Tubeless?

[ablock]

I just went down to my SM to try and figure out the wheel size and noticed that both tires say "Tubeless".

Are the wheels actually tubeless, or are these TL tires simply run with tubes, which should be fine given the low maximum speed of the bike?

 

[Kurlon]

TL tires with tubes. Don't worry about speeds, we're regularly running tubeless tires with tubes at 100mph + at the track, no issues. If you REALLY want a full tubeless system you could get some Alpinia rims laced to your SM's hubs, but make sure to treat your wallet to a nice dinner and movie before subjecting it to that shock.

 

[ablock]

Yeah, I have Alpinas on my Africa Twin. After lunch at work the other day, my coworker walked in and said my parked bike had a flat rear tire. We went out later and used my tubeless repair kit and DC inflater to repair it. Took about 15m and it hasn't lost any air since.

That's why I want tubeless.

Are there no domestic tubeless options that are cheaper than Alpina?

 

[Philip]

Tubeless is the way to go for most bikes. Pull that nail out, plug it up, pump up and you are good to go again. Saves at least half an hour and a lot of grunt and sweat on every flat repair.

It helps to have TPMS though, at least on road bikes. It saves a lot of worry, periodic pressure checks, and it will alert you before you start feeling a flat tire through unstable handling.

I have this one on my ST1300:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WBD00FO/?tag=sce0f-20

If I were to run Tubliss on my dirt bikes again, I would install TPMS into both chambers. Just keep an eye on your smartphone, and do not worry about checking four tire pressures.

It would be nice to put a 5th sensor onto the AER48 fork, but there is little room there, and I think the air volume might be too small to screw on a TPMS cap without losing most of the pressure in the process.

 

[ablock]

I have the same Fobo sensors on my AT. Good system, especially since I use a Sena headset and can hear the TPMS alarm very well.

What do you mean by "four chambers"?

 

[Philip]

What do you mean by "four chambers"?

Tubliss (not tubeless) uses an inner bicycle tire with tube inside the main tire. There are two valve stems per each wheel -- four chambers. So you'd need four TPMS sensors.

 

[ablock]

Ah, got it. Didn't notice the difference between tubeless and Tubliss.

 

[ablock]

Anyway, I think I am going to try an Outex kit on the wheels when I swap tires next.

 

[DaveAusNor]

Hi, just resurrecting this old thread cause I changed some SM tyres over to tubeless.

It started with a nail in my rear tyre, I stopped cause it felt like a rock was jammed in the tread, ended up being a nail on inspection. I began to slowly pull it out and stopped when I heard air leaking. I left it there and immediately rode home. I still had pressure when I got home thankfully. I then I pulled the nail and it deflated fast.

I've driven over some nails and screws before in cars and fixed them with plugs so I decided to convert my SM wheels to tubeless in case this happens again.

I considered the outex system but also found others had success with 3M extreme sealing tape: 4411N you can also use 4412N or the 4412B (the 1N is 1mm thick, transparent and the 2B 2mm thick black etc.) I didnt choose outex simply because they send the kit with silver valve stems and I wanted black. Then buying the sealing tape means I could make several tyres tubeless for the same price, and use the leftover tape for other jobs.

Here is my process:
- removed tyre from the rim
- removed rim tape from the spoke nipples and cleaned the rim.
- applied tape patches (gorilla tape) over the spoke nipples. (This helps avoid the sealing tape from tearing if you need to adjust spoke tension at some point)
- taped the whole way around the rim with the extreme sealing tape 4411N. (I chose 1mm because I heard it is easier to work with and conform over the nipples and it should be half the weight while still sealing as expected)
- I covered where the tape join is with a small strip across the join.
- I taped over the sealing tape in the same way as the outex system to protect the edges of the sealing tape when mounting the tyre
- installed the valve
- fixed the nail hole from the inside of the tyre
- remounted the tyre and inflated.

Easy process, I encourage others to try.

 

[Theo]

- applied tape patches (gorilla tape) over the spoke nipples. (This helps avoid the sealing tape from tearing if you need to adjust spoke tension at some point)
- taped the whole way around the rim with the extreme sealing tape 4411N. (I chose 1mm because I heard it is easier to work with and conform over the nipples and it should be half the weight while still sealing as expected)
- I covered where the tape join is with a small strip across the join.
- I taped over the sealing tape in the same way as the outex system to protect the edges of the sealing tape when mounting the tyre

Cool and I like the detail of the Gorilla tape patches, just inspect it every tyre change: some people have reported that after years the glue of duct tapes and similar stuff applied to rims tends to somehow decay and make a mess and therefore they have to clean it and reapply the tape; they say that cleaning takes a lot of time. In your case, probably the important thing is that the glue of the 3M tape doesn't do that; if the Gorilla tape underneath it decays it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[DaveAusNor]

Yea thats why I did them as patches too, so that the 3M tape seals completely around each patch independently. I won't be mad if I have to redo them in a few years, it was an easy enough job. The hardest thing as always was getting the tyre off the rim