you from a sudden blow out (the kind you can't handle at speed) anyway, I have never, and will never, use it.