[MDairheads] More re Sealing Tube Type Rims

[Mac Kirkpatrick]

More information:
Yesterday I called Woody's Wheel Works to get more information. The lady
who answered the phone was very knowledgeable (how often does anyone answer
the phone, much less be very knowledgeable?)

She said for them to seal a rim they would need to see it to verify that it
had safety bead built into the wheel; ONLY THEN would they seal it . And
she would not say whether certain years of BMW airheads met this criteria,
such as /5, etc., BUT she did say they would not seal a 21 inch spoked
wheel (which is what I have on my R80G/Ss).

Of course to seal or not is a personal choice; however it is a HUGE safety
issue, not just which LED bulb works or not, and that is my concern, but as
long as folks are knowledgable about ALL the issues and don't just go "go
for it", that's super, and Hey, it must be time for a ride :-)


Mac Kirkpatrick
Glenmoore, PA

"After all, what is adventure, but inconvenience, properly regarded?"
C. Donahue


On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 12:20 PM Brian Kirchhoff via MDAirheads <
mdairheads at casano.com> wrote:

> I don't think Mac was waging a personal attack. Nor do I think what he said
> is analogous to the examples of discussions over modifications we Airheads
> get into about equipment that you list.
>
> His email (and my follow up) was simply a warning and reminder that many of
> the people in the Airhead community who know the most about our particular
> bikes have come to a general consensus that this particular conversion
> could be a SAFETY issue and as a result, they strongly advise against the
> suggestion Mike offered. The examples you provide are not really in that
> same category but are along the line of personal preference -- they
> wouldn't put the rider in much (if any) risk if done correctly. This simply
> is not a Corbain vs. Russell discussion. This was a warning that if you
> convert spoked wheels to run without tubes, the Gurus have consistently
> warned us that this increases the risk of tire failure because the rim was
> not designed to work that way. That could realistically cause serious
> injury or death.
>
> While you are right that everyone can and must choose what they want to do,
> your claiming that this isn't anyone else's business is not fair to the
> intention that Mac (and I) had in responding to this particular suggestion.
> I have a vested interest in NOT crashing myself -- along with a strong
> desire to NOT see any of my friends crash as a result of a potentially
> unsafe modification. As Mac said, if anyone new to Airheads read Mike's
> response to my email without knowing the rest of this context, it could
> lead someone to make a quick decision that is not informed by the
> information many of our fellow Airheads have communicated to us over the
> past several years.
>
> Again -- do what you want to do. Nobody is infringing on your rugged
> individualism and right to self-determination. But I strongly support Mac
> sending out this warning; I'm never going to criticize someone for making
> information available about a potential danger involved with  something we
> might do with or to our bikes. All he did was encourage anyone considering
> this modification to read a bit more from the likes of Snowbum and Cutter
> who know more than most of us and have already taken the time to explain
> the risks to us. (Thank god Snowbum's articles will live on!)
>
> And if you don't like all of those discussions you list and think we should
> all shut up and keep our opinions to ourselves, I have to wonder --- why
> are you on an Airhead forum distribution list. That's like 95% of what gets
> talked about on here. :-) This would be a pretty quiet forum if people
> didn't talk about all that shit!
>
> brian m. kirchhoff
> 402.617.2222 mobile
>
>
>