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Tubeless tire and headlight switch

3709 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by pumpgear, Dec 30, 2010

pumpgear

Discussion Starter · Dec 26, 2010

I'm a new rider and owner of a 2001 TW200 and had a couple questions I hope someone can answer. First of all I should tell you I have very little motorcycle knowledge but hope to learn more by spending more time on your site. The type of riding will be strictly off road with lots of water and mud.

1. I'm worried about getting a flat way off road and was wondering if there were tubeless tire options or are there other options for me?

2. I unplugged one of two wires that went to the headlight which gave me the ability to turn off the headlight with the main headlight switch. Does anyone know if this can cause any unwanted electrical problems?

sorry this post has been moved to the technical post section

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1 - 7 of 7 Posts

biglefti

· #2 · Dec 27, 2010

First, regarding the tires. I've known guys who have sealed off their spokes on the inside of the rim and were able to run tubeless tires. I don't actually know if anyone makes a tubeless tire that will fit the TW since most tubless tires require a minimum of 27 psi to keep the bead seated on the rim.

I didn't know that there was a headlight switch on the TW. However, you may have just disconnected the high beam or low beam so when the hi-lo selector switch is moved, the disconnected one doesn't light up. That should cause you no issues since you are going to offroad only. Just make sure the disconnected wire is not able to ground out to anything. Maybe tape it up with electrical tape.

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tok-tokkie

· #3 · Dec 27, 2010

I have converted mine to tubeless front and back. I did a 5000 km trip with a plug in the rear tire. The rear is done by sealing the spoke nuts with Sikaflex 11FC. It is a urethane sealer (NOT silicone) which sticks like crazy. A German product, possibly not available in USA but there must be some equivalent. The method is described in this thread: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=14946.0

I did both front and back. The back wheel has the tubeless rim safety hump to hold the tire in place (which makes getting the tire off so difficult) as you can see in this picture:

The front does not have the safety ridge. I had great difficulty getting the tire to seat without a tube and i was not at all happy about the safety of that rim running tubeless & how I would ever seat it again if it came loose while on a trip so I did that 5000 km trip with a tube. Paulsky (who pioneered the method) runs his KTM tubeless on the front without problems & he is a hard rider on a powerful bike .

I realised that Tubliss is available for 18” so I have fitted that to my front wheel: http://www.nuetech.com/

I have had that on my BMW Dakar for years. Been on the TW for a few months. You have to inflate the inner tube (very much like a bicycle tube) to 7 bar (100 psi). I bought a decent bicycle pump with pressure gauge which I find very convenient – much easier than rigging up an electric compressor.

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qwerty

· #4 · Dec 27, 2010

The TW charging system is not regulated. The 2001 and newer bikes will boil the battery if run for any length of time with the headlight off unless a balance resistor is out in line to replace the load from the headlight.

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pumpgear

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 29, 2010

tok-tokkie said:
I have converted mine to tubeless front and back. I did a 5000 km trip with a plug in the rear tire. The rear is done by sealing the spoke nuts with Sikaflex 11FC. It is a urethane sealer (NOT silicone) which sticks like crazy. A German product, possibly not available in USA but there must be some equivalent. The method is described in this thread: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=14946.0

I did both front and back. The back wheel has the tubeless rim safety hump to hold the tire in place (which makes getting the tire off so difficult) as you can see in this picture:

(Sorry but I am not allowed to embed this img code)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5295645861/sizes/o/

The front does not have the safety ridge. I had great difficulty getting the tire to seat without a tube and i was not at all happy about the safety of that rim running tubeless & how I would ever seat it again if it came loose while on a trip so I did that 5000 km trip with a tube. Paulsky (who pioneered the method) runs his KTM tubeless on the front without problems & he is a hard rider on a powerful bike .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5295646045/sizes/o/

I realized that Tubliss is available for 18” so I have fitted that to my front wheel: http://www.nuetech.com/

I have had that on my BMW Dakar for years. Been on the TW for a few months. You have to inflate the inner tube (very much like a bicycle tube) to 7 bar (100 psi). I bought a decent bicycle pump with pressure gauge which I find very convenient – much easier than rigging up an electric compressor.

http://loofu.en.ecplaza.net/main.jpg

Thank you for all your responses. Yes I did unplug the high beam wire. I didn't know it may cause a problem with the battery. I will plug it back in and try to find another way to safely turn off the headlight.

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rm_hm

· #6 · Dec 29, 2010

Sikaflex sealant is great stuff and can be found at most marine stores in the USA. If you never ever want to remove the sealant again you might try 3M 5200. However the stuff takes most of a week to fully cure.

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediaw...uQEcuZgVs6EVs6E666666--&fn=60-4400-5507-1.pdf

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pumpgear

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 30, 2010

tok-tokkie said:
I have converted mine to tubeless front and back. I did a 5000 km trip with a plug in the rear tire. The rear is done by sealing the spoke nuts with Sikaflex 11FC. It is a urethane sealer (NOT silicone) which sticks like crazy. A German product, possibly not available in USA but there must be some equivalent. The method is described in this thread: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=14946.0

I did both front and back. The back wheel has the tubeless rim safety hump to hold the tire in place (which makes getting the tire off so difficult) as you can see in this picture:

The front does not have the safety ridge. I had great difficulty getting the tire to seat without a tube and i was not at all happy about the safety of that rim running tubeless & how I would ever seat it again if it came loose while on a trip so I did that 5000 km trip with a tube. Paulsky (who pioneered the method) runs his KTM tubeless on the front without problems & he is a hard rider on a powerful bike .

I realised that Tubliss is available for 18” so I have fitted that to my front wheel: http://www.nuetech.com/

I have had that on my BMW Dakar for years. Been on the TW for a few months. You have to inflate the inner tube (very much like a bicycle tube) to 7 bar (100 psi). I bought a decent bicycle pump with pressure gauge which I find very convenient – much easier than rigging up an electric compressor.

Wow you all have some great ideas. Thanks for taking the time to share them with me. I have very little motorcycle experience so I appreciate all the help.

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