I FOR ONE LOVE LACED WHEELS... BUT I REALIZE THE ISSUES OF GETTING CAUGHT IN BUM#### NOWHERE WITH A FLAT ,ANYONE KNOW HOW THESE WORK??

http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US

 

I too love laced wheels but went to bullets for that very reason. Couldn't read your link but I think HD sucks for using the wire wheels they do.

 

Looks like fancy duct tape with an filler valve.....bet they have to glue it on the inner rim to seal over the spoke adjusters. Laced wheels look cool but they're a pain in the a$$ to keep clean....I usually just don't bother.

 

Looks like a thick, flat thingie with two ridges that inflate thereby sealing off and separating the spoke ends from the beads and air chamber of a tubeless tire. As it appears to have its own Schrader valve, the '12 "Smoothie Laced Wheels" must have two valve holes in them -- one for inflating this device and the normal one to inflate the tire. At least that's my take just from zooming in on the pic. I've been wrong before -- just ask my wife.

 

Fathertime... those are new for the 2012s. I don't know if the rim strips will work in other rims or if there is a special rim to accommodate them.

From my years in mountain biking I can tell you that rim strips are popular for folks who want to run laced rims. The rim strips used there don't inflate, they just seal the spoke connections so that a tubeless tire can be used.

 

New for this year, I'd wait and let someone else figure out how good they work.
My prediction is that soon we will have the old timers posting about how these are nothing but problems and how they never had a problem with a tube.

 

Tubeless laced rims are nothing new other manufactures have been doing it for years...Harley has their own special way of reinventing the wheel...I think I will stick with my cast wheels for now.

 

I have the smooth Laced chrome profile rims on my 2010. They don't have these new for 12 inner bands, but they do have a rubber band to protect the tube from the spokes. Had them for a year now with no problems. Not hard to clean or put air in. I don't understand all the fuss about them.

 

I modified a set of laced wheels to run tubeless by sealing the rubber band to the wheel with aircraft fuel/pressure deck sealant. So far, one year of service and 10,000 miles with no problems. I feel cast and billet wheels date the bike.

 

interesting...thats how it looked to me too... don't think it would be a huge deal to drill another hole for the second valve since the rim is aluminum..??