The $27 Honda Africa Twin Tubeless Conversion
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- čas přidán 1. 11. 2019
- My (admittedly horrible) video describing how to convert Honda Africa Twin rims to tubeless (at least on the rear). I didn't think to film until I had already applied layer #1, but I still go through the motions for layer #2. Thanks and I value constructive feedback or questions :)
Update on this video -- Flex Seal for some reason failed about 2.5 months or so into the application. This was not a catastrophic failure but it developed a very slow leak around one of the spokes, then a leak around the valve. I'm not sure if this is due to shrinking or maybe just being abused inside of a tire :D -- I removed the tire and inspected the flex seal and saw no chipping, ripping, or cracking, so I'm thinking the natural flexing of a rim managed to work it just loose enough to develop slow leaks.
I have since went back to a HD tube on the rear, but I kept the flex seal as a 'tube liner' since it was in such good shape.
My next experiment will be with the 3M tape everyone raves about :)
Need to put flex tape, after flex seal is it work well for me
Did you do the 3M 4412N yet? Done my rims in 2017 and still no leaks to this day. Even had to adjust more than 10 spokes and the tapes still holding
Flex tape for the win. Not cheap but works like nothing else.
@@cactustoadwine3755 Hi, any special markings to put on my spoke wheels? because I have thought about the tape "Gorilla" but I have heard that the 3M is very good .... I will appreciate your answer.
Hi there,
Do you have any updates for tubeless?
It worked perfectly for my supermoto.
Just need true the rims and give correct tension to spokes before.
Thanks a lot sir
Handy tip when mounting any tubeless tire, if the bead won't seat and is leaking put a tiedown around the tire to put pressure on it to spread the bead in conjunction with a dose of soapy juice.
Did the 3M 5200 Marine sealant and 3M 4411N tape thing on my Husky 701 Enduro, so far so awesome. When doing the tape, always face the ending part facing away from the tire's direction of rotation. The stuff is so sticky it probably doesn't matter but ya might as well pad your chances 😆
I recommend installing the valve stem first and cover the hole on the stem with a piece of tape. You can puncture the hole before installing the air valve
Great video. Since it lasted over 2 months, I was wondering if just that one spoke may have been damaged or loose and cause the issue.
Maybe not sine it hasn't been an issue with the tube. Still, good job.
Whered you get those turn signals ?
Plug n play?
How will you adjust your spokes to true the wheel after you did this? Turning the spokes will damage the seal I suppose?
First of all, THANKS for the detailed explanation. I have never done this before & new to Honda DCT Africa Twin world. I was riding with the wife and had no clue as what to do when we got a rear tire flat, was a complete nightmare. Seeing your video I have purchased everything and will start the process this week. I do have a question 🙋🏼♂️ I’m going to replace my rear tire and don’t know if I buy for tube or tubeless? Please advise and advise is greatly appreciated. Again, thanks & ride safe.
Thanks for the response Jose -- I hope you see my pinned comment in this post, but long story short, the Flex-Seal failed after a few months. Now, it was a slow failure and I do a good amount of bumpy off-roading, so I think one of my spokes caused a slow leak (I have since replace with 3M marine tape and it's held very well so far!)
For what it's worth, I use Dunlop Trailmax and they're both tubeless. Most tubeless should be ready to use with tubes just fine. For my personal bike, my front is still tubed (because supposedly the 2018 AT doesn't have a safety lip on the front wheel for tubeless) and my rear is tubeless with 3M.
Thanks for the advice, best regards! Ride safe!
got a look at a professionally sealed spoke rim (sealed by the rim maker) and they used some kind of flat black substance that appeared to be applied with heat. it looked a lot like a rubber rim strip (band that protects tubes from the rough surfaces of spokes). it looked like they wrapped the black 'band' around the rim then melted it on, but hard to say
Yes I could imagine that being a good fix. I have since applied 3M tape to this rim and it's much more hearty than the Flexseal in staying on the rim.
Dude is the flex seal still holding out ok ? Ive only just found your video and thought about it for my bike regards Karl 👍
He said it failed after 2.5 months with a slow leak. Check his update at the beginning of comments.
Thank you!
Good video, thanks man!
So does it hold up ok long term? Do you need to top- up?
Thanks Lou but unfortunately it failed after about 2.5 months (see my pinned comment). I think it's because I was riding a lot of rocks and the spokes flexed too much and caused a slow leak.
There are other people on my AT group that have used it for over 1 year and no leaks but I'm betting they're mostly street or not riding big-shock terrain like rocks.
@@cputeq007 good to know. Thanks again. I wonder if just the 3m tape is the way to go?
