21" tubed tyres - issues for purely road use?

[karlp]

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

If the only negative was the lack of tubeless tyres then get a set of these

Kinross wheels. - yes expensive but solve the issue.

Then you will have absolutely the perfect bike.

 

[JJH]

If the only negative was the lack of tubeless tyres then get a set of these

Kinross wheels. - yes expensive but solve the issue.

Then you will have absolutely the perfect bike.

Yes the bike was perfect. I loved it. I got a puncture on my way to a wedding back wheel. No problem says I to myself I have breakdown cover. I ring the one coverd by BMW can't help they say we will recover the bike to the dealers and get u a car in the morning. No ta says I and ring 2nd breakdown co. coverd by insurance- same story. I missed my friends wedding. Ive fixed many punctures over the years biking since 1976 and went trough a few periods of dispatching. I actually got the back wheel to blow up tubeless and even plugged it when punctured but could not get the front to stop leaking. Back rim is a safety rim front isn't. I've posted a good bit about my experiences with the f800 and I cannot see any advantage of tubes for ME. JJH

 

[JJH]

Just to make it clear I've no problem with tubes or people who pereferr them. I find that for me tubeless is better safer handier and quicker to fix on the side of the road so you have to carry less tools to keep you mobile. FURTHER if the wheels were made like 1200 gsa wheels and were tubeless I'd be happy. FURTHERMORE anyone who wanted to run tubes could. I now have a l/c gsa 1200 and I'll probably keep it forever. If I won the lotto I'd just buy a new one. JJH

 

[DaveC]

Don't worry

After tens of thousands of miles on tubed tyres I only had two blowouts and both completely shredded the inner tube. No amount of goo will fix that. Luckily both were close to home. Putting a new tube in by the side of the road is not for me and my delicate hands
As posted earlier, after a few miles on 21" wheels you don't notice the difference. When I swap to a bike with smaller wheels I nearly throw it on its side to begin with, so I guess I'm putting more effort into leaning the F800 over, but it's a subtle difference.

 

[Micky]

so I guess I'm putting more effort into leaning the F800 over, but it's a subtle difference.

Ha... indeed

My F650GS-Dakar was shod with a 21" front wheel. On the road, roundabouts and such, it always wanted to 'drop in' ...not always a nice feeling, so I acquired a 19" rim, set the suspension up accordingly, and it handled beautifully, what a difference

So when I got my F800GS I said to misen that if it handled the same, drops in on corners etc then I would treat it to a 19" rim

There was never any need ... it handled nicely from day one. As said, it's been thrashed round der Nurburgring and after three awards on three High Performance Courses there I can't fault it

You still need to be lucky though

 

[mylovelyhorse]

I have had 1 puncture in 51k miles. I don't bother to carry a puncture repair kit when I ride a bike with tubeless tyres so I was no more stuck when my rear tube got punctured than I would have been if it was a tubeless tyre.

Heavy duty tubes are your friend too

 

[Deleted account 181015003]

I got a puncture in France on the F800GS on my last morning and was due to catch a ferry I just blow it up again and rode it home at a steady 50mph I kept of the motorways stopping every 20 miles to check the pressure.

If it were to go down quickly I had a tube with me and would have changed it on the road or taken it to a garage I fixed it when I was home it just a thorn.

 

[slparry]

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....

Having spent many a happy weekend sports bike baiting I can vouch that the 21" front wheel works fine on the road even with the Heidenau K60 Scouts

The 12GS ended up with 19" wheels because of the design constraints of the telelever front end. 21" wheels are used in other adventure bikes because it's a more suitable size for the job, softroaders tend to use 19" for accessibility to tyres