Bucket wheels

[Buddha#81:Me]

2 years with wire wheels and RS slicks on my first Bucket and no problems at all

Personally I like Bridgestone or Michelin tubes or other "name brands"but using the tyre talc is probably the most important thing

I have had 1 tube fail on a fxr wheel with a tube. I converted it to tubeless with success (spoke wheels would be near on impossible). The big difference between what we do down here (Chch) and the Welly and Auck scene is the pressures. Down here I running up to 28psi in slicks on the bucket, up North I understand its up to 10psi lower. I would think there is less tyre rub at higher pressures. Tyre Talc wont eliminate the friction but will at least reduce it. you could start removing tyres and inspecting tubes as part of your maintenance.
I'm unsure they are available in 17" but there is a heavy duty option for dirt bikes.

Good luck with this and if you find a solution tell us so anyone else with this issue can fix their problem too.

[Chambers]

Tyre Talc wont eliminate the friction but will at least reduce it. you could start removing tyres and inspecting tubes as part of your maintenance.

Good luck with this and if you find a solution tell us so anyone else with this issue can fix their problem too.

We routinely change the tubes once a year, just before the 2-hour and were thinking we should do it more often. We run the tyres at 18psi more or less. It has been our habit to just rock up to the motorcycle shop and get the tubes changed looks like we need to take some talc with us. I guess baby talc will do, talc is talc I suppose, it all comes from the same rock.

We are certainly going to talc the inside of the tyres now and will share any other tips we get.

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[Chambers]

2 years with wire wheels and RS slicks on my first Bucket and no problems at all

Thats encouraging, we were starting to lose hope and thought that it was going to be an ongoing problem.

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[Kickaha]

We run the tyres at 18psi more or less.

Why so low?

The lower pressure certainly won't help as the tyre will flex more, I was normally running 27-28psi so that might be why I didn't have any problems

[Chambers]

Why so low?

The lower pressure certainly won't help as the tyre will flex more, I was normally running 27-28psi so that might be why I didn't have any problems

There might be something in that, but the talc tip has got to help, thanks.

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[F5 Dave]

Why so low?

Kart tracks.

Lower speeds mean the tyres don't warm up as they do on longer tracks with the shear at high(ish?) speed. They deform at that speed & is not how they are supposed to work.

But they do. Problem is in spoked wheels with inner tubes. Work ok but have to change them every so often & esp before a 2 hr. Better tubeless if you can.

[TZ350]

Why so low?

The lower pressure certainly won't help as the tyre will flex more, I was normally running 27-28psi so that might be why I didn't have any problems

Its not just us, 18psi is what works at Mt Wellington and is used as a base line by every one here I think. One private practice day Team ESE did quite a bit of experimenting, lowering the pressures untill the tyres overheated and started to melt at about 16psi then worked our way back up untill they were sliding around and the tyre surface was cold shearing. 18psi F/R more or less, within a psi or two at most was where its at here. We go 2-4 psi up for Taupo.

We found that just a psi or two too low and the tyres over heated and that the upper limit 20-24 psi was a little more forgiving before starting to slide about. A tyre that was working well felt quite warm and a little sticky. A tyre that felt oily was getting to hot and a barley warm or cold to the touch tyre was just not working at all.

We have read that slicks are often groved so they flex more and warm up properly, very usefull in cold but dry weather.

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[gav]

Try and see if you can get the heavy duty tubes as mentioned, as most the shops will probably just supply a tube designed for scooters and commuters. Pretty sure Michelin do one, and could probably find through a dirt bike shop.