The best stuff I found for doing these is the 3M tape but make sure you use the thicker stuff not the thinner stuff I also used a Tube of sealant that we get here in the UK called Tiger Seal is very similar to the sealant they use to bond in windscreens in cars I did this around the nipples after cleaning The complete rim with 100% alcohol gave Tiger Seal 48 hours to dry then use the tape I’ve since done about 10,000 miles with no issues and I’ve done the front and the rear.
That s the stuff , I think his system + 3M tape would be great, like yours double protection.
One question, why should you not use the innertube also? So when you have a flat tire you are able to put a plug in.
Actually I'm doing that now, but with 3M tape also. I guess it depends on how you ride the bike. My hope is that if my tube is punctured, it'll be a slower leak with the 'sealed' rim vs a bare rim.
If you don't air down much, it's probably better to just run without the tubes because all they're doing is adding weight and not giving any real benefit. That's assuming you've sealed the rim properly.
HELLO. IT HAS PASSED 4 YEARS, IS IT STILL GOOD? NO LEAK?
I just did Mine today , Please update on the flexseal experience
Mine failed after about 2.5 months because I was doing some heavy off-road rocky riding. There are others on my facebook group that have lasted over a year on their modification :) Best of luck !
How is the flex seal on the back rim holding up
Glad you asked! Had a small leak near one of the spokes after 2.5 months. I am going to make a follow up video about it. I’m curious to know whether the seal degraded or maybe I had too much movement on a spoke. !
Hi its now July 2022 and I just came across your Video on converting your AT to Tubless .... Just checking in for a flex seal Tubeless rim UP DATE... I hope your still holding air after a few seasons of NM head and cold... ... I'm getting a 22 AT and would like to try your approach if your still pleased with the out come....... Ive used Flex Seal on other projects with great success.... Thanks! Again for you video.... OH and PS The wife and I were in your neighborhood 4 yrs ago... She took us on a Balloon ride down the rio for my 60th birthday....... Enjoyed all your Great! CHRISTMAS Salsa too hahahaha
Hey thanks for writing! I have a pinned comment here (should be), but basically the flex seal failed in 2.5 months. Not catastrophically but a slow leak. I removed it and used 3M tape and it's still holding since this video (now 3 years). Glad to hear you had a balloon ride here! Love the Christmas chili here too (though I'm partial to green -- red is very dependent on who made it). Food and weather here are amazing and the riding is great too ;)
@@cputeq007 WOW! Sorry to hear the flex seal failed.... Seemed like a no brainer approach to the fix...... Glad the Tape is holding ...... As for the NM weather Yea we enjoyed it when we were there in Nov.... Wanted to be there for the Balloon festival but couldn't get out there then......I have a Trike Pilot friend who flys out of the Double Eagle airport that we came to visit ........ You should go for a Ride with him some time..... You would love trike flying....... Its the Motorcycle of the sky............ Ride Safe and thanks again for the heads up....
This was extremely helpful. Is there anything Flex Seal can't do? :D
Thanks for the kind words :) Admittedly this was my first application of that stuff - I figured "why not?" and I'm pretty impressed with how it performs. I even let some dry on a piece of cardboard and then bent it in extreme angles (checking for flexibility) and no cracks -- not bad!
Did you Use the Sham Wow to clean your rim with? All kidding aside I was hoping that was gonna work. I am wondering if the flex tape on top of the flex seal would have worked.
Hahah no Sham wow -- why didn't I think of that!? Actually I cleaned them off and used 3M tape and so far, about 14000 miles and no problems! (only sealed the rear).
thanks for the vid. don't use the flex seal on any more rims, that stuff is crap, it cracks, dry rots, and will likely sabotage the rest of your good job over time. I used it on a few things years back out of curiosity. Not one was but a disaster over a short time.
Very interesting - I'm wondering if the compound was changed? I had someone in the AT Facebook group (one of several groups) say they use it in AZ all the time, but I didn't ask about longevity.
i''m going to convert to tubless. i like what you did. question. did you have problems balancing the tires?
No problem balancing the tires, but I would use 3M tape vs the flex seal (see my pinned comment). So far my 3M has lasted about 9000 miles no problem! (rear tire only).
So do you think if you did three coats of the flex seal it would of done better
Not sure, but I don't think so. I put the stuff on pretty thick and while it's very pliable when coating, it seems to 'tighten' somewhat when dry and doesn't adhere as well as it would seem. After it failed, it was fairly easy to remove and replace with 3M tape (the Flex seal would come off very smoothly, not a lot of sanding required) -- so that leads me to believe the bond between the Flex seal and the rim wasn't that great or flexible.
Me pueden indicar que es el producto que aplican? En español por favor
Do you own and ride your Africa Twin? I am about to do a tubeless conversion, and I have a couple of questions for you if you still do have your AT.
