Quality tire parts

First off, are you tightening your inner tube to the rim via the lock nut? If you are, stop doing this. Put the dust cap on, then tighten the inner tube lock nut up against the valve cap. This will allow your valve stem to 'float' just a little and prevent it from tearing. I then use a rubber valve stem seal to keep the mud and water out (under the valve lock nut)

A 4mm thick inner tube is a good purchase. You pay the price with a big weight penalty but I've never ever punctured a 4mm tube. Even running low pressures (8-10PSI).
If you are serious about performance and handling then you may just want to stick with a regular tube. Heavy duty tubes can be over twice as heavy as standard tubes, that's a lot of added unsprung rotational weight.

Buy a quality rim lock such as a Motion Pro.
Also I've always preferred to use 2 to 3 revolutions round the rim with good quality duct tape as opposed to using a rim strap. Just make sure you tape the rim indent only and not the internal edges where the tyre bead sits.

RussB wrote:

First off, are you tightening your inner tube to the rim via the lock nut? If you are, stop doing this. Put the dust cap on, then tighten the inner tube lock nut up against the valve cap. This will allow your valve stem to 'float' just a little and prevent it from tearing. I then use a rubber valve stem seal to keep the mud and water out (under the valve lock nut)

A 4mm thick inner tube is a good purchase. You pay the price with a big weight penalty but I've never ever punctured a 4mm tube. Even running low pressures (8-10PSI).
If you are serious about performance and handling then you may just want to stick with a regular tube. Heavy duty tubes can be over twice as heavy as standard tubes, that's a lot of added unsprung rotational weight.

Buy a quality rim lock such as a Motion Pro.
Also I've always preferred to use 2 to 3 revolutions round the rim with good quality duct tape as opposed to using a rim strap. Just make sure you tape the rim indent only and not the internal edges where the tyre bead sits.

Thanks for that much info. I did try not tightening the valve stem nut to the rim like you said. Didnt seal the bottom tho. Im not fast by any means so at this point i dont think the weight is an issue. Interesting point about the duct tape too.

Acidreamer wrote:

Thanks for that much info. I did try not tightening the valve stem nut to the rim like you said. Didnt seal the bottom tho. Im not fast by any means so at this point i dont think the weight is an issue. Interesting point about the duct tape too.

Get a set of valve stem seals and it will keep the crud out

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Lightly tighten the valve stem lock nut onto the stem seal to seal it to the rim. This still allows the valve stem to move slightly but will keep the dirt and water out. I've been running this set up for years. Works well.

Normally the tearing of the valve stem is caused by the tire rotating on the rim. A good rim lock will stop that .

Paw Paw

Paw Paw wrote:

Normally the tearing of the valve stem is caused by the tire rotating on the rim. A good rim lock will stop that .

Paw Paw

Yea ive never had problems until recently. Wonder if the oem one has just outlived its lifespan

Bridgestone make ultra heavy duty tubes, really thick & can be a bit of a pain to fit but I've never had a puncture running them, touch wood. I'll only put them in when I change a tyre, I don't go to the trouble of doing it before.

Anyone know if the OEM ones are any good?

Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:

Bridgestone make ultra heavy duty tubes, really thick & can be a bit of a pain to fit but I've never had a puncture running them, touch wood. I'll only put them in when I change a tyre, I don't go to the trouble of doing it before.

Anyone know if the OEM ones are any good?

Yea those are the tubes im lookin at

Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:

Bridgestone make ultra heavy duty tubes, really thick & can be a bit of a pain to fit but I've never had a puncture running them, touch wood. I'll only put them in when I change a tyre, I don't go to the trouble of doing it before.

Anyone know if the OEM ones are any good?

Acidreamer wrote:

Yea those are the tubes im lookin at

There was a shop over here that was chucking in free ultra hd tubes when you bought a tyre, which was a cracking deal.

Paw Paw wrote:

Normally the tearing of the valve stem is caused by the tire rotating on the rim. A good rim lock will stop that .

Paw Paw

Acidreamer wrote:

Yea ive never had problems until recently. Wonder if the oem one has just outlived its lifespan

As usual Paw Paw nails it. Either too low of pressure or rim lock slipping if you are tearing valve stems. Dunlop recommends 13-15psi in some of the front tires. I'd check rim lock first.........

Paw Paw wrote:

Normally the tearing of the valve stem is caused by the tire rotating on the rim. A good rim lock will stop that .

Paw Paw

Acidreamer wrote:

Yea ive never had problems until recently. Wonder if the oem one has just outlived its lifespan

Yes , they are a wear item and thus need to replaced from time to time. Many after market units available.

Paw Paw

Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:

Bridgestone make ultra heavy duty tubes, really thick & can be a bit of a pain to fit but I've never had a puncture running them, touch wood. I'll only put them in when I change a tyre, I don't go to the trouble of doing it before.

Anyone know if the OEM ones are any good?

Acidreamer wrote:

Yea those are the tubes im lookin at

They also make a line of "Heavy Duty" tubes that aren't as thick as the "Ultra Heavy Duty" but are much more durable than the flimsy stock tubes.

With that said, I agree with the other posters that are thinking yours is a rim lock issue, not a tube issue.

Ive got a 4mm thick tube, motion pro rim lock, and new tire on the fedex truck for delivery right now. Once i get all that together i need to hope theres some decent temps for a ride day. Under 45 deg doesnt sound appealing. I have a feeling my rim lock nut came a bit loose. It had somewhere around 5ft-lbs of torque when i went to loosen it.

Rim lock was the problem. No teeth left on it.