21" tubed tyres - issues for purely road use?

[MisterB]

Hi all,

I've been looking at possibly getting a used F800GS/GSA as a replacement for my V-Strom 650. I'm 6'2" so I like the extra height and seat to footpeg room on the 800 over the 700 but there are a couple of things on my mind and wondered if those of you who have ridden the 800 and/or 700 could help please?

The bike would only be used on the road though so I'm wondering if the 21" front wheel would offer noticeably poorer handling in the twisties than the 19" wheel standard on most adventure bikes?

I'm also concerned about the fact that the tyres are tubed. I do a lot of day rides on my tod so a puncture would be a big issue. Is it possible to convert the tyres to tubeless?

The 700 would solve both these issues but it's physically smaller and down on power. Hmmm....

 

[Micky]

Hi all,

I've been looking at possibly getting a used F800GS/GSA as a replacement for my V-Strom 650. I'm 6'2" so I like the extra height and seat to footpeg room on the 800 over the 700 but there are a couple of things on my mind and wondered if those of you who have ridden the 800 and/or 700 could help please?

The bike would only be used on the road though so I'm wondering if the 21" front wheel would offer noticeably poorer handling in the twisties than the 19" wheel standard on most adventure bikes?

I'm also concerned about the fact that the tyres are tubed. I do a lot of day rides on my tod so a puncture would be a big issue. Is it possible to convert the tyres to tubeless?

The 700 would solve both these issues but it's physically smaller and down on power. Hmmm....

No problems ... just go for it

121,000 miles, tubes never been an issue. Never been left stranded ... just carry an aerosol of repair/inflate by Motul.

Handling? Been Nürburgring rung, not been left wanting. Don't put the cart before the horse, although some doom'n gloom merchants will be along shortly I'm quite sure, but their petrol tank or bier tankard will always be half empty and never half full

 

[frenchy3]

I haven,t got any experience of the 21" tubed tyre on my F800GS yet but i have owned several enduro and dual sport bikes all with tubed 21" wheels and in over twenty years of serious stoney and rocky trails the only punctures i have ever had were caused by people tipping builders rubble on to the tracks containing nails and broken tiles /glass etc. Two punctures in over twenty years. Just keep a decent tyre pressure in the tyres,i never used to run low pressures even on my enduro bikes with rim locks. The trade off between not getting quite as much traction in mud and snow compared to the risk of "snakebite" punctures due to low tyre pressure was a no brainer.No one really enjoys repairing a puncture on the side of the trail when you are hot and tired......do they?

 

[MisterB]

121,000 miles, tubes never been an issue. Never been left stranded ... just carry an aerosol of repair/inflate by Motul.

Blimey Micky, that's some mileage! Is that on an 800 GS?

Ever had to use the Motul stuff? I've seen mixed reviews, though ain't that always the case?!

 

[MisterB]

I haven,t got any experience of the 21" tubed tyre on my F800GS...

Hi frenchy3, so what tyres are you using?

I only use my bike on road so I'll just be at the mercy of nails etc on the road. Having said that, on my last UK tour one of the group had a puncture which was easily plugged as they had tubeless tyres.

 

[JJH]

My experiences are that in about 2 years of riding over 60,000 km I've had 4 punctures. A total pain in the ass. DO NOT use aerosol inflators/repairs don't listen to other people telling you that u can. It's danderious. No you can't make them tubeless. Not unless you spend£££. There is a way but I hear that you will invalidate your insurance if you do it as it's not type approved. JJH

 

[MisterB]

My experiences are that in about 2 years of riding over 60,000 km I've had 4 punctures. A total pain in the ass...

Ah, that's not good!

 

[doyle]

For what its worth, I have just bought a F800gs and have only done a couple of hundred miles on it. It turns a little slower than other bikes I have had,this includes a 950 and 990 ktm adv which had 21inch front wheels. I think this is possibly due to the rake of the forks but I am not sure. However after a few miles riding the F800gs I had forgot about any slowness in the turn in and was happy to take corners at speeds I am usually comfortable with.

I would suggest a long test ride to make your own mind up.
But remember you can get used to a slower turning bike ,but you can't make a bike bigger !![700]

The issue with punctures ,well if it happens there is always a way to deal with it.

 

[soupdragon]

You can get higher seats for the 700gs. The standard is 820mm, so you could easily get it up to 850mm or more by swapping for a BMW comfort seat and adding a pad or sheepskin.

 

[Micky]

My experiences are that in about 2 years of riding over 60,000 km I've had 4 punctures. A total pain in the ass. DO NOT use aerosol inflators/repairs don't listen to other people telling you that u can. It's danderious. No you can't make them tubeless. Not unless you spend£££. There is a way but I hear that you will invalidate your insurance if you do it as it's not type approved. JJH

Told you the feckin' doom'n gloom merchants will be along shortly

Track days, Nürburgring courses, Siberia, Mongolia, Gobi Desert, Morocco, Atlas Mountains, Karakorum fucking Highway .... dunno why you set foot out of the house JJH

 

[MisterB]

You can get higher seats for the 700gs. The standard is 820mm, so you could easily get it up to 850mm or more by swapping for a BMW comfort seat and adding a pad or sheepskin.

