• Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

    We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides. Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?

    Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

  • NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

Airhead wheels

Can you give more info on this valve??? Where can it be had? Price? Inquiring minds want to know. I'm thinking about going over to the "Dark Side" :)

I can't remember where I bought it.

The valve is bright chrome finish and the part fits the stock hole diameter so there is no drilling.

It has a formed rubber washer on either side of the rim and a metal washer on the outside as well as a nut.

I put a liberal amount of silicone on the inside and out before tightening the nut, let dry over night before mounting tires.

I faithfully check my air pressure every week and I only have lost one pound of air.

I did have my rims powder coated.
 

Attachments

  • Gold Wheels.jpg
    Gold Wheels.jpg
    112.9 KB · Views: 87
Thanks....Thats a good looking wheel, I too powder coated mine. Yea, I'm definitely thinking about going tubeless on the snowflakes. Read all the pros and cons, and I figure it's a whole lot better when it comes to flat tires. It's all about choices. I'll keep a look out for that valve. Thanks again.
 
Thanks....Thats a good looking wheel, I too powder coated mine. Yea, I'm definitely thinking about going tubeless on the snowflakes. Read all the pros and cons, and I figure it's a whole lot better when it comes to flat tires. It's all about choices. I'll keep a look out for that valve. Thanks again.

you'll have a slightly easier time finding some if you look for a Schrader valve, rather than a Shreader valve. In general, they are the valve stems necessary to run a tubeless tire. Darryl described one of the manufactured options.
 
I have had my share of flats over the years, and with tubeless tires I was always able to ride home with a plug. On bikes with tubes, well that was a different story. When they went flat, they went flat very fast. After reading all the positive things about tubeless tires on snowflakes, I think if I had to do it again I would run them too. This is a photo of a friends tire that picked up a large nail. He said he heard a ping as though a rock flew out from under the tire while riding, that was all. Apparently the ping was the nail hitting the swing arm and breaking off, there was a notch in it too. He rode the bike home and did not notice the nail until the next day while he was doing his morning inspection. The nail did go through the sidewall inside by about 1/4 of an inch. Wonder how fast he would have lost pressure if they had tubes in them.
 

Attachments

  • WHY I LIKE TUBLELESS TIRES.jpg
    WHY I LIKE TUBLELESS TIRES.jpg
    40.7 KB · Views: 61
....If you can live with BMW Snowflakes they can easily be switched to tubeless, I have been running them for 3 years now & a friend has over 300,000 miles on his conversion without any problems. You have to buy a special Shreader Valve that fits the stock hole size.

....Mr. Know-it-all above (the guy further up the thread, not the person who wrote this quote) said it just couldn't be done because the rims weren't "special" tubeless rims!! This quote proves that it can be done SAFELY! And LOTS of people have done it with literally THOUSANDS of miles....Guess the "expert" with his dogmatic advice was just blowing smoke...I think the snowflake wheels are perfect candidates for this switch.

Beyond the facts, the issue here is how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Question. Can tubeless tires be used on "tube" rims without a tube? Answer. Yes, if the rim will hold air (and anecdotes seem to support that BMW "snowflakes" will hold air, something easy for anyone to check in practice).

Question. Is it safe to use tubeless tires on tube rims without a tube if the rim will hold air? Answer. Depends on your view of the world in which we live.

The industry developed special rim profiles to help retain tire beads with the tire under load at very low pressures. The rim/bead retention design is one of the benefits of tubeless technology. I think the industry qualify as experts. The rim/bead design was not adopted on a whim. If you want all the benefits of tubeless technology, then the industry would say the answer is no.

I am not aware of any robust scientific investigation which "settles" any debate. For example how does the response of a tubeless tire on a tube rim differ if used with a tube or without when punctured ? not easily determined in practice. However, anecdotal reports suggest that some of the benefits may be available. There are no end of these stories to believe, or dismiss, but no one is forcing anyone to run tires on tube rims without tubes.. Individual choice.
 
Last edited:
How many failures?

I have been watching this topic with great interest. But so far no one has given evidence of a failure of a tire on a snowflake which was run tubeless. Where are the actual disasters that theory says will happen?
 
