Tubeless or Nah?

[eddylindenstein]

My wife gave me the option for Christmas of getting tubeless rims.  They’re quite spendy, though, and I wonder if a better use of that cash would be to just get the next couple upgrades I want, which are the Camel ADV High Exhaust and maybe AXP Skid Plate.

 

In 13 years of riding, I’ve always had tubeless wheels - the T7 is actually my first non Tubeless.  In my first 5500 miles with it, the miles have probably been 50% dirt, but that’s not typical - I imagine it will be like 20% usually - so tubeless could be really nice for those asphalt flats.

 

would love to see some people who have bought some of the tubeless options and can speak on their experience and if they think that was a worthy upgrade or not.

[AZJW]

You don't have your location in your signature so not knowing the type of off road terrain you deal with,  it's hard to say.  Personally,  I'd be spending my upgrade dollars on a Camel gut guard and Rally pipe as the AZ rocks I deal with pose a threat to my oil sump and tires.  I, like many, have made the determination that tubed is the way to go for off road use, but that's a decision you'll need to make.  I've only had one rear flat on my T7 and since I was near a road that a trailer could travel, I opted to haul it home vs a field repair.  

[eddylindenstein]

9 minutes ago, AZJW said:

You don't have your location in your signature so not knowing the type of off road terrain you deal with,  it's hard to say.  Personally,  I'd be spending my upgrade dollars on a Camel gut guard and Rally pipe as the AZ rocks I deal with pose a threat to my oil sump and tires.  I, like many, have made the determination that tubed is the way to go for off road usem but that's a decision you'll need to make.  I've only had one rear flat on my T7 and since I was near a road that a trailer could travel, I opted to haul it home vs a field repair.  

I'm in the Pacific Northwest.  I did a few sections of the WABDR and IDBDR in the summer - I took a wrong turn on the WABDR and ended up on about a 70 degree decline that went about a quarter mile or so.  I would pick up the bike, move it a couple of feet, it would slide and then fall, over and over.  Probably happened about a dozen times.  I had pannier racks on it at the time and despite that, the fall still knocked the muffler into the swingarm and really dinged it up pretty bad.  Hence, maybe just getting the high mount exhaust and skid plate instead.  The tube tire process intimidates me, especially when it's something dumb like a nail or something that a tubeless setup could have fixed in 5 minutes vs the 60'ish it would take to remove the wheel and fix the flat.  But, it's all part of the adventure.

[helipilotxtz700]

I did the tubeless conversion with New Motoz Tractionator Rallz tires! It's been awesome! I can plug my tire and ride! 

[Ray Ride4life]

I really don't understand why so many people want tubeless.
Yes you can repair a puncture easier and yes you have less unsprung weight.... but you bought an offroad biased bike.
That means the unsprung weight does not really is a factor and where it might be a factor is the situation where you get to the downside of having tubeless because in those places you have a risk of a tyre getting off the rim an try to seat a tyre with a trailside pump when you have nu tube to push the walls out..

[eddylindenstein]

11 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

I really don't understand why so many people want tubeless.
Yes you can repair a puncture easier and yes you have less unsprung weight.... but you bought an offroad biased bike.
That means the unsprung weight does not really is a factor and where it might be a factor is the situation where you get to the downside of having tubeless because in those places you have a risk of a tyre getting off the rim an try to seat a tyre with a trailside pump when you have nu tube to push the walls out..

Not everyone is using it as an offroad bias bike.  I would venture to guess that the majority of T7 owners are going offroad at most, 30% of their total miles, especially in the US.  

 

The KTM 890 seems like an "offroad bias bike," and yet as tubeless wheels.  

 

It's really one's preference., ya know?

[Ray Ride4life]

Is it?
I have different ideas about those preferences but that's way too big of an discussion to start, especially in writing and delays.
But you are the one asking for opinions and i gave my opinion with the reason why.

[helipilotxtz700]

3 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

Is it?
I have different ideas about those preferences but that's way too big of an discussion to start, especially in writing and delays.
But you are the one asking for opinions and i gave my opinion with the reason why.

I ride about 50% off road on my T7! The tubeless gives me a easy way to plug a tire! If you can air up a tube tire you can air up a tubeless! My Super Tenere is tubeless and have never had any problems! I like being able to stuff a plug and ride on! In 100 degree weather pulling a tube is a Bummer! Busted knuckles scraps and worst of all pinching a tube after pulling out, fixing and reinstalling! Plus with tubeless you can lower the tire pressure and not punch the tube and get a flat! I have been racing offroad all my life! Tubeless has no draw backs! 

[eddylindenstein]

16 minutes ago, helipilotxtz700 said:

I ride about 50% off road on my T7! The tubeless gives me a easy way to plug a tire! If you can air up a tube tire you can air up a tubeless! My Super Tenere is tubeless and have never had any problems! I like being able to stuff a plug and ride on! In 100 degree weather pulling a tube is a Bummer! Busted knuckles scraps and worst of all pinching a tube after pulling out, fixing and reinstalling! Plus with tubeless you can lower the tire pressure and not punch the tube and get a flat! I have been racing offroad all my life! Tubeless has no draw backs! 

