I was just talking to Coker tire about tires(der!) and the guy brought up a point I never realy thought much about. I mentioned to him that I wanted to run Coker Bias-Ply tires on some machined aluminum motorcycle wheels, see my other post: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80448 and he cautioned me that those do not have a safety bead machined into them like modern steel wheels. He did say that running tubes should lessen the concern. Is this something I should be concerned with? Motor
Not really since you're running tubes. Think about all us guys running around on early Ford wheels.....
Think about all us guys running around on early Ford wheels.....[/QUOTE] Hell I put on some Indian motorcycle tires (from Coker) on a pair of old rusted up '40 wheels on my car. No one ever said looking cool had to be safe -Dean
I wouldn't worry much. I don't think old 16" Ford wheels have a "saftey rim" either. I think you could run a tubeless tire if you wanted. And with an aluminum wheel, you shouldn't need a tube to keep it from leaking down. The saftey rim is supposed to keep the tire on the wheel in the event of a total blowout.
Right - & it does. I had a blowout on the left front at 115 in a Dodge Dart in my younger days & it wasn't a problem keeping it straight & under control. It felt like the front end was jumping 2 ft. off the ground, though. I can't imagine what it would be like any faster if the rim lost the tire completely (like they will do without a safety bead). I don't think I'll take any such chances - I'm prone to high-speed driving every once in a while... ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver" Bush is on a tour of the east; he's visiting American jobs...
a motorcycle can run them tubeless at high speeds with no problems but i do think the side load on a bike is much less then a car and would be more concerned about the wheel then the tire bead.
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