Comstar Wheel Tubeless Conversion

[carlrf]

Howdy, new to forum today. New to Goldwing this week. Not new to motorcycles.

1978 GL1000 with 19K miles.

Anyway, did a search on said topic. Didn't get a whole lot.
I am wondering if anyone has successfully and safely converted their comstar wheels to tubeless?
Also have heard to keep an eye on rivits for loosening. Is this a common or rare problem?
Can wheels that are in good shape be modified to prevent rivit loosening?

Sorry for so many questions at once. You will likely be hearing more from me.
I have already gained considerable information from this site, thanks!
Carl

[thrasherg]

I would be wary of converting them to tubeless, but on the plus side, I have had a few comstar wheels where the rivets came loose (This was many years ago), but you should definitely keep an eye on the rivets as they do loosed with age and use!! So it could be a positive thing.. Why do you want to convert to tubeless? Just to avoid having a tube or some other reason? I try to keep most things the way Honda engineered them as they usually knew more than me about what was going on with each part.. Several companies sell tubeless conversions for dirt bikes with spocked wheels so you might want to look at that, it works out at about $100 per wheel.

Gary

[carlrf]

I want to go tubeless for ease of flat repair.
If I don't, can I run tubes in the tubeless tires?
Thinking of shinkos.
Btw, thanks for reply so far!

[thrasherg]

I know many people that run tubes in tubeless tyres, I am told the tyre runs a bit hotter and am not sure what the tyre manufacturers say, but I know it is done a lot (particularly in older bikes which came with tubed tyres originally) and I am not aware of anyone having an issue with it.. Of course when you get a puncture you can't just use a tyre plug, you have to remove the wheel & tube to fit a patch or replace the tube, so your conversion would be much nicer for puncture repairs.

Gary

[flash2002]

I'm a bit confused, aren't Comstar wheels tubeless, or are there two types of wheels ? I had a 79 and they where tubeless.

[carlrf]

I am thinking the 79 was the first tubeless comstar, not posititve.

[thrasherg]

I had a 78 Honda CB250N super dream with com stars and they were definately tubed rims. At some point com stars did become tubeless, but I have no idea when that change occurred. I guess a good question would be what changed? It may be they just didn't get type approval until the later date, which means you could run tubeless on earlier rims,or it might be that Honda changed the design to allow tubeless rims! Maybe you could fit a set of later cometary rims to your bike and run tubeless? I get that punctures are a nuisance, but in over 300,000 miles (and 33 years) of motorcycle riding, I have only had 5 punctures, so for me it's a very rare occurrence and not something I worry about.

Gary

[carlrf]

I decided to remove my rear wheel in my parking lot to do some cleaning, brake work and get.generally familiar with the procedure. My god man, what a PITA! I hope I never have to do that on the side of the road!

[carlrf]

Just a follow up. After considerable research, I understand the differences in rims and dangers of running my tubed Comstars tubeless.
I am in the process of changing tires with new Bridgestone tubes.
Thanks for feedback!!!!!!!!!!!
Carl