Mag Wheels:

[oldbutslow]

I bought my bike with brand new tires on it. Lately, the front tire has been losing about 5psi per day. Being that I am taking my baby to it's first show (Lone Star Classic, and I don't want a blow-out on the 100 mile trip), I decided to take it to the local shop. Their parts manager is a huge vintage biker and I respect his opinion. I had been think valve stems all the way, but we sprayed the wheel with soapy water. Lo and behold, air was seeping out of the bead area on a good percentage of the entire rim. That takes a good bit of corrosion to create such a condition. Has anybody else seen this? ,BK

[JEEPRUSTY]

dismount the tire
steel wool the rim to take off the heavy corrosion.

you can then use an abrasive metal polish on them but genrally I have seen the corrosion as a simple form of a mounting lube that has aged ungracefully.

The actual bead is far past the rim but enough crap and pressurized air will find a way out.

[Nessism]

Is the wheel tubeless or is there a tube installed? If there is a tube, you need a new one. If the wheel is running tubeless check to see if the wheel say "tubeless applicable" or something to this effect cast into the side. If not, you found your problem.

[JEEPRUSTY]

Is the wheel tubeless or is there a tube installed? If there is a tube, you need a new one. If the wheel is running tubeless check to see if the wheel say "tubeless applicable" or something to this effect cast into the side. If not, you found your problem.

WTF is a tire with a tube!

that is simply gay.

[ddaniels]

You would only NEED a tube if you have a pourous wheel and air escapes through the metal. Air leaking around the bead is not connected to this problem. You need to clean the rim.

[oldbutslow]

The wheel states "tubeless" applicable". I'll post when I get it apart next week. Thanks for your help. ,BK

[Gssheller]

I spent about 10 years working in a tire shop and if your tire/ wheel combination is supposed to be tubeless and you have a bead leak the most common cause is what is called aluminum rust.
The best way for a solid repair is to dismount the tire, take a wire wheel to the "rust" (it's white, you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it), then seal the area with a bead sealer. You should be able to get some from a tire shop.
You may want to remove the valve stem and seal that area too. If its not leaking now it will soon. This is just PM at this point.
Anyway, let the sealer dry, reinstall the tire and you should be good to go for a couple more years.
Good luck!

[posplayr]

I had the exact same kind of air leak with a brand new set of tires that developed about 6 months after I installed the tires. I live in a moist area and apparently the exchange of air with the new tire change promoted the oxidation of the aluminum wheel that began to cause the leaking that just got worse as time progressed.

This was all for a tubeless tire. I removed the tires, used some coarse stainless steel wool to clean the rim; if you use a wire wheel make sure you don't scratch the rim. The tire sealer is a great idea to stop further corrosion of the bare aluminum.

For me at least after treatment the leaking stopped.

[Steve]

I use a brass wire wheel to clean the rim whenever I change a tire.

So far, no problems.

.

[rockford]

WTF is a tire with a tube!
.

It's amazing how much you write about motorcycles compared to how little you know.

[JEEPRUSTY]

It's amazing how much you write about motorcycles compared to how little you know.

Don't you have anything better to do than hurt people's feelings?

[rockford]

Sorry

Don't you have anything better to do than hurt people's feelings?

I just couldn't resist but you're right, it wasn't very nice. Why don't we both see how long we can go without making any mean comments?

[Adler]

I just couldn't resist but you're right, it wasn't very nice. Why don't we both see how long we can go without making any mean comments?

Great idea, dumbass! (oops)