[Beezer]

My wife's 07 Spirit 750 is still up on the jack awaiting USPS to bring our inner tube. I was cleaning splines, wiping down the wheel. This is a beautiful wheel. Nice heavy gauge steel and good chrome plating. Thank you Honda.
It was mentioned here the other day that I should seal the spoke nipples inside to eliminate the tube. Sounds like good idea but....
Most of the spoked wheels I've ever had were Dunlop steel wheels. Every so often they need some tweeking. Check for wobble and adjust, check for "tune" with a tiny hammer and just snug them up a little a couple times a year.
Everyone knows the Japanese bikes have British bikes beat hands down in the maintenance department. English bikes are loved by their owners because they have to be worked on nearly as often as they are used, at least more than Japanese bikes. Do the wheels ever need tweeking? Do they get checked occasionally for wobble? The sealer would eliminate the ability to adjust them.

 

[adlowe]

Aced It and Toolferone are the guys I'd ask based on what's in the threads I linked under their handles. I've never adjusted the spokes on my wheels though I have checked them for tightness and the wheels for true. (It's been over 30,000 miles since anyone else has had hands on my rims.)

 

[Beezer]

Well if you've been 30,000 miles and haven't had to adjust them I'd say that's a pretty good testament. I notice these spokes are heavier than I'm used to seeing and I like that. If I were going to pick a term to describe the rear wheel assembly I think "Robust" sounds accurate.

 

[TenDollarBill]

I'm at 17,000 on my 08 spirit and have never had to adjust the spokes.

 

[2500hdon37s]

20k mi on my '08 aero and never touched the spokes. But I would never bother with trying to seal up a spoked rim. too many potential points of failure and you start messing with the balance of the wheel trying to add stuff to seal it. put in the tube and go about your business.

 

["Captain D"]

I "listen" to my spokes at least once a month, and more often for road trips...
At 122,000 I`ve not had to touch them to tighten any...

I believe you`d be OK to seal the rim for tubeless application...

Merry Christmas
Ann & Dennis

 

[Beezer]

I really have no problem at all using a tube in a motorcycle tire. I mentioned it here that I had a flat and it was suggested that I seal the inside and go tubeless. That made me wonder about adjustments. I'm pretty much like most of the guys here in that I really have no trouble with tubes. Once ya get the hang of installing them it's only a minute or two longer. I did pinch one once, but that was a bicycle and I was probably about seven and I was using a screwdriver. I've improved my technique and tools a lot.

 

[7xclm]

Lots of baby powder inside the tire and on the tube. Helps the tube slide into position.

For balancing research Dyna beads. Make your own mind up, I like them a lot. Real smooth ride.

 

[adlowe]

I really have no problem at all using a tube in a motorcycle tire.

Same here. Only time I had a problem on the road it would not have mattered if I was tubeless. I have pinched a tube when installing a new tire on my bike because I was tired and careless. (Rhetorical question: Why is it that always seems to be a recipe for doubling the work?)

My wife, OTOH, should be running tubeless tires. She has a knack for picking up flat tires -- usually within the first 500 miles of riding a new tire.