What's the skinny on the use of tubeless tires on a 1980 GS750E?

[Guest]

My new (to me, anyway ) 1980 GS750E came with new rubber fore & aft, so I never got to see the tires get mounted.

While I'll probably be getting plenty of life from them (this bike will not be my daily rider), I'd like to know for future reference whether tubeless tires can be used on these rims or not.

I checked both sides of the rims while cleaning them for any lettering or script that might offer up a clue, but there was nothing there.

Any opinions, educated guesses, or the what-not on this?
Any & all help will be greatly appreciated.

[Tom R]

If it says tubeless on them, then yes.
If it doesn't, you'd have to flatten radius of the area around the valve stem on the inside of the rim - otherwise it's hard to get a valve stem to seal up properly. There's a post on this site from years ago that give instructions on how to do this.
I've run mine both ways, and I can speak from experience that your valve stem will not seal properly on early tube type rims.

[Nessism]

99% of the tires available these days are rated tubeless. You don't have to run them tubeless though. For bikes with tube type rims you simply need to install a tube inside the tubeless tire. Nothing wrong with this approach.

Some people convert tube type wheels to tubeless. There are at least 100 threads in the archives discussing the pros and cons of this so feel free to research if so inclined.

[82tiburon]

Hmmmmmm...sounds like some very interesting reading.

While I've got motorcycle coverage on my AAA plan, I wouldn't mind having the ability to simply plug up a tire while on a long ride so as not to have to bring it to a halt.

Thanks for the very helpful replies.

[chuck hahn]

Actually the Bikemaster stems have a thic rubber washer that hoes in the inside and one on the outside and they seal the hole perfectly WITHOUT any grinding and flattening of anythiing. Secondly, whether it say tubeless or not if its a alloy rim you can run tubeless....i have ran tubeless for years and years and all the crap abut tires rolling off rims and such are a bunch of bull pucky.

And if you want to go tubeless on a spoked rim use the 3M extreme sealing tape and cover the spoke nipples and wrap the well. Dirt bikers have been doing that for longer than i can count also.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_WW/VHB_Tapes/Home/Products/three/two/

[Steve]

You will get responses ranging from "Don't do it. You will die if you even think about it" to "No problem, I do it all the time".

Some of the reasons to not do it will range from the lack of a retaining bead on the rim to "porous casting" of the rim, to an incompatibility of the valve stem (which can be rectified easily). If you feel lucky enough to not have "porous" rims, feel free to try it. Some nay-sayers will also point out the legal aspect. For example, if you are involved in a collision and some investigator found that you had tubeless tires on rims that were not certified for tubeless use, they can come after you for negligent operation or something like that. I have not heard of it actually happening, but the possibility is there, you should be aware of it.

Personally, I have done it several times, no problems with any of them. I think that all of the bikes currently in the stable have wheels that are tubeless-rated, so it is pretty much a non-issue for me.

.

[sharpy]

You own 74 and 77 harleys, and your worried about stopping on a GS 750. As a motorcycle tyre fitter for over 20 yrs (in a motorcycle tyre shop, not a boring bike shop), if u run tubeless in a non tubeless wheel your a nutter.

[chuck hahn]

p-lease expalin why being a nutter. all my alloy GSs are tubeless when they came with tubes from Suzuki and never..ever..never..so much as a problem..ever. The rims beads dont crack or get blown off and the beads tires walk over the beads either. Im calling BS. Its just a way to sell a tube.

[82tiburon]

You own 74 and 77 harleys, and your worried about stopping on a GS 750. As a motorcycle tyre fitter for over 20 yrs (in a motorcycle tyre shop, not a boring bike shop), if u run tubeless in a non tubeless wheel your a nutter.

Huh???
What does owning & riding older Harleys have to do with anything that I've solicited suggestions about?
And what's all this nonsense about "stopping on a GS 750"?
Braking never came into the conversation.

You're obviously very confused or don't read threads correctly.
Put down the pipe --- crack is whack.

To all of you other guys, thank you for such a diverse collection of detailed responses --- it's really given me a lot to think about.

[chuck hahn]

O)h and 82tiberon..I have ran a plugged tire on my Cooley for 2 seasons now and have been in excess off 90MPH on it and nothing happened...so take it with a grain of salt when they start yelling you cant and shouldnt plug a tire either.....just sayin.

[sharpy]

well 75% of the time i go over 90mph its about 7,000 rpm in 3rd gear on the back wheel. I just like better insurance when the front lands at 110mph that leaves a skid mark on the road surface the length of the bike. And speaking of insurance, over here if they find ure running tubeless on non tube rims there goes ure claim. Do what you want, i play on the safe side. Oh and this is a forum, where they get responses and then they make up there mind.

[radek22]

My 1980 GS1100E had tubes when I got it, both tires are tubeless now. I've been told it was a "transition stage", so you can use either or.

[sharpy]

[QUOTE= I've been told it was a "transition stage", so you can use either or.[/QUOTE]

Was told by whom? If it don't have tubeless tyre applicable cast in the side of the rim your on ya own with no tube. 1st bike out with tubeless rime was the GS850, even then it was only the front. Think the GPZ900 was 1st bike with both ends tubeless

[Nessism]

Was told by whom? If it don't have tubeless tyre applicable cast in the side of the rim your on ya own with no tube. 1st bike out with tubeless rime was the GS850, even then it was only the front. Think the GPZ900 was 1st bike with both ends tubeless

My 1981 KZ750E had tubeless both front and rear.

The early GS Suzuki star "tubeless tire applicable" front wheels didn't have the extra rim bumps. Same thing for the early KZ Kawasaki fronts. These early wheels were essentially the same as the type type wheel but with a different valve stem hole.

[JJ]

Personally, if the wheel states that it's "tubeless tire applicable", I'll run a tubeless tire, otherwise, it gets a tube. If a tubeless tire gets a hole in it, it gets a tube. No patches or plugs. I don't like pushing my luck in certain areas, when it comes to safety.