Sealing spoked rims and going tubeless

[booger]

Like they say in the oilfield, "O" Rings and engineers.........................

Good luck with it.

[Rhino]

Got back from a 5 day trip and both front and rear were down on pressure. The rear was down 5 psi and it turns out one of the spokes has a tiny leak. Resealing it today. The front was completely out of air and the valve stem is the cause. The front rim is narrow and very much curved. I used MC Enterprise valve stem and although they are very high quality, I think they are unsuitable for this application as they go in from the outside and just can't handle the curve. Trying again with a different design stem along with some goop. My first real outing will be the week after next and will be riding from a base camp. I plan to bring the original Bridgestone Trail Wings with tubes as a back up.

[Rhino]

Just got back from a week of camping and put about 300 miles of off road on the DR. Apparently I got all the rim leaks and it is now holding air well. Now I'm just carrying sticky ropes and some CO2. Haven't gotten a flat yet so no real world test on fixing it in the field. I also have some Honda 4 wheelers and got a flat on one of those. Took about 2 minutes to fix with sticky rope and CO2 out in the middle of nowhere. I'm hoping if I get a flat on the DR I will have a similar experience fixing it.

Next time I do this (maybe on my son's KLR) I plan to try it a little different. I want to try to take a 1" piece of PVC pipe with one end capped and drilled for an air chuck and the other shaped to the inside of the rim with a neoprene gasket. The idea would be to put the sealant around the end of the spoke and then pressurize to force the sealant into any gaps.

[Rhino]

Ok I now admit this was a failure in spite of 2 successful adventure rides on the tubeless tires. I'm tired of playing whack a mole on the slow leaks. The tubes are back in. Now I want to know if anyone has been successful pre-sliming the tubes? Has anyone done this, gotten a nail and been able to pull the nail and ride on?

[Rhino]

Now you can balance your tire with dyna-beads 

BTW: I've been taking the tires off and on so often now I have dispensed with balancing them on the DR-650. I haven't noticed any difference up to 80 mph.

[Son of Pappy]

!!!  It was worth the effort for sure and kudos for sharing, I sure hope others hear and follow your lead...

Slime works well, the only issue is tire changes, pulling the stem and getting the green goo kinda sucks, but it is good insurance against a pinch flat on the trail, especially if you run lower pressures, but methinks you run close to what is on the tire due to those China anchored rocks   In the EXC I run the thickest tube I can find and they are pre slimed, so far no leakage, even when I was running 7ish pounds in the front.  I've been fortunate on punctures so I couldn't say how well the slime would hold up.

[Rhino]

but methinks you run close to what is on the tire due to those China anchored rocks

With the tubes back in I have the Bridgestone Trail Wings back on. The Kenda's were good on the pavement and just ok on the dirt. I like the Trail Wings much better in the dirt. I think I'll go ahead and slime the tubes and see how that works.

I also broke my left rack with those heavy ammo cans on it. Thank God I brought a ratchet strap to keep things together and save the ride. Since I have to buy new racks anyway, I'm looking at HT aluminum panniers that come with HT racks. The ammo cans weigh 20 lbs each and the HT panniers of the same size weigh 9 1/2 lbs. Would save 21 lbs. I think I'll pull the trigger on those before next years rides.

[Son of Pappy]

Sure wish I had a way to cut 21 pounds!!!!!  I reckon I could work a little harder on my diet   Anyone interested in a weight off challenge?  I'm maintaining 212 steady since I dropped some 38 pounds after my back surgery, my goal is 186.  Winners are responsible for setting up the ride route, losers have the horrible task of riding to the start point and riding the route with the winner...  And of course, the biggest loser is the winner

I think I will start a thread in Open, maybe establish regions for the challenges as most folks cant do the coast to coast.  Everyone will have the option of which region to participate in.  To keep things sane it should be several months, something like 9 months so we have this fall, winter, and spring to shed the pounds.  Ride early to mid summer.

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