Did you do the conversion yourself or did you buy rims?  If so, which rims?  I had a Super Tenere that I took off-road quite a bit too - the tubeless was really nice peace of mind 

[helipilotxtz700]

Just now, eddylindenstein said:

Did you do the conversion yourself or did you buy rims?  If so, which rims?  I had a Super Tenere that I took off-road quite a bit too - the tubeless was really nice peace of mind 

I did the conversion my self! I bought the Valve stems at Napa and the sealing Tape from Amazon! I didn't do the silicone seal on the spoke nipples! I just used the Tape! I ride Mountain Bikes and we use tape and valve stems to make them tubeless also! I had more flats with tubes then I have had tubeless! I used to get more pinch flats then anything! I also did the same mod to my Beta 500RR-S! 

[Windblown]

Tubed or tubeless. As mentioned earlier - Where one rides should have some say in that decision. How you ride also should enter the equation to. Flower sniffing? You're not going to bend a rim,  tear knobs loose from the tire, or slice a sidewall open so use whatever.

 

Let's get one thing straight first. No one likes tubes. They suck to swap out compared to throwing in a plug.

 

Know what sucks more though? Having damage that can't be fixed with a plug, or having a tubeless tire that has come off the bead and you can't get it seat in the field.

 

Tubes suck but with practice one can get back on their way quickly 100% of the time. Same can not be said for all tubeless repairs.

 

I had a Tiger 800 XC. Comes with tubes. I converted the rear to tubeless and kept the front tubed. Did the same set up on my 1190. Did the same set up on my 790 ADV-R except when running my dedicated dirt wheels which are both tubed.

 

Why? Simple. Rear tires tend to pick up nails and front tires and rims tend to get damaged in ways a plug won't fix.

 

Make your choice and reap the rewards or pay the consequences.

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Windblown

[motonap]

I have always had tubed tyres on my motorcycles as long as I can remember, but that was back when I lived in India and road side puncture repair shops were dim a dozen irrespective of where in the country one was.

Since moving to NZ, I have only had motorcycles that came with tubeless tyres, so always carried a tubless puncture repair kit and a portable compressor on the bike. Touchwood, till date irrespective of the terrain I have taken these motorcycles to, I haven't had a flat tyre.

 

Now the T7 on the other hand had me thinking for a while about trying to patch / do something to convert the rims to tubeless. But then, there are better mods / accessories that one could want for the silly money you spend on a fool proof system. I do now carry a 21" and 18" tube, CO2 cartridges and a portable compressor when out and about. The tools, tyre irons, tubes, compressor and cartridges do add up to a decent amount of weight, but its better to be prepared than ending up stranded in the middle of nowhere when it eventually does happen.

 

It would be fantastic to have a tubeless system, don't have jack the bike up, remove wheels, break bead, wrestle the tube out, replace and reverse all the process. But at about $3k for a set of rims, that is a lot of fuel & rubber to lay on the road instead

[EverydayTenere]

On 12/30/2022 at 6:46 PM, helipilotxtz700 said:

I did the conversion my self! I bought the Valve stems at Napa and the sealing Tape from Amazon! I didn't do the silicone seal on the spoke nipples! I just used the Tape! I ride Mountain Bikes and we use tape and valve stems to make them tubeless also! I had more flats with tubes then I have had tubeless! I used to get more pinch flats then anything! I also did the same mod to my Beta 500RR-S! 

 

Can you post links to the products you use?

 

I'm seriously thinking about doing this.  I'd love to have 50/50 tubeless tires on my tenere and just carry the plug kit and my tiny compressor. 

Edited February 28 by EverydayTenere

[eddylindenstein]

On 2/27/2024 at 7:55 PM, EverydayTenere said:

 

Can you post links to the products you use?

 

I'm seriously thinking about doing this.  I'd love to have 50/50 tubeless tires on my tenere and just carry the plug kit and my tiny compressor. 

Yamaha Tenere 700 Alpina | Alpina UK

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[EverydayTenere]

1 hour ago, eddylindenstein said:

Yamaha Tenere 700 Alpina | Alpina UK

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Thanks for your reply.

 

I found the Alpina wheels and I'm still unsure of how long their spoke seals will last. 

 

I just head back from KKE Racing and they're thinking about making a set for the Tenere.  I'm gong to hold out for their product and to help make it happen let's all send them emails requesting it.  

 Send emails to: info@kkeracing.com

 

Check the out,

VMX Tubeless Wheels

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KKE RACING, a professional manufacturer, mainly produces motorcycle wheels and CNC parts. In our website, you will find wheels fit HONDA, KM, SUZUKI, YAMAHA, KAWASAKI, HUSABERG, HUSQVARNA, BETA, TM and...

 

Edited March 5 by EverydayTenere

[ryan80]

i sent a email to VMX. Im hoping they make a set for the T7 i would buy them. I just got a flat the other day and it was a screw that popped the tube. It's hard to change on the side of the road but was even harder to even find a rear tube for this bike.  I did find heavy duty 3 and 4mm tubes but i wanted the same that came out.  the thicker ones are heavier and even harder to change. I really cant believe that there is not any tubeless wheels out for the T7 they make everything else for it.  There is Alpina from Italy but they arent cheap. i really hope they come out with a set.

[JB700]

I found these 

 

Kineo Wire Spoked Wheels Yamaha XTZ700 Tenere 700 2019> onwards

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Kineo Wire Spoked Wheels Yamaha XTZ700 Tenere 700 2019> onwards

 

[RobS]

Nathan from VMX emailed me that they are in the process of manufacturing tubeless wheels for the T7 and they should be available on their website in late May or early June.