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1980 gs450l tubes to tubeless

  • Thread starter Thread starter NetBSD
  • Start date Start date
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NetBSD

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heard around that its p[ossible to make the stock mag wheels tubeless on these things, is it possible and reliable?

yesterday before a ride i noticed a low rear tire, found a staple in it and would have been alot easier to just toss a plug in it rather then pulling the tube for repairs
 
The trick is finding the right valve stem that will seal well against the rim. I tried, the ones (valve stems) I got were the wrong ones and I just put tubes back in.
 
doctorgonzo said:
The trick is finding the right valve stem that will seal well against the rim. I tried, the ones (valve stems) I got were the wrong ones and I just put tubes back in.
Click to expand...


ok what about the bead? is it the same? will it hold against the 40PSI?
 
There will be no problem with pressure (and why are you running 40 psi?).

Where there might be a problem is with loss of pressure. There are some that claim that the shape of the tubeless rim will help keep a tire in place in the event of loss of pressure. I have never compared to verify, but I do know that the one time I had a catastrophic loss of pressure, the tire did not stay in place, even though it was a 'tubeless' rim.

Another thing you really need to be aware of is that some of the early cast rims were rather porous and did not hold air well. If you find that you have one (or two) of these rims, you will have to use epoxy or something to seal the inside of the rim to prevent air loss.

.
 
thanks for the reply.

im running 40PSI because thats what the side of the tire says. i was told you should follow the tire, not the bikes specs.
 
http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=632_695_700

I just converted my GS450 to tubeless last week. You can either use this example of a schrader valve replacement (using the existing hole) or drill out to a larger commercial type tubless valve stem. Your local bike shop should have both types if they are any good...

After 150 miles at 30 psi no change in pressure noted to date. Just like automobiles, the tire manufacturers pressure is a max load rating, the pressure in the owners manual or sticker on the chain guard is for normal solo / 2 up riding.

Ultimately, the example you cited above was the main reason for my conversion on the rear wheel.
 
NetBSD said:
thanks for the reply.

im running 40PSI because thats what the side of the tire says. i was told you should follow the tire, not the bikes specs.
Click to expand...

Sorry to burst your bubble (or tire), but you should always follow the specs for the vehicle. The engineers designed the vehicle to operate properly under the correct conditions, tire pressure being one of them. The pressure listed on the side of the tire is the maximum pressure the tire itself is designed to safely withstand. So always go by the specs on the bike.

Paul
 
NetBSD said:
im running 40PSI because thats what the side of the tire says. i was told you should follow the tire, not the bikes specs.
Click to expand...

Paul_IOFJS said:
Sorry to burst your bubble (or tire), but you should always follow the specs for the vehicle. The engineers designed the vehicle to operate properly under the correct conditions, tire pressure being one of them. The pressure listed on the side of the tire is the maximum pressure the tire itself is designed to safely withstand. So always go by the specs on the bike.
Click to expand...
I agree. The tire manufacturer has no idea what is going to be wearing that particular tire. What they put on the side of the tire is the weight-carrying capacity and the pressure required to achieve that capacity. If you are not running at full capacity, there is no need to run full pressure. If you look at the bike manufacturer's guidelines, you will see different pressure requirements for solo or two-up riding and also for city or high-speed riding.

The best way to judge the correct pressure for your bike and your tires is this:
When the tires are cold, that is, have not been used for several hours, set the pressure somewhere around what Suzuki recommends, and record that number. Go for a ride. Make it a good ride, about 50 miles or so. Check the pressures on the warm tires and compare that with the cold pressures. You are looking for a 10% increase. If the increase was more than 10%, it means your tires were flexing too much, so add about 2 psi when they are cold and go check it again. If the pressure rise was less than 10%, your tires were not flexing enough, so drop the pressure about 2 psi and try again. Because the correct pressure is dependant on the imposed load, if you frequently carry a passenger or maybe a bunch of camping gear, you should check it again with your load.

If you look at the wide selection of tires available, you might see that some are rated to carry www pounds of load at xx psi inflation, while others are rated to carry yyy pounds at zz psi inflation. Same size tire, different construction, different capacities. Yep, if you change to a different brand tire, you should do the test again for proper inflation pressure.

.
 
thanks guys for all the help and setting me straight on the tire pressure. ill be giving this tubeless bit a shot hopefully soon.
 
NetBSD said:
thanks guys for all the help and setting me straight on the tire pressure. ill be giving this tubeless bit a shot hopefully soon.
Click to expand...

I recently replaced my front tire on my 78 750. It is a mag wheel but it had a tube in it. Took us awhile to find the right valve stem but we used one like what someone else posted and it worked. We also cleaned the area where the tire makes contact on the inside of the wheel really well. Used sand paper and some dental picks to get all that corrosion off. Took a little bit of work to get it seated right but it has held air for the last 2 weeks.
 
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