Inner Tubes (2013)

Been checking over inner tube options. Each brand has generally three basic catagories.

Standard, about 1 to 1.5 pounds
Heavy Duty about 1.5 to 2.5 pounds
Ultra Heavy Duty 3 to 3.5 pounds

Anybody have any horror stories about certain brands? Only Pirelli mentions the material at all, and that's 'natural rubber'. The ultra heavy duty tubes run around 4mm wall thickness. Big difference in weight, unsprung and gyro. Does is matter to a duffer?

P.S. Nobody lists a tube for 90/90-19 tire. The closest is 100/90 in medium duty and 110/90 for ultra. What have people gone with the 90/90 tires as far as tubes go?

Harley dealers carry a high quality 90/90-19 made in Japan Dunlop tube that works great...(and FWIW good rim strips too and even a 90/90-19 Dunlop, got one on closeout at Cycle Gear for $50 and it works well on the front of my bike)

rpatton said:

Heavy Duty about 1.5 to 2.5 pounds
Ultra Heavy Duty 3 to 3.5 pounds

Click to expand...

"Ultra/Heavy duty" tubes are usually intended for off-road, enduro, motocross, etc. and may not be recommended for "highway" use.

Chinese bad. Michelin ,Pirelli good. You get what U pay for.

Torontonian said:

Chinese bad. Michelin ,Pirelli good. You get what U pay for.

Click to expand...

+1 Chinese = failure. Bridgestone sells a quality 90/90-19 tube. Harder to find, because quality costs more and less profit margin for resellers

Bad experience with tubes made in Thailand. Split along a seam.

I use Michelin with no problems in past ten years. I think the ones sold in NZ are labeled made in Serbia or Croatia ???

Heavy Duty Tubes are stamped not for highway use.

Go with a brand name. I got a cheap one because it was the only one I could find in 300-19 for my front. Doesn't show any leaks in the bath, but over a week it just leaks down to about 10#. I got a quality one in the next smaller size. Don't' get a larger size.

Dave
69S

Recently went through this after switching to a 90/90-19 front last summer. Had bad luck with a BikeMaster tube from a local dealer - rapid deflation within 1st 50 miles. Switched to IRC (Made in Thailand) tube (bought 2 just in case) and everything has been fine. I reviewed and refined my methods and tried to be as careful as possible. I used baby powder on the tube itself and NAPA Ru-Glyde rubber lubricant when installing the tire. Didn't lose any air even over the winter.

I agree with DogT - go smaller rather than larger if there is an overlap in the sizes. Otherwise it will be easier to get a crease when inflated which will eventually cause failure.

That was the one that leaked on me right from the get go, BikeMaster. Stay away. But they did have the 300-19, it's currently being used as rubbers for the fuel tank rear holder downer.

Dave
69S

i would strongly recommend Michelin Airstop ( metal valves with lock nuts ) readily available in Europe not sure about the USA/ CANADA
the cheaper tubes tend to be porous and valves can pull out they are often rubber without lock nuts

On advice from a club member I tried a Bridgestone Mx tube in one of the roadbikes. It was heavy, bulky and lost air over time. I put up with it for a couple of years and recently changed to a Michelin with steel valve stem. It is about half the weight of the mx tube and about twice the weight of the chinese tubes. It seems to hold air nicely.
I have Bridgestone mx tubes front and rear in three dirt bikes, they all lose air over time. On average I would say they go flat after about four months.
Another club friend tried mx tubes in his roadbikes, can't remember the brand, but his comment was " I couldn't keep air in them"
I had a Chinese tube in one bike, it held air fine but looked very flimsy and vulnerable to damage.

Glen

I use Dunlop MJ/MM90-19, 100/90-19 from the local Harley-Davidson dealer (w/metal valve stem). Official HD Parts, Made in Japan!

Yes Sir, thank you Harley Davision, are closest kissing cousin for keeping our size tube fresh on the shelves. If ya cruise by a real old time cycle shop check on them to collect some good European and Assian tubes and seal up in bag to store or carry away from O2.

MIke Tagaliei in NY had a china tube fail from rubbing inside rear on freeway return and tossed him to put him in convalesence for weeks and about a year to get to attend to some major mess of a bike. I can't reccomend enough low air practice so the first hints of low air alarm you as next instant all hell can let go and only innate reflexes may save ya. Even so very rare to hear a take down by a flat.

Do any of you use Slime sealant to prevent flats? The thicker inner tubes are more resistant to punctures. Flat tires are at best a pain in the ass; at worst dangerous.

Does it make sense that heavy duty tubes may contribute to wobble?

Well Cdo's may be the world most tire sensitive craft so heavy tube might add to weave/wobble, especially if only in one tire and more so in front, as I've found anytime the front has more traction/grip/stiffeness/PSI authority over the rear funny stuff onsets more easy and out of the blue.

Michelin or equivalent, and for a couple of reasons. Better quality of rubber allows them to be thinner than cheapos (unless they're really cheap) which helps ward off heat buildup, especially in the sidewalls. One of the reasons for not running the heavy tube on the street is heat buildup whilst tooling down the freeway. For the same reason, it's important to keep your tires properly inflated.

I ordered some more Michelin tubes yesterday. The new rear tire going on the Commando(new flanged Akront rims happening) is a 4.00x 18. The only Michelin tube I could find in this size is a TR4 airstop which clearly states on the box it is for "special motocross/enduro" Having had negative experiences with the very heavy and bulky Bridgestone MX tubes, I was happy to see that the Michelin MX tube is about half the bulk of the Bridgestone. I put one of these on the back of my Oz Rapide about a month ago after installing the same size and type new rims and Avon Roadrunners on that bike, so far no problems, no gradual air loss as with the Bridgestone MX tubes.
The front tube for the 100/90/19 tire was only available in a TR6 designation, which if price is any indication, must be lighter than the TR4 tube. It is also labelled "airstop. Front tube was about $15 at Motorcycle Superstore, rear was
$32. I also put one of these in the other bike about a month ago and recall that it was a bit lighter than the rear tube, but not a lot considering the 4.00 x 18 tube is a much bigger profile tube than the 100/90/19 tube.

Incidentally, the 4.00x 18" Avon Roadrider is a very large and wide tire, much bigger than the old 4.10 size or the 100/90/19, which I thought was a replacement for the old 4.00 tires. The 4.00x18 Roadrider also is made to carry lots of weight, it has a 64v rating as opposed to a 57V rating for the 100/90/19, which both bikes had at rear prior to the rim change. According to my calculations, the 57v tire was very overloaded when carrying a passenger and gear.
The 64V will about cover it.

Glen

Torontonian said:

Chinese bad. Michelin ,Pirelli good. You get what U pay for.

Click to expand...

I think you will find that MC inner tubes by any manufacturer are made in China these days but quality varies substantially. I try to stay away from the really cheapo tubes like Bikemaster and have used Pirelli, Michelin, Metzeler, Dunlop and Kenda and they all have worked fine. Seems like the biggest differences between the $8 tubes and the $20-30 tubes are the thickness of the rubber and the quality of the seams. Quality of valves may also vary.