Agreed, but it's a shame BMW strangled the power on the 700 compared to the 800, unlike Triumph with their competing Tiger 800s...

 

[JJH]

Told you the feckin' doom'n gloom merchants will be along shortly

Track days, Nürburgring courses, Siberia, Mongolia, Gobi Desert, Morocco, Atlas Mountains, Karakorum fucking Highway .... dunno why you set foot out of the house JJH

Thanks for your kind thoughts. I mostly step out out of the house to ride my bike. I also loved my 800gsa and the only negative thing was tubeless tyers. You obviously have a few negative things to deal with. JJH

 

[frenchy3]

I have Conti trail attack tyres on at the moment which are great on the road but when i pluck up the courage to take a very heavy bike off road i will fit heidenau K60 scouts. I am totally used to the handling with softer long travel suspension and a 21" front wheel as i have had little else and certainly no sports/road orientated bikes since the early 1980,s! I have had a Harley Davidson MT350 for the past ten years which was 162kg so not much lighter than an F800gs.

 

[Micky]

You obviously have a few negative things to deal with. JJH

Noooooooo .... no negatives at all to deal with JJH

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I haven,t got any experience of the 21" tubed tyre on my F800GS yet but i have owned several enduro and dual sport bikes all with tubed 21" wheels and in over twenty years of serious stoney and rocky trails the only punctures i have ever had were caused by people tipping builders rubble on to the tracks containing nails and broken tiles /glass etc. Two punctures in over twenty years. Just keep a decent tyre pressure in the tyres,i never used to run low pressures even on my enduro bikes with rim locks. The trade off between not getting quite as much traction in mud and snow compared to the risk of "snakebite" punctures due to low tyre pressure was a no brainer.No one really enjoys repairing a puncture on the side of the trail when you are hot and tired......do they?

Bloody good advice

I always run 20 psi on my Trail/Enduro bikes as we have a lot of limestone trails in the Dales

 

[vaclove]

800GS is a Brilliant bike. As with everything, it depends what you compare it with. It is not a racing bike and it is not 1200. I always feel it is a big and high bike until I park it next to something even bigger. If you get one you won't regret.
As for the tube tyres, I use puncture safe, but since I use it, I did not have any puncture to evaluate its efficiency. Before that I have 3 punctures within 3 month, all rear wheel. The trouble was that most of bike/tyre shops do not stock the tubes, so you should carry spares with you if you want to be sure to become mobile fast in the event of puncture.
Thicker tubes for off road use are also available from Michelin.

I am interested myself to hear about experience using the Motul Tyre repair on tube tyre. Of course the tyre shop/dealer will discourage you from doing that, but if you are stuck in taiga or Iranian desert, the cushy BMW break down service with espresso machine at the back is not always available and measures need to be taken to get you mobile.

 

[Renatus]

I've had three punctures in my riding time. Two were commuting on the A1M on my 1100 with tubeless Anakees and were graceful deflations - a nail one time and a flint the other. The third time was on my Dakar with tubed Tourances about 5km south of the arctic circle in Norway caused by a large nail in the rear tyre. The deflation was so fast in nearly spat me off as I was doing about 60MPH at the time. The nail shredded the tube beyond repair despite us having a fair amount of patch material and glue with us. Typically on that trip I didn't have a spare tube so had to use the RAC who were very good.

So from my limited experience I'd prefer tubeless for purely on-road riding.

 

[Micky]

So from my limited experience I'd prefer tubeless for purely on-road riding.

Indeed ... tubeless probably more preferable for everyday road riding and I totally agree with you

However, I personally don't have a problem with tubed tyres, unlike some, AND I have known instant deflation, on several occasions, with tubeless, so I guess it's the luck of the draw

I can only harp back to the 1960's when I had six punctures on my BSA 350cc B31 on a day's ride to the east coast, to beat upon a few scooter riders

I mended them and got home OK

We've never had it so good these days, punctures really are few and far between ...

 

[Sooty09]

Only had one puncture in 30000 miles on my old GS 800. Managed to get back to the camp site by using tyre inflating foam. I had also read mixed reviews on using foam but since the early days they have improved, all my recent cars have been supplied with a can and compressor.
Being lazy I took the wheel to a local garage for fixing, the difficult thing was being the front you need to improvise a prop to stop the bike rolling off the centre stand. The garage charged 5e more for cleaning the foam out of the tyre. I ran the same repaired foam filled tube until tyre changing 8000m later.
Back to tubes now and considering fitting a tyre pressure monitoring kit, £55 of eBay.

 

[Sooty09]

Forgot to add, we find it very difficult to get garage air lines to fit the GS valves. The F700 with tyre monitoring feels very fragile. A small AA compressor currently available from garages for £8.00 is small and runs off the standard accessory socket with a socket adapter, or change of plug.