Tubeless tires have two advantages.

(1) They are a lot less likely to blow out. The inter wall of a tubeless tire has a sticky layer that helps seal a puncture and the tire will stay sealed to the rim. Put a hole in a tube and the tire starts coming off the rim instantly.This is why you don't see tubed tires on cars anymore.

(2) You can plug a tubless tire on the side of the road and ride the bike home or to a dealer. You just need a small kit and some co2 cartridges. I speak from experience as I have plugged two nail punctures in the past 3 years and one I rode 250 miles before I could get a permanent patch. Towing service is a great thing to have but if you get a flat150 miles from nowhere on a week end it's not going to do you much good.

Laced wheels are OK for around town stuff but if you tour or take a lot of long remote rides then cast wheels make more sense.

 

QT,
When I ordered my Ultra, it was up in the air as to the availability of the Profile Laced Wheel for my bike. And actually the dealer didn't get it to come in with them from York. (This same time last year)

They did a swap with a showroom bike to put them on mine.
I think the problem was a supply thing, and maybe his dealer doesen't want to go that little bit extra to satisfy a customer.

 

Not true. The same tubeless tires are mounted on all H-D Touring bikes whether there's a tube inside or not. There is not a "Must have tube" tire. The difference is not the tire but the wheel. Sticky layer?

Every time this tube / tubeless debate comes up it reminds me of when I took my first road trip. I had trouble sleeping the first two nights, I was worried to death that someone was going to steal my motorcycle while I was asleep. This tubeless / laced wheel argument is like that, you can worry about it or you can go ride and enjoy your motorcycle.

 

20,000 miles and have never had a flat!

 

HA! I wish that I had thought to say that to the sales guy there [sm=bustedsign.gif]

 

Yup, on the Ultra I have 18,000 miles and had a one month old junk tube.(Delaminated at the inlet tube)

But you know what, them Lace wheels are still on her.

 

I have had a problem with a late model laced wheel. My '00 RKC's rearspokes loosened up at 31k miles and gave me a bad wobble. I pulled the wheel and had them tightened and the wheel trued. Last May, I put my bike on a lift and went over it, checking the spokes, before a 350 mile trip to Myrtle. The spokes were tight. Half way there, the spokes started to loosen. I thought was the wind. By the time, I got to Myrtle, I had several broken spokes, and several pulled out of the hub. That was at 62k miles. I had to get trailered home.

I have an indy buddy that mounts about 200 tires a year. He says that ever since the TC came out he has seen a lot of loose rear spokes. He blames it on two things....1.) Cheap spokes. 2) The fact that the TC makes more torque than any HD to date.

I personally know others that have had this kind of thing happen on late model bikes and have seen several threads on it. Go to VTwin Forum and do a search. More than one guy over there has delt with it.

I put a new take-off spokedwheel on my bike and have been riding it. However, I have a 1200 Custom rear wheel waiting in the wings for the next tire change.

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One more thing to consider is the rust inside a steel wheel. Check out my wheel after 62k miles and 6 years. The rust in the rim is pretty bad. Some of the nipples are starting to rust. I don't see these late model wheels lasting decades like wheels of the past.

FYI,the bike is kept in the dry and doesn't sit out in the rain. I change my own tires and use Murphy's Oil Soap as a lube, so don't blame the rust on a corrosive tire change lube.

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I've never had anything but lace wheels and have ridden countless miles and gone long trips with them. This last weekend a buddy of mine got a screw through the rear tire of his '03 FXST (still laced wheel) and rode it from downtown Savannah to the HD shop on I-95. It just lost about 1/4 of the air and he mushed along at low speed taking it easy.

Not an issue. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Besides, they look much better IMO on a classic design like the RK classic.

 

It is true that Harley uses tubless tires with a tube in laced wheels ,but when a tube is punctured the air escapes and goes out of the spoke holes (unless they are sealed). Once enough air escapes, the seal breaks from the rim and there you go. Unless you gash it, air will escape very slowly from a punctured tubeless tire giving you plenty of time to "feel" it and pull over. The only way I detected my punctures was by checking air pressure--those nails could have been in there for several days.