1.5 hrs hard labor....

[planedick]

I just wanted to know if it was possible to fix a flat myself. The Pathfinder has a tube type rear wheel and today I picked up a nail in it so I wanted to know if I could patch it alongside the highway. I had been carrying patch kits, CO2 inflater and tire irons just in case. Well, after 1.5 hrs hard labor it's done and back on the bike. I'm glad I did it at home and not on the highway as there were a couple of things I needed that I didn't have. First was a clamp to break the sidewall away from the rim. I tried to do it as if I were along the road, but needed to gat a clamp to do it. Second, I couldn't get the bead to reseat in one place as I had no soapy water to help putting it back together. Other than those two things it was a success. I figure on the roadside it would take at least 2 hrs and I am going to try my best to not have to do that. Being an AMA member and paying for their Mo-Tow should help.

I am in the market for a rear tire from a '79 or later standard (17") to replace mine. I really would rather carry a plug kit and not have to remove the tire to fix a flat. Anyone got a spare for sale?

[DiverRay]

I just paid for one I got on ebay for 58.00 delivered. I am going to use it on the '78 I'm trying to work on. If you keep an eye open, or ask Andreas, you should be able to find one. I DO have tubeless on front and rear of daily ride. You need to be careful, as they made the change from tube to tubeless midyear in '79. Any of the '80 and up 17" will work.

[thewiz]

B]Anyone got a spare for sale?[/B]

There ain't any..... the rim-monster has eaten 'em all up. I know this cuz I had a spare 17" tubless rim that I had just gotten at a garage sale .... left it outside overnight .... was gone in the morning ... big 6-toed footprints nearby, broken branches on the bushes, and a strange silvery-looking turd in the yard .... all the signs were there .... Go figure? .... a work of caution ... if ya' do get one, DicK, don't let it out of your sight [

[fredintoon]

So try one and see

Hi planedick,
I have been successfully running tubeless tires on several Yamaha cast wheels since 1986 when I bought my first XS650. Some of those cast wheels were stamped and some were not but they all stayed inflated. Admittedly although the XS650 & XS11 front wheels are identical and I'm running an XS650 front on my XS11 right now, the rear wheels are totally different and the one XS11 rear wheel that I have does indeed have the "suitable for tubeless tires" lettering on it so I can't say from personal experience that your unlettered 17" rear wheel is guaranteed to work with a tubeless tire but I really do expect that it will. You will note that the other writing on those rims, (Asahi Iron Works etc), is all in cast raised lettering that was part of the manufacturing process while "suitable for tubeless tires" has been punched in afterwards with a letter stamp. What I reckon is, all those cast wheels are OK with a tubeless tire but they only stamped them because folks kept asking if they were.
So put a tubeless air valve in the rim you have, scour the wheel's bead grooves squeaky clean, soap it up good and put a tubeless tire on it. If it's still pumped up after a day or two it's good to go.

[thewiz]

Hey Fred ... what does he do with the bead locks? More valve stems?

[mro]

Tube-less tire repair.... (rear)
Can be patched without removing from bike.
Have tried the plugs too, but have not as much faith in em as a patch. So far no flats on a front tire.


mro

[fredintoon]

"what does he do with the bead locks?"

Hi Wiz,
a nut & bolt & rubber washer?

[planedick]

Different bead lock

The tube rim has different bead locks than a tubless rim. The tire won't stay on in a flat situation at speed and could cause big road rash. Just imagine a tire off the rim and tangled up in everything at highway speed... Besides I don't know anyone or any shop that will install a tubless tire on a tube rim. I consider doing that extremely dangerous and adding to the danger of riding, especially like I do is really over the top.

[ppv]

Ive rode with Richard. he is a fast rider. I would not put a tubeless on a tube rim. My 79 f came tubeless thak god tube tires are a pain in the butt Pete

[thewiz]

What ppv said ....

totally agree ... Richard definately knows ... and yup, tubes suck BUT if I had a tube type rim, I would run a tube ... no ifs ands or buts