Need expert answer re: 80 GS850G wheels

[Guest]

I just went to the local motorcycle dealer to have my tire mounted on my rim. When I returned, a guy there said, just so you know, that is not a tubeless wheel. If it was, it would say so. I insisted that I had taken a tubeless tire off of the wheel and I was quite certain that the literature on the bike said tubeless too. Can someone confirm that the wheels I have are from a 1980 and are also tubeless despite not saying so on the wheel? This guy told me that if I lost air pressure, the tires would simply roll off the wheel in the current setup. Yikes.
Photo Jan 20, 3 10 30 PM.jpg
when I pushed back a bit, he said that he was operating from memory of selling them new at the time.
Thanks for any help.
Peter

[Peter Buehner]

Photo Jan 20, 3 10 16 PM.jpg
a couple of closeups of the wheel.

[Peter Buehner]

Photo Jan 20, 3 10 24 PM.jpg
One last view of some of the print

[Nessism]

The rim will have raised lettering denoting "tubeless tire applicable" or something to this effect if it were originally tubeless. Suzuki was mixed between tube and tubeless at that time; some bikes even came with one tubeless wheel and one tube type. Regardless of such denotations, I'm pretty sure your bike came with tubes originally. If you look at the parts fishe and it will show tubes inside the tires.

Realize that there were wheels of that era, some of the early tubeless version of the Suzuki star pattern wheels for example and some Kawasaki wheels as well, that WERE denoted tubeless however they did not have the rim humps that some consider synonymous with tubeless wheels. Your tire guy was judging the wheel based on that but he probably doesn't realize that some OEM's made tubeless wheels that didn't have that feature.

Many guys here on the GSR have converted tube type wheels to tubeless by enlarging the valve stem hole. These wheels then are equivalent to the early tubeless wheels being sold by the OEM's. The safety humps do provide an extra margin of safety, but they aren't mandatory. And said wheels are no more "unsafe" than a regular tube type wheel.

[Peter Buehner]

Thanks Nessism. I just went back to my service manual and realized that when I read tubeless is was for a different model...the danger of searching a manual online I guess. So are you saying that I don't need to put a tube on that tire? If I don't I would love to save spending another $30 on getting it redone plus a tube.

[Burque73]

I'm no expert but I thought only the spoked wheels needed tubes.

So Peter, you've already mounted the tires and they're holding air fine? Soapy water at the valve and no bubbles?

[GSXR7ED]

I'm wondering if I have tubes in my tires. Gonna find out soon enough...I need to replace both.


Ed

[Peter Buehner]

I just had my front tire mounted this afternoon. My bike is torn apart so it is simply sitting in the living room. When I bought the tire, I also bought new valves...how I picked them I cannot recall. They have rubber bushings inside and out. It seems to be holding air fine now but like I said, it is sitting next to me on the couch : D

[Burque73]

Hmmm, you're getting awfully cozy with that wheel.

Why not take it with you into the bath, if it makes more bubbles than you then you'll know for sure. Haha

[Peter Buehner]

You probably thought I was kidding. Here is my dining room. Good thing I am singe I guess
Photo Jan 20, 8 41 49 PM.jpg

Hmmm, you're getting awfully cozy with that wheel.

Why not take it with you into the bath, if it makes more bubbles than you then you'll know for sure. Haha

[mmattockx]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]49408[/ATTACH]
One last view of some of the print

You are good to go. The rim designation is 19 x MT1.85. The 'MT' denotes the correct bead seat profile for running tubeless tires, even if the rim doesn't have a 'Tubeless" designation on it anywhere. FWIW, there are lots of guys running tubeless here on the cast wheels that aren't actually labeled for it and very few have had any problems with it.


Mark

[fastbysuzuki]

You probably thought I was kidding. Here is my dining room. Good thing I am singe I guess
[ATTACH=CONFIG]49410[/ATTACH]

The pot plants a nice touch though👌

[GSXR7ED]

I didn't have a potted plant when I was in Alamogordo, NM.


Ed

[Peter Buehner]

'Thanks Mark! Just what I wanted to hear.

You are good to go. The rim designation is 19 x MT1.85. The 'MT' denotes the correct bead seat profile for running tubeless tires, even if the rim doesn't have a 'Tubeless" designation on it anywhere. FWIW, there are lots of guys running tubeless here on the cast wheels that aren't actually labeled for it and very few have had any problems with it.


Mark

[bwringer]

I don't believe I've ever heard of a "tire peeling off the wheel" problem with a cast GS wheel properly converted to tubeless. Methinks it's an old biker's tale, or perhaps some disco-era rider tried to mount up a tube-type tire without a tube and only briefly succeeded.

Also, I have hanging on my wall a front wheel from a 1982 GS1100G, marked "Tubeless Tire Applicable", and there are no "retaining ridges" next to the bead area (although it's true that many or most tubeless wheels have these). Tubeless tires are designed to fit much tighter than tube type tires.

Of course, you have to do the conversion properly or you might get a leak around the valve stem.