I am about to take delivery of a new but last year's model Desert Sled. I pick it up in Madrid which is not ideal! To try and get ready I downloaded the pdf from this site and once I waded through the maze of warning notices and all the thousands of ways that you can be denied warranty cover I then read the bit on the tubeless tyres. Now I am pretty sure the tyres are tubed and it just seems bizarre that Ducati can be quite so precise and verbose about what you can and can't do with their motorcycle but then neglect to tell you that they have stuck tubes inside a tyre which says 'tubeless' on the wall. Was fitting tubes just an afterthought?
Tubed Tyres
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
The bike has tubes in the tyres because the rims are not suitable for tubeless tyre use. Simple. Ducati are not alone Triumph, BMW, Moto Guzzi and KTM to name four manufacturers all do or have done in the past fitted tubes inside tubeless tyres that are fitted to tube only rims.
It’s easy to tell whether a tube is fitted simply by looking at the valve.
It’s easy to tell whether a tube is fitted simply by looking at the valve.
Joined
·
19 Posts
Can you please explain how to tell by looking at the valve? Thanks
Look at the valve on a motorcycle with a tube say a dirt bike or similar and then look at a valve on a bike with a tubeless tyre say a road bike with an alloy wheel and the difference is blindingly obvious.
The valve on the tube simply sticks through a hole in the rim. The tubeless valve is sealed against the outer side of the rim because it needs to be to stop air escaping.
Thanks for the replies. What ticked me off though was all the warnings 'Don't do This....' but then nobody could find the time to write in the manual that they had put tubes in tyres which clearly say 'tubeless' on the walls. They even have a section telling you about repairs for tubeless tyres. Plugging a punctured tubeless tyre roadside is one thing, levering a tyre off to patch a tube is quite another imho.
You can get a product called Slime ( there will be others) that you put inside the tube by removing the valve core and then replacing it. Its not 100% everytime effective, but i use it in my dirt bike tubes and its got me off the mountains fine. I don´t even know i have the puncture until i inspect the tyre! You hear/feel the nail once you get on tarmac.
Its available for tubeless too and i ve trusted that for 800 miles at up to 125mph on touring holidays.
Its available for tubeless too and i ve trusted that for 800 miles at up to 125mph on touring holidays.
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!