Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Soooooo....why the tube on the spree wheels guys? rim looks to me like it'd withstand air pressure. Aint a split rim, so it wouldnt leak. i was just curious why they use tubes. i almost just put a tubeless stem in and a tubeless tire but decided i'd better not do it till i asked yinz.

mine's got a tubeless tire on it. so long as you get a tubeless tire, you should be good.

oh, but it takes a tiny valve stem.

Wait a minute, our rims will take a tubless tire and a air valve for said tire? All this time I have been running tubes when I could have been going tubeless?

Greetings:

Flash IV just went all tubelesswith Met rims, but even if you can mount without tubes with Spree rims, I urge you to reconsider your tubeless adventures with stock Spree Aero and Elite rims. Here's why:

The Met and all tubeless-design rims have a different design in the bead ares. If you look at the rim, you'll see that a subtle flange runs along and inside the tire bead, raised only an eighth-inch perhaps. That little flange is very important. When the tire is inflated sans tube, you hear it "POP" over that little hump as the outer side of the bead seals against the rim inside edge. This forces the bead to stay put, even if the tire pressure drops due to a puncture or hitting a sharp object underway. Because the tire sidewall has some stiffness, control can be maintained even with complete deflation. You'll notice the slop, but you won't kiss pavement.

Under those circumstances, without that flange, tube-design rims are apt to allow the tire to slip inside. Deflation is catastrophically instantaneous ant the tire will become a useless floppy rag around the rim. Particularly up front, the tire will zig-zag violently. If that happens, you will probably go down. With tubes, that last thing applies, but the tire will deflate more slowly, hopefully allowing you to stop before the tire goes completely flat. Metropolitan rims fit the rear Aero and Elite models without issues. Front Met rims fit with 95mm Elite brake panel and axle spacer - personally confirmed.

Unless you urgently need dermabrasion, ride tubeless at your peril; you now have the information to do the right thing.

you do speak the truth, brother wheelman. i offset the risks by using lots'o'bead sealer and running 50 lbs of pressure at all times.

do as i say, not as i do. tubes are your friends. i just hate installing them. i used to work at a tire shop, and developed a hatred for tiny tubes...
so, yes, the rims are airtight.
i still run a tube up front, cuz' like wheelman said, front flats are scary.

i dont mind tubes i have had mine outt a few times in the last week or so now i can change a tube in no time at all. I put new tires on a while back and pinched both tubes putting every thing back so i had to take em both off and put the the new tubes i was going to keep as spares. Then after getting the rear tire on before bolting everything back up thank goodness the right angle stem was hitting the case so i broke down one side of the tire and pulled the tube and flipped it once you know the sequence getting a tire on is no big deal especially after all that practice

patthesoundguy wrote:i dont mind tubes i have had mine outt a few times in the last week or so now i can change a tube in no time at all. I put new tires on a while back and pinched both tubes putting every thing back so i had to take em both off and put the the new tubes i was going to keep as spares. Then after getting the rear tire on before bolting everything back up thank goodness the right angle stem was hitting the case so i broke down one side of the tire and pulled the tube and flipped it once you know the sequence getting a tire on is no big deal especially after all that practice

i agree it's not hard to put tubes in. that's not what i said. i said i don't like them. a trained monkey could do it though.
but i can change my tubeless in about 20 seconds with no tools. gets me back on the road in under 5 minutes. i can do it with a crecent wrench and canned air alongside the road.

in summary;
tubes are cheap. tubes are a good safty measure. i don't use one on the rear. i also don't wear a helmet while riding my spree on the halfpipe.-SPREETARD

Greetings:

I've done 4 or 5 tire swaps to date on tubed and tubeles rims. The first one took me almost 3 hours, but now I'm down to about 30 minutes. No rim scratches though.
Quoth Spreetard:

but i can change my tubeless in about 20 seconds with no tools

If you ever need to do another one, I'd pay money to see a video of your process.

Wheelman-111 wrote:Greetings:

I've done 4 or 5 tire swaps to date on tubed and tubeles rims. The first one took me almost 3 hours, but now I'm down to about 30 minutes. No rim scratches though.
Quoth Spreetard:

but i can change my tubeless in about 20 seconds with no tools

If you ever need to do another one, I'd pay money to see a video of your process.

'fo sho! my back tire is looking a little threadbare right now, so i'll prolly do that soon. that 20 seconds does not include removing it from the scooter, but i bet i can do the whole thing in less than ten minutes with dropping the exhaust and rim removal, and re-assembly. i'm really good with tires. after doing 24" rims, 8" scoot tires are easy.
Trafficjamz thinks it'll take me 40 seconds to a minute to change and inflate it, and he was there last time i did it. i'll try to outdo myself.

Spreetard wrote:8" scoot tires are easy.

I want some of those for the spree, can you say lowrider

eliteguy50 wrote:

Spreetard wrote:8" scoot tires are easy.

I want some of those for the spree, can you say lowrider

my bad. 10". the allstate is 8".