Triumphrat

ssevy · 03-28-2009, 09:08 PM

Okay, today while finally getting some triple digit miles for the frist time this season, a thought popped into my old noodle: why hasn't someone made a tube out of that bulletproof fabric, or something similar, so that we don't have to deal with flat tires? If the tube was a high tech fabric rather than just rubber, it would have to be made to the tire dimensions more closely, but even if such a tube were expensive, I would think it would be reuseable many times, making the initial outlay more palatable.

Mag00 · 03-29-2009, 01:52 AM

I like the puncture proof "tubes" that dirt bike racers use. Really, they are more like a foam core insert. Too bad they are not safe for street use.

IrlMike · 03-29-2009, 05:59 AM

Michelin Introduces Airless Motorcycle Tires

22September
2004 File under New Products
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
Comments: Your say [0/0]

French tire manufacturer, Michelin, will introduce a prototype airless tire this week at the Paris Car exhibition! The new tire, which will be used for cars, motorcycles and trucks, is made out of mostly non-rubber materials such as elastic.

The tire will be made without any air chamber, giving the motorcycle a smoother ride, specially over rough terrain. The tire will be able to absorb shocks easier than tires with air chambers.

The bad news is that these tires will only be available in about 10 years......

Michelin Airless motorcycle tires

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 11/17/2005
in Alternative thinking, Motorcycle Safety, Motorcycle Technology

Michelin has been working on their Tweel for some time now which is a tire and wheel (”tweel”, get it?) technology that needs no air. They also have an airless tire that mounts on a separate wheel but uses plastic bands for the sides in place of the normal sidewall. You get the flex characteristics of a normal sidewall tire without any air required. Although I had heard of developments for motorcycles, I had not seen any photos. Motoblog.it has been at the Milan show and shot these photos of the Michelin airless motorcycle tire. It doesn’t look quite as radically different as the Tweel except for the fact you’re exposing the inner bands, pretty radical in its own right.

Interesting, too, is the tread and plastic sidewalls can be made in various colors as the blue version shows. No word, as far as I can tell, about how close these are to commercial application. It would be interesting to ride an airless tire to see how it responds under various riding conditions. Since a broken band doesn’t require a tire change and there is no air to lose, these would seem to be a natural for extreme offroad use though they would be great for normal riding, too. Cool technology.
Michelen airless tires

Don't know what happened to 'em tho ??

thekeyman · 03-29-2009, 01:19 PM

l too have looked at tubeless tyres but there are drawbacks. The biggest is heat build up. There is or was an American company that had a system of small balls that you placed around the inside of the tire that allowed you to run if one was punctured, or two or three but they were only for dirt bikes as heat build as they rubbed together could cause failure on long runs. The same goes for foam . The Michelin system holds the most hope but once again it is the heat build up that holds it back. The annoying thing is that it would work ok in northern Europe as the weather rarely gets hot enough to compound the tire heat to be a problem. H&S and insurance liabilty means they could not risk confining the sales to N- Europe. shame.

gregp · 03-29-2009, 02:50 PM

As a long time dirt biker, I have learned to use only ultra heavy duty tubes in my dirt bikes (Bridgestone UHD tubes preferably, Moose and others are available). Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a UHD tube in any suitable 150-160 x 16" sizes for my Adventurer's rear tire. The front 110/80-18 was easy.
I would certainly be relieved if I could find one for the rear. The Metzler tube I used there felt paper thin by comparison.