I rode my bike about a 70 mile trip a week or two ago well I got back then the next morning I got up and decided to go for another ride well I got out there and the back tire was flat. I aired it up and it went flat right back again well the other night I decided to try and find out what was wrong well it turns out every spoke on my rear wheel is leaking!! I tried tightening them up but it still leaks. What should I do? Its also a tubless tire. I've never ran into this problem before. Oh yea my bike is a vlx600 shadow that I hardtailed.
There should be a piece of rubber that goes around the inside of the wheel, where the spokes are, that keeps the air from leaking around the spokes.
That strip of rubber used is actually to keep the spokes from rubbing on an innertube. I would just put a tube in it and be done with it.
just because the tire is tubeless doesn't mean the rim is! if it's a spoked rim, run tubes. only exception is if the ******s are siliconed over as done on some car rims, but rarely on bikes. the rim strip is only to protect the tube from abrasion from the ******s.
Actually there are plenty of exceptions.... Just FYI... My Jag wires on my Buick are tubeless... as well as a lot of the newer spoked rims on bikes... Most of them have o-rings and sealer... but the easy fix is to just throw a tube in her...
Motorcycle rims that use spokes need tubes, the spoke is always moving during operation and will never seat well enough to hold air pressure. To fix the problem you could try to seal each ****** or just run a tube.
Bet? Not saying they're foolproof, but there are more than a few out there... And if you're running Radials they actually make specific tubes, not sure the difference.... The first time I saw them I was skeptical. But the '94 KTM Duke had them. Pretty neat set up as well... I believe they used a nylon tape over the ******s as well...
i saw in some chopper rag a while back that has a spray/brush on type sealer that eliminates the need for tubes on a spoked rim....
Take a close look: your BMW has spokes that end up on the EDGE of the rim. Seriously, where ever did you get the idea that you could put a tubeless tyre on a spoked rim without a tube?? Spokes go through HOLES in the rim, holes let in AIR (also out). Tubeless tyres work much better if the air stays IN the tyre, however, a tubeless tyre has a large OPEN section quite near the holes in the rim. This leads to a flat-ish condition. Go buy a tube, put it in like we have been doing for more years than not, and go riding. Cosmo P.S. There may be certain ways of getting around tubes in spoked wheels, but none of them are anything other than for show ONLY. Getting a flat while running at speed is often fatal, always painful, and a tube costs less than a dime note. Most hospital stays are more.
Where can I find a tube for my bike for a reasonable price? It has I believe a 170/70 15" tire or maybe a 170/80 15" tire? My bike came with tubeless tires with spokes from the factory. and it has radials I believe. I know the tread looks kind of like some of the sport bike tires I see. except mine are white walls.
Yes I agree! There are company's that have made spoke wheels with a rubber seal on the inside of the rim, but after a while they all leak and lose air, best thing is to always put a tube in a spoked motorcycle rim no mater if the tire is tubeless or not!!
While you're at it check your spoke tensions. There is a reason it suddenly started leaking after all this time - Most likely because your spokes are getting loose and moving the ******s around a bit which then broke whatever the factory put in there to seal them up.
I just checked with my buddy that has a new KTM Duke, we went to see this bike. He has spokes with radials and guess what KTM uses tubes. So they have radial tubes for motorcycles. He did tell me that there is a racing wheel shop in Ca that convert these to run tubless but they have a seal under each ****** and teflon tape to the threads on the ******s, I don't know what the super motards are running, but if it was me I run a tube.
Which Duke? The first ones (1994) were indeed tubless spoked rims. Sorry if you saw one with a tube in it. And they had a seal on each spoke as well as tape...
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