I have been doing some research and polled a number of long-time riders and wrenchers on another BMW list. There are not failures that anyone can remember. However, what I have heard more than just once is a situation which might not be snowflake related but might be a consideration for a problem with running any wheel tubeless. These situations involve either a rider encounter or in one case a person who was an accident investigation for motorcycles. The instances mentioned involve hitting a huge pothole or some obstruction which bent the snowflake rim, enough so that the tube was exposed or even poking out. Had there not been a tube, the posters indicate that would not be hear to day to write their experiences.

As I said, this is more of a knock on running tubeless, although, maybe the snowflakes might be more prone to this?? I doubt it. On the other hand, there are knocks against running tubes as well, from decompressive leaks/blowouts and the difficulty of roadside repair.

But that's all I could find or have heard about so far. If those people didn't have tube inside their snowflakes, they would have been down on the ground or over the edge of the cliff during their spirited ride.
 
"These situations involve either a rider encounter or in one case a person who was an accident investigation for motorcycles. The instances mentioned involve hitting a huge pothole or some obstruction which bent the snowflake rim, enough so that the tube was exposed or even poking out. Had there not been a tube, the posters indicate that would not be hear to day to write their experiences."

The above statement involves two serious errors. First, the overwhelming evidence that going tubeless has a proven track record without even 1 detraction. Second, who is to say that they "wouldn't be here hand it not been for the tube in the tire"? That is pure speculation on their part that is reminiscent of those who like to look back on incidents and imagine themselves as "facing death." Makes their retelling the story more exciting. But even more troubling is the fact that this single so-called evidence against running tubeless wouldn't just affect running tubeless on a tube-type wheel (the main topic of this thread) BUT would also apply to ALL tubeless wheels.

Are we to conclude that the thousands, maybe even millions of motorcycles, that have been "engineered" to run that way are all wrong? We should all go back to tubes?

After carefully following this thread for the past month, and then thinking about the concept myself, and reading up on the experiences of those who have made the changeover to tubeless, and seeing experts out there who say and make it work, I have now pursuaded myself that I should make the changeover on my motorcycle. Tubeless would sure make life easier.
 
After carefully following this thread for the past month, and then thinking about the concept myself, and reading up on the experiences of those who have made the changeover to tubeless, and seeing experts out there who say and make it work, I have now pursuaded myself that I should make the changeover on my motorcycle. Tubeless would sure make life easier.

Jimmy -

That's what is all about. No one is going to convince anyone one way or the other on this. It's another tire, oil, battery thread. You take the info that is provided, do your own research, weight the pros/cons, and make a decision that works for you. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Hopefully, during these "discussions", all considerations, fact or conjecture, are offered so that each owner can move forward on their own.

All my bikes have spokes, so I have no dog in this hunt. But if I did, my decision would be an easy one.

Good luck and see you down the road. :thumb
 
Jimmy -

That's what is all about. No one is going to convince anyone one way or the other on this. It's another tire, oil, battery thread. You take the info that is provided, do your own research, weight the pros/cons, and make a decision that works for you. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Hopefully, during these "discussions", all considerations, fact or conjecture, are offered so that each owner can move forward on their own.

All my bikes have spokes, so I have no dog in this hunt. But if I did, my decision would be an easy one.

Good luck and see you down the road. :thumb

I always appreciate your insights and comments - believe me! Whether I agree or disagree, I know, coming from you they are good comments - just a little whacky!! ---Just kidding - much appreciation.

On this one I think I have been motivated to do the switchover - maybe the next time I need a rear tire! My only concern is this: Is it REALLY worth the time to do all of this.

I will be honest, in my 40+ years of riding - lots of road, and quite a bit of dirt racing, I have NEVER had one, not one, flat tire! Hmmmm?
 
I always appreciate your insights and comments - believe me! Whether I agree or disagree, I know, coming from you they are good comments - just a little whacky!! ---Just kidding - much appreciation.

On this one I think I have been motivated to do the switchover - maybe the next time I need a rear tire! My only concern is this: Is it REALLY worth the time to do all of this.

I will be honest, in my 40+ years of riding - lots of road, and quite a bit of dirt racing, I have NEVER had one, not one, flat tire! Hmmmm?

NEVER SAY NEVER :gerg
 
Back
Top