Yep! Still own it. I re-did the back tire with the 3M tape, kept the front tubed.
I'm curious what would happen to the seal once you adjust the spokes.
It is good to use a set of newer wheels as they are clean, but not brand new as you want the spokes to be bedded in and adjusted prior to doing this. Once they are bedded in I rarely see a need to adjust the spokes. If you do and it leaks mark the spoke, take the tire off and repair the area.
I finally broke down and got a Rabaconda and a Harbor Freight static wheel balancer. The Rabaconda was money, but it makes tire changing easy. Bonus, I don't accept cash from friends, but I will accept beer for tire changing duties 😆
In Southeast Asia, a lot of people use the split innertube technique.
Why didn't you do it on the front wheel too?
I know that the front wheel doesn't have the bead (I think this is the correct name) to prevent the tire to "unglue" from the rim, but don't you think that the tyre pressure is enough to prevent it?
I'm considering doing it too, but I still didn't do it.
Thank you.
Looks like I was right, it's called bead
www.enve.com/en/journal/behind-the-product-the-hookless-bead-how-it-works-and-who-theyre-for/
Eventually I will do the front - I had already mounted the new tire (with tube) and didn't feel like unmounting to do this video :) I will keep the tube up front though because of the rim lacking the lip that the rear rim has. However, I think (hope) the flex seal will help with slowing air loss if I get a front tube puncture
Hello. How is it holding up? Still works?
No sorry, it failed after about 2.5-3 months. I believe it's because I was riding offroad in lots of rocks, and the spoke heads flexed and barely broke the barrier of the flex seal :) It was a very slow leak. I since replaced with 3M tape.
Use 3M Marine adhesive sealant 5200 to seal spokes apply 3M tape 4411N
wouldn't it break the seal first time you adjusted your spokes?
It would. Use 3M 4412N tape instead, it allows for spoke tension adjusting.
Yes it would
I had a tire repair shop convert my rim using old interiors of smaller diameter on video. It's still holding up until now. It's in the filipino language though. Maybe you can try and replicate it.
Why not just use standard automotive RTV sealant? Good enough to hold the pressure of a water pump good enough for this application I would think.
So how do you re torque your spokes now
BAH -- minor details! Actually I replaced with 3M tape, but the question is still valid. I honestly don't do enough rough offroad on my AT to justify messing with the spokes too much, so I don't worry too horribly about adjusting them.
@@cputeq007 they loosen up just riding on pavement..just FYI especially on the west coast our road suck
@@gabrielkopp2036 Thanks yeah I'll have to check mine - both of my bikes have spokes :D
How it's holding up mate
Hi thanks for the response - It started to leak after about 2.5 months because I think I was doing a lot of rock riding and flexing the spokes - not a fast leak but very slow. I scraped it off and did the 3M tape mode and it works much better !
Me interesa como hago la traduccio a español
Is it still holding air?
Nope, it leaked, see the pinned post :)
@@cputeq007 Shoot, It was too good and easy to be true!
How's it now after 3 years 🤔🤔🤔???
Sorry I guess nobofdy sees my pinned post :D It failed in about 3 months so I used 3M tape, still holding with tape 2 years now :D
is it still holding up
Sadly no, it failed about 2.5 months in (see my pinned comment).
@@cputeq007 did u went back to tubes?
one question, the rim is not tubeless the tire could come out of the rim in some turn;
The rear is safe
@@IAmYourReflection the front is not possible? do you just do the back?
@@nnikos alot of guys do both and have no issues
@@IAmYourReflection to understand is there no danger of the tire coming out of the rim?
@@nnikos not on the rear
Project farm did a review against flex seal, turns out it's actually pretty shitty, there's better options. Maybe give those a try
Yes I have 3M tape and a new set of Dunlop Trailmax Missions that I'll be slapping on soon, so I'm going to remove the flex seal and tape up both rims (even though I'm still using tubes).
180 degrees is a lot. If your rim gets that hot your tire will not last long
If you get a flat and drive on it with low air pressure, the tire will get that hot. Mine was so hot I couldn’t touch it with my hand. When I got home, I replaced the tire as the heat probably ruined it. In my case I was 30 miles from home. I shot in fix a flat, each can gave me about 10 miles. I had 3 cans with me. After 20 miles I had to wait an hour for the tire to cool down. Then I shot in the last can. A wrecker would of cost $200 to get home. Ruined tire cost $110
Try OUTEX
I will just drop the ching and get a set of kineos
I wish Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha would just put tubeless rims on their adv bikes. It's inexcusable in this day and age to expect people to remove a wheel, break down their tire, patch or replace a tube and reassemble on the side of the highway.
Crazy that people these days need to clarify that their bike is manual transmission.
Personally, I’ll never ride anything other than manual.