Outex Tubeless Package Evaluation [Tube to Tube-free Conversion]

The Outex Tubeless Package, which converts a tube-type rim to tubeless, is a DIY challenge that requires endurance and a spotlight to element. You understand you probably did it accurately when your tires maintain air and made a mistake after they leak.

The good thing about the tubeless conversion is having the ability to repair a puncture flat with a tire plugging equipment. The choice restore is changing or patching a tube. One is a few-minutes restore, and the opposite is half-hour or hoofing it out of the woods.

I heard in regards to the Outex Tubeless Package for the Final Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Venture Bike once I had a set of Heidenau K60 Scout tires, which have stiff sidewalls, coming in for assessment. It’s simple to interrupt the bead and swap tubes utilizing my Rabaconda Road Tire Changer within the consolation of my storage. Nonetheless, the considered making an attempt to try this on the path, within the rain, with darkness coming, motivated me to go tubeless.

Outex, primarily based in Kaizuka, a suburb of Osaka, is an oft-mentioned tubeless equipment producer on journey bike boards. The corporate has a wonderful popularity and claims to have bought over 52,000 kits since its introduction in 2006. Regardless, I used to be apprehensive about taking up the challenge, as I had learn some accounts of unstoppable air leakage.

The bike-specific kits include the next:

• Entrance and rear seal tape rolls of acceptable size and width
• Entrance and rear safety tape rolls of acceptable size and width
• Entrance and rear steel valve stems
• Nipple covers
• A pair of white smoothing gloves
• Two Outex hologram stickers
• Instruction sheet (the Outex web site has many set up movies, together with one particular to the Ténéré 700 rear wheel)

The instruments wanted for equipment set up embody:

• Tire balancer mount, or a solution to spin the wheel easily
• Angle grinder with a steel grinding blade
• Dremel with a grinding stone
• Wonderful grit sandpaper
• Warmth gun or hairdryer
• Acetone
• Lint-free rags

Each failure report I’ve studied had one factor in frequent—the installers didn’t shave the tops of the spoke nipples. So, I put the entrance wheel on my balancer and slowly and thoroughly floor the tops of all of the spoke nipples flat—a half-hour job. Subsequent, I used the Dremel stone to easy all of the roughness from the grinding course of; that took about 10 minutes. I adopted that up with high-pressure air to blow all of the grinding mud out from all of the crevices round every nipple.

Out within the open air, I used acetone and lint-free rags to totally clear the whole inside floor of the wheel. The sealing tape makes a greater bond when heat, so Outex recommends heating the rim. I moved the acetone and used rags distant from the warmth gun spark supply earlier than heating the rim. I acquired it heat to the contact by spinning the rim and pointing the warmth gun at it from the spoke facet.

With the rim heat, I put a nipple cowl on high of every nipple. The nipple covers shield the seal tape from any abrasion from the naked steel nipple, whereas permitting a little bit of motion for spoke adjustment.

On go the supplied white gloves for precision laying of the sealing begins.

The sealing tape has a protecting layer over it as a result of it’s double-sided. Peel off the protecting layer of the seal tape. With a pointy knife, precisely clear the valve gap. The protecting layer tape has a precut gap for the non permanent insertion of the valve for positioning.

Ensure that the tip of the protecting layer is on the alternative facet of the valve from the connection seam of the sealing tape. Alignment care is obligatory as these tapes can’t be repositioned in any respect. Patiently apply the protecting layer. Conserving the seal tape within the rim’s middle, it’s a must to easy the tape up towards the stays of the nipples as you stick it down, beginning a number of nipples from the valve gap and thoroughly pushing it easy as you’re employed across the wheel. Don’t create wrinkles or bubbles—sluggish and regular, all the best way round. Go across the wheel smoothing and pushing down on all of the tape to make sure a great seal.

Whenever you attain the protecting layer start line, slice off and butt the ends. The directions name for a one-to-two-inch patch of sealing tape and protecting tape over the protecting tape butt ends. The Outex Hologram sticker goes between the layers of the patch, presumably for advertising functions.

After the wheel was ready for taping, my whole time was about an hour. I took my time, being additional fastidious about laying the tapes. The Ténéré 700 entrance wheel is described as a WM rim, which means it doesn’t have a bead hump like a wheel made for tubeless tires. The rear wheel on the Ténéré 700 has that hump and known as an MT wheel.

Outex gives an air valve for the entrance WM wheel and a special air valve for the rear MT wheel.

After the proper valve is put in and the tire rigorously mounted, it’s inflation time. This requires a high-pressure compressor to seat the bead. There is no such thing as a solution to seat a brand new bead with a path compressor or hand pump.

As you recover from 35 psi, you’ll hear the distinct pop of the bead seating. Let the air out and refill to your required stress—mine is 32 PSI for the entrance and 36 PSI for the rear.

As a result of the entrance wheel of the Ténéré 700 was not designed to be used as a tubeless wheel, out of concern for security, Outex recommends that you don’t air it down for additional traction until completely essential. Outex says that 32 psi will maintain the bead firmly seated, even when hitting rocks and potholes.

Earlier than placing the wheel again on the bike, Outex recommends leaving the tire in a single day to find out if it can maintain stress. Keep in mind that tire stress goes down a few pound for each 10 levels that the temperature drops.

The Yamaha Ténéré 700 Venture Bike has the FOBO Bike 2 tire stress monitoring system on each tires, which reviews temperature and stress. The stress on the entrance tire began dropping about one psi per minute nearly instantly. Utilizing a TPS to observe stress provides extra accuracy on stress loss as a result of you’ll lose a little bit of stress when checking it with a handheld gauge.

I put the wheel within the bathtub, situated the bubble stream, and marked the leaking spoke. I unmounted the tire and located I had errantly slid a tire spoon too deep throughout the mounting course of and reduce the protecting and sealing tapes—nice for a assessment, although unhealthy for my ego.

I sliced out a two-inch part, heated the rim in that spot, laid the sealing tape and protecting tape, and remounted the tire—extra rigorously this time. For the restore, I used the Outex restore equipment ($20) that I ordered similtaneously the tubeless equipment.

For the reason that fine-tuning of the set up of the Outex Tubeless Package, neither tire has misplaced a single psi in three weeks.

Out on the path or highway, should you get a slice flat or one that’s not repairable with a short lived plug, you may set up a tube—that’s the reason Outex added the protecting tape layer. Outex recommends solely utilizing a tube to get to a protected place to restore or substitute your tire; utilizing a tube for too lengthy can have an effect on the hermetic seal, requiring the acquisition of a brand new Outex equipment to return to a great seal. I proceed to hold a 21-inch tube and tire-changing instruments as a result of I’m a belt-and-suspenders type of journey rider. Nonetheless, I’m assured I’ll use them to assist a stranded rider slightly than for the Ténéré.

I used to be slightly nervous my first few miles, questioning if my set up was appropriate and if the tire would maintain stress the primary time I hit a pothole. Luckily, the Outex Tubeless Package works as designed for the Final Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Venture Bike. My handiwork on the entrance and rear wheels is holding air after 500 miles, sans tubes, beneath tubeless designed tires.

The Outex Tubeless Package for the Final Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Venture Bike’s entrance and rear wheels runs $130 MSRP—a single wheel equipment is $70. When put in per the producer’s directions and informative movies, a three-hour job per wheel, you should have the peace of thoughts that comes with understanding a puncture requires solely a fast plug restore.

Outex Tubeless Package Evaluation Photograph Gallery