seating tire bead

[gareth]

I'm changing the tires on my 79 Standard today.
I'm fitting a 130-90/17 Dunlop DO4 to the rear..
I got the old tire off, and cleaned and scrubbed the rim with scotchbrite and got it looking really clean..
The new tire went on OK, and when I shot it with a blast of air, it inflated and I heard two pops as the beads appeared to seat..
Then,when I removed the air pressure, the tire relaxed off the rim and the beads didn't hold on the rim.. I tried this procedure a few times with the same result. I cleaned off the tire lube that I was using thinking, maybe, that might be causing the problem, but no dice.
I put the valve in and the tire appears to be holding air fine at 49psi...

I'm wondering if the wider tire is causing the problem. The older one was a 120-90 but some research on this suggested that the wider tire would be fine.

The tire appears to be centered on the rim, and it did appear to seat...just not "hold"

Anyone got any ideas?

Gareth

[JeffH]

If its holding 49psi then you are good to go.
Tire is stiff and can sometimes take a second or third attempt.
Its really got nothing much to do with the 130/90-17 since I've put those on many times without issue just like most of the XSives on here.
Just the luck of the draw if it centers and inflates the 1st time or needs multiple tries. And you said you were using a tire / rim lube anyways so you had that covered.

What I would want to check (you probably already have) is that when you spin the wheel the tire tracks evenly in the center, meaning not wobbling back and forth even if 1/8". Then on each sideway that as you rotate the wheel there is even spacing between the tire and the rim all the way around. The 'tell' is from a side view if the tire is loping as in not looking perfectly round or wiggling back and forth. If you don't see that then it should be good.

If you got that then you should be good. Of course you know that new tire is slippery slick so don't twist the throttle or lean too much for a 100miles until it scuffs in.

Hope that helps. From what you described it sounds good to go but carefully.

Jeff

[gareth]

Thanks, Jeff..

I just did the front tire and had a similar experience.
The tire seats, then slides off when the air is removed.
I'm working in hot, bright sunlight today.. The heat seems to make the tires really soft and they were pretty easy to mount by hand compared to other experiences I've had.. Maybe they're just not as rigid today to snap on like I'm used to. I have a powerful compressor, so pressure and volume wasn't an issue when attempting to pop the bead on.

[motoman]

gareth, your previous size tire was INCORRCT size. Air replacement to 40psi and go ride and enjoy. For width clearance of driveshaft tube, the 130x90x17 on my Venturer has .015 clearance with never an issue of hitting driveshaft tube.

[gareth]

New tires front and rear,
New 5W fork oil and clean air in the XJ rear air shocks that I added.
Bike feels like a new bike.
The old tires were on their last legs, literally through the rubber on the rear and into the fabric, squared off like a worn car tire..

I still have the racetech emulators to fit to the front.That will have to wait until my free time meets some enthusiasm to smell of stinky fork oil again.

;-)

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Gareth,

The only thing I can think of would be to make sure that first your rims say suitable for tubeless on the spoke. And then also that the tires you got were for TUBELESS and not tubed!

The rim profile is a bit different with the tubed rims, that's why they used beadlocks. However many folks have put tubeless tires on those tubed rims and have been fine, but like you experienced, if a puncture occurs and it deflates, the tire won't hold onto the RIM and can cause some severe handling problems when trying to come to a stop if you're rolling when the deflation occurs!

T.C.

[skids]

Hey Gareth,

The only thing I can think of would be to make sure that first your rims say suitable for tubeless on the spoke. And then also that the tires you got were for TUBELESS and not tubed!

The rim profile is a bit different with the tubed rims, that's why they used beadlocks. However many folks have put tubeless tires on those tubed rims and have been fine, but like you experienced, if a puncture occurs and it deflates, the tire won't hold onto the RIM and can cause some severe handling problems when trying to come to a stop if you're rolling when the deflation occurs!

T.C.

The last time I checked, I couldn’t find a tube type tire for the front of my 78 standards, although I didn’t try too hard. FYI, the front rims on the older tube-type rims do not have rim locks. If you get into the maintenance forum, Steve gave a good analyses of the rims. Since I am using tubeless tires on a tube type rims, I use tubes. From the limited research I have done, the tubes will cause less heat dissipation and you should not depend on the rating of the tire. One other thing, The last tire I had mounted by the shop looked like it was slowly leaking around the stem. I have determined that the bead seated with air between the tube and the rim. After a couple of days, and refilling the tire, the leak stopped. I was afraid that the tube had a hole in it (new tube), but that was not the case.

[gareth]

When I saw TC's post, I got a bit nervous that some previous owner might have swapped out the wheels at some point.
When I checked, the spokes are clearly marked suitable for tubeless. I hadn't ever noticed that stamping before, but I'm happy now that my tire/rim combo is legit.
I think that with new soft tires, polished rims, a very slick soap solution and a hot day that the rim just couldn't get a grip on the tire beads. I did hear them snap into place, they just didn't want to stay there. When TC mentioned that a leak might cause the tires to collapse at speed just like they did when I was fitting them and reduced the air, I double checked.

Looks like things are all good. It was definitely worth a second look.
It took some effort to break the beads on the old tires, so that's reassuring.