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Tu be or not Tube. That is the question.

  • Thread starter Thread starter TheNose
  • Start date Start date
T

TheNose

Guest
I just orderder new tires for my bike. When I took the old tires off the rims, there were tubes in them. The new tires are the tubeless type. Should I put tubes in them, or should I go tubeless? The rims are tubeless type.

Terry
 
Re: Tu be or not Tube. That is the question.

My 1150 has tubeless rims and tubless tires. Adding tubes would only make the tires retain more heat.

Earl

TheNose said:
I just orderder new tires for my bike. When I took the old tires off the rims, there were tubes in them. The new tires are the tubeless type. Should I put tubes in them, or should I go tubeless? The rims are tubeless type.

Terry
Click to expand...
 
Tyres

Tyres

Tubeless tyres are the go as they give you a lighter wheel (no tube), safer( no sudden lose of air pressure, most of the time) and run cooler.(no tube rubbing against the tyre) Always run new rubber valve stems or change over to the metal type ones if you want to. Hint #1 Run short rubber valve stems as the long ones flex over when the wheel speeds up. Hint #2 Use good metal valve caps with the rubber insert inside as the valve will lose air when you ride at a good pace. Hint #3 Carry different size self tapping screws to use when you have a puncture, remove nail or what-ever and screw suitable self tapping screw back into tyre to get you home or a garage SLOWLY. (Doesn't always work but worth a try most of the time)
 
Both of you gave me the answer I wanted to hear. Thank you very much!

I love this site!

Terry
 
My 1150 has tubeless rims and tubless tires. Adding tubes would only make the tires retain more heat.
Click to expand...

I always thought that getting your tires hot was a good thing, like for traction and all?
 
When I had a flat on the rear of my 83 1100E a couple of months ago, my mechanic told me I had tube rims. He did pull a tube out of the tire.
And they are the original rims for the 83 :? :?
 
Hey Crag, "83" 1100 E's came with tubeless rims. Beware of your mechanic.
 
Tubeless rims have "TUBELESS" cast in raised letters on the rim. Unless that is cast on your rim, it is not a tubeless rim.

Earl

crag antler said:
When I had a flat on the rear of my 83 1100E a couple of months ago, my mechanic told me I had tube rims. He did pull a tube out of the tire.
And they are the original rims for the 83 :? :?
Click to expand...
 
what kinda tire setup does a 79 GS have? tubed?

...i find this interesting.

~Adam
 
I have to get new tires front and rear for my 80gs1000g can i put tubeless tires on?
John.
 
LOOK on the rim if it says tubeless that tells you NO tubes.
All spoke type wheels require a tube
 
We've been through all this before, but I guess it's been a while, and some folks have joined this forum since. So, here it goes again. I can speak mostly for the big shafties, although these generalizations may well apply to 750's, 650's, 550's, etc.

Lynn and others are correct. If the wheel says it's made for tubeless application, then by all means install the tire without a tube. You should have no problem at all with this, unless the wheel is damaged in some way that it won't allow the tire to hold air. This seldom happens.

If your GS is an 82, 83, 84, or 85 model, then it's equipped with tubeless wheels, front and rear, and you should install both tires without a tube. This is what the factory, (and common sense), recommends. I had two 1982 GS850G's, and both of them had wheels that were clearly stamped as tubeless.

Now go to the Gallery in this website, go to 1982 models, and look at the wheels off a typical GS850. Now go to 1981 and see the same model bike, a GS850, and look at the wheels. Different look, eh? The earlier wheel has that "pentagram" look. Not only did they look different; the 82 and more recent model front wheel is one size larger in width than the earlier one.

On the earlier bikes (81 and older) the rear wheel was clearly stamped "tubeless", while the front was not. So, the owner of, say, a 1980 GS1000G will be able to install a tire without a tube in the rear; however, the front wheel should include a tube, since it isn't stamped "tubeless". Weird setup, tubeless in one, tube in the other -- but that's the way it is.

Owners of, say at 1982 GS1100G don't have to worry about that, since both tires are clearly marked for tubeless installation. Should these tires be installed with a tube? Frankly, it would be dumb to do so, for the reasons stated elsewhere in these messages.

