Converting a tube tire wheel to tubeless

[Omega Man]

Lots of tire and flat talk on the forum lately. I was wondering about the tubeless conversion process. If I ever bought another new bike, I would be looking for tubeless tires as a main “must” have.
I have a K-60 on the back of the F800GS and I wouldn’t want to mess with that on the side of the road. Woody’s Wheel seems to be one of the recommended vendors for this.
Anyone have real experience with a tubeless conversion? How did it go? Would you do it again?
TIA
OM

 

[swall]

If you want tubeless tires, then buy a machine that comes with them.

 

[Omega Man]

If you want tubeless tires, then buy a machine that comes with them.

No help
Next
OM

 

[junkjohn]

Try searching "how to make motorcycle rims tubeless" seems like there is a lot of info. Good luck. Miss seeing you at breakfast.

 

[Omega Man]

Try searching "how to make motorcycle rims tubeless" seems like there is a lot of info. Good luck. Miss seeing you at breakfast.

Yeah, trying to see what others have done and real world results. Probably $100. or so to ship to Woody’s. Things may have advanced since ‘09 to make a change feasible.
As for breakfasts, I gave up. I’m sure we can catch up sometime.
Thanks
Gary

 

[henzilla]

Have read enough on Woody’s and on other sites to feel confident of the conversions. Just in process of sending a set off a R12R Classic to have it done. The rims on that model already are built to have the needed lip to work without a tube.
I was going to do it myself with the kit mentioned on ADV as H is waiting for that bike to be sold by it’s current owner... but got the current owner to have Woody’s do it instead so I can do something else more fun.

 

[jagarra]

I thought about making the conversion myself, have all the parts required, I enclosed a link to a YouTube video on the conversion. When they recommended the sealing marine 3M item, that comes in different grades, from extremely difficult to remove to somewhat difficult, I figured one might later want to be able to expose the spoke nipples for spoke repair later on, so I purchased 3M Marine Fast cure 4000UV, the stuff they used sets closer to epoxy if you check out the specs on the products in this series. All items were available on Amazon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPzoqi_4X7o&t=10s

good luck.

 

[stooie]

OM:

As an alternative approach, might it be worth while to see if the cast wheel from an F750GS fits your bike?

Good luck!

 

[riderr1150gsadv]

The sealing part is the easy part of the deal but a tubeless tire requires a tubeless rim whereas a tubed tire will always fit any wheel.. It is in the lip of the rim where the tire sits that determines what fits...
Same with MTB bikes. I see a lot of peeps trying to convert and it works ok until they do big drops and blow the tire off the rim. YMMV

 

[FELAW]

Lots of tire and flat talk on the forum lately. I was wondering about the tubeless conversion process. If I ever bought another new bike, I would be looking for tubeless tires as a main “must” have.
I have a K-60 on the back of the F800GS and I wouldn’t want to mess with that on the side of the road. Woody’s Wheel seems to be one of the recommended vendors for this.
Anyone have real experience with a tubeless conversion? How did it go? Would you do it again?
TIA
OM

I did a tubeless conversion on my R100 30 years ago. We put in tubeless valve stems and balanced the wheels, that's it. Never had a problem although I am told the rim is different for a tubeless. With the amount of effort it takes to get a tubeless tire mounted, I don't know how it could ever "blow off the rim" and, of course, YMMV.

 

[PGlaves]

I did a tubeless conversion on my R100 30 years ago. We put in tubeless valve stems and balanced the wheels, that's it. Never had a problem although I am told the rim is different for a tubeless. With the amount of effort it takes to get a tubeless tire mounted, I don't know how it could ever "blow off the rim" and, of course, YMMV.

Yeah. Those engineers that designed the retention rim and the interlocking tire bead didn't know what they were doing it seems.

 

[henzilla]

The sealing part is the easy part of the deal but a tubeless tire requires a tubeless rim whereas a tubed tire will always fit any wheel.. It is in the lip of the rim where the tire sits that determines what fits...
Same with MTB bikes. I see a lot of peeps trying to convert and it works ok until they do big drops and blow the tire off the rim. YMMV

Had read and can confirm from side by side comparison, the R series used on the Classic Roadster, and several of the 9T’s are machined the same. Trying to remove a rear tire had me thinking it was even tighter attempting to insert demount bar. They supposedly meet the EU or the German standard... most likely the latter.
Yes, some tube rims one could almost break a bead looking at it.

 

[riderr1150gsadv]

In that case it very well may work if the rim can be sealed up.

 

[lkchris]

Way back when ... the 1950s probably .... when the industry switched mostly to tubeless tires it determined the wheels should have a bead retention safety rim. I dare you to add one to your tube type rim. You can’t and there is no possible safe conversion of what you have. You can risk your safety as you wish, but don’t attempt convincing anyone you have a conversion solution. Samples of one are evidence of nothing and not how professional engineering is accomplished.

 

[jagarra]

I am not sure if anyone checked out the site that had the conversion instructions for the rim, but I found something interesting when I looked at a comment about the tubless conversion from a technician on the site. The big issue brought up is that the rim doesn’t have the proper retaining recess for a tubless application. His suggestion was to seal the center of the rim per the video, then install a tube, then sealing the valve stem to the inside of the rim with a bead of silicon sealer and cinch it down when the tire is installed. Now you have a sealed unit with a tube inside. He figured if you had a puncture the air could only escape at that point on the tire and tube, if the tire was repaired as a tubless with a plug ignoring the hole in the tube and inflated it should hold air as there is no path for air to escape.

 

[bobs_one]

Tublis

Not sure if you guys are aware of this system http://tubliss.com/

I have it on my dirt bike(s) and it works great. I can't really see why it wouldn't work on a street bike, but there are probably reasons that I don't understand.

Concepts are probably universal though - the inner "tube" seals the bead to the rim, in conjunction with their rim lock device. It'll hold the tire from spinning on the rim through major applications of torque (so should hold it on most street bikes) and through major impacts. An benefit is that it really reduces the chance of bending a rim when you hit something.

Unfortunately, the available wheel sizes are limited (only 18", 19" and 21" rims)- but I wonder if you could make up your own version....

 

[MCMXCIVRS]

The stock F800GS rims do have the required safety bead as does pretty much every modern motorcycle rim except for true off road rims on dirt bikes. Being tubed or tubeless is not the determining factor for having a safety bead.

I had Woody's build a set of wheels for my 800, the rear was sealed and worked very well. Because I chose to use a narrower front rim than stock, it did not have the safety bead and thus still had to be used with a tube and the narrow profile did not leave much of a depression in the center of the rim to seal anyway and still be able to mount a tire. The stock wider rim or equivilant aftermarket rim would have been fine.