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Norm, I had no idea you were looking into tubeless, and at the same time as me at that!
I saw some real nice Out*Ex brand kits from Japan for my DID rims, but wow were they pricey at $130.
I ended up buying 2 different width 15 foot rolls of 3M 4412N Extreme sealing tape, & I read their instructions for it and they recommended using their proprietary 3M adhesion promoter surface primer solution on it, so I decided to try that as well, although cleaning it with acetone would probably have done just as well.
I also went with a NAPA tubeless motorcycle valve stems that directly fit valve stem holes for motorcycle inner tubes, as many tubeless valve stems are larger diameter & far more expensive than a few dollars each.
I was considering taking a two liter soda pop bottle and cutting out 36 small plastic domes to place over the spoke nipples so that I can still tighten them without disturbing the tape. The Outex kit includes some type of stick-on piece onto the tops of the spoke nipples to accomplish the same thing.
The weight savings is definitely nice, but the big advantage for me is that not only is it easier to plug a tire than it is to remove a wheel and inner tube to patch, but all of my aftermarket aluminum rims are safety bead type that are tubeless approved (there are lots and lots of words of caution all over the Internet to not try tubeless on a rim that does not have safety beads). Even if I did try to remove the tube to patch it on the side of the road with tire lever spoons, it would be darn near impossible to break the bead on a safety bead rim without having a bead breaker or shop setup.
I'm not certain if it will work with my Sun Rims, as they are not dimpled rims, so the spoke nipple protrudes substantially up into the center well. My DID rims will definitely take this mod well though, but the only problem I have heard of is on some rims that did not have the welded seam finished off very smoothly. I read several accounts where people could not get it to hold air and it would always leak at the welded seam, because the weld was ground off unevenly.
I have read many accounts of people saying that at least for the Outex kit's tape, it is very necessary to file all of the spoke nipple heads down smooth so that they do not protrude too terribly far, or else the tape will pucker up and will not seal properly. This is why I didn't think that would work on my Sun rims which I generally would like to keep on my primary bike the 77 gs750.
I'm not sure how well this 3M tape will conform to spoke nipple protrusions, so if you do your sooner than mine, please let me know how it works! I can't recall how far the dimples are on the dimpled Excel rims, but I'm sure you will have a much easier time on those than my Sun rims.
I saw some real nice Out*Ex brand kits from Japan for my DID rims, but wow were they pricey at $130.
I ended up buying 2 different width 15 foot rolls of 3M 4412N Extreme sealing tape, & I read their instructions for it and they recommended using their proprietary 3M adhesion promoter surface primer solution on it, so I decided to try that as well, although cleaning it with acetone would probably have done just as well.
I also went with a NAPA tubeless motorcycle valve stems that directly fit valve stem holes for motorcycle inner tubes, as many tubeless valve stems are larger diameter & far more expensive than a few dollars each.
I was considering taking a two liter soda pop bottle and cutting out 36 small plastic domes to place over the spoke nipples so that I can still tighten them without disturbing the tape. The Outex kit includes some type of stick-on piece onto the tops of the spoke nipples to accomplish the same thing.
The weight savings is definitely nice, but the big advantage for me is that not only is it easier to plug a tire than it is to remove a wheel and inner tube to patch, but all of my aftermarket aluminum rims are safety bead type that are tubeless approved (there are lots and lots of words of caution all over the Internet to not try tubeless on a rim that does not have safety beads). Even if I did try to remove the tube to patch it on the side of the road with tire lever spoons, it would be darn near impossible to break the bead on a safety bead rim without having a bead breaker or shop setup.
I'm not certain if it will work with my Sun Rims, as they are not dimpled rims, so the spoke nipple protrudes substantially up into the center well. My DID rims will definitely take this mod well though, but the only problem I have heard of is on some rims that did not have the welded seam finished off very smoothly. I read several accounts where people could not get it to hold air and it would always leak at the welded seam, because the weld was ground off unevenly.
I have read many accounts of people saying that at least for the Outex kit's tape, it is very necessary to file all of the spoke nipple heads down smooth so that they do not protrude too terribly far, or else the tape will pucker up and will not seal properly. This is why I didn't think that would work on my Sun rims which I generally would like to keep on my primary bike the 77 gs750.
I'm not sure how well this 3M tape will conform to spoke nipple protrusions, so if you do your sooner than mine, please let me know how it works! I can't recall how far the dimples are on the dimpled Excel rims, but I'm sure you will have a much easier time on those than my Sun rims.
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