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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
Photo by Giovanni Lamonica, Aralsk, Kazakhstan.

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Giovanni Lamonica,
Aralsk, Kazakhstan.



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  #31  
Old 21 Feb 2018
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That could be a great ... and cost effective .... solution

My only question would be just HOW TOUGH are these new Suzuki wheels?

I would want to be sure they can hold up to moderate abuse off road. But if they pass that test, then could be great for Africa Twin ... and other riders on tube type set ups who want to convert to tubeless type.
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  #32  
Old 6 Apr 2018
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuff Said View Post
Why not just fit a conversion tape kit and make them
wheels on an AT "Tubeless"
My DCT AT was converted from new 35.000 KM ago with no problem.
For peace of mind, I fitted a pressure monitoring system to check the pressure in both wheels.
As of today, I have never had a problem.
Works for me.
Exactly what i had done by Devon Wheel Builders, a fine set of custom wheels for a special build i'm doing, thoroughly recommend them for UK readers here...

Last edited by MEZ; 9 Jan 2020 at 15:44.
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  #33  
Old 22 Apr 2018
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X-ADV scooter is another one for the list, but maybe not in the OP's 'adventure and dual-sport motorcycles' category.

I've sealed (or had sealed) spoked rims to run tubeless on a few bikes, some more successfully than others. See here.
As Tim says, the bead retaining lip in a spoked rim is key but not always present on the front. So these days if I'm changing wheel sizes (as I recently did to my XSR700), I'd sooner find a cast wheel that fits to preserve tubelessness.

Quote:
Spoked wheels might have some advantage if you are racing but if you are adventure touring then in my opinion there's no reliability disadvantage with an alloys/tubeless mix, which opens your options to a whole new list of bikes to choose from...
I agree with Tim entirely and Toby E...

Quote:
I suspect that spoked wheels may be more of a cosmetic rather than practical feature...
... I agree with that too. Cast or spoked not bothered, but much prefer tubeless.

Just back from Morocco trying out the new 310 and among the many sensible adaptions for off-road riding I was disappointed to see the rental place had gone to all the effort of swapping out the nice alloys for spoked which in this case unfortunately means tubes. There are certainly not always unsprung weight benefits in going spoked, as on the CB500X RR.
What is more likely on the long road: smashing your cast rim beyond repair but walking away - or having to fix a puncture in 32°C?

For the type of travelling which HU is about tubeless is clearly best, but not all will agree. C'est la vie.

Quote:
for adventure, off-raod use I'd rather have spoked wheels any time of the day and night. When you crack you cast wheel in the middle of nowhere you pretty much done, not so much with spoked wheel. Not to mention absorption of bumps and S#$% on the road is far better with spokes wheels...
Just make sure you carry a full set of spokes and passed the wheel-building course...
Attached Thumbnails
List of travel bikes with stock (OEM) tubeless spoked wheels-iigv.jpg  


Last edited by Chris Scott; 31 May 2018 at 18:45.
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  #34  
Old 5 Aug 2019
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OP's list updated - see 1st post.

Fyi, for those with regular spoked wheels in search of TL, I recently used a vulcanised band called Airtight from Central Wheel Components (UK) to seal the spokes. £120.

Excel rim; Anakee Wild tyre.
Threw in some Slime and no complaints.
Attached Thumbnails
List of travel bikes with stock (OEM) tubeless spoked wheels-tl-airtight.jpg  

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  #35  
Old 20 Jun 2023
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Moto Guzzi V85TT have been spoked I believe since Year 2 or 3
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  #36  
Old 20 Jun 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TobyE View Post
Expanding my search to include alloy wheels would, as you say, open up my options considerably, which would be most welcome, as many of the bikes on the current list (top post) is beyond my set budget!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Scott View Post
OP's list updated - see 1st post.
Chris, given the OP's comment above it might be interesting to include a category for tubeless alloy adventure bikes. Your knowledge of different bikes is better than mine, so feel free to hack the list below if you want.

