[BLACNWYTE]

I check tyre pressure usually when I go for fuel which is every 7-10 days. I notice a drop of 2-3 psi within this time. So as a preemptive measure I overfill a bit. I'm going to stop this habit. I think now onwards I'll keep the pressure at 23-33 psi front-back and monitor the tread wear. Sadly I have not observerd any increase in fuel efficiency even with the over inflated tyres.

[nairrk]

Originally Posted by 2himanshu

My dad who is a doctor, uses a Hero Maestro for his daily commutes. The vehicle is with us for a few years now. The front tubeless tyre mounted on alloy rim is problematic, it loses air steadily. And even after changing tyre the issue is there. There are no punctures, but pressure needs to be checked weekly.

.

I think your Dad's scooter front tyre facing the problem same as what my scooter rear tyre problem (losing air pressure slowly).

When I was in the mechanic shop who removed the tyre and shown me the inner rim where there was a brownish colour coating (I presume all Hero scooters have similar coatings on the rim) which started peeling here and there. The mechanic said that this coating loss creates a very minute gap between the tyre edge and the rim which resulting the air leakage.

I was seeing what he was doing and I had to believe his reasoning and as such I agreed his opinion to put a tube inside and thereafter that problem solved.

[alikidwhy]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Yes, tubeless tires in scooters are very annoying as they end up getting punctures all the time, irrespective of tire brand.

I would have to disagree, owing to personal experience.

My 2 wheeler, Yamaha Ray-Zr (Rayzee) is 2.5 years old and I've only had one puncture, no other problem either.

[neelkumar]

Originally Posted by ads295

I can't imagine how much money I've wasted due to this tubeless tyre

I prefer tubeless tyres. They are a lot safer and easy to maintain than tubed ones.

tubes have tendency to burst when they get punctured. My brother with his wife and a child were on a ride when the front tyre got punctured and burst. He couldn't control the bike and fell down. Fortunately he was riding slow and there was no vehicle behind
them so, they came out with small bruises. Tubeless tyres don't burst. the air leaves out slowly and handling is manageable.

And anyone with a puncture repair kit can quickly repair it and continue safely even when you are in remote places. Even without that you can drive some distance without damaging the wheel. Can't say the same for tyres with tubes.

[NiInJa]

Air escaping from the sides is a very common problem on scooters with tubeless tyres. I had a similar issue with my Yamaha R15. Did a lot of things like cleaning the rim (dirt or rust can cause this problem), polishing rim with a sandpaper etc. Nothing worked, It was just a defective tyre thats all.The local tyre shop suggested putting a tube in it, but I refused. The tyre was expensive by bike standards but got it replaced anyway.

For scooters, I think putting a tube in tubeless tyres can still work as long as it is not ridden at high speeds. I've read somewhere that one should keep the pressure a bit less than rated values as tubeless tire walls are thicker and harder from inside and can cause friction with the tube inside it thus heating it and expanding air.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by bf1983

For scooters, I suppose that its a good thing to have tube tyres because you are never going to reach crazy speeds. However I had a terrifying incident on my old Karizma when at 120 kph, my tube burst and I almost lost control and died on the road. After that, I sold the bike and bought an FZ16 because it had tubeless tyres. My cousin also died because his tube burst and he crashed. So I am dead scared of riding fast with a tube tyre.

I had a Karizma for 7 years, and I have always had tubeless tyres on it.
You replaced it with FZ16 because it supposedly had tubeless tyres????

[Deowrat17]

Originally Posted by WhiteSierra

Hi guys, I have a Yamaha Fascino November 2017 model which clocked only 10K kms so far. The original tyre was replaced by MRF at their factory at 4k kms free of cost due to an unrelated issue. The new tyre just covered about 6k kms, however, I loose air all the time, I get the air checked and topped up to 35 psi during every fuel filling.

My Hero Maestro Edge has similar issue. The rear tyre keeps losing the air pressure every now then ( Say 8-10 psi in a month) while the front tyre holds very well.
Also the scooter has run for only 8K Kms but the tread on the rear tyre has already run out while the front tyre has almost new like treads.
Can any fellow member tell me if this is normal for scooters?
If not, How to fix it so that it doesn't get repeated when I replace the worn out tyre with the new one?
Thanks!

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Deowrat17

My Hero Maestro Edge has similar issue. The rear tyre keeps losing the air pressure every now then ( Say 8-10 psi in a month) while the front tyre holds very well.
Also the scooter has run for only 8K Kms but the tread on the rear tyre has already run out while the front tyre has almost new like treads.

The MRF Zappers on my Dio rear tyre lasted for 15k kms after which I replaced them with another one of the type. The front one was good for more than 20k kms but I replaced them since these tyres get hard and lose grip on wet surfaces. Since I replaced the front with Michellin, eventually I also got the same tyre for the rear at around 25kms though the rear tyre(second set) still had a lot of life left. In between all this, I have changed the front rim once since the drums had run out. Between all these things, I havent faced a single incident of unusual air loss. The zappers had picked up one puncture at the rear but thats it.

