BikeMaster inner tube

Status
Not open for further replies.
batrider

batrider

VIP MEMBER
Joined
Aug 9, 2008
Messages
2,366
Country flag
I put one of these Chinese tubes in a few weeks ago with a new tire. While out Sunday I thought I heard a little pop and the front tire went flat. The tire stayed centered on the rim so I was able to idle it home at about 10-15 mph about 5 miles. It was a little squirrely on the turns. The tube has a big jagged hole in the sidewall but the tire was fine. The rubber is extremely thin where it blew.

I looked thru previous posts and I saw that DogT had a problem with Bikemaster tubes holding air. Anyone else had problems? Are these tubes really this shitty? I did the usual partial inflation and bouncing the tire around to align the tube before going to full pressure - about 28 lbs. This is the first flat I've ever had in 45 years of doing tires myself.
 
Michelin or Metzler tubes for me. They cost more, and usually have to be ordered in the sizes I need from my local indy who does my tires. But worth it! I'm a cheap ba**ard at times, but that is one thing I never try to scrimp on. Years ago, I had something similar happen to a cheap tube, and that was it - no more!
 
I have one Bike Master tube for the last 4 years and no problems. From reading the post, next tube I'll be spending more money on a quality tube.
 
Oh man riding out a front blow out can be real handling test turmoil. As long as not in a bad turn and ya know what happened it should turn out as just a nuance not a crash. Micheal Tagileri the moderator on BI list was returning home after the Empire rally and had a rear blow out on hwy w/o knowing and woke up in ER and spend a month in facility d/t the broken bones. He also had cheap china tube. There is no way to avoid punctures but not ride outside your yard. I shop tubes at Harlely for the top name brands and don't suggest the HD off road dirt bike tubes d/t the heat build up. Can't tell ya how pre-educational it is to ride on low aired tires a bit til the sense sinks in forever. It does get a lot wilder if tire de-rims, which they tend to do more so trying to ride home on a flat. Can tear up the case till the wires tangle in axle, so handy to have wire cutters in tool kit.
 
A related tube failure issue...

If you are not using the tire security bolt/clamp then you must fill the hole in the rim with a suitable bolt and nut. A rim strip or tape over the hole will not protect the tube from rubbing on the hole under pressure and a slow leak at that point will likely happen.

I learned the hard way.
 
Had a local shop mount mine. I should check what they used. Both tires are flat after less than a year. :evil:
Been doing nothing more than sitting in the corner while I rebuild the Bike.
 
Mine was not nearly as bad as Mike Ts at 80mph. No get-off or anything. I was just goofing along some twisty roads near home and it started to feel a little funny so I stopped and looked down at the front tire. I could see that it was flat. The 90/90V19 Avon Roadrider is a very stiff tire and was hard to get on the rim. The tire beads stayed in place and it stayed centered after it deflated. The rim is an Akront alloy flanged type and it wasn't dinged up at all from riding on the flat. I figure I had about 250 miles on the new tire and tube.
 
I sell both Bikemaster, Bridgestone and Kenda's at our shop and we haven't had any issue's with flats unless the customer picked up a nail in the tire.
 
Both of my "barn find" MK3's have been sitting around for 20 + years and all four tire/tubes hold air just fine. Not sure that I'll re-use them but will be interesting to see who's they are. Cj
 
72westie said:
I sell both Bikemaster, Bridgestone and Kenda's at our shop and we haven't had any issue's with flats unless the customer picked up a nail in the tire.
Click to expand...
I still have the BM tube, and it doesn't have any holes in it and it still doesn't hold air. The valve is good too. It just slowly leaks out of the rubber or what ever it is. It takes about 2 weeks. I wouldn't touch them with anything.

Dave
69S
 
FWIW Harley dealers carry quality Made in Japan Dunlop tubes that fit Commandos, have had good results with them
 
I learned the hard way years ago that the cheap Asian tubes like Cheng shing, Kenda and Bikemaster were crap. I never had a blowout but they needed air top ups every week or so to keep tires up to pressure.

I used Japanese Dunlop tubes on my Commando and they hold air very well.

One thing to note, even Metzeler and Pirelli tubes are now made in China but they still seem to be decent quality, I run them on some other bikes I have and they seem to work well.
 
I would only use Dunlop or Michelin tubes. Over the years, i've probably used more Michelin's as they tend to work out slightly cheaper. As Northern750 states quite rightly though, many of the branded tubes are made in China these days (probably in the same factory).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top