----------------Spoked----------------
Old Aprilia Caponord
BMW F850 GS and F850 GS Adventure
BMW R1100 GS Adventure
BMW R1150 GS Adventure
BMW R1200 GS Adventure
BMW R1250 GS Adventure
Ducati Multistrada 1260 Enduro (19" front)
Honda Africa Twin CRF1100L (2020)
Honda XL 600 LM (1980s)
Honda X-ADV 750
KTM 790 Adventure and 790 Adventure R (not Rally model)
KTM 890 Adventure and 890 Adventure R (not Rally model)
KTM 1090 Adventure R
KTM 1190 Adventure R
KTM 1290 Super Adventure R
Suzuki V-Strom 650XT
Suzuki V-Strom 1000XT
Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200
Yamaha XT1200Z Super Ténéré
Triumph 1200 Scrambler

----------------Alloys----------------
BMW G310 GS
BMW G650 GS single
BMW F650 GS twin
BMW F700 GS
BMW F750 GS
BMW R1100 GS
BMW R1150 GS
BMW R1200 GS
BMW R1250 GS
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  #37  
Old 27 Jun 2023
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If this list is being maintained, you should add the Aprilia Tuareg 660
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  #38  
Old 27 Jun 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by motoreiter View Post
If this list is being maintained, you should add the Aprilia Tuareg 660

Tubeless Spoked or alloys?
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  #39  
Old 27 Jun 2023
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Tubeless spoked on the Tuareg 660.
Attached Thumbnails
List of travel bikes with stock (OEM) tubeless spoked wheels-img-i_b74e205bf9ed9198390f1dce87d05a75.jpg  

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  #40  
Old 14 Jul 2023
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Updated spoke/TL list 2023 below (saves going back to the OP).
Happy to receive your additions.

Re alloys on adv bikes Tim, I suspect these days and even back in the OPs time you will struggle to find a non-TL (unlipped) wheel in alloy – a good reason to get travel bikes with them fitted from the factory.
My rationale for helping this list along was for fitting used TL spoked rims from the list to other spoke-hub bikes as an alternative to DIY sealing a normal rim with mastic and tape, or proprietary methods like Airtight™ or BARTubeless™
But as Antyx asked unanswered back in 2018:
Quote:
So... what's stopping anyone from sourcing a set of those flanged spoked wheels and fitting them to your bike as part of the pre-trip prep?
The problem is these OEM spoked TL rims use either outboard spokes (BMW, Triumph, Guzzi and most others), or inboard flanges (these days mostly Suzuki).
On both systems the spoke is reversed with the threaded end screwed into the nipple in the hub, not the rim. That pretty much eliminates matching such a rim with a conventional hub.
You then need to marry your full TL spoke wheel with its hub to your forks with all the spindle/rotors/ABS ring alignment issues.
At that point you might as well choose any alloy in the size you want as it's bound to be TL, and of which there are many more for bigger bikes.
I did that on my XSR700 using a 19er off an XV950.
Swapping rear hubs back gets even more complicated. I seem to recall I fitted some DR spoked hub onto my GS500 (came with alloys). So in that way, for my purposes this list has become a bit redundant.

All which is why for a travel bike you are better off buying a bike with stock TL wheels – in most cases they'll be alloys.
IMO, the whole OEM spoked TL rim thing is vanity driven, but if it's tubeless, who cares as it beats tubes.

Fyi, my many pages of tubeless conversions here:
https://adventure-motorcycling.com/c...s-to-tubeless/
Current working it out on my 300L – expensive as with small bikes like this 'MT' (TL lipped) rim choice is limited and a little wider.

Talking of mousses which I know you have used Tim. The other day I had the idea of fitting them into a TL sealed but conventional non-MT spoked wheel (like my Honda). Ie: no safety lips.
The idea was the mousse would keep the bead in place in the event of a flat or hard hit, but TL sealing would enable running road pressures which ought to minimise tyre flex and hopefully keep the ~15psi rated 'off-road only' mousse cool.
Turns out John at Rally Raid tried this on a T7 @ 40psi and it seemed to work in the short term. Not sure I'd want to risk it on a long trip to a hot place.

Aprilia Caponord (old)
Aprilia Tuareg 660
BMW F850 GS and Adventure
BMW R1100 GS Adventure
BMW R1150 GS Adventure
BMW R1200 GS Adventure
BMW R1250 GS Adventure
Ducati DesertX (search: 'Desert X wheel issues'...)
Ducati Multistrada 1260 Enduro and 1160 V4 Rally
Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250
Honda Africa Twin CRF1100L (2020)
Honda XL 600 LM (1980s)
Honda X-ADV 750
Husqvarna Norden 901
KTM 790 Adventure and 790 Adventure R (not Rally model)
KTM 890 Adventure and 890 Adventure R (not Rally model)
KTM 1090 Adventure R
KTM 1190 Adventure R
KTM 1290 Super Adventure R
Moto Guzzi V85TT, 2021 on
Suzuki V-Strom 650XT
Suzuki V-Strom 1000/1050XT
Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200
Yamaha XT1200Z Super Ténéré
Triumph 1200 Scrambler

Last edited by Chris Scott; 14 Jul 2023 at 13:07.
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