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Tubeless Spokes

41K views 123 replies 37 participants last post by  CSRoad 
#1 ·
So it begins. ;)

 
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#2 ·
You planning on going tubeless or something???? Or is the glue to keep you butt atttached to the pan seat?
 
#4 · (Edited)
... Or is the glue to keep you butt atttached to the pan seat?
BWAHahahaha! :roll:

Scott, are you gonna do pics along the way?
C'mon B, you know me. :wink: I certainly will try. Still waiting for tires though. Haven't ordered them as I'm waiting on confirmation of a price match.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Ah, well today .... A beautiful day in South Florida. Did I ride? Yes. Albeit a short ride because I wanted to get a jump start on removing the tires from the wheels so I could begin the sealing process. But Aced It, you haven't even received your tire iron set yet. So. Let's just say I'm pretty handy at using whatever's at my disposal.

First, a few ride pics by the bay. A homeless dude was right beside me in these pics. Drunker than Hell ... funny donkey dung right there! He was excessively complimentary of my scoot, but dayum, he wouldn't shut up! He blabbed on about his having been a millionaire, knowing every single person that lives in those wealthy houses across the bay, his working in the bait shop (just out of pic) as a child, his dying mother, his father the NY accountant ... then after about 15 minutes of chatting, he began to leave and mumbled, "I don't mean to bother you again, but do you have a quarter?" ... Yeah, I saw that coming ... I gave him a dollar and told him not to spend it on beer. He laughed ... I laughed. Then he hopped on his bicycle with three beers in a plastic bag on the handlebars and bid me fair well. :wink:

Ride pics (and the last time you'll see her on the Dunlops).




Remove the air and break the bead. I used my Dremel to modify a small torx bit in order to remove the valve (sorry I couldn't get my phone-cam to focus for that shot). I also cut up a water bottle to use as rim protectors. Worked quite well! What you don't see is that I was using one hand to "hang" from the garage door beam to balance myself while hopping on the shovel. Hahahaha, my wife was laughing! Hey, it worked! :mrgreen: I will add too that the rear tire was a bit more difficult than the front, but overall not a problem.
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Remove the tire. Yeah, that's a baseboard removal tool. I used that, a flimsy screwdriver and a crowbar. My neighbor came over after I did one tire and had another baseboard tool. That made it easier.


Wire-wheel the inside of the rim. Not shown is spraying it down with Formula 88 degreaser, hosing off and blowing dry. I'll let it dry in the house overnight to get rid of all humidity and wet spots.


And as she sits and how she'll sit for probably over a week or so while I wait for the new tires.


It was suggested that the title of my thread be changed to "Tubeless Spokes!" I like that idea! ....... Moderator/Admin, can you please do this? Thanks! :)
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
I got busy today and fabbed up a stand from some scrap wood I had. Nothing pretty, just all function. Freebies! Love 'em! ... Anyway, I'll be using this for not only the sealing process, but for refinishing the PD on the rims and layin' down some new WWW's on the new tires; and if I need to balance the wheels. The Ride-On puncture protectant claims to do a fair job at that, so we'll see. The stand uses the stock wheel axles to permit the wheels to spin freely.


Ran to the auto store and got some tubeless tire valves. These were kinda cool as it gives you the option of using one of two different diameter rubber collars.



I chose the .453" diameter as I wanted to leave as much rim material between the valve stem and the closest spoke. By the way, so you don't have to run to look it up, .453" = 29/64" ... my drill bits are in fractions. I actually ended up with a 7/16" hole using my multi-bit. I found that the .453" collar fits in a little more snug.




Ah, now the magic! I began the sealing process by dabbing some 5200 on each spoke end. Then I went around and massaged each dab into the spoke ends. After that, I rotated the wheel and put three strips of sealant around the wheel and smoothed it all in. I sealed around the tire valve stem as well, being careful to not clog the air tunnel.




So that's where I'm at as of now. I have the wheels inside my house so the curing process can go smoothly without the heat and humidity of the garage playing a factor.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Excellent! I take it you used wood glue and screwed through the bottom plywood base and also put more carpenters out of work.