I have a 1984 GS1100GK. When I bought it in late 1999, I did not notice that the front wheel was damaged, but not enough to leak air. I noticed this when my mechanic was removing the tire it came with. Surprise! So, I started using the front wheels (one at a time!) off my parted-out 1979 and 1980 GS850's -- the old-style tubed wheels. They fit perfectly. Even today, I still use those tubed wheels on my GK, and I always have a brand new tube installed in them. These front wheels are interchangeable; different, but interchangeable.

I hope I didn't confuse anyone with this lengthy post, but I thought I'd better share what I do know.

Nick
 
I can only speak to non-shafties and not with much authority. My mechanic says 1982 was the transition from tube to tubeless on the GS1100E. Mine does not say tubeless and sadly requires tubes. Some later production '82s are stamped tubeless and don't require tubes. As far as I know, all '83s are tubeless, but it could have been a less than smooth transition.

So much easier to plug a hole with a tubeless.
 
Nick hit the nail on the head. The rear is stamped "tubeless" and the rear is not. It's a 1980 GS850L (shaftie).

Thanks,

Terry
 
I'm in the same boat as Bert. My '82 1100E rims do not say "tubeless" so I run tubes in'em.
 
I've heard before that a wheel is tube type unless it is stamped "tubeless" but I really don't agree. The front wheel on my "83" GS 1100 E doesn't say tubeless, yet I'm sure the "83" 1100's came from the factory with tubeless tires. I've always ran tubeless tires on any cast wheels, didn't matter if they said tubeless or not. Everyone around our local bike shop ran tubeless because they should run cooler. I've seen & been around many, many bikes with tires mounted this way, and have never heard of any problems. I don't ride near as agressive now as I did back then, but in the late "70"'s & early "80"'s, we looked for the crooked roads and tried to act like Wes Cooley & Kenny Roberts, and I'm telling you no problems. If anyone has experience any problems, after trying tubeless on rims not stamped tubeless, please let us know, you may convince me to put a tube in the front of my 1100. The one tubeless problem I do remember is an "84" 1150 E, the front tire was flat when it came out of the crate. We aired it up & about a week later it was low again. Finally found bubbles around the valve stem, behold a tiny crack, not visible from the outside & barely visible from the inside. Warranty took care of this "tubeless" wheel. I could start another disagreement, I have an "86" GS 1150 & an "83" CB 1100 F Honda with a radial on one end and a bias ply on the other, never a hint of a problem from any of them
 
(whisper mode) I don't have tubes in my '81 and it is not stamped tubeless(/whisper mode) 8)

Hap doesn't run tubes either. Neither of us have had problems. I took my non-stamped rear wheel and directly compared it to a stamped rear wheel and there was no difference in the cross section of the sidewall/bead seat area. The only difference was in the center of the rim, one was U shaped and one was more squareish. But this section would never have contact with a tire so it is not an issue either way.....
 
I agree that one may indeed run tubeless on wheels not marked as such. On the newer (82 +) models, that should be fine, even if not specifically marked tubeless as such. On the older models, 81 and older, particularly the shafties, I would hesitate to run tubeless unless it's specifically marked as such.

People have different ways of looking at the same situation. For me, running a tube in my older-style front wheel is the thing to do. I ride a lot, and I often go out in the middle of nowhere, far from home. The last thing I want to do is risk a flat or low tire. It's a chance I just don't want to take. Some others may shrug this worry off, on the other hand. That's fine. To each his own...

Nick
 
Of coirse you can try and run tubeless tyres on rims that do not say tubeless..they may work, they may not. The manufacturer however has not produced the bike to run tubeless necessarily. There may be pourorisity issues, and I seem to remember that earlier rims had different rim profiles (before such things were standardised)

Unless you go racing, I don't think there is anything in it either way, so I would not loose any sleep over tube/no tube really.

Then again..I run spokes...non-BMW types that run tubes!!!!
 
Jeff Tate said:
I'm in the same boat as Bert. My '82 1100E rims do not say "tubeless" so I run tubes in'em.
Click to expand...

Which is a pain when you run over a drywall screw like I did a few weeks ago. The tire was from last October, so I needed to replace it anyway, but a simple plug would've been nice.
 
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