Things you should take care or could be the culprits when you face air loss issues:

• Poor quality control of rim causing minor imperfections in the bead area
• Leakage around valve neck area
• Damage to tyre bead during installation - IIRC both the times I swapped to Michelin, the folks at Madhus used the tyre changer machine along with the lubricant used for tyres. They told me if the conventional wedge is used and too much force is applied, it will damage the tyre bead or rim causing air loss

Usually two wheeler mechanics or tyre shops dealing with two wheeler tyres are still a little hesitant to adapt to changes. Hence they might not take care of all this and when things go wrong they will suggest jugaad to hide the actual reason for the issue. I have got the tyres swapped at Madhus who primarily deal with four wheeler tyres. I believe I paid 100 more than a local shop, but that 100 has given me the peace of mind that is needed by not facing such issues

[bf1983]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I had a Karizma for 7 years, and I have always had tubeless tyres on it.
You replaced it with FZ16 because it supposedly had tubeless tyres????

Ah I don't think I put my point across properly. I had a used first gen Karizma and that had tube tyres. The tyres was only one reason to change the bike. I had other issues with my bike as the fairings were breaking apart. The fz16 was a compromise as I had to sell the Karizma at a big loss and I had to reduce my budget to buy another used bike. I loved the Karizma but my bike gave me too many issues. Going from a fast bike to a slower bike was a compromise but at least I didn't have to worry about a tyre burst on the fz16 which was the only thing I was really scared off after my incident with the Karizma. So 10 years of riding the FZ16 I have taken her to multiple long distance trips because I felt safe knowing that my tyre won't burst anymore. Also a tyre puncture didn't mean I would be stranded any more. I could just fill air from my foot pump in the tyres and ride till a puncture shop. Can't do that with a tube tyre.

[Sebring]

We have a 2003 Activa, and wanted the Zappers meant for latest Dio. Honda service gave us these fatter tyres (tubeless), fixed to old rim. And inserted a tube, as precaution. The bike sails on, no issues.

[balajisb]

For scooters, tube or tubeless does not matter and is purely a choice based on convenience of service rather than anything else.

The mushroom patch on tubeless for some reason does not work well on scooters though I have not had trouble on bikes and cars and tubeless causes the rim to bend, again in scooters only. Not sure about the exact reason for this.

I have converted to a tube from tubeless too and vice-versa and dont see a major difference between the two. However, as many experts have pointed out, tubed tyres definitely need more monitoring for pressure compared to tubeless,IMO

[rageshgr]

That tyre has breathed its last. And it was not designed for tubed operation. Pls install a new tyre. Safety is more important

[ads295]

I thought I'd post a quick update on this...

After getting stranded in the middle of the road twice with a puncture and having to push the scooter, I decided to spend on a new tubeless tyre finally.

This turned out to be a wise decision as the fuel efficiency has stayed the same, meaning that the older tyre just had too many holes to not leak air.

I would highly recommend everyone to get tubeless tyre punctures repaired from the inside out; as in where the tyre is removed from the rim, the nail/shard that caused the leak is removed, and a seal is applied on the inside of the tyre (just like the seal is applied on a tube). This costs ₹120 to do as opposed to the "plug" method which costs ₹50 to be done from the same guy. It may be more expensive but its the correct way to go. The plug method is more suited to, say, long rides where the nearest repair shop is far away and the rider must fix it on his own. Its more of a quick fix than a long term solution.

[ebonho]

Putting an inner tube into an ageing tubeless tyre is never a solution or an improvement.

It's a stop gap. Period.

Obviously it's in the interest of a tyre repair shop to sell you a tube with a wider margin than what a simple plug costs.

When a tyre gets old, and thinned out, and the rubber hard, a plug hole will expand, and keep expanding, no matter how many plugs you insert.

The repair will not hold.

There are only two options then.

In case of a car, you can put in an inner tube and use that tyre as your Stepney.

Or

You can get a more expensive but more foolproof and permanent a fix by doing cold vulcanising, where they actually pour rubber into the breach that covers the entire tract through and through and plug it up.

I did it recently to my Storme tyre and it cost me around 700 bucks. Still better than a 400 buck inner tube or for the time being a 8000 buck new tyre.

But for a two wheeler, it simply does not make sense to take the risk and lose the biggest safety advantage of a tubeless tyre ... leave alone the peace of mind of having a slow deflate system that does not strand you but gives you the window to get to help.

Basically if you are running the tyre, don't put in a tube. But a new tyre.

Cheers, Doc

[Mortis]

What are the thoughts on swapping front and rear tyres on a scooter ? I believe some tyres have different mounting orientation depending on if it's a front or rear tyre.
I'm asking because I replaced my rear tyre on the Activa about a year and a half ago and done just about 2000km on them. Now it's time to replace the front tyre as well. I was thinking of putting the newer tyre at the back and the slightly used one in the front. The logic is that the rear tyre wears out a bit faster so this way wear will be a bit more even and I guess grip on the rear is a more important than the front ?
Tyres are Michelin City Pro. They are currently on tubed wheels. This is a 2nd hand Activa 2g I bought a couple of years ago. Can I fit the new tubeless wheels on this and should I ?