Inner Tubes...are they needed?

[nutz4spd]

I'm changing the tires out on my 81' with original mag wheels. There are/were tubes in them with tubeless tires. My question is do I really need to run inner tubes on these mag wheels or is it safer to just use them?

 

[Who Dat?]

Some wheels were certified for tubless use, they will indicate that on the webbing between the 'spokes' on the rim.

Many have converted tube-type to tubless use, but there are some potential issues doing that.

 

[Nessism]

Hate to be "that guy", but, there are a large number of threads here discussing this topic. Search "tubeless" and read, and read, and read, until you are sick of it, then come to your own conclusion. There is no wrong answer...

 

[rphillips]

My thought has been when the cast motorcycle wheels got started, there were no tubeless motorcycle tires, or none I'd ever heard of. So stamping tubeless tire compatible would have never been thought of... Top right corner of this page, search tubeless tires on non tubeless rims and you can read opinions from now till the end of the year. Only problem I've had running tubeless on wheels not marked tubeless was finding a shop to mount them. Most shops I've found say if they mount a tire without a tube on a wheel that doesn't say for tubeless, and something happens, they'd be responsible.

 

[alke46]

Only problem I've had running tubeless on wheels not marked tubeless was finding a shop to mount them. Most shops I've found say if they mount a tire without a tube on a wheel that doesn't say for tubeless, and something happens, they'd be responsible.

That's why we mount our own tires. If we want to own 40 year old toys, then we better be willing to do or at least learn how to maintain said toys.

 

[chuck hahn]

Tubes were used to appease DOT Aholes. Look at it like this. A tube that exerts 35 PSI on the bead and the rim doesnt say TUBELESS..follow so far? Now you have 35 PSI in the same rim but without a tube. So tell me how 35 PSI applied by a tube is in any way different with just air applying the same 35 PSI. An absolutely conflict of common sense. 35 PSI is 35 PSI regardless of method its being applied.
Ive ran tubeless for 15 years at least and have seen many many many times over 100 MPH without issue. Many dirt riders are using 3M extreme sealing tape on spoked rims to seal the nipples and frunning tubeless. I see no reason it cant be done on street spoked rims too. Only factor thats stpped me is the cost of the tape..it aint cheap. Thats my take on the issue so do as you choose is what i say.

 

[KiwiAlfa156]

The factory application is stamped on the wheel. If it has MT (Motorcycle Tubeless) as part of the rim size, it means the bead seat profile of the wheel conforms to the standard for tubeless motorcycle tyres. If it has a "J" it not designed to run tubeless, but that doesn't mean a tubeless tyre won't seal and hold air without a tube. Whether you think this is a risk or not is up to you. Plenty of other folks run tubeless on J rims and swear by it. The stock J rims will usually need the valve hole modified to fit a tubeless stem. And even some of the early MT rims need this done too, as this was the early days of tubeless motorcycle tyres and some of the features like the 'safety shoulder' the ridge between the centre well and the flat part of the bead seat is missing (as seen below). I had to cut/drill the hole on my GS650 Katana even though it was an MT rim. Interestingly the MT rims first appear on the shaft drive Gs, and I have seen them with a rear MT and a front J as a matched pair.

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