Yamaha SCR950 Forum banner

Tube VS Tubeless Tires

9K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  jevers478@gmail.com 
#1 ·
Yes I'm going there! Would you prefer a set of tube or tubeless tires on the scr950 and why?
 
#5 ·
Any reasons you are "pro tubeless" @eddie ??
With a lightweight bike, the prospect of repairing a tube while out and about isn't exactly fun, but is doable. The thought of trying to fix a tube in a SCR950 wheel under the same conditions? No so much.
Removing a wheel with the tools on hand, no lift and perhaps no help on a bike this heavy makes a tubeless tire I can plug, fill & ride more promising. =)
The KLR650 I had was equipped with a center stand. I once pulled the rear wheel and took apart the entire rear suspension for regreasing using tools I could've easily had in a tool bag (minus the torque wrench).
 
#7 ·
There are positives to each tire option. You can get home with a bent wheel with a tube tire than without a tube. We're probably not seeing rims like the Tenere because tubeless spoked rims are prohibitively expensive. tubeless are better for off road riding as your can air down without bead issues.

But the scr950 is more for on road riding than off.
 
#8 ·
There are positives to each tire option. You can get home with a bent wheel with a tube tire than without a tube. We're probably not seeing rims like the Tenere because tubeless spoked rims are prohibitively expensive. tubeless are better for off road riding as your can air down without bead issues.
But the scr950 is more for on road riding than off.
This got me curious about consumer cost of wheel parts and here's what I found:
Rims Front/Rear:
Super Tenere - $569/$445
SCR950 - $246/$296

Hubs, Front/Rear
Tenere $382/$364
SCR $169/$676 (I checked twice!)

The assorted parts needed to assemble each wheel vary greatly, also.
That's something to consider about being too adventurous with a Yamaha: They don't sell completed wheels.
They only sell the parts to build them.

While I had the front end off the Super Tenere two years ago for steering head bearing greasing, I added up the price of a few parts and stopped when I hit $3000. That was for the wheel, spokes, hub, tire, forks and triple clamps. No brake components, axle, bearings, seals or controls. Yikes!!!
 
#9 ·
That must have been a wallet shock when you added up the numbers. I'm assuming that's for both wheels and not just one.

Yamaha factory parts are definitely going to cost more than what the aftermarket can offer, but even then tubeless spokes are expensive. I think a set of Borrani rims with nothing else could set you back around 2.5k and then there are the tires to go on them.

There's a time and place for tubed tires, but most of your scr950 riding won't require a set and it's mainly used for paved roads. But if we're talking about an adventure bike then a set of tubed may be better.
 
#10 ·
That must have been a wallet shock when you added up the numbers. I'm assuming that's for both wheels and not just one. (snip).
Oh, yea. Wallet shock indeed!
All the numbers are for a single wheel's part.

The worst figure I ever saw for a single part is the exhaust on my girlfriend's former 2009 Suzuki GS500F. She bought the bike as a 2 year old, new/leftover stock bike for $3400. A minor tipover dinged the muffler a tiny bit. That got her curious what it would cost to replace it since the header and muffler are a one piece affair.
I just checked and MSRP on the exhaust is still $1512.76!!!
 
#11 ·
And that is why every ding and scratch adds character and doesn't need to be replaced. :smile2:

End of the day, the scr950 is a sub 10k bike and doesn't really need all the fancy sparkles that one would add to a way more expensive bike. As nice as tubeless spokes would be, I can't justify the cost.
 
#12 ·
That seems to be what's holding a lot of people back unless you own an adventure bike. The costs just aren't feasible for with an $8k motorcycle even if I do like tubed tires. At least a tubeless tire is easier to repair in a jiffy and they usually deflate slower if it's a simple nail in the tire.
 
#13 ·
It's even more of a reason why you see people jumping from bike to bike, end up with something extreme and then spend extra monies on that instead of a product lower down the bike pyramid.

On the plus side through all those owners a bike like this goes through, it devalues the bike enough for someone years from now to do all the things first owners were discouraged from doing.
 
#15 ·
I have used a similar product in the tubes on my 1800VTX. I put it in before my 2400 mile ride to Colorado and back. It's touted as self balancing and self sealing. Worked well in my VTX so it should work fine in the SCR as well. I will tell you this, most tire shops will charge you extra if you have that good in your tubes/tires. It can get messy when changing tires.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top