The Ride-On puncture protectant claims to do a fair job at that, so we'll see.
Just me, but I never quite understood why such a brief aside like the above would set off a sub-branch, here, on the merits of Ride-On since the overall topic is instead focused on sealing spoke rims. However, is Ride-On liquid/gel compatible with 5200 sealant, or vis-versa even? They won't make contact with each other in a centrifugal spinning wheel but can't avoid some Ride-On getting splattered on the internal valley of the rim. The known problem with Dyna beads is that ceramic beads occasionally get lodged in the Schrader valve stems, so the rule is to always inflate your tire from a compressor to clear out any rampant beads if that happens. The only down side with Ride-On besides the product is not available in my zip code is that it reacts with aluminum, but only slightly I believe.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
Does the 3M sealant remain flexible after it cures? I wonder how it would hold up during the winter storage months here in Minnesota - if it would crack or not with our occasional 25 degrees below zero weather. I guess since 3M made the product it would be fine. Love the Minnesota companies!!!
 
#16 ·
Has this been done b4 or are you being a pioneer? ;-)
I always thought the rim lip was different between tube and tubeless?? Will the tubeless tire seat securely on the rim?? Sure wouldn't want to be in a turn and have the the tire de-bead. :shock:
 
#18 ·
The inside of the rim has a safety lip that keeps the bead in place during cornering. I believe all modern bike wheels including spoked have this design. Also consider that a tubeless tire actually goes down very slowly, because the air can only escape around the nail/object pushed through the tire carcass (or even more slowly through poorly sealed spoke nipples or a bad rim seal). When the same happens to an inner tube, pressure is lost almost instantly from the tube, which collapses with supposedly dangerous consequences should the tire come off the rim.

And no, I'm not a pioneer ... I only play one on the internet. :wink: The process of sealing spoked wheels has been around a long time, both in DIY form and companies that convert/manufacture sealed spokes.
 
#23 ·
Forgot to mention, but it should be obvious. Keep the bead seat area free from the sealant; basically from the outermost lip of the rim inward to the bead seat safety hump, keeping all sealant in the center valley of the wheel (see pic).

 
#28 · (Edited)
orlenz, you're a freakin genius, and a very callous one at that. I'll tell you why. Aced It has done more work on this wheel mod than most have done in the past hundred years on their entire bike and that doesn't include the rest of his Road-to-Rod project. Taking pics then uploading the pics to Photobucket or whatever picture hosting site just so the pics can be posted here takes up time. Proof reading the text is even more unheralded. Naturally you're entitled to your opinion, but in this instance, yes, perhaps you elaborate the "none" comment so readers don't mistake it for graffiti if it wasn't at that. Paging, Prof. Orlenz.



 
#33 ·
... he said with a sense of humor, a wink and a slight chuckle and I'm sure a huge bundle of cash in his pocket. :wink:

I did ask what his reasoning was, so that in and of itself you think would prompt an explanation as to whether it was a serious comment, done in complete jest, or simply a trolling answer to get one's post count up. :mrgreen:
 
#34 ·
So someone said, "the benifit is that you can repair yourself while on the road" (paraphrased by my i am sure).

How does that work?

I have never repaired a tubeless tire (took them back to the shop that put them on in the first place) and on the vehicles I have had problems with maintaining air (mostly my overused backhoe) it didnt seem to matter which I went to, both tubed and tubeless were problems and I ended up solid filling them.
 
#37 ·
I'm interested in the final result, thanks for posting these pics of your work, gives one an idea of how to, if one were to D.I.Y.

cheers :)
 
#38 ·
I have seen those kits before and didnt believe they worked...lol Thats cool!

I saw an add for a "tire inflator" made for 4 wheelers (off road away from compressors and such) that you attached to your muffler and used that to inflate your tire. Anyone ever see or use one of those before?
 
#40 ·
NO link, dont remember where I saw it even... I do remember it had a plug that stuck INTO the exhaust pipe on the 4 wheeler and a hose and then the attachment to fill tire. I might have seen it at a 4 wheeler store in Montana when i was there last week...??
 
#45 ·
I'm not sure if I'm interpreting this correctly. The kit used the exhaust pressure to "pump-up" the tire? That's genius!! (if I'm understanding that correctly)

No experience to back this opinion up :), but I naively think/opinionate that NOT having an inner-tube would only be a positive. One less thing to deal with. Less is better. Occam's razor! :)

Great work, Ace! Your mod's will never end will they? LOL!
 
#43 ·
I have only had 1 flat on a Bike in 35 yrs of riding and it is no fun at speed when it happens.I was on my CB125s and I got a flat and it was all I could do to get it stopped without wrecking it.I had already ordered a new tire as the old one was bald as a babys butt but it hadnt arrived yet.Got the Bike Home and got a new tube and fought that Biotch for a few hrs and finally got it back together and Holding air after 2 tubes and I took it for a ride. 20 min later my new tire showed up so I changed the tire twice and went through 2 tubes to get back on the road.A Plug Kit would have been a 5 min done deal.
 
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