I’m buying a motorbike with tubed tyres. A very experienced rider has suggested I fit Bike Seal. The dealer responded with:
“We can “fit” (I think is the word) the product for you however I have spoken to our service manager and head technician on this and both advise against it. The head techs point is that the tyre sealant is safe for slow speeds but if you took it on a motorway and you didn’t know you had a screw in the tyre it could tear the tube and would have a similar feeling to a blow-out.”
Anyone have any advice on whether or not this is a good idea?
https://revtothelimit.co.uk/index.php
I don't know, but they will.
I've run tubed tyres on both roads at 100+ and in track on supermotos
I don’t know but it sounds like a logical point to me. When I was a DR with Addison Lee in the ‘80’s I used to just carry a bottle of sealant in the top box for emergencies. Not sure I’d have wanted to fill it pre-emptively...
Dunno. Always had big bikes with tubed tyres, i wouldn't bother with anything.
Tubes, on a motorbike - are we in the (early) 70's? Not even my 1978 Yamaha 250 ran tubes, and certainly no road bike since.
IME the last thing you need on a motorbike is a puncture in a tubed-tyre as it (usually) deflates instantly.
it's not uncommon, very few spoked wheels are tubeless these days. Possibly a few more with some of the new KTMs and Triumphs, but a large chunk of them are still tubed if spokes.
Tubes are fine, your not riding a mountain bike off road, so puntures are few and far between. If your worried about a flat then fit some heavy duty tubes - you can get some real thick ones that are pretty much impossible to puncture.
I used to race offroad Enduro and used thick tubes - I dont ever remember getting a flat. Got one or two greenlaning due to stupidity 🙂
On road with my current bike (KTM 990 with tubes) ridden it since 2007, I have not had a puncture. You dont suffer a weight penalty, you are not off road with thin tires riding over cut hedges, you are not riding at low pressure trying to avoid a pinch flat.
Also you dont want gunk going solid in the tyre over time, you dont want the faff of replacing the fluid and you dont want the muck making a mess if you change your tyre.
+1 What Trimix said, only once had a puncture in tubed mcycle tyres, been riding since 1982
Trimix +2. No need to stick gunk in your tubes.
I've done 30k+ miles in 4 years on tubed tyres and had 2 punctures.
One whilst I was riding at about 50mph (did a further 20 miles before realising, no lasting damage to tyre or wheel)
The other was last week when I wheeled my bike out and noticed it was flat.
I wouldn't bother with anything additional.
i put slime in my tubes to help. ive so far had 1 puncture (screw) running tubes which didnt go flat and i was able to ride to the local dealer to get it repaired. that was much better than waiting for the AA or scratching up my rims trying to replace it myself at the side of the road.
the only real downside is that its much more effort to replace a tube than fix a tubeless. riding to my local dealer cost me the best part of £50 for the tube and half an hours labour.
tubed motorcycle tyres are a bit like pressfit bottom brackets, annoying, and you know there is a better option, but ultimately its not a deal breaker.
In 35 yrs or so riding I've never bothered with sealant.
Just get a Stop,n,Go repair kit and you'll be sorted.
