whats bike trying to tell me - wobble.

[scott.quilliam]

I had a new Bridgestone Trailwing 22 rear tire installed yesterday at the local moto shop. I trusted they knew what they were doing and in my excitement to get out into the bush I never checked for leaks. Anyway, I get 20 kms off the pavement and realize my new tire is deflating.....along with my hopes and excitement of actually fishing the river I just arrived at. So instead, I turned around and got back to the pavement just as it was getting too flat to continue to ride. I was lucky enough to get a lift to the next gas station and got a pump and a ride back to the '04KLR. I took a look at it this morning to find that there are numerous leaks. The leaks are coming out between the 'spoke nut' and the spoke. I have never seen this before and I am wondering what the cause is. I didn't give the shop a tube....I thought this was a tubeless tire. If it is a tubless tire....should they not have known to put on some rim tape or sealant of some kind? Is this normal practice? Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[Michael Martin]

Scott, Assuming they knew what they were doing, they would have re-used your old tube. You should see the same threaded valve stem. The KLR rim is not suitable for a tubeless tire. 1. The valve stem hole is too small for a tubeless valve stem to fit. 2. You cannot simply tape over the spoke nipples and expect the air to stay in the tire for long. 3. The rim contour doesn't meet the requirements for a tubeless tire. It doesn't have the correct angles and there is no ridge to keep the tire bead in place. I've heard of people installing tubeless tires on tube rims. They took extraordinary steps to seal the spoke nipples by applying layers of silicone caulk. I don't think a shop would take responsibility for such a move. I suspect the shop pinched your tube when they installed the new tire. HTH, Mike Martin, Louisville, KY ________________________________ From: scott.quilliam I took a look at it this morning to find that there are numerous leaks. The leaks are coming out between the 'spoke nut' and the spoke. I have never seen this before and I am wondering what the cause is. I didn't give the shop a tube....I thought this was a tubeless tire. If it is a tubless tire....should they not have known to put on some rim tape or sealant of some kind? Is this normal practice? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Michael Martin]

I take that last sentence back. Your tube has a leak, but I cannot say that the shop pinched it. Mike Martin ________________________________ From: Michael Martin To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 3:32:33 PM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Tire leak Scott, Assuming they knew what they were doing, they would have re-used your old tube. You should see the same threaded valve stem. The KLR rim is not suitable for a tubeless tire. I suspect the shop pinched your tube when they installed the new tire. HTH, Mike Martin, Louisville, KY [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[dooden]

Tubeless or not the rim is a tubed rim, a leak on the tube would cause air to escape wherever it can. Pull the tube and replace with a fresh one, its not that hard to do. Myself I have a UHD (4 mm) and HD (3 i think)tubes installed. Dooden A15 Green Ape

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "scott.quilliam" wrote: > > I had a new Bridgestone Trailwing 22 rear tire installed yesterday at the local moto shop. I trusted they knew what they were doing and in my excitement to get out into the bush I never checked for leaks. Anyway, I get 20 kms off the pavement and realize my new tire is deflating.....along with my hopes and excitement of actually fishing the river I just arrived at. So instead, I turned around and got back to the pavement just as it was getting too flat to continue to ride. I was lucky enough to get a lift to the next gas station and got a pump and a ride back to the '04KLR. > > I took a look at it this morning to find that there are numerous leaks. The leaks are coming out between the 'spoke nut' and the spoke. I have never seen this before and I am wondering what the cause is. > > I didn't give the shop a tube....I thought this was a tubeless tire. > > If it is a tubless tire....should they not have known to put on some rim tape or sealant of some kind? Is this normal practice? > > Any ideas? Thanks in advance. >

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "E.L. Green" wrote:

> > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Jud Jones" wrote: > > It could be a lot of things, but my first guess would be excessive rear spring sag/insufficient preload. > > Agreed on this one. My KLR had a wobble when heavily loaded with luggage until I put a heavier rear spring on it. If you lower the bike you will not be able to put enough preload in the rear without a heavier spring because it changes the leverage ratio on the spring. If you can't afford a heavier rear spring at the moment, slide the forks up a bit in the triple tree to shift some weight forward. Yes, this violates some fundamental rules of motorcycle handling (which implies that you should *raise* the front end, not lower it, if you want the bike to be more stable), but the KLR sorta violates all fundamental rules of motorcycle handling in the first place so ... . >

Eric, I normally am in heated agreement with you on most any subject--but here I will digress for one point-- snip from Eric's comment-- If you can't afford a heavier rear spring at the moment, snip I would say, "If you cannot afford to equip the bike so it rides without the wobble, PARK IT until you can afford to equip it correctly. A bike with a wobble is a mean tempered horse that will turn and kill you at the most inopportune moment." Kill you, as in dead. I've ridden both--and the horse will usually clue you in that something bad is about to happen with their body language. The wobbling KLR or other m/c beast will usually just spit you out with little or no warning, not really caring who you are or your personal responsibilities to others. Give up something, but don't ride a bike that is predisposed to hurt you. revmaaatin.