Tyre leaking air - Between rim & tyre

[Marius in Africa]

I am taking the bike to the tyre dealer tomorrow to have a look, in the mean time i am curious.

Why would this leak occur? The rim is only four months old with no damage. The tyre has completed 21500 km and only started leaking air along the rim edge about two weeks ago; what could be the cause this?

 

[andylel]

I am afraid I can't really help because I don't know what would cause it but I would not be riding it if it was mine in case a slow leak turned into a rapid failure.

 

[JJH]

How did u get that mileage? I'd ride on it over a footpath it might cure the leak. I had same on a 100 gs many years ago. Used it for months till I got it sorted. JJH

 

[steve hughes]

Surely cant be 12'000 miles looking at the tread left. Is there a typo in the original post.

 

[Blackal]

Do you clean your bike with Muc-Off, or similar?

Al

 

[Marius in Africa]

Surely cant be 12'000 miles looking at the tread left. Is there a typo in the original post.

Hi Steve
No mistake on the odometer reading, the exact reading is 21436 km this morning. I did not realize this is unusually high mileage on the TA 2 tyres, this is my first GS thus to me this is "normal". I am on the second rear tyre which has done 8436 km with another 4 mm of usable thread (to TWI level) left. Only special thing i do is to ensure that the tyre pressures are always as per BMW specifications.

 

[Marius in Africa]

Do you clean your bike with Muc-Off, or similar?

Al

No Al, i use a conventional liquid car shampoo/polish solution in fairly warm water and then use a sponge and hand wash the wheel (rims, spokes and centre hub). It is a somewhat labour intensive but it works for me.

 

[Marius in Africa]

The culprit causing the leak is corrosion on the inner surface of the rim. Here the aluminium oxide can be seen sticking the the tyre where it is suppose to seal against the rim.

 

[Blackal]

No Al, i use a conventional liquid car shampoo/polish solution in fairly warm water and then use a sponge and hand wash the wheel (rims, spokes and centre hub). It is a somewhat labour intensive but it works for me.

Good - I discovered how aggressive Muc-Off was - just after getting a good deal on 10ltrs of the stuff. It's even too strong to dilute with orange juice!

 

[WindyChuffer]

The culprit causing the leak is corrosion on the inner surface of the rim. Here the aluminium oxide can be seen sticking the the tyre where it is suppose to seal against the rim.

How is it being resolved? New tyre and wheel or cleaning up of both?

 

[Marius in Africa]

How is it being resolved? New tyre and wheel or cleaning up of both?

Both surfaces was cleaned with a wire brush. If it happens again the rim will have to be repainted with good quality solvent based paint to stop the corrosion.