Why me?

[TonimusMaximus]

Allrighht guys. Yet another issue. How do I tell if the tires on my bike are innertube or tubeless. It's a '78E, BUT it has tires that match the dimentions of a Special. How can I check this?



P.S.: In reference to another thread, my XS could be compared to herpes.

[John]

Tony, do you have a tire off the bike? If so, it's not to hard to break the bead and look to see if there is a tube in there. You said they are the dimension of a Special? 19" in the front and 16" in the rear? Should have a 17" in the rear. What does it say on the sidewall of the tire? Tube type or tubeless? My 80 Special has tubless tires on it, but then I am running wheels from an XJ11, but the original wheels were tubless.

[Snow]

I believe the rims are stamped "Tubeless Type" or similar if they are XS11 Tubeless type.

[kkrazyt85]

Tube type vs Tubeless

Ok the trick is all in the Valve stem...tube type rims should have a metal threaded valve stem with nut holding it to the rim protruding out of the rim or just a smooth rubber stem protruding from the rim... And tubeless tires and rims will have a valve stem that has a bulge around the hole in the rim covering the it up so that you can't actually see the hole in the rim...this is how it seals the air inside the rim...there is a bulge on the inside of the rim as well to help seal it as well...also the rims have tubeless stamped into one or more of the spokes. Some after market tubeless type stems are threaded metal as well but the will still have a seal around the hole in the rim....
TUBELESS TYPE

TUBE TYPE
Notice there is no seal around the stem where it protrudes thru the rim

[sixtysix]

Rim will be stamped 'tubeless' if if is a tubless rim. You have a 130/90 -16 on your standard? Must be somebody modified it. Standard should